Week beginning February 4th - The thrill of being busy

Buzzing, rushing, smashed, pumped. Not words to describe a night out, well of course they can be but not in this context. No, these are words to describe a busy, amazing, fun service.

Ask most hospitality people who love it and they will probably be able to say that one of the things they love most is getting smashed busy and the absolute adrenaline rush that comes with it. However, this comes with a condition.

It is only fun when everything goes well. Everything is in it's place and all flows smoothly and all the customers are having a great time and the food/coffee/drinks are all perfect and the music adds to the atmosphere and there is talking and laughing and hard hard work. There is also an unspoken communication and teamwork between the staff members who know each other so well, they work around each other, help each other, things happen without even having to ask. All your systems work, all your organisational practices are in place, the flow is flowing, it's AMAZING!!!

When I worked as a waiter and you had your own section, you could be in charge of this flow, this buzz, you would be working your floor, making tips, rushed off your feet. When I worked as a cocktail barman and a busy Friday night and again, everything is in it's place and the team is buzzing and working and everything you do and make is perfect.

Last Saturday was Australia Day and we were smashed for 7 hours straight. We opened at 8:30 am and it was a slow start but by 10 am we were full and we remained full, with a queue at some stages, all day. It was also one of those perfect days, everything went very well. Everything went smoothly.

We are lucky, we are busy most days and all of our staff love it, love the rush. Come on, bring it on they say! There is the 8:30 to 9:30am rush, the 10:30 rush, the 1 pm lunch smash and the famous 3:30 rush. This one we know to be ready for. It's part of the training. 'Be ready for 3:30'.

We are very particular about our systems and organisation and we also work very well together. A customer may order a Portuguese tart with me at the till, but one of the other floor staff will have it on a plate and in front of them before they finish their order. That's brilliant. That's also customer service.

Of course if you don't have it all in place, then when this rush comes you are ofte in big trouble, or if you do not have staff who can cope, or who are not trained properly, or ready for it, or willing. If your systems are not strong, if your back up is not good, if you do not have 'a place for everything and everything in it's place', then trouble will ensue.

Watching a busy service and the staff working it is brilliant too. I always said to potential new bar staff back in the days, go and sit at a bar, a good bar, and watch the barmen work, watch how they work together and flow. I'm pretty sure that people must watch us too. If you want to open your own cafe, do this. Go and sit and watch. But do it in good busy places and do it in quiet places. Watch and learn.

We are very lucky to be very busy most days, so we get that rush nearly every day of the week. It is tiring, but we would not swap it for anything.

It's Waitangi Day menu this week, so a few NZ influences on there including Chef Jareds favourite, cheese and marmite scones.

Please enjoy.

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
Sweet Muffins: Blueberry and bran 2.20
Savoury Muffin: Marmite and cheese scones 2.20
Lemon friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Afgan cookies 1.80

Lunch
Soup: Lambs lettuce and Elephant garlic soup 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Red peppers and courgette cooked in smoked paprika with sumac cheese, red onion and spinach
Ham with tomato, mature cheddar, rocket and pickle

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Spicy prawn salsa with brie and spinach
Grilled Haloumi with onion jam and rocket

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Slow roasted spiced lamb with parsnip, served with cous cous and black mustard yoghurt dressing
Kiwi, soft sheep's cheese, lesser celandine, walnuts with a Manuka honey and cinnamon dressing
Kumara roasted in dried and ground Kelp
Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad

Sweet corn and cured cod

Week beginning January 28th - Signals

It comes from the days of working in Banqueting at places like Marylebone Cricket Club, Battersea Park, Claridges Hotel, the livery company dinners and the pre-recession huge 5000 person Christmas parties. It also comes from working in kitchens and restaurants for the past 25 years.

It impressed me no end when I first saw the Claridges banqueting managers in action with a well drilled banqueting team and the signals they used on when to lay plates, when to clear plates, when to leave the room etc. Amazing.

That is, the method of communicating with other staff or managers from across a crowded room. Staff who have worked here before or currently work here will know what I mean as well. If you know us, you will know we get very busy and that in order to be able to provide efficient service in a busy environment, you need to be on the ball and communicating with your fellow staff members.

I will try to explain what is primarily a visual concept. Remember that as a manager, we are trying to communicate with staff who may be down the other end of the room e.g. the baristas. You do not need to call their name, just to get eye contact is enough.

1. Tap the ear and wave your hand in an upwards/downwards motion = turn the music up/down
2. Make a circular motion with your hand with your forearm in a vertical position = Clear the floor
3. Make a sweeping gesture with your hand over the other palm and then show five fingers = Clear table 5

We also use short verbal phrases to communicate
'Door please!' = Customers entered shop and need service
'Behind' = Coming past you with coffee/plates etc
'Away please' = Coffees are ready to be run to the tables

It's fairly simple. Eye contact, a recognised signal that communicates to the other person what you as the manager wants to achieve, and the job gets done. If you think about it from a high end large banqueting point of view, where the staff are really there to do a job and not be seen or heard too much, communicating in this way is essential.

So if you ever sit in and watch us in action and notice (me probably) making funny hand gestures, you will now know what they are for.

We hope you enjoy this weeks menu as much as we have putting it together and as much as 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
Sweet Muffins: Rhubarb and Custard 2.20
Savoury Muffin: Tomato, Oregano and Cheddar 2.20
Peanut and Jelly friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Afgan cookies 1.80

Lunch
Soup: Blue Cheese and Celeriac 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Pancetta, Red Pepper Pesto, Tomato, Red Onion and Rocket
Aubergine, Goats Cheese, Sweet Chilli, Thai Basil, Spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Ham, Apple Butter, Gherkin, Dijon, Gruyere, Spinach
Roasted Peppers, Red Onion, Tomatoes, Feta, Olive Tepenade, Basil and Rocket

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Chicken Roasted with Pomegranate Molasses and Red Onions served with Haloumi and Cucumber
Romanesco, Parmsan Slices, Blood Oranges Soaked in Chilli and Rosemary
Roasted Salsify with Gremolata

Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad

Puff Pastry Parsels with Pork, Fennel Seeds, Mustard Agra Potatoes

Week beginning January 21st - Australia Week

This Saturday, the 26th of January, is Australia Day. I have simply stolen the definition of Australia Day from Wikipedia and it is below, in case you are unsure or can't remember, why we have a public holiday in Australia for it and why it is such a big deal.

It is very important to us, but we do not make a massive deal of it here at Kaffeine. We are only 90% Australian owned (the other 10% is Kiwi) and our staff breakdown is 5 Aussies, 4 Kiwis, 2 Polish, 1 English, 1 Burmese, 1 Colombian and 1 Irish.

We are proud to be a cafe in London, a multicultural melting pot of cultures and people and customs and traditions. We will not have an Australian soundtrack on the playlist and we will not wear green and gold or have a flag flying, but we will be doing lamingtons and we will of course have ANZACS. 

We do expect to be very busy, it is the first time Australia Day has landed on a Saturday in Kaffeine's lifetime, so if you wish to pre-order your lamingtons or ANZACS for your own parties, please email us and if you wish to come down and help us celebrate in our own little way, we look forward to seeing you.

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

"Australia Day (previously known as Anniversary Day, Foundation Day, and ANA Day)[1] is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, the date commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and the proclamation at that time of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia (then known as New Holland).[2]

Although it was not known as Australia Day until over a century later, records of celebrations on 26 January date back to 1808, with the first official celebration of the formation of New South Wales held in 1818. It is an official public holiday in every state and territory of Australia and is marked by the presentation of the Australian of the Year Awards on Australia Day Eve, announcement of the Honours List for the Order of Australia and addresses from the Governor-General and Prime Minister. With community festivals, concerts and citizenship ceremonies the day is celebrated in large and small communities and cities around the nation. Australia Day has become the biggest annual civic event in Australia".

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
Sweet Muffins Blue Berry and Bran  2.20
Savoury Muffins Sweet Corn and Three Corner Garlic 2.20
Peanut and Jelly friands 2.20
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 1.80
Afgan cookies 1.80

Lunch
Soup Lamb and Fosters 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Blue Vein Cheese, Pears, Spinach, Pickled Onions

Smoked Salmon, Lime Cream Cheese, Cucumber, Purple Basil, Rocket

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Ham, Balsamic Glazed Apricots, Brie, Rocket

Fosters Rarebit with Mushrooms and Spinach

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Mini Cod Fish Cakes with Scurvygrass, Cucumbers, Pickled Red Chillies and Hollandaise
Kiwi, Goats Cheese, Toasted Cashew Nuts, Quinoa with a Chervil Parsley dressing
Roasted Courgettes with Wilted Sea Beet and Smokey Chilli Oil

Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad

Brown Rice and Tuna Bake with Rouille

Week beginning January 14th - Barista Championships

The planning has begun. The World Barista Championships are upon us again and the regional heats are starting in February. Just through natural selection process, we have historically employed Australians or New Zealanders in roles of barista here at Kaffeine. For this reason, we have been unable to put forward anyone for the annual competition. We were fortunate for a while, back in 2009/2010 to have Estelle Bright work for us, who is Welsh and she competed and did very well, making it through to the finals.

This year, we have two of our baristas competing. Shaun Young will be competing in the UK championships  and Blazej Stempin will be competing in the Polish Championships. The boys have already been working on their routines  they regularly watch old routines on you tube anyway, and they are in the process of selecting beans, cups and working on their signature drinks.

Over the next two months, we will be building up towards the heats and we will be having practice sessions at night where the boys will go through their routines and we will pretend to be judges, not just on their technical abilities and knowledge, but also how they present themselves and how they interact. It is an exciting time indeed.

We wish the boys all the very best of luck in their quest to not only represent their country, but to also possible be the best in the world.It is a long, involved and time consuming process and we will keep you up to date with everything as it all unfolds.

In the meantime, here is the menu for this week, we trust you will enjoy.


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
Sweet Muffins: Pear and Oat  2.20
Savoury Muffins: Blue Cheese and Celery 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
Afgan cookies 1.80

Lunch
Soup: Venison and White Bean Soup 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Slow Roasted Beef, Gherkin, Red Onion, Dijon, Gruyere, Spinach
Roasted Red Peppers, Courgette, Red Onion, with Pesto, Rocket

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Ham, Red Currant Jelly, Basil, Brie, Rocket
Tomato, Chimichurri, Mozzarella, Spinach

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Sword Fish marinated in Seville Oranges Served with Avocados, Sea Beet and Dried Figs Poached in Buckthorn Juice
Wilted Broad Bean Tops with Pomegranate, Julienne Forced Rhubarb, Blood Orange, Feta and Poppy Seeds
Roasted Turnips tossed in Lady Smock, Wild Horse Radish and Three Corner Garlic

Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad

Honey Roasted Aubergine with Yoghurt Sauce

Week beginning January 7th - The importance of looking good

One of the fabulous reasons (excuses?) that we have for closing over the Christmas period each year, is that we always have a refresh and a paint job over this time. 'Are you closing over Christmas?'. 'Yes, but we are getting the painters in'. Oh, okay, that's a good idea, and you probably need a break too'. Thank you, yes we do.

Each Christmas since we opened we have booked in the painters to help return us, or in this case, improve upon, what we have in place and what gets pretty worn and torn over the year. We booked the painter back in August, he is very, very, very, good, and he worked with three others from Boxing Day until New Years Day 9 pm to get it all finished. Anyone who has tried painting before will know it is not just about using a roller and flicking paint at each other, it is all about the preparation beforehand which takes forever and is painstakingly annoying.

But we now have a pretty much brand new shop, all white and clean with little holes filled in and  parts refreshed and doors put back on hinges properly and bathroom cabinets made and stair banister railings fixed and small dodgy sections made good again. Lots of little details that you may not see if you did not know what to look for, but which make a while lot of difference overall.

Is it important to do this? Well absolutely, at least it is for me. Looking scruffy or tired is a reflection on how you are and how you behave and act, how your staff will behave and act and how much respect others will have for you and for your business. So each year, we will continue to refresh and paint and each week we will continue to complete the long list of cleaning duties that we have to keep it all fresh and tidy and as clean as possible.

Some of our customers have noticed, others have said 'it's no different!'. Importantly for me our staff have all been excited by it and in fact they had a little competition to try to find all the small bits that had been fixed up. Now that alone is worth having the work done.

Happy new year and we are sure you will enjoy this weeks menu.

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
Sweet Muffins: Raspberry and Coconut 2.20
Savoury Muffins: Eat Your Greens Muffins (Spinach, Courgette, Herbs) 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
Afgan cookies 1.80

Lunch
Soup: Curried Sweet Potato 4.50

French retro baguettes 4.90
Aubergine, Sweet Chili, Goats Cheese, Thai Basil, Rocket
Pancetta, Glazed Apricots, Brie, Spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 5.00
Ham, Mature Cheddar, Onion Jam, Spinach
Smoked Salmon, Capers, Red Onion, Dill, Aioli, Rocket

Salads: 5.50/6.50
Apple, Alexanders, Blue Cheese and a Spicy Walnut Dressing
Hot Smoked Salmon, Sea Radish Pickled in Tarragon, Baby Spinach, Baby Potatoes and Tartare Dressing
Roasted Parsnips with Red Chilli and a fresh herb sauce

Tart: 4.00 or 7.50 with salad

Potato Soda Bread with Creamed Smoked Eel, Beetroot, Soft Boiled Quail Egg, Capers and Lady Smock.

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