Vegan Delight From a London Classic.

Routemaster number 2690 was retired in March 2004 after putting in a good thirty-seven years of reliable bus service around London. But this Routemaster’s career wasn’t quite over. Three years later, in March 2007, Routemaster 2690 was back in action.

Its new occupation would grant the red, 1967, double-decker’s engine a break by summoning the bus to be stationary. But it would still serve London customers, this time emerging as a hip restaurant with an all-vegan menu, planted in a back lot of Shoreditch’s Old Truman Brewery.

It's new name: RootMaster.

“I’ve always loved Routemasters,” says Sylvia Garcia, 28, the woman who created the restaurant. “A friend of mine suggested buying a bus and selling items like umbrellas or Wellies at music festivals. But I knew I’d get bored of that because I’m not really passionate about those things. I’ve been vegan for a long time so I decided to get a bus and turn it into a restaurant.”

- Text and image by Grace Dickinson.