WAVE

"Wave is where we work from when we want the calm feel of an LA health spa, in Hackney. The menu is vegan, the material of choice is rattan, and coffees come with lion’s mane, cordyceps, CBD, and other things an influencer we follow promised would give us glowing skin. There are plenty of plug sockets too, even outside in the large courtyard. The food can be hit and miss, but the pillowy, gluten-free pancakes always hit." - jake missing, rianne shlebak, daisy meager, sinead cranna

"Wave changes its pancake toppings seasonally and the winter ones made us forget that the sky had been 50 shades of grey for months on end. At the vegan Hackney cafe, a stack of three pillowy, gluten-free pancakes comes drizzled with warming toffee sauce and topped with dollops of coconut-flavoured ‘cream’. It’s beautiful to look at and only improved with a salted coffee—sweetened and speckled with Himalayan salt—on the side. " - heidi lauth beasley, rianne shlebak, sinead cranna

"Wave feels like the kind of cafe you'd find inside an LA health spa. Until you see pigeons scrapping over a chicken wing outside and remember that you are, in fact, in Hackney. The menu is vegan (and great for those with other dietary requirements too), the tones are earthy, the material of choice is rattan, and coffees come with lion’s mane, cordyceps, CBD, and other things influencers told you would make your skin glow. During the week it’s a calming spot to get some work done over a delicious salted—Himalayan, of course—coffee. And on sunny days, baseball cap-wearing Hackney locals pile into the courtyard, not a hangover in sight, photographing açai bowls and likely setting their intentions for the week. The food can be hit and miss, but the pillowy, gluten-free pancakes always hit, so stick to those. photo credit: The exterior of Wave, a Hackney cafe. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch" - Sinéad Cranna

"Sticky toffee pancakes “I had a physical reaction to the arrival of my pancakes at Wave, a vegan cafe in Hackney. The tall, teetering stack warrants cartoon-levels of eye-widening. The thick sticky toffee sauce pooled in the bowl. The gluten-free pancakes were light and fluffy, the sauce rich and treacle-like, and the hefty dollops of whipped coconut yoghurt balanced out the sweetness perfectly. On a chilly January morning, this indulgent tower felt like a good way to kick off the year.”- SC " - Jake Oliver, Rianne Shlebak, Sinead Cranna