Enterprising Emily Marschall bringing American culinary skills to new Londonderry cafe

Emily, the owner of the city’s Lo&Slo, a small enterprise that’s won widespread acclaim, including UK Great Taste Awards, for its range of unique American BBQ sauces that owe much to her upbringing in Philadelphia, Pennyslvania’s largest city and home of iconic Philly cheesesteak sandwich.

“Our cafe is called Sos Caifé (Coffee Break) and will open its doors this month,” Emily says. “Our menu, which we are finalising at the moment, will be original and will feature the best seasonal and local ingredients especially from artisan companies in Derry and the wider North West. There’s certainly plenty of choice from artisans here which can be enjoyed by locals and visitors,” she adds.

The centre, Emily continues, “does a marvellous job, which we are keen to support, in teaching Irish and Ulster Scots as well as renting space to the North West Academy to teach English to workers from the likes of Poland and Spain”.

Emily, who has a successful track record in street food, has also just launched a unique BBQ school within the walled garden at Brook Hall Estate and Gardens outside the city.

“It’s a four-hour class cooking local ingredients over five different types of grills,” explains Emily, a graduate of the University of Missouri. She came to Derry as a volunteer in 2005 to mentor teenagers on what she intended to be a short stint, married and stayed, becoming one of the city’s most enterprising foodies. We aim to have a different theme each month and collaborate with a different food or drink producer to showcase what they do and how it complements the menu. This month is a beer pairing with Northbound Brewery! And in June we’re featuring a vegan BBQ.”

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