How it started…
Number Twelve Mill Road has a long and storied history and is rumoured to have begun life as a fishmongers.
Originally a vegetarian restaurant, Arjuna more as we know it today first opened in 1970 and was the vision of three friends active in the fledgling vegetarian community of the time and united by a commitment to vegetarianism and shared values of cooperativism.
A macrobiotic restaurant with a small selection of healthy wholefoods for sale such as brown rice and lentils - Arjuna (a reference to a character in the Sanskrit epic The Mahabharata) quickly became a destination for those interested in following a plant-based diet or just trying to track down a hard to find ingredient - both of which still bring people through our door to this day!
The restauarnt closed in 1972 (the last customers did the washing up!) leaving the business to concentrate on catering to a growing demand for vegetarian wholefoods and local produce.
There have been ups and downs and changes, but in essence this remains our core purpose to this day and our longevity would not be possible without the loyalty of our wonderful customers and the trust they continue to put in us.
The full story of Arjuna Wholefoods preserved via our own oral history project can be found here
12 Mill Road circa 1900
Arjuna team photo 1978