Week beginning December 17th - Get a hair cut

This is not a blog of complaint. Not at all. This is me just trying to give an insight into the life of a cafe/business owner. I am continually flattered by how much this happens though and how many people ask and how many people care, it is wonderful. But it also puts a kind of pressure on that I wish to convey here.

So imagine, a long while ago, you got a great haircut. Like a really, really good one. Then, every week since then, sometimes two or three times a week, sometimes two or three times a day (!), people ask you this. 'When are you getting another hair cut?'

It's like this:

• That's a wonderful haircut, are you going to get another one?
• So, when are you going to get another haircut|?
• I really like this haircut, but you should get a haircut near my place, it's a great area for haircuts
• I like your haircut so much, I want to start a chain with you and invest all my money in your haircut
• You must be ready to get a haircut then?
• Your'e so lucky, this haircut has been great for you, when are you going to get another one?
• Can you get a bigger haircut? This one is so good, you need to expand it.
• You must be really proud of your haircut.
• Can I sit down with you and learn all about your haircut?

Two, three, four, five times a week. Think about it.

So I wonder if people asked you that often about getting another haircut, would you go. 'OKAY, OKAY!! I'll get another haircut! Just stop asking me!' Damn.

But the problem is, the person who gave you that great haircut is not available, or is really hard to get in contact with. And you wonder, can I replicate that amazing haircut again? Do you just rush out and get another haircut, or do you wait, and plan, and save and plan, for the next amazing one.

So then I wonder, if when this happens to people in business, do they sometimes rush into things and open a second or third business and expand too quickly. Because so many business books I read say just that, that people get carried away and open too many too quickly and then fail.

A customer a long time ago asked if we were going to expand and I replied not yet, he said 'Good, it's much better to have a gold mine than ten holes in the ground'.

Opening a second business takes a lot of planning, systems, infrastructures, procedures, trust, valuable staff and money. Planning for Kaffeine took two years, and in recently reading Danny Meyers book 'Setting the table', he talks about taking three years from idea to fruition for one of his new businesses.

Opening a second business is so exciting, for everyone, for the staff, for the customers, for you. But for me at least, we are not rushing into it, we are waiting for our special hairdresser to be ready again. In the meantime of course we are planning and saving to go visit him, it might just take a while.

So if you are reading this, I hope it made you smile, and please keep asking about my potential new haircut, because it is exciting and flattering and I love to talk about it.

We have a special Christmas menu this week, with some lovely jams on sale including a special Fir tree jelly that Chef Jared has made, it's amazing as well as his famous Champagne and Camembert soup. Brilliant.



Please enjoy this weeks menu, because we have enjoyed making it and we will enjoy serving it to you.

Merry Christmas and see you in the New Year.

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.70
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 4.00
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.40

Porridge - Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.80
Pain au chocolat 2.40
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Chocolate, Fruit and Nut sweet muffins 2.20
Pecorino and Pine savoury muffins 2.20
Red Current friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Whoopie pies 1.80
Christmas Mince Pies 2.00

Lunch
Soup - Champagne and Camembert

French retro baguettes 4.90
Salmon Mousse, Italian Pears, Watercress, Basil
Aubergine, Goats Cheese, Sweet Chilli, Thai Basil, Spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00

Ham Roasted in Ginger Beer, Sage Butter, Parmesan, Red Onion, Rocket
Mozarella, Tomato, Basil, Aioli, Spinach

Salads 5.50/6.50
Turducken with Three Corner Garlic, Roasted Cranberries, Roasted Racine de Chervis and Bread Sauce
Blood Orange and Ruby Grapefruit, Chestnuts, Pecorino with Port and Pumperkickle Dressing, Spinach
Chantenay Carrots Roasted in Mustard Seeds and Calvados

Tart 4.00 or 7.50 with salad
Nut and Mushroom Roast with White Wine Sauce

Week beginning December 10th - What we did one night

When I started working in hospitality, one of the great training days you always looked forward to was wine tasting, especially in Hospitality College as a 20 year old from the outer suburbs whose taste for alcohol had mainly consisted of bogan Aussie beer and cask wine. Yay! Wine! In class!

The poor lecturer, trying to teach us all about the different varieties, regions, styles and of course taste and aroma. Anyone who has done this will probably remember their first time too. Lecturer 'now, what does the wine taste like?' Student ' Grapes!' (fall down laughing)

The palate over time adjusts and learns to identify with different flavours and of course in many ways the same is with coffee. But when you start off, it is also very hard to pick out all the amazing flavour profiles that a well made coffee does produce. Lecturer 'what does this coffee taste like?' Student 'Coffee!' (fall down laughing)

But when you start to get it, when that memory or taste sensation picks something out and hits you and you are like 'wow, that really tastes like strawberries!'. it's amazing.

So the other night, two of our baristas Shaun and Blazej conducted a training session to help develop our taste palates and it was one of the best training sessions we have had. It reminded me of the days when our wine lecturer brought in straw and grass and oak and tobacco to help us recognise these qualities in what we were drinking.

They made up 12 different solutions with water, which all had a different taste profile, lemons, apples, bananas, hazelnuts, cherries, chocolate etc etc. We then had a form to fill in and had to taste each solution and try to pick what the flavour was from 1 to 12, moving down the line, slurping from our spoons. Not only that, but they put food colour dye into some of the solutions, so that we might 
be tasting and thinking blue water, but it tasted of bananas. Tricky. And we all ended up with blue tinged teeth.

Some of us got up to 7 out of 12, others only got three or four, but when we found out the answers and then tasted them again, that memory recognition kicked in and you knew that's what it was.

When we finished, we also did a blind tasting of four different hot chocolates and then we did six different beers. Really very interesting taste profiling the delerium tremens from Belgium against an English lager.

I do not believe it is that totally important in the grand scheme of things to be able to pick out for example the persimmon flavour in an espresso, what is important is that it just tastes really amazing, was served efficiently and professionally and that you enjoyed the overall experience. But when you do get that flavour recognition, or your staff do, and their faces light up with enthusiasm, that is a wonderful thing indeed.

Enjoy the menu this week, because we have enjoyed making it and will enjoy serving it to you.

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.70
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 4.00
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.40

Porridge - Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.80
Pain au chocolat 2.40
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Raspberry and White Chocolate sweet muffins 2.20
Red Onion, Gruyere, Mustard and Thyme savoury muffins 2.20
Red Current friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Whoopie pies 1.80
Christmas Mince Pies 2.00

Lunch
Soup - Chicken, Ginger and Spelt 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Ham, Apple Butter, Gruyere, Gherkin, Rocket
Smoked Salmon, Lime Soft Cheese, Cucumber, Red Basil, Watercress

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Turkey, Brie, Cranberry and Orange Jelly, Spinach
Mushroom, Chestnut Stuffing, Onion Marmalade, Mature Cheddar, Rocket

Salads 5.50/6.50
Slow Roasted Beef with Black Mustard Leaf, Pear and Gorgonzola
French Yellow and Green Beans with White Wine, Tomato and Butter Sauce, Garnished with Toasted Almonds
Brussels Sprouts slowly braised in cider, with cobnuts and rosemary

Tart 4.00 or 7.50 with salad
Ginger Pastry with Baked Lemon Ricotta and Golden Saxifrage

Week beginning November 26th - Respect to those early starters

We have updated the website, (I hope you noticed), so now we have the blog section, this one, separate to the menu section, but, if you are interested, the menu will still be down below so you can have a quick look if you are tempted.

This week it's about getting up early: Respect.

When Kaffeine first opened, I used to be here around 6:30/7:00 am. Doors would open at 7:30 am and it took 30 minutes for Catherine and I to set up, and I would often do 30 minutes work before set up time.

Then, when Chef Jared went back home to renew his visa, I worked in the kitchen for seven weeks, so had to be here at 5:45 am have a quick bite of cereal and unpack all our deliveries and to be changed and ready for 6 am,

Now that we have Layla (who is almost three) I get up at 6 am and leave home at 7:15 to get her to Nursery around the corner for 8:00 am to be at work by 8:15/8:30.

But still on occasion, I go to work early if I do not have Layla, and it continuously reminds me and amazes me how many people go to work very, very early. Thousands. Our chef Jared is here at 5:30 am each day and the other chefs are here at 6:15 or earlier. But there are thousands of others who all do the same, and when you get up so early and it is cold and dark, and you leave your house all lonely, but then you get to the tube and see all these people, you feel better. Try catching the first tube on a Sunday morning at 7 am. It's packed!

And for that I say, respect. Well done to all the thousands who go to bed early, who get up early, for being punctual and for getting this amazing city ready to function each day.

If you ever are in need of inspiration, try it. Get up and go to work for 7 am or even earlier and see all the others who do it. Trust me, it's hard.

Please enjoy this weeks menu, because we have enjoyed making it and we will enjoy serving it to you.


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.50
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.70
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 4.00
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.40

Porridge - Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.80
Pain au chocolat 2.40
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Cranberry and almond sweet muffins 2.20
Garden peas, mint and feta savoury muffins 2.20
Tiramisu friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Whoopie pies 1.80
Lamingtons (Thurs/Fri/Sat only) 2.50

Lunch
Soup - Seafood chowder with 3 corner garlic 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Ham with Dijon, red onion, gruyere, spinach
Plum tomatoes with bufala mozzarella, spicy red pesto, rocket

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Italian roast ham with red onion jam, mature cheddar and spinach
Smoked salmon with lemon butter, capers, dill and rocket

Salads 5.50/6.50
January King cabbage with hot smoked salmon, carrot, onion and celery pickled with rice wine vinegar
Roasted butternut with goats cheese, coriander seed and coffee dressing
Crones with wilted broad bean tops, garlic and soy

Tart 4.00 or 7.50 with salad
Sweet potato with nutmeg cheese sauce

Week beginning November 19th - DIY

Okay, so you want to open a cafe? Excellent. Is it because you love making coffee, or love making food, or love serving customers? Is it because you want to be your own boss? Is it because you think it's a great way to make loads of money and a great sexy lifestyle?

Well here is a tip. You probably will not be making coffee, or making food, or serving customers all day every day. You will probably also take a long time to make loads of money.  And in many many cases, it is not very sexy. Because when you open a cafe, you open a business. So therefore, quite logically, you will be RUNNING A BUSINESS.

Even if it is very, very small, you will still have to do all the other things that running a business entails. Or, you will have to spend a lot of money on getting experts to do them for you. Now, I know of a very reputable place that offers a two day, how to open a cafe workshop and this is probably one of the best types of courses you could possibly do in London, facilitated by some top experts in the field. But what I also recommend you do are courses in:

How to be an electrician
How to be an accountant
How to be a plumber
How to be a leader
How to do marketing
How to do human resources
How to be a painter

In the past three weeks alone we have done all this ourselves:

• Found a leaking pipe under the floorboards that was dripping into the kitchen. But we had the get the experts in to fix this and it cost £216.
• Fixed a broken flush button on one toilet
• Fixed a broken toilet seat on another toilet
• Unblocked the sewer (twice now)
• Found the reason water was coming under our back wall so had to climb out the back to unblock a gully trap drain, down a man hole, after scaring away the nesting pigeons
• Freshened up high wear areas by re-painting them
• Installed a new lock on a door to the staff area

And that is just a small example. Imagine if we had the experts in to fix all these problems, it would have cost a fortune!

If you want to open a business, that is great, but please do be aware that is does entail a lot of other  things that you have to do as well, not just making coffee, and you need to be a little bit of an expert in everything. DIY.

Please enjoy the menu this week, because we have enjoyed putting it together and we will enjoy serving it to you.


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Porridge - Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Blueberry and bran sweet muffins 2.00
Spinach and feta savoury muffins 2.00
Poached pear friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Whoopie pies 1.70

Lunch
Soup - Shaved Brussels sprouts with pancetta, pecorino pieces and cider

French retro baguettes 4.70
Pancetta, glazed apricots, brie and rocket
Aubergine, sweet chilli, goats cheese, thai basil, spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Italian roast ham with clementine mayonnaise, roasted sweet potato and rocket
Bufala mozzarella with slow roasted tomatoes, pesto and spinach

Salads 4.90/5.90
Fried chicken with fried chicken mushrooms, cos lettuce and mushroom and tarragon dressing
Beetroot, mature cheddar and dill
Celeriac curried with mustard seeds

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Quiche with mozart potatoes, brie, spinach and truffle oil

A1 or A3 licence - An Explanation

Are you considering opening your own cafe? Do you know anything about the 'licences to trade' in the UK and the restrictions these place on a business. Have you ever wondered about the difference between a cafe and a shop or a restaurant or a pub or a showroom?

Basically it is this, or at least this is my understanding and story. The council, or government, allocate a licence to trade to each building. Here are some examples:

Class A1. Shops
Use for all or any of the following purposes—
 (a) for the retail sale of goods other than hot food,
 (b) as a post office,
 (c) for the sale of tickets or as a travel agency,
 (d) for the sale of sandwiches or other cold food for consumption off the premises,
 (e) for hairdressing,
 (f) for the direction of funerals,
 (g) for the display of goods for sale,
 (h) for the hiring out of domestic or personal goods or articles,
 (i) for the reception of goods to be washed, cleaned or repaired,
where the sale, display or service is to visiting members of the public.

Class A2. Financial and professional services
Use for the provision of —
 (a) financial services, or
 (b) professional services (other than health or medical services), or
 (c) any other services (including use as a betting office) which it is appropriate to provide in a shopping area,
where the services are provided principally to visiting members of the public.

Class A3. Food and drink
Use for the sale of food or drink for consumption on the premises or of hot food for consumption off the premises.

PART B

Class B1. Business
Use for all or any of the following purposes—
 (a) as an office other than a use within class A2 (financial and professional services),
 (b) for research and development of products or processes, or
 (c) for any industrial process,
being a use which can be carried out in any residential area without detriment to the amenity of that area by reason of noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, soot, ash, dust or grit.

So the shop for Kaffeine is an A1 licence, as are all the s...bucks, costas, prets etc and probably most other independent cafes. Being A1 means you are primarily for the sale of take away food and of course coffee or tea. But the question is, how much food can you prepare, of what type and what methods can you use to prepare it? Can you cook on site at all?

For example, can you do cooked bacon and eggs on a plate for service? Does this fit in with council guidelines? Can you actually cook on the premises at all? What about soup or porridge? We cook virtually everything, but we do not cook to order, we only 'prepare food primarily for the retail sale and we also heat food as required for consumption'.

Before opening, this was a major question for us, and luckily I had the advice of the Taylor Street baristas owners to guide me, thank goodness for them! So we started cooking on site, preparing all our food as you know it.

Then, about six months ago, we were investigated by council on whether we are breaching the license conditions because we had installed an extraction canopy in order to ventilate the kitchen and because of this they assumed we were cooking large commercial quantities.

For this I had to give them our menus, a list of all our equipment, a breakdown of our sales and the relation between take away and eat in, how many seats we have, how many customers we serve per week. It was a six page document that took ages to fill in.

They also came and visited, twice actually, and took photos, asked questions, had a good look around.

They came back to us with their decision that we were trading as per the lawful guidelines of an A1 licence, which was great news, but that we should possibly investigate having less seats. (We seat 24 people at any one time, but we serve over 600 per day).

My understanding now is that the council really do not have strict guidelines either, or that the lines are so blurred or they do not have consistency in their decisions between them, so it is a really difficult and potentially frustrating area.

At the ends of it though, we are very very happy with their decision  as we believed we were doing the right thing all along, and we hope that you are happy too, because you are 'legally' allowed to enjoy our menu this week.




Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Porridge - Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Pear, honey and oats sweet muffins 2.00
Spinach and feta savoury muffins 2.00
Melilot friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Whoopie pies 1.70

Lunch
Soup - Puha and pork

French retro baguettes 4.70
Chicken, salsa verde, brie, rocket
Courgette, gruyere, red peppers, lemon and mustard mayonnaise

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Ham, mature cheddar, cranberry jelly, red onion, rocket
Mushrooms with Welsh rarebit and spinach

Salads 4.90/5.90
Red pomolo, crab, frisee lettuce, pickled horseradish, wasabi dressing
Sauteed rape greens with honey baked tofu
Roasted root parsley

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
savoury scone with poached pear, cote hill cheese and watercress

Week beginning November 5th - Making coffee and travelling

Brilliant. A 2 week holiday with family in Australia (Melbourne), then a weeks break in Dubai on the way home. But, what do you do about coffee in the mornings and, if required, in the afternoon? We were staying at my Mum's  and also my parents' in law place and unfortunately they are not very close to any good cafes in Melbourne.

So what do we do? Simple. Take an Aeropress, a Porlex grinder, some scales and 350 grams of single origin coffee. All of this weighs less than a kilo easily, and every morning  while on holiday, we made amazing, simple filter style coffee for us and for our families. And it was so much fun!

I cannot emphasise enough how great this is and how easy. At Kaffeine we are fortunate in that our lead barista Shaun Young is the current UK Aeropress champion, so I have gleaned a few tips from him, but really once you know the recipe, then you can just play with it a bit yourself and adjust as and when required.

If you really wish to make great tasting coffee at home, or when travelling, then this is the way. If you are unsure, please come and ask as Shaun or any of our baristas will be more than happy to help.

And the good news, if you are really interested, or know someone who needs a good Christmas present, is that we offer classes on both home brewing and latte art. Held every two months, the next ones are in December, on the 5th for home brewing and on the 12th for latte art and are only £30 per person.

Making your world a better place, one coffee at a time.


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Porridge - Its back. Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Gala apple with calvados and walnuts sweet muffins 2.00
Red pepper with goats cheese and basil savoury muffins 2.00
Melilot friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Whoopie pies 1.70

Lunch
Soup - Rabbit with rape greens and tomato

French retro baguettes 4.70
Aubergine with sweet chilli, goast cheese, thai nbasil and rocket
Coppa cotta ham with dijon, red onion, gruyere, tomato and spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Roast beef with gjetost, tomato, red onion and spinach
Bufala mozzarella with tomatoes, aioli and spinach

Salads 4.90/5.90
Chorizo with panko fried cauliflower, wild chervil and lemon dressing
Pears with ewe's cheese, basil, black garlic dressing and watercress
Brown rice cooked in coconut milk served with scurvy grass and wild horseradish

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Red onion with thyme, mustard and gruyere

Week beginning October 29th - Clearing tables

So, this is not a gripe, well perhaps it's a little one, it's more of a request, to the owners who employ, the managers who manage and all-importantly, the staff who work in any part (but mainly cafes) of the hospitality industry where tables need to be cleared.

Personally for me, working in the hospitality industry is a joy, I love it, it's so exciting. Working as a waiter back in the day, where turning tables not only ensured a higher tip pot at the end of the day, but also having the pride of being quick, fast and efficient and providing your customers with not just service, but actual hospitality was such an brilliant and challenging part of the job, and part of what I enjoyed so much.

However, the cafe format prevalent in the UK where we serve from a counter and then deliver the food to the table, or allow the guests to take it themselves, as opposed to Australia for example where they have section waiters, appears to allow staff to get away with 'standing' behind the counter and not completing the basic task of clearing tables at a minimum of within two minutes of the customer finishing their food/drink. This is, quite simply, not good enough.

If you work as a section waiter, you know that clearing the tables is a simple principle of your responsibilities and if you fail at this, you fail as a waiter.

If you work as a cafe staff member, you should also know that clearing tables is a simple principle of your responsibilities.


But it breaks my heart to see, so many times, places where this does not happen. For the owners who have invested so much, to the managers who are trying to manage and the service staff who simply, it appears, do not care.

At Kaffeine, our service staff have priorities which are instilled as part of the job description.

Priority one: Serve customers
Priority two: Clear tables and provide a glass of water
Priority three: Ensure our display is appetizing, clean and beautiful
Priority four: Restock your section (cutlery,crockery etc)

With up to three service staff working at any one time, we do not have any excuse not to fulfil these priorities and we work very hard to ensure we do not fall behind, even as one of the busiest cafes in the UK. If we ever do, please feel free to tell us.

Cafes are in the Hospitality industry. In this industry, we provide hospitality and we provide service, and it is a lot, lot more than just standing behind a counter having a chat to your mates. So please, put clearing tables at the top of your priorities and not only enjoy working in your industry, have some pride in it.

Please enjoy the menu for this week, because we have enjoyed putting it together and we will then enjoy serving it and clearing it from your table.


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Porridge - Its back. Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Plum and brown sugar sweet muffins 2.00
Tomato and mustard savoury muffins 2.00
Rose Hip friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Whoopie biscuits 1.70

Lunch
Soup - Wild Boar and Alexander stew

French retro baguettes 4.70
Mushroom pate with spinach, slow roasted tomatoes and crushed peas
Pancetta, brie, grilled apricots and rocket

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Ham, cranbery sauce, mature cheddar, rocket and chestnuts
Bufala mozzarella with tomatoes, red pepper pesto and spinach

Salads 4.90/5.90
Quinoa with roasted olives, orange segments, basil, toasted cashew nuts and rocket
Vietnamese chicken noodle salad with shredded carrots and celery
Roasted Crown Prince squash with goats cheese and cucumber dressing

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Mushroom and tarragon

Week beginning October 22nd - A day in the life of a barista

An insight into a day as a barista at Kaffeine

Writing about a day in the life of a barista at Kaffeine is really quite challenging because, luckily,  no two days are the same and anything can change in ways you cannot predict. But here is a very good overview.

I wake at 5:30 am to be at the shop just before 7. Opening at 7:30 am means you have to move fast as the opening barista is responsible for setting up the entire espresso area and dialing in both our house blend and decaf grinders.

Dialing in our Robur and Anfim grinders happens at 7:15 am. This is also when we log settings like grind time, dose, extraction time, brew ratio, brewing temperature and a few tasting notes for both the Red Brick and decaf.

By 9 am we have the full six staff on, 3 baristas and 3 floor staff, as from 8:30 until 10:30 is our busiest time for coffee. Kaffeine goes through about six or eight kilos before midday and it takes everything we have to make sure each coffee meets Kaffeine’s exacting standards in product, presentation and service.

The barista pulling shots has probably one of the most challenging positions during our peak time, as a new docket can appear every almost every ten seconds. They have to monitor extraction times, dose weights and espresso mass consistently to deliver delicious espresso shot after shot. Attention to detail is everything and if a shot is not up to scratch it gets discarded.

Whoever is steaming and pouring milk is the conductor of the coffee service and needs to be communicative, energetic and assertive to make sure all the coffees get to the right people. When seven or eight people are waiting for a take away coffee, communication with other baristas, and all the waiting customers, is essential. This position needs a lot of energy and you need to be constantly monitoring the shop floor, milk temperature and texture while having moment after moment with customers as you hand over cup after cup of coffee.

The barista on dishes and pouring is in by far the hardest and most physically demanding position during a busy service. They are responsible for waiting on tables, running coffees, doing load after load after load of dishes, keeping the butchers block stocked, pouring coffees, assisting service staff when they need it and chatting with customers while they are waiting on their take away coffee. Speed and efficiency is everything in this role and dishes, pouring coffees and clearing tables quickly becomes overwhelming if you do not multitask.

Kaffeine’s standard is that no customer should wait more than four minutes after point of order. It sounds like a good bit of time, but when you consider the average extraction time for each coffee is between 28 to 30 seconds and there might be 12 to 14 coffees in front of the one just ordered meeting this waiting time requires serious skill and efficiency.

The barista on shots needs to let the barista on milk know what is coming next and the barista steaming milk needs to tell the barista on dishes what they are pouring and where it is going. We do this while always scanning the floor and taking mental notes on who is at the till, what tables need to be cleared, who needs more water and who is waiting outside for take away coffee.

All three baristas need to talk and communicate during service, not only to each other but also people waiting for a take away. A very quick ‘hello, your coffee is coming up in just a second’ takes little time and little effort and really breaks down the barriers between our customers and baristas and might lead to being asked a question that can help someone understand why their Aeropress has not been tasting right or where the current components of the Red Brick come from.

By 1:30 lunch is well and truly underway and it is busy as ever on coffee. Between 12:00 and 6:00 we can go through another six to eight kilos of coffee and add another 300 to 350 drinks to the total. The baristas on shift are consistently cleaning as they go to ensure coffee grit does not end up in your cup or, even worse, on your tongue.

Even after lunch it still does not stop. By now I will have only drunk perhaps two or three espressos, but I will have tasted over a dozen as the grind is adjusted constantly through the day and we taste and check how the coffee is performing.

By 3:30 Fitzrovia is ready for an afternoon pick me up and this is another busy period that can see dockets stretch from end to end of the counter. It’s known as the 3:30 rush, we prepare for it every day, and if you have ever been in Kaffeine at this time you will know what we mean.

At 4:00 you might be lucky as it is time to say farewell to one of our baristas. This means go time for the two remaining baristas as they now have to make consistently brilliant coffee while doing dishes, waiting tables, serving customers, topping up and rotating stock, completing any required weekly maintenance, assisting customers with choosing the right coffee for home brewing, explaining the difference between a flat white and a latte or having a quick chat about how to make a better French Press while dropping off a double espresso and discussing how we make our cold brew cascara.

Another of the baristas says goodbye at 5:00, leaving one barista, one service staff and one manager to shut the shop and leave it exactly how they would like to find it. A barista’s workload does not slow down, it actually increases. There is so much to do to get the shop set and ready for another day and it takes everything you have after a busy service to get all the equipment cleaned and the shop ready by 7:00 after closing at 6:00.

So, up at 5:30, start work at 7, get smashed all day, have two breaks of 30 minutes and 10 minutes, close at 6, finish at 7, home by 8 and the great thing is it feels like it’s only been two or three hours, not twelve.

Working at Kaffeine is non-stop but it is also a lot of fun and this is why we do it. We do it because we love coffee, and we all have a passion for quality and service. Little things like asking if someone would like another coffee while they are sitting down or running a take away brew to someone standing outside does not sound like much, but they make a big difference. Making coffee at Kaffeine is a constant challenge, but we work with great people, great equipment and some of the nicest customers going around and when all these factors add up it makes life a lot easier, especially after a coffee.

And with that we say, please enjoy the menu this week. Lamingtons on again....!! Yes....

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Pumpkin seed toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Porridge - Its back. Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Cranberry and chestnuts sweet muffins 2.00
Eat your greens (courgette, herbs and cheese) savoury muffins 2.00
Damson friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Afgan biscuits 1.70

Lunch
Soup - Tomato, pancetta and black beans

French retro baguettes 4.70
Tuna with rouille and rocket
Italian roast ham with gherkin, Dijon, red onion, gruyere and spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Roast chicken with chilli mayonnaise, tomato, brie and rocket
Bufala mozzarella with chimichurri sauce, tomatoes and spinach

Salads 4.90/5.90
Hot smoked salmon with kiwi, cucumber, rocket with rose-hip and kecap manis dressing
Brazil nuts with ewe's milk cheese, sorrel, pineapple and coriander
Cep with roasted potato and saute leeks

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Crushed peas with pennywort and elderberry

Week beginning October 15th - Back from holidays

Okay, so I'm back from holidays, but just catching up. A good blog coming up for next week I promise, all about the day in the life of a barista at Kaffeine.

I hope you all understand.

In the meantime, please enjoy the menu.

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Pumpkin seed toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Porridge - Its back. Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey. 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Baby kiwi sweet muffins 2.00
Butternut, thyme, mustard and Gruyere savoury muffins 2.00
Damson friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Afgan biscuits 1.70

Lunch
Soup - Spiced sweet potato and ginger

French retro baguettes 4.70
Mature cheddar with gherkin, tomato, Dijon, red onion and rocket
Italian roast ham with tomato, bufala mozzarella, aioli and spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Mushrooms with Welsh rarebit and spinach
Italian roast ham with brie, sweet chilli, tomato and rocket

Salads 4.90/5.90
Piccolo parsnips roasted in wild fennel seeds and smoked garlic with wood sorrel
Slow roasted beef with rainbow carrots, hazel nuts, truffle oil, watercress
Reblochon de savoie with poppy crackers, pickled figs, cranberry sauce and rocket

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Fennel gratin

Week beginning October 8th- Just the menu

Being away on holidays at this time, I am leaving the blog writing part till I get back.

I hope you all understand.

In the meantime, please enjoy the menu.

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Pumpkin seed toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Porridge - Its back. Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey. 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Blueberry muffins 2.00
Courgette and feta savoury muffins 2.00
Damson friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Afgan biscuits 1.70

Lunch
Soup
Tomato and cannelini beans with black mustard leaf and cavalo nero

French retro baguettes 4.70
Caramelised onion, parmesan, pear, roicket, oregano
Ham, apple butter, gherkin, Gruyere and spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Smoked salmon with aioli, dill, red onion, capers and spinach
Pancetta with courgettes, tomato, basil, mozzarella and rocket

Salads 4.90/5.90
Girolles with sauteed leeks, in a sherry and oregano dressing
Swordfish cooked in a warm spice mixture with kiwi salsa, rocket and sesame seeds
Wilted sea radish with curly kale, yoghurt, black garlic and lemon

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Savoury biscotti base tart with Gruyere, wild fennel seeds, pistachio and dried figs, topped with rocket, roasted crab apples, cobnuts, parmesan and honey

Week beginning October 1st - Just the menu

Being away on holidays at this time, I am leaving the blog writing part till I get back.

I hope you all understand.

In the meantime, please enjoy the menu.

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Pumpkin seed toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Porridge - Its back. Served with rhubarb and raspberry compote, chopped nuts, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey. 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Sun plum and lemon 2.00
Tomato, parsley and parmesan savoury muffins 2.00
Damson friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Afgan biscuits 1.70

Lunch

French retro baguettes 4.70
Tomato, bufala mozzarella, rocket anhd peri peri sauce
Ham, gherkin, Dijon, Gruyere, red onion and spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Rose hip sauce with ewe's blue cheese, roasted aubergines, basil and spinach
Ham with roasted pears, brie, rocket and tarragon

Salads 4.90/5.90
Black figs with black garlic and cinnamon dressing, wet walnuts, gorgonzola piccante, sorrel
Chantenay carrots roasted in soy and marsala with rowan berry marmalade
Orange and purple cauliflower with cumin and chilli butter

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Cox Apple with pork belly, cabbage and cobnuts

Week beginning September 24th - Just the menu

Being away on holidays at this time, I am leaving the blog writing part till I get back.

I hope you all understand.

In the meantime, please enjoy the menu.

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Pumpkin seed toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Nectarine and maple 2.00
Four cheese and pepper savoury muffins 2.00
Damson friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Afgan biscuits 1.70

Lunch

French retro baguettes 4.70
Chicken, apricot, brie, basil, rocket
Tuna, rouille, spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Ham, onion jam, mature cheddar, rocket
Mushrooms, Welsh rarebit, spinach

Salads 4.90/5.90
Minature pears poached inh cardamom and anise with cobnuts, gorgonzola piccante, tarragon and wood sorrel
Crab apple cheese, raisins soaked in calvados, wet walnuts, watercress with a caper and banana shallot dressing
Lamb and mallow dumplings with camargue red rice cooked in a spiced tomato sauce

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Cavalo nero with egg, chilli and potato strudel

Week beginning September 17th - Off to Australia

This week, I am off to Australia, Melbourne in particular, for a holiday with the family for two weeks, then we stop off in Dubai on the way home for our own little holiday in the sun.

Australia and the coffee scene is talked about a lot over here, how good it is, how only Australians make good coffee (not true) and also how much Australia/New Zealand has influenced the industry over here (not entirely true either).

Melbourne is where I grew up, where I began my hospitality career and yes, where I personally have taken a lot of inspiration from because of course it is what has influenced me. 

But, London is also an amazing influence and as you may know, I think it's a fantastic city for hospitality at the moment. 

I'm really looking forward to visiting the top five cafes in Melbourne, some great restaurants and also catching up with two former staff from Kaffeine who are back in Melbourne working at some of these top cafes, the legend that is Rhea and a lady who has had a lot of influence on Kaffeine, former manager Amy. 

And, I am very much looking forward to being with my wife and daughter. 

In the meantime, we will leave you with the menu for this week. Please enjoy.

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Pumpkin seed toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Blueberry and bran 2.00
Spinach and feta savoury muffins 2.00
Damson friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Melting moment biscuits 1.70

Lunch

French retro baguettes 4.70
Ham, gherkin, red onion, gruyere, Dijon, spinach
Roasted tomato and courgette, brie, basil pesto and rocket

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Pancetta, avocado, tomato, wild horseradish mayonnaise and rocket
Roasted aubergine with sweet chilli, goats cheese, thai basil and spinach

Salads 4.90/5.90
Baked rose hip berries w toasted coconut flakes, cucumber, avocado, mint and Pimms dressing
Roasted mixed English Winter Squash & conference pears with parmesan dressing
Russet apple slaw with parsley, walnuts and lemon

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Chicken and creamed corn with watercress

Week beginning September 10th - A few more post opening points

A few weeks ago I posted about the pre-opening and then the post opening of Kaffeine, which  we were able to reflect upon recently. Catherine, our former manager and lead barista and the person who helped set a lot of the standards at Kaffeine, has added a few more memories to the pot.

Catherine

When I walked into the underground store room one day to find it flooding with water as a pipe had burst under the street and water was pouring under our wall. Luckily we were able to pull up the manhole and all the water flowed straight into it. They had to come dig up the road outside to stop it leaking.

When the power box blew up as it had not been installed properly and we had to clean up in the cold and dark until EON and the electricity men came to fix it, Mrs K was at home with a migraine and baby Layla, you had to go home to look after her, then came back expecting to sleep over, in the middle of Winter. Luckily they fixed it about 11 pm. This was not fun.

When the substation blew up outside about 1 pm and left the whole street without power for five hours. 

Having to upgrade from a 2 group Synesso to a 3 group as we were getting busier and busier,and then upgrading from an Anfim grinder to a Mazzer for the same reason.

When Tim Westwood came in for the first time, and you knocked over the sugar bowl on the table because you were so excited. Knocking the sugar over then became known as 'doing a Westwood'

When a pigeon made its way into the shop (2 separate times) and you 'tried' to get rid of it.

Thanks to Catherine for these, if you are reading this and know her, or are ever in the City please pop in and say hello to her own shop, Curators Coffee. Say hello.

Please enjoy.....

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Pumpkin seed toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Green gage Plum and sea Lavender 2.00
Courgette and mature cheddar savoury muffins 2.00
Damson friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Melting moment biscuits 1.70

Lunch

French retro baguettes 4.70
Pancetta, figs, manchego, basil and spinach
Aubergine with goats cheese, sweet chilli, roasted red onion and rocket

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Chorizo, roasted courgette, red onion, wild horseradish mayonnaise and spinach
Coppa cotta ham with avocado, aioli and rocket

Salads 4.90/5.90
Mature cheddar with dandelion, rowan berry dressing, red chilli and damson plum jam
Wild cabbage with monkfish, brown shrimps, spinach and worcester apples
Grilled cauliflower and saffron

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Polenta with burnt pineapple, pancetta, blue cheese and coriander

Week beginning September 3rd - Coffee as the final course

Our lead barista James, who has just left to return to Australia, went to one of the best restaurants in the UK as a leaving gift to himself and his fiancée. Now, James is one of the best baristas and in fact one of the best hospitality people I have ever met. He has very, very high standards on service and has incredible attention to detail, a lot of which he has developed over the time he spent at Kaffeine, but also that he has developed over his own lifetime. 

He also has an amazing palate and knowledge for coffee and is very proud of coffee as a product and the potentials that coffee has in producing sensory experiences. 

At Kaffeine we all believe that, while our focus can only really be on espresso, there is absolutely no reason why any other establishment is not able to put as much effort into their coffee as they do all their other products, be it food, wine, beers, bread, cheese, decor or service, especially ones of this calibre.

This is James' account of his recent experience. We highlight it in the hope that more people will start to say, 'yes we can do great coffee too, all we have to do is make the effort.' 

If this happens, then your whole sensory experience in that establishment will finally be fulfilled.

Coffee in restaurants has puzzled me for a while. There is so much attention and detail poured into the décor, service and sourcing of interesting quality ingredients to deliver a unique and memorable dining experience, but too many places are content with serving coffee that is simply not up to standard.

Coffee is nearly always the final course and the last thing that hits your taste buds before you walk out the door and reflect on what you have spent and what you have received in return. I recently had an experience that left me with a lot of questions about how restaurants approach and appreciate the value coffee can add to a dining experience.

My fiancé and I made a booking for a restaurant a few months ago and we were both really looking forward to the lunch sitting as we had heard so many good things about it.

The experience was nothing short of exceptional. The service and attentiveness of the servers and sommeliers was exactly what we expected and probably more.

Course after course of delightful, thoughtful and impeccably executed food arrived at our table and kept us smiling all the way through. The quality service continued from start to finish and all the staff we encountered had this casual professionalism that kept us relaxed and engaged for the whole four and a half hours we were sitting at our table.

After our second last course arrived we were asked if we would like any tea or coffee to go with our final desert course and given the overwhelming sensory experience of the last 12 courses I was very tempted to see what would be done with coffee and tea.

The menu featured a very impressive selection of teas by Jing Tea and detailed what farm the tea came from, the region the farm is located and how the tea was processed. The coffee selection, however, was incredibly limited.

It was described as 100% Arabica from South America. I decided to go for a double espresso, what I usually drink, and was very unimpressed, but not really that surprised, when it was delivered. I could tell just by looking at it that the experience awaiting me was going to be unpleasant and it was.

The espresso was undrinkable. The beverage lacked body, sweetness and had a long bitter finish, and after 14 practically clean plates returned to the kitchen my double espresso was left on the table with barely a sip taken from it.

What makes this experience so surprising for me is that this all happened at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant. Heston has built his reputation and career on experimentation and combining techniques and flavours in a unique way.

I wonder how long it has been since he actually tried what he is serving as the last thing a customer experiences after his chef’s, servers and sommeliers all work so hard to meet his incredibly high standards and create a truly memorable dining experience.

One of my favourite things as a barista is trying coffee from different regions of the world and exploring the flavours and nuances of each. I would love to see one or two single origin filter coffees on Fat Duck’s menu with the origin of the coffee, name of the farm, how the coffee was processed and some tasting notes all there to tempt and intrigue diners.

It is not hard to make a large filter coffee for a table and after seeing our aperitifs being poached in liquid nitrogen at our table, surely Fat Duck has the equipment and potential to train their staff to deliver good filter coffee.

Perhaps a Chemex or Siphon made at the table to share between the guests would be a good start and a more fitting way to finish the meal than a thin and over extracted cup of espresso.

There are lots of delicious options and quite a few world class roasters in this country alone that source and produce delicious, seasonal and interesting coffee every day.

Coffee has never been seen in the same light as food, wine or tea in many culinary eyes and I really believe if restaurants like Fat Duck started paying more attention to their coffee menu the effect would trickle down over time to other establishments and change people’s perceptions on what to expect of coffee in restaurants.

I understand people do not just go to Fat Duck for a quick cup of coffee, but why should I have to drink bad coffee after 14 plates of sensational food?

We hope you enjoy the sensory experience at Kaffeine this week, our menu is below for your perusal.

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Pumpkin seed toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Turkish apricots, pumpkin seeds and yoghurt sweet muffins 2.00
Tomato, sweet cicely and goats cheese savoury muffins 2.00
Damson friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Melting moment biscuits 1.70

Lunch

French retro baguettes 4.70
Plum tomatoes, chimichurri sauce, bufala mozzarella, rocket
Ham, Dijon, red onion, gruyere, gherkin, spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Mushrooms with Welsh rarebit and spinach
Smoked salmon with red onion, aioli, spinach, dill and capers

Salads 4.90/5.90
Clove and orange roasted chicken with blood peaches, mozzarella balls, sea purslane and wild marjoram dressing
Chickweed with manchego, roasted celery, red chilli and damson plum jam
Grilled Padron peppers with sea blite

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Puff pastry parcels with pancetta, lychees and basil sauce

Week beginning August 27th - After Opening

Last week I wrote a short list of what it was like to open a coffee shop, but focussed on before opening. This time I will update a few more words on the before, but then focus on the after, especially the first six months.

In other good news, it is the end of the month, so that can only mean one thing, payday lamingtons.  Yes....

Before opening.

I have worked in hospitality all my life, now going on 25 years. However I am not a barista, but was not too bad at it back in the early days of Kaffeine.

James and Annette at Square Mile were and always have been an amazing support to us. James recommended the Synesso, helped with training, came to see the shop before opening and has continued to support us to this current day. Fantastic.

I asked James once if he thought Gwilym Davies would be open to me coming and working at Columbia road one morning. It was arranged, and I turned up at 9 am, and was put straight onto shots and worked alongside the current WBC champion for two hours. Absolutely amazing.

Gwilym has also been a great support and provider of inspiration to us. Very much appreciated.

Opening.

We soft opened on Wednesday, did not charge for anything, two of our customers who had businesses in the area insisting on paying for their coffees. It was the first five pounds in takings.

We then did Thursday and Friday with free coffees for all but pay for food. It went very well.

On the first Saturday we opened, it was just Catherine, myself and Jared. We took £240 total, £107 was in coffee.

Catherine had booked holidays to Greece, we had another barista but could not/did not want to ask him to work six days 12 hours per day. I called James, who suggested we call Ristretto, as they were not so busy. Joe at Ristretto sent us John Gordon, the 2009 UK latte art champion, who was working for him at the time.

John worked for us for a week, he is in a lot of the photos that were taken by my friend Kess and also features in the video Kess did for us.

My mate Kess, who I have known since share house and clubbing days of 96/97, came and took some photos one day. He then sent me a video he had 'thrown together'. I watched it, and got just a little bit emotional.

Cath and I would be at work at 6:30/7:00 am to open at 7:30 until close at 6 pm to finish up at 7 pm. My wife would then meet us as we closed and we would go home together, getting home about 8 pm.

Cath and I worked pretty much every hour over the next few weeks. We had another barista but he did not last long. We also had a girl doing part time, the legend that is Rhea. I had promised her full time but as we were not busy, she only got 20 hours per week to start with. Within a month, she was full time hours.

Chef Jared worked in the kitchen by himself, six days a week, for the first six weeks, until we got a part timer in.

A foodie shop next to Lantana had closed, so I went past and they had two butchers blocks they needed to get rid of. One was selling for £800, the other for free. I called Jared who came down and tried to help me carry it. We could not, so put it in the back of a black cab and took it back to the shop where Rhea scrubbed it up and it has stayed ever since.

I would catch the bus, in the dark, at 6:15 am to Bethnal Green from Hackney taking motivation from all the other businesses I saw on the way, thinking, 'if they can do it, so can I'.

I would often have moments in the mornings where the stress built up so much I would be sick before getting on the tube.

I would often go to the 24 hour Tesco at Hackney  at 5:30 am on the way to work and buy stuff to be able to make food or buy necessities.

Around the middle of October, Estelle Bright stated working for us. She had recently competed in the UK Barista championships and came sixth overall. We now had two baristas, Rhea on the floor, myself, Jared and one part time kitchen person.

I used to sit in the back area with my laptop working when it was quiet. One day we got a bit busy and I put my laptop down under our sugar station. I never saw it again.

I was working open to close six days a week, as was Catherine, about 70 hours worth.

I would get home at night and continue working on rosters, updating daily takings spreadsheets, paying suppliers.

I would automatically wake up early on a Sunday, have breakfast and a coffee, then fall asleep again on the couch at 9:30 am for two more hours.

My wife used to wake up screaming in the middle of the night with cramps in her legs from the pregnancy.

Religiously every week I update and check (and still do) our cash flow and break even analysis spreadsheets showing actuals (past) and forecast (future).

One day it was pouring with rain, and I came downstairs to find the floor flooded and all this 'water' pouring out of the man hole cover near the toilets. I lifted the cover and we had to close the shop, we had a big problem. I had to use a bucket to remove the blocked up water from the full man hole and transport it to our other manhole further down the pipeline. I then had to call any random drain cleaner on the internet to come unblock it. Luckily it stopped raining, they arrived and we unblocked it.

They gave me a quote for £4,000 to dig up and replace the pipes. I did not take them up on it.

The previous operators had not looked after the drains at all, pouring fat and such substances down over time. Over the next year or so, I became rather an expert at unblocking drains. We now have happy drains. I will now always have the drains checked before operating any other business.

Three months rent was due. I called the agent who agreed to allow me to send three postdated cheques for the months ahead, so I could manage the cash flow.

In December we had pre natal classes booked on a Saturday for four weeks.  I had to have Saturdays off. I handed over the running of the shop to Catherine who had already been doing some opens and closes. It was the first 'day off' from the shop since opening.

We closed over Christmas period. We had 'made it'.

Layla was born on her due date, January 26th, Australia day. Labour started at 2 am and finished at 7 pm. I texted Cath to say I would not be in for the next ten days.

We had £1200 in the business bank account, but the cash flow forecast looked positive.

We now employ 13 amazing staff and are regarded as one of the best cafes in the UK, which is a very big compliment. Layla is 2 and a half and I bring her in to nursery around the corner four days a week, allowing me 90 minutes with my daughter every day on transport. That's priceless.

Kaffeine is  three years old and people often ask, 'you must be happy with what you have done'. Well yes I am, but there are a lot of others out there who are doing better than me who I aspire to, plus, I will only be happy when I have retired and feel I have achieved what I want to. No, I am not happy yet. Almost, but there is still another 20 years to go. That's a long way.

I very, very much appreciate all the support from my wife, our fantastic staff, friends, family, suppliers, the Fitzrovia community, the coffee community and our many, many, many customers. Incredible. Here's to the future.

I hope you enjoy the menu this week, and I hope you've enjoyed reading. Next week we are going to talk about the experience and the coffee at the best restaurant in the UK.


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Pumpkin seed toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Blood peach sweet muffins 2.00
Red pepper, cheddar and basil savoury muffins 2.00
Buckthorn friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Melting moment biscuits 1.70

Lunch

French retro baguettes 4.70
Bufala mozzarella with peri peri sauce, tomato and rocket
Coppa cotta ham with grilled apricots, brie and spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Chorizo with roasted red peppers, roasted red onion, goats cheese and rocket
Tuna with cheese fondue and spinach

Salads 4.90/5.90
Blackberries with popcorn balls, mature cheddar, watercress, ground coriander and burnt butter dressing
Roasted sweet potato with a yellow curry sauce
Roasted jerusalem artichokes with mushrooms, rocket, tarragon dressing

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Rosti with duck, carrot puree, damson sauce

Week beginning August 20th - Reflection - Opening Kaffeine

I am asked on occasion, 'what was it like when you opened?' or 'what was it like to open a coffee shop?' So I have been thinking about those types of questions recently and how to answer them. This is my attempt, but I am going to go back in time to before opening, because it is not about the opening, it is also about the infinite amount of planning that happens prior to opening. I will keep it short and simple and then will continue the theme next week with after opening.

• My wife and I came to the UK in June 2005 and on our first weekend, wanted to find a place in London to 'go for coffee' but could not find anywhere to go.
• The only places we found in the first month were Costa/Nero, but as we had very little money, we used to share one coffee between us on our days out.
• Before finding a real job in recruitment, I worked as a waiter for 3 different agencies, earning £5.85 p/h, but worked at the Buckingham Palace garden parties, on board the Orient Express train and at the amazing Claridges Hotel.
• In June 2005 I applied and was interviewed to be the head trainer at Nero. I was unsuccessful.
• Around August 2005, I was walking down Berwick st at 8:30 am one Saturday morning, saw a shop called Flat White, ordered and consumed and then called the wife to 'come meet me as soon as possible'.
• I then used to go to Flat White and sit in the now extinct front window seats, deliberately to watch the baristas behind the machine, until one day they told me off for doing so and asked me to move.
• In April 2006, I got a job at Lord's Cricket Ground as the staffing manager for the Catering department.
• I did enjoy three and a half years there, but after about two and a half, realized that opening a cafe was a dream and an opportunity. Plus my wife said to stop talking about it and just do it.
• I used to work at home at night in writing the business plan, I read several books on the matter and went to two courses on how to write a business plan. At one course with over 150 attendees, on my table was another man who also 'wanted to open a cafe'.
• I used to go to work early, 7:30 am, and write and re-write the business plan before the other staff arrived at 8:30 am/9:00. My boss used to hear me typing away and would say 'working hard?'
• I found Square Mile coffee who at the time were doing espresso tasting nights in the roastery. I used to go along, started off being the lonely boy in the corner, until one night I got up the courage to say hello to James/Anette.
• I then got the courage to write on their feedback wall. I remember one night being the only person to say I liked one of the coffees. Awkward.
• I used to spend countless nights, poring over the fine details of my finances, trying to work out how much people would spend, how many people would come, until my wife said 'stop worrying about it!'
• I used to go into Fernandez and Wells in Beak Street at 7:30 am before work and make notes, work out my list of things to do, while taking in as much detail as possible.
• I used to ride my bike around our designated preferred areas in the summer evenings, looking for places to rent. 
• My wife who works in packaging design put together a mood folder with photos of other cafes in Australia, to try to be able to put across out intentions to the bank and our friends/family.
• I printed out hundreds and hundreds of pages on the work printer, trying to get my business plan/finances just right.
• Around September 2008, I first approached our bank, HSBC. I was put in touch with the person who turned out to give us the loan, but he did not give it until February 2009. 
• The recession had started, and they told me to come back with more money, even though I 'had the best business plan they had seen in a while'. I was hoping for 60% bank / 40% us, they wanted it to be the other way around.
• Natwest said they are not seeing anyone. No business.
• I approached two very good friends to ask if they wanted to invest and help raise the cash. One of them said yes, the other who had been affected in the recession was unable. 
• In January 2009, my wife who worked around the corner, came home and said her boss had found a site on Great Titchfield Street.
• My wife and I travelled to Brighton one weekend to meet up with the Tolleys from Taylor Street baristas, who met and went over my plans for about 30 minutes. It was an extremely valuable 30 minutes
• I once went to meet James etc at Square Mile and when they asked if I wanted a coffee I said 'yes please a flat white', then realised, when silence followed, that I probably should have asked for an espresso. Awkward again.
• We found the site in January 2009, and it was closed, but the leaseholder was still paying rent to the landlord. I contacted the landlords agent, who told me there was nothing they could do, as long as he kept paying rent.
• It took until July 2009 to get the keys
• I also asked the owner, Jorge, of Fernandez and Wells, as I planned on using the same architects as them, if he had five minutes to talk. He spent over half an hour and gave some of the most valuable advice I received. I have only just recently met him again to say thank you.
• We signed the architects and paid the deposit of about £4k, then found out we were having a baby.
• The architects came in before we got the keys/signed the lease, did the drawings and tendered for the work and one week after handover, we started building. Thanks to Jorge for the advice.
• Our very good friend and amazing designer Tony C came up with the logo/branding.
• July 2009, we had just finished the World Twenty 20 at Lord's and was about to go into the Ashes Test match.
• We invited about 15 friends around to our one bedroom flat where I cooked up and made a whole lot of menu idea items, showed them the plans, made french press coffee, played music and gave them all feedback forms.
• Our predicted opening date was August 12th. I would ride my bike down from the ground on my lunch break and come in before and after work to check on the site.
• I finished the Test match and left Lords on July 25th.
• I did not sleep for a week and had my 40th birthday on July 29th.
• I met with Taylor Street again who assured me we could have an oven on site and cook if we wanted to (at the time I still did not know this for sure).
• We did not have tables or stools until the week before opening. 
• My wife, a girl friend of hers Lara and I worked all of one weekend removing the concrete from the brick wall ourselves to save money.
• I used the cafe of Scandinavian Kitchen as my 'office' for almost two weeks. I interviewed my potential staff there, finalised all my plans, met with architects and builders. 
• I took all the successful interviewees, including Catherine who one day turned out to be lead barista and manager and our chef Jared, to Square Mile for training before opening.
• We opened on August 12th for a soft opening and invited all my wife's company down for lunch.
• We had one domestic electric cooker and one chef, two baristas, one part time floor girl and me and a little help from a good friend and a two group synesso and no glass cabinet.

There is so much more, I hope if you are planning on opening you will read this and it will help you, or, if you have already, will read it and laugh and remember what it was like.

Perhaps you will read it will sitting in Kaffeine enjoying an espresso and a friand.

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Pumpkin seed toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Blueberry and apple sweet muffins 2.00
Four cheese and black peppercorn savoury muffins 2.00
Strawberry friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Melting moment biscuits 1.70

Lunch

French retro baguettes 4.70
Aubergine with goats cheese, lime mayonnaise, rocket
Ham, apple butter, gruyere, gherkin, spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Roasted beef with red onion marmalade, aged cheddar, rocket
Mushrooms with Welsh rarebit and spinach

Salads 4.90/5.90
Aubergines with nectarines, little gems, coriander, brown sugared cod
Broccoli with oyster sauce
Beetroot, radishes, black kidney beans, cannellini beans, edamame beans, cherry tomato, red onion and roasted cashews

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Creamed corn with sweet potato

Week beginning August 13th - Second Test Lords/Third Birthday

Exciting week this week, we are back at the greatest cricket ground in the world for the second Summer Test with South Africa vs England. 30,000 people in the ground, we are busiest from 9 am to 11 am pushing out over 700 drinks in two hours, then we can relax a bit and enjoy our position overlooking the premier Veuve Cliquot outdoor dining area in the ground and make a few coffees here and there as we go into lunch service for 150 covers.

Not only is the weather amazing at the moment (what rain?), we are all on a sporting high/post Olympic glow. It's our third birthday this week too, so with an immense sense of pride, I am extremely happy and grateful that we have reached this milestone and have settled into the format that is cricket at Lords.

We held a staff training session last night on coffee cupping as well as a 'what happens if....' training session on our pride and joy the Synesso machine, held by our new lead barista Shaun and manager Claire, who recently went to Square Mile for a personal training session with James Hoffman.

The training session was a huge success, professionally conducted by the trainers James, Shaun and Claire. To have staff who have so much pride and passion for the business they work for is a wonderful wonderful feeling, I could not be more proud of them.

Happy days.



Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.30
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.50
(add 30 p for granola or yogurt)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.70
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.70
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Pumpkin seed toast 2.30
Banana bread 2.20

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.70
Pain au chocolat 2.30
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Blueberry and bran sweet muffins 2.00
Courgette, chili and basil savoury muffins 2.00
Strawberry friands 2.00
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.30
White chocolate blondies 2.30
Portuguese tarts 1.90
ANZAC cookies 1.70
Melting moment biscuits 1.70

Lunch

French retro baguettes 4.70
Bufala mozzarella with tomato, red pesto, spinach
Ham, pommery mustard, gruyere, gherkin, rocket, red onion

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.90
Roasted chicken, chili mayonnaise, avocado, brie, rocket
Tuna, capers, olives, dill, lime, aioli, spinach

Salads 4.90/5.90
Tandoori chicken, cucumber cherry tomatoes, avocados, iceberg lettuce, yogurt, dressing
Fresh green beans with soy sauce
Radicchio with pineapple, radish, brazil nuts, Gorgonzola, coriander

Tart 4.00 or 6.90 with salad
Broccoli with Parmesan fritatta