Churchfield Road Deli Seeks Extended Opening

NOCO owners say venue will be 'very low key' in the evenings

Freddie Woodruff, who runs NOCO alongside his business partner Alex Key

January 30, 2024

Plans for an Acton deli to serve food and drinks into the evening are due to be decided by Ealing councillors this week. NOCO, a ‘specialist food company’ run by chef Freddie Woodruff with a space on Churchfield Road, is already selling food from pastries to Keralan coconut rice across its morning and lunchtime services.

However, they are hoping to extend their hours but concerns relating to public nuisance have been raised by a couple of residents ahead of this week’s licensing meeting, though Mr Woodruff told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) the plan is for the deli to remain ‘very low key’.

According to NOCO’s website, it is “a specialist food company based in London with roots in Cornwall”. The company’s farm and fishing boat are both located in Boscastle, as is the restaurant The Rocket Store which Mr Woodruff owns alongside his business partner Alex Key.

Mr Woodruff said NOCO has been catering for the fashion and film circuit for several years, and that it has a large kitchen in a photography studio in Stanley Gardens.

The deli, which is located on Churchfield Road, is planning to extend its hours into the evening with alcohol on sale. According to Mr Woodruff: “We have opened a fresh food deli on Churchfield Road that serves fresh pastries/desserts every morning (cinnamon buns, cardamom buns, Basque cheesecake etc) and a fresh lunch spread everyday (marinated chicken in dry red curry paste, Keralan coconut rice with mustard seeds and curry leaf, grilled aubergine with miso dressing and pickled ginger etc).

“The lunch will be laid out every day in large sharing platters and will be served until we run out. The offering will change daily and with the seasons.”

Interior of the NOCO store on Churchfield Road. Picture: Freddie Woodruff

The plan, he continued, is to also sell wine and alcohol alongside the food during the day, and to expand into the evenings, serving small plates similar to lunch, as well as booze.

Mr Woodruff said the alcohol would only be serviced alongside the food, and is intended to be ‘very lowkey’.

According to the application documents, NOCO hopes to extend its opening hours to 8am to 11pm, seven days a week. To help manage any public nuisance, mitigations such as CCTV and an incident log are included in the submission.

Ealing Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee is due to make its decision this Wednesday, 31 January .

Ben Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter