Tributes paid to "inspirational" Saima Thompson of Masala Wala Cafe

01 July 2020 by
Tributes paid to "inspirational" Saima Thompson of Masala Wala Cafe

Saima Thompson, founder of Masala Wala Café in south-east London, has passed away following a battle with cancer, her family has confirmed.

In a message on Instagram, her sisters and mother Nabeela, who ran the restaurant with Saima, said that Saima had "passed away peacefully surrounded by all her loved ones" at the weekend.

"She is the centre of our universe and we are beyond devastated. She made a lasting impact on everyone she met, and compacted a lifetime of love, work and close connections with people during her 31 years. We love you forever. You are our guiding light and always will be."

Nabeela and her daughter set out to celebrate Pakistan cuisine in their Brockley restaurant, offering evolving menus that showcased "an array of intriguing flavours and ingredients" from their cultural heritage.

Saima announced her stage-four cancer diagnosis in June 2018 and documented her treatment and journey in her blog Curry and Cancer. At the time she wrote: "I wanted to show myself and others that there are other stories to be had and that there is a life before and after a terminal diagnosis no matter what age or race you are."

The restaurant remains temporarily closed.

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking