The Gate in Islington, is the first restaurant in the UK to receive the National Autistic Society’s Autism Friendly Award.
The popular vegetarian restaurant, which has just celebrated its fourth birthday, was presented with the prestigious award at a ceremony this week.
The Gate received the award in recognition of the considerable efforts their team have made to ensure that autistic people and their families feel welcome, enjoy their visit and are encouraged to return.
All staff have had autism training and the restaurant offers an online ‘visual story’ which enables autistic diners to familiarise themselves with the building and plan their visit in advance.
The Gate was also commended for their active support of north London autism charity Ambitious About Autism. Staff involvement included, visiting students in the charity’s school to help them develop their cooking skills, including introducing them to the tricky art of making fresh pasta.
Mark Lever, the National Autistic Society’s Chief Executive, said: “We really are delighted to have presented our Autism Friendly Award to a restaurant that’s gone the extra mile to help autistic people and their families enjoy dining out.
“A visit to a restaurant should be pleasurable, an experience to share with friends or family, but for many people affected by autism this is just not the case. Our recent survey revealed that 50% of autistic people and families sometimes don’t go out because they’re worried how the public will react to their autism. Restaurants feature in the list of the top five places autistic people would love to visit, if the venues and staff were more knowledgeable and accommodating.
“The Gate and its staff are not just making a difference to autistic people in their local community, they are also leading the way in terms of reducing social isolation and helping to open up the social world in the UK for the thousands of others. We hope that many more restaurants will follow their fantastic example.”
Michael Daniel, Founder & Owner of The Gate Restaurants, said: “We’ve always wanted to do charity work but not just simply raise funds. Like everything we do, it needs to be driven by passion and creativity. Because I struggled with formal education myself and I know what it’s like to not fit in, this was a source of inspiration for me to help other children.
“Making it easier for autistic people and their family or carers to come to a non-judgemental environment is just the first step. We are so incredibly proud that in our twenty-eighth year of being in the restaurant business in general, and celebrating the fourth birthday of our Islington branch in particular, we are the first accredited autism friendly restaurant in the UK.
This is just one of the greatest achievements of my life to date. We look forward to building on this very significant milestone as we look to open our third site very soon.”
Mark Linehan, Managing Director of the Sustainable Restaurant Association, said: “As well as serving delicious, well sourced food, restaurants have a huge role to play as a community hub. By making itself as welcoming and accommodating as possible for all diners, The Gate is fulfilling that role exceptionally well and the whole team should be congratulated for leading the way in providing autistic people with a dining destination in which they know they can feel welcome and relaxed. It’s a further demonstration of why we awarded The Gate a Three Star Food Made Good rating. We will be encouraging restaurants across the country to follow their lead.”
