Taking Liberties with a new cafe: ‘The locals refer to it as Leg It’

Meath Street is one of the last bastions of real Dublin where it's possible to buy everything from pork tongues to knock-off handbags in one short stroll.

In the heart of The Liberties, the street is alive with traders, especially on Thursdays to Saturdays when the Liberty Market is in full swing.

Frenchman Damien Vossion decided to open his Legit cafe – a cool industrial-vibe eaterie – on the street due to its great character: "I had been looking in Phibsborough – where we [he and his partner Jamaycon Oliveria Figueirdo] live, but there was nothing to rent.

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Legit cafe: The central counter with a walnut top has a polished concrete base in military green

“I just love the atmosphere on Meath Street – it reminds me of what Moore Street was a decade ago,” says Vossion.

Having trained at a cookery school in Orléans, Vossion arrived in Ireland over a decade ago.

He worked in customer service for various IT companies before realising his dream of opening a cafe: “My passions are design and baking and this was a way of combining both.”

Vossion transformed the former butcher shop at 1 Meath Mart on a limited budget.

“The name Legit derives from the word legitimate but funnily enough the locals on the street refer to it as Leg It,” says Vossion of the street traders who, with NCAD students and young professionals from the nearby Guinness Enterprise Centre, form his clientele.

“I didn’t really have a budget but didn’t have a huge amount to spend either. I wanted a bare industrial style and, besides the shop front, some plumbing and wiring, I did everything myself.”

Interesting shapes

The tables at the front of the cafe were made from Ikea Knuff wooden folders, which Vossion stuck on stools, and cost €52 each.

“They can be made into interesting shapes and I now have people coming in placing orders for the tables,” he says.

The central counter with a walnut top has a polished concrete base in military green.

“This effect is really popular in France, but I could not find the product here so I imported it. It is very simple to use – more like a paint on plaster.”

Lighting throughout comes from Ikea and Vossion created a cluster of low-voltage industrial pendants stuck on plywood to add interest over a large cork table – also from Ikea.

Reclaimed wood-effect floors are from B&Q, as are the sticker tiles which Vossion used as a floor panel and splashback.

Walls are decorated with a mixture of chalk painted panels, an antler head painted by friend Jo Jo Niec and a vast canvas depicting logs – which Vossion made from Ikea material on plywood.

Formidable task

All of the equipment in the cafe is domestic grade with the exception of a second-hand industrial coffee maker.

“We spent money on a new coffee grinder though, as the way the beans are ground is the most important element in making coffee,” he says.

Current offerings in the cafe are open sandwiches and pastries – galettes, madeleines and other cakes – which are baked on site in the small hours ready for the cafe’s 7.30am opening.

The plan for the future of Legit is to install a small industrial kitchen, where Vossion hopes to offer a wider selection of meals with some French and Brazilian influences – his partner Jamaycon is Brazilian and is the catering manager for KC Peaches in Dublin.

The spend for the fit-out of the cafe, which can accommodate 30, was €26,000 – and that includes all fixtures, fittings and equipment.

While it was a formidable task, Vossion shows exactly what can be achieved with a creative eye on a limited budget.

The plan for the new kitchen is reliant on the success of the cafe. Within two months of opening Legit, Vossion looks well on his way to his dream of serving bowls of piping hot French onion soup to the locals on Meath Street.

Legit, 1 Meath Mart, Meath Street, Dublin 8