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