A RESTAURANT serving up vegan dishes made from food that would otherwise end up in the bin is coming to Brighton.

Maya Clark is the founder of the social enterprise Soul Soup. The cafe is based in a yoga centre in Lewes, Unity Lewes, but will soon take over the kitchen Presuming Ed’s Coffee House in Brighton’s London Road.

The new pop-up venture will see founder Maya Clark, who lives in Lewes, and her team rustling up soups, hotpots and vegan omelettes made from chickpea flour.

All the ingredients Soul Soup uses were once destined for landfill.

Maya said: “Soul soup is a plant-based social business which creates dishes from waste produce from farms and supermarkets.

“In the UK, a third of all food produced goes to landfill. That represents a huge loss of money, resources and energy. By using leftover food, we’re also helping to reduce carbon emissions.

“Food waste is terrible for the economy. So we set up to fight food waste and promote sustainable plant-based diets.

“Something else we do is work with local homelessness organisations to donate all our leftovers.

“We also run a scheme where people can pay for meals for homeless people. It’s like a rewards card, but instead of a free meal for yourself, it is donated to feed someone in need. We’ve got a plant-based menu that’s always changing.”

Maya said her background and a team of international cooks have helped make Soul Soup’s menu stand out.

She said: “I moved to the UK a few years ago. I was born in Ireland, grew up in Morocco, and I’ve lived in Portugal and Spain – a bit of everywhere.

“And I’ve brought that experience to Soul Soup. We serve dishes inspired by food from all around the world. This weekend, we’ll be serving a Middle-Eastern chickpea dish inspired by my childhood in Morocco and our head chef’s Palestinian heritage.”

Maya’s company has been running for a year and half. She began catering at events before opening the Soul Soup in Lewes in September.

The business started in Brighton, and Maya said it is now coming home.

She said: “We’ll be setting up in the kitchen there and serving our food at weekends this month and then moving to weekdays as well in the next few months.”

Maya said there is a lot of demand for good vegan food in Brighton – but using the right dietary terms can help introduce it to new customers.

She said: “We use the words ‘vegan’ and ‘plant-based’ more or less interchangeably but ‘plant-based’ seems to appeal to a wider demographic – it’s more accessible.”

You can try out some of her latest dishes every weekend in February at Presuming Ed’s Coffee House.