If you’ve been to this place, let me know! Because they ban cellphones (for obvious reasons!!) there aren’t a lot of pictures out there. — Dan

Pictured above is a monstrosity called “nutraloaf.” It’s a meatless meatloaf that most people wouldn’t want to eat if they had a choice. It is often described as “bland,” but if so, that’s a good thing, as some versions apparently taste downright awful. Sadly, the people being served nutraloaf typically don’t have a choice in what they eat. As NPR explains, nutraloaf “it's fed day after day to inmates who throw food or, in some cases, get violent.” Nutraloaf — typically a mishmash of ground vegetables, beans, potatoes, breads, and leftovers — is designed to meet the nutritional needs of inmates, and nothing else. It’s as much of a punishment as it is a meal.

Not all prisoners in the U.S. are served nutraloaf, but the the fact that some are shows how little regard the prison system has for the dining experience for the inmates in its custody. Prison food and high cuisine simply don’t belong in the same sentence.

Unless you’re going to the Clink.

The Clink is a restaurant group based in the UK, not a prison. (The word “clink” is a euphemism for “prison,” and likely an onomatopoeic reference to the sound of a jail cell closing or chains banging against each other.) Their restaurants serve high-end fare — the one in Brixton, London, features a £48.50 gourmet menu (about $63) that features an amuse bouche, a choice of salads, a soup of the day, and entrees ranging from a chargrilled pork chop to a BBQ jerk monkfish. (You can check out the full menu, here, as a pdf.) Reservations are hard to come by but if you land one, the experience is generally worth the wait; in 2024, a reporter for Business Insider described it as “delicious and reasonably priced for London.” It has more than a thousand reviews on TripAdvisor, averaging 4.8 stars, which puts in the top 100 of all London restaurants.

But there’s a catch: The Clink is situated inside a prison. And the people making your food, serving you your meal, and bussing your dishes? They’re all prisoners.

No, they’re not being used as cheap labor. The idea, which dates back to 2009, was to lower the rate of recidivism among soon-to-be-released convicts. Prisoners who work at the Clink received credits toward NVQs, a workplace accreditation system that allows them to gain employment at a non-prison restaurant after their release. As one Member of Parliament told industry publication The Caterer, “The Clink Charity has delivered life-changing rehabilitation at HMP Brixton for over a decade, significantly reducing reoffending rates. Indeed, graduates are 64% less likely to reoffend.” The prisoners get a leg-up on their post-prison lives; diners get a unique dining experience.

Unfortunately, the program may be coming to a close. Unlike most restaurants, which simply find a landlord to rent a space to them, the Clink has to go through a government bid process to operate on the prison grounds. All but the one at Brixton has closed as a result, and, per a recent report in The Times, that one must “must submit a new bid for the contract” and “reports a few weeks ago gave a pessimistic account of its chances.”

ChatGPT is revolutionizing how we work, but most people barely scratch the surface. Subscribe to Mindstream for free and unlock 5 essential resources including templates, workflows, and expert strategies for 2025. Whether you're writing emails, analyzing data, or streamlining tasks, this bundle shows you exactly how to save hours every week.

Subscribe for Your Free Bundle

Today’s Bonus fact: In 2017, a group of inmates in the custody of the Georgia prison system were doing grounds keeping work at a local cemetery when the guard assigned to them collapsed due to the heat. He was armed, and as CBS News reported, that could have created dangerous situation: “As the officer lost consciousness, the six inmates surely could have run. They could have taken the fallen officer's pistol to aid in their escape. They could have even driven away in the work van, perhaps crossing state lines before anyone noticed.” They didn’t. Instead, they called 911 and helped the man out of his bulletproof vest so that emergency responders could begin CPR. The inmates helped save the guard’s life. They were given a pizza party as a gesture of thanks.

From the Archives: Harvard Versus Hard Knocks: Meet the prisoner-only debate team that often beats debaters from the best and the brightest universities.

Now I Know is supported by readers like you. Yes, you! Many of my readers donate a few dollars a month to help Now I Know grow and thrive. And in exchange, they get an ad-free version!

Interested in supporting Now I Know? Click here!

And thanks! — Dan