The new café, in the city’s business district, opened this week. It is the second venue for the popular plant-based kitchen and deli, which began in Halsall, near Southport, five years ago.
Wild Root aims to make plant-based food that’s good for you and looks as good as it tastes. Since opening its first kitchen, it has become a go-to destination, building a community of followers and sharing recipes online for people to recreate its dishes at home.
The Liverpool café serves the same menu of salads, sandwiches, soups, pastries and one-pots. Favourites include the TLT, Wild Root’s take on a BLT, made with thinly sliced tempeh bacon marinated in liquid smoke, tamari and maple syrup. It is served on sourdough with lettuce, tomato, avocado and mayo.
Another popular choice is the carrot lox bagel. Ribboned carrots are marinated with liquid smoke, maple syrup, tamari and oil, then steamed to create a smoked salmon-style filling. They’re layered with cashew and dill cream cheese, pickled onions and capers.
Wild Root was founded in 2021 by Charlie Tomlinson, who struggled to find satisfying and varied meals after becoming vegan.
“At the time there weren’t a lot of resources and recipes out there, or products in the supermarket,” she says.
“So I started experimenting and cooking for myself, veganising dishes that I liked and teaching myself how to cook. That’s what led me down this path.
“I’m not on a mission to convert people but to make vegan food tasty and accessible, and to offer a choice.”
Around 30% of Wild Root’s customers are vegan, Charlie says. The kitchen makes its dishes from scratch using plants, without meat or cheese substitutes. Its menu appeals to people looking to eat less processed food, add more plants or fibre to their diet, or simply eat more healthily.
“We appeal to a wide range of people, not just vegans,” says Charlie, a 32-year-old mum of two.
Liverpool-born Charlie says the Old Hall Street site is already proving popular, with queues forming outside before it opens.
“I’ve wanted to open in Liverpool city centre for a while and now seemed like the right time, with the energy coming back to the city after Covid,” she says.
“Especially here in Old Hall Street, it’s a chance to bring something new to an area with a lot of chain outlets and not too many independents. It’s not just a business district now, with apartments, short stays and hotels like INNSiDE by Meliá and the Radisson Blu.
“I have been surprised by just how successful we’ve been already, but it’s brilliant. We’ve even had people from Halsall coming into the city centre to say hello, which is lovely, because we’ve built that community.”
Wild Root Kitchen is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm, and Saturday to Sunday from 9am to 4pm.
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Wild Root Kitchen, 60 Old Hall Street, Liverpool, L3 9PP