Our Story

Hey, We are Simon and Lara (husband and wife) and we are so excited to open our dream project, Kali in our wonderful home town, Thame.

Since moving to Thame in 2021, we’ve enjoyed becoming more and more immersed in our local community. Many people will know Simon from his time at What’s Cooking and more recently on the coffee machine at The W. Lara has found her tribe in the Thame Tornados Netball Team and at the Youphoria Fitness Dance Fitness classes she runs in Thame and Longwick each week. We’re both massive foodies, always looking for the next great coffee and brunch spot.

We both come from performing backgrounds - Lara, a singer/dancer and Simon an actor/presenter. When Covid turned the world upside down, we found ourselves working together at Pantry; a lovely coffee spot in Hazlemere.

Something about it felt very right and the dream to start our own venture was born.

Kali will be the new home-from-home and go-to vegetarian cafe for anyone looking for fresh, nutritious food, expertly crafted coffee and genuine hospitality. The decor will echo the menu; fresh, modern and feel-good. Kali stands for Kindness And Love Inside. This is our ethos. We want everyone to know that there is a place is Thame where you will always feel like a welcome guest rather than a customer. Equally, we want to create a working environment that nurtures its staff. Rather than the classic model of a cafe job being a stop-gap before moving to a different industry, we look to offer a career path, be it in the kitchen, the world of coffee or hospitality in general.

With a menu that’s vegetarian and majority plant based, we aim to reduce and ultimately eliminate any negative effects on animals and the environment

Kali wishes to be a community based enterprise, finding ourselves at the heart of all local community events spreading our unique brand of kindness and love across the local community

“Kindness and making other people feel good. That’s a real superpower and we’ve all got it”

Kali guests…we can’t wait to welcome YOU all.