Sian Polhill-Thomas Pic: Aleksandra Michalik
St. David Coffee House in Forest Hill will now be serving Van Dough’s pizza at their café every Wednesday evening.
St David’s co-owner Sian Polhill- Thomas, 31, contacted the famous mobile wood-fired pizzeria after trying their pizza at a local market. Sian said: “I though it [the pizza] was amazing, I love street food and wanted to incorporate it into our shop”
On the evenings when they pop up at St. David, Van Dough park their Citroen Hy van equipped with a wood fire oven outside and serve the pizzas inside the coffee house.
In the past, pizza evenings were a monthly occurrence, but based on their great success the owners decided to make it into a weekly event.
Pizza evenings are just one of the activities held at St. David. The owners’ enthusiasm for community, cooperation and creativity means that St. David is an artistic and friendly place, open to working with others and to holding interesting events.
To celebrate the Chelsea Flower Show last week, St. David and a local florist held a planting workshop for kids, accompanied by pizza served with edible flowers. Sian said: “We’re up for anything like that, anything that gets the community out”.
On Thursday nights they serve Laksa, a traditional Singaporean dish prepared by their friend from Nyonya London, who wants to open up a pop up shop in Peckham. “It’s just been a great launch for him to start his own business,” said Sian.
On Fridays and Saturdays the shop offers a more relaxed atmosphere with wine and cheese boards.
St. David started opening for the evenings a few years ago. “I just felt like the area was really shouting out for something like that,” said Sian. Opening the café for the evenings provided their customers with a place to grab dinner and a drink.
Sian said: “we all love the returning customers and get on really well. We pride ourselves on aiming to know what drink they have, what they’ve been up to during their day, where they work and that sort of stuff”.
She added: “Forrest hill is very friendly and is full of artists and it is quite community led”.
Sian, an actress herself, stressed the importance of flexible shifts for her staff, who are all young people involved in the creative industries. “I want people to feel like they can fulfil what they are meant to be fulfilling,” she said.
St. David supports art in Forest Hill by exhibiting work by local artists on the walls of the shop and holding private viewings. The art is rotated every six weeks. “It’s so nice cause not only do they get to showcase their work, our caff changes all the time we get a new piece of work up,” said Sian.
Despite all the activities, St. David’s primary function is serving coffee. As Sian emphasised: “we really take the quality of the coffee seriously”.
Sian summed up her experience saying: “as hard work as it is, it’s so rewarding, and you just instantly become a part of the community”.
