Originally published June 2021. Updated April 2026.
Iris & June has been one of Victoria's best-kept secrets since Jodie Whitelaw opened the doors in April 2014 – a neighbourhood café that's earned its reputation the old-fashioned way: brilliant coffee, food made properly, and a team that actually cares. We caught up with Jodie about how it all began.
Location: Victoria, London, UK
Owner: Jodie Whitelaw
Opened: April 2014
What did you do before you opened Iris & June?
I worked in Telco marketing. It was the typical corporate 9-5 job that paid well but left me with zero job satisfaction.
Why did you decide to open a coffee shop?
I always knew I wanted to own my own business and have always loved good food and coffee. I found myself becoming more and more interested in the process of producing good coffee – beyond just drinking it. When some close friends asked James and I to do the food for the day after their wedding in Ibiza, we thought it would be a nice thing to do for them and also good fun. A mate who is a meat broker at Smithfields sorted us out with some top quality NZ lamb, which we froze and transported over in our luggage along with everything else. I was worried about how we'd get through customs, but being Ibiza, it was a breeze. They're not really too concerned with people bringing in meat! At the wedding, quite a few people said – probably jokingly – that we should open a café, which I'd never even considered being an option. But it planted the seed.
From there I started taking steps to see if it was something I could realistically do. I started with a 10-week cooking course at Leith's Cooking School in Hammersmith, evenings after work. Then a barista course with the London School of Coffee. Dipping my toes in confirmed that coffee and food was something I could make a career out of – and more importantly, would enjoy. I left my marketing job and went and worked as a trainee barista. I learnt so much about coffee, and about running a café.
Can you pinpoint the moment the dream turned into reality?
Signing the lease and handing over all your savings makes things pretty real. It's definitely up there with the most stomach-turning things you're likely to ever do. But we were so prepared, committed, and ready to take the leap that it was also pretty exciting.
What's been the biggest challenge?
Recruitment – and it still is. The culture of the team is fundamental to success, and hiring the wrong person can be a disaster. There's a real shortage of quality hospitality staff in London, especially baristas. It feels like it's not a respected career option in the UK the way it is in New Zealand or Australia, so you tend to get people doing it to make ends meet rather than because they love it. Trying to find good people who genuinely care about the industry is so hard – yet so crucial when your entire business relies on customer service.
