In March 2025, just as London began to wake from its grey winter, childhood friends Emma Clarke and Oliver Reed stood on a vacant riverside wharf and dared to dream. Inspired by long afternoons spent exploring Borough Market stalls, sharing family recipes and hunting down the perfect cup of coffee, they imagined a place where every detail—down to the last leaf of thyme—would matter.
Over six whirlwind weeks, they transformed a dusty old warehouse into a warm, wood-panelled café. Emma repainted the walls in gentle cream tones, hunted down reclaimed oak tables, and built their signature menu around British farmers’ seasonal produce. Oliver handled licensing, designed the logo, and taught himself to roast coffee beans in small batches in the back room.
On opening day, a line of curious Londoners stretched along the embankment. The first customer exclaimed, “This is unlike anything I’ve tasted in the city!”—and within days, local blogs and social feeds were abuzz with screenshots of our famous Chicken Road and photos of our hand-laid herb garden on the balcony.
Raised on a farm in the Cotswolds, Emma’s earliest memories are of foraging wild thyme and chasing hens in the backyard. She honed her culinary skills at Le Cordon Bleu London and then spent a year working in Melbourne’s celebrated café scene—where she discovered the art of flat whites and the magic of sourdough. Emma’s passion is transforming humble British ingredients into unforgettable dishes.
A former LSE graduate in hospitality management, Oliver cut his teeth at some of London’s top gastropubs before pivoting to coffee roasting. Ever the entrepreneur, he taught himself to roast beans, negotiated partnerships with local farmers, and designed every detail of Thames & Thyme—from the logo’s river-wave motif to the signature thyme-leaf napkin rings.
More than a café, Chicken FRS Runwayis a gathering place. Here’s what’s happening in 2025:
Watch our events calendar for upcoming dates, or drop in to speak with our team about hosting your own meetup.
As the seasons change, so will our flavours—expect spring pea gazpacho, autumnal cider-poached pears, and festive spice lattes in December. We’re also planning a riverside herb garden expansion, a coffee subscription service and pop-up collaborations with London’s best chocolatiers.
Whether you’re here for the first time or you’ve been with us since day one, we can’t wait to write the next chapter of our story with you.