Running Late Coffee

Running Late is a hatch style coffee shop on Hackney's Mare Street, opened in July 2024 by Tom and Sean, two coffee professionals with deep ties to Ozone Coffee. Tom was Ozone's business development manager and had watched many cafes open before starting his own, so the idea is deliberately simple: the smoothest takeaway coffee possible, poured from a small counter painted chilli red. The first espresso here was Ozone's Hodson Blend, and the benches and tables out front were repurposed from friends at Anatolia.

The shop works more like a neighbourhood club than a counter. Six weekly activities now run from the hatch, from a running club to a crochet charity project, and the team has grown from two people to six. Guest roasters take turns on daily batch filter, the baked goods come from independent local bakers, and the RL General Store vending machine sells cans of iced filter coffee that the team brew, can and label themselves. There is no indoor seating, so London Fields is the natural next stop.