in 1896 a new building in the arts and crafts style was erected in corporation street to house james henry cook's vegetarian restaurant, one of the first in england. in 1898, 'the pitman vegetarian hotel', named after the famous vegetarian sir isaac pitman, was opened on the same site, and the proprietors subsequently opened a long-running health food store. it is said that mahatma gandhi dined at the restaurant when he visited birmingham on 18 october 1931.