A Smart Box Sandwich

Spianata have classy boxes for their Roman flat bread sandwiches

The Best Brownies in London

Paul A Young has a flagship 'chocolaterie' in Wardour Street where he sells his £3.75 chocolate brownies - Time Out rates them the best in London. Tasted good!

Beetroot, Apple & Ginger

EAT's new summer drink - Beetroot, Apple & Ginger. The competition amongst the chains drives real innovation.

Puzzle Cake

Chocolate and Vanilla Puzzle Cake by Ion Patisserie at their Exmouth Market street stall.

I have never met Georgeta Decuseara, the owner and have no shares in the company but they may be worth watching out for.
Contact 07749 475478.

Cheesecake in filo pastry

Babies Welcome

It's really not that difficult to woo the mother & baby market - a table plus microwave to heat the bottled milk plus a large sign to show how much you care. Disposable bibs and spoons are a nice touch from Welcome Break.

In Your Face Drinks

PAUL don't have multideck chiller units where customers can serve themselves - it presumably allows more counter display space for their great patisserie. How do you keep cold drink sales up? 'Buy with your eyes' rack of their main cold drink selection at eye level.

Tea Pot Spouts & Strainers

St John Bread & Wine in Spitalfields has some interesting tea strainers inserted in their tea pot spouts. They work.



Their eccles cakes, made fresh every day, are still the best going.

Butter like Home

No measly, hard-to-open, wasteful, plastic butter pats.




No pretentious curls or fancy French portions here.  Conran just gets it right time after time.  He truly is a caff (and restaurant) hero.  At the Albion Caff where we almost always start our London Cafe Tours.

Sponge Cake

Byfords in Holt, North Norfolk have such a following with their cafe and deli that they have set up their own branded range of cakes - SPONGE.

Love it.
The modern packaging and old-fashioned signage are tops.

Ottolenghi's salad display - as good as their pastry presentation. Big, bold platters of glistening innovative salads at differing heights just selling themselves. Buy his books to get inspiration. Our clients are increasingly doing so and saying Ottolenghi is their benchmark. We agree.

Book and Cake

The London Review Cake Shop in Holborn is "connected to the bookshop by a passage in the History section".

No kitchen but good presentation of bought-in, made-for-them cakes.

Mini Cakes

Starbucks yet again leading the big guys cake innovation stakes with a range of three mini cakes as part of their Petites range.

See http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-mini.html
and
http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2011/04/lolly-cake.html

Tea Deals on the Motorway

The cynical might say it indicates the profit margin on flavoured water and flour but at least the motorway operators are reflecting customers love for a deal - even at teatime. Plus we note that the scones are baked fresh every day. Quality plus a deal?!

Cafe, Deli (& Posh B&B)

Byfords at Holt in north Norfolk - brilliant. You enter the cafe through the deli where pasties and pastries are being made. The 'Take & Bake' unit is right to hand. Their tag line of "A Higgledy-Piggledy World of Pleasure" is spot on.

Toasters on the Table - Part 2

Bishopsgate Kitchen by Benugo and customers were making their own toast.

See http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2011/07/toasters-on-table.html

Life by Chocolate Mousse

"Belgian Chocolate Mousse with a hint of orange blossom water and a shot of espresso.  A low GI pick-me-up".   Amazing how you can up the ante with such a humble dessert.  Good for Leon.

Great Cafes Food Heroes

 

Really great fresh food at The Old Smithy Cafe tucked away in Beeley in the Peak District - just down the road from Chatsworth.  The trays of cooling bakery items greet you at the door and the food is worth the wait.  Smoked haddock rarebit, cake still warm from the oven and a stupendous take-away steak pie.  The owners - Neil & Sue Chatterton - deserve a medal.

Shake it ...... in the Chiller

Pod's clever idea to market real fruit shakes from the chiller cabinet. See the juice and fruit, take to the counter and a guaranteed freshly made shake is yours. It's this type of innovation that is getting Pod many fans - one to watch.

Six Sorts of Scones

1. Cheddar, Sage & Onion Scone
2. Blue Cheese, Walnut & Sultana Scone
3. Plain
4. Cherry & Dark Chocolate
5. Sultana
6. Strawberry & White Chocolate

Gail's is good, nay excellent.

Organic Ice Cream-on-Sea

Pete's organic ice cream van at Wells-next-the-Sea has taken some inspiration from a certain smoothie company to make its mark.

In the British Museum courtyard it is the genuinely vintage ice cream van that takes the money.

Not Lemonade

Leon's variation on lemonade - Strawberryade. Simple, seasonal, well marketed and just a great idea.

Window Shopping for Pastries

Napket in Piccadilly

 Sweet in Exmouth Market

Hummingbird Bakery in Wardour Street

and not a chiller or plastic dome in sight.  Bravo.

Retro Table Setting

Let's start with the tables (at Bishopsgate Kitchen) - made of off cuts and deliberately not finished.


Glass mugs, not fancy glasses.

Kitchen cloths; not serviettes








Bone handled knives - the ones we all threw away as they looked old and couldn't cope with the dishwasher

Lampshade of Ingredients

Leon has large tins of gherkins on display and some empty ones hanging upside down - inexpensive and fun.

Great Simple Display

Konditor & Cook's Almond St. Clement Cakes - beautifully presented.

Make Believe Baking

The conspicuous Anolon muffin tins (endorsed by Raymond Blanc, no less) used by Costa to display their muffins are great theatre and suggest on-site baking.

I cannot decide whether it's inspired display or a suggestive con.

How the world has changed .......for the better

Remember when we always used matches to publicise our bars and restaurants.  Now it's book seeds, not book matches.  Plants, not ciggies.  

Benugo's Bishopsgate Kitchen " We don't take bookings, but we do like herbs" book of parsley, thyme, basil & sage seeds.

Jelly & Cherries

EAT's pots of summer jelly (berry and elderflower) and British bags of cherries - seasonal, fresh, healthy and different.

Guilt Free Coffee

Costa are offering a less than 80 calorie coffee - "All the Love; Less of the Handles".

The milky, foamy coffee uses skimmed milk, less than a full shot of coffee and is offered with sugar-free syrup.

Not much taste as far as I was concerned but less calories has its appeal.

Food Storage as Styling

 Benugo's Bishopsgate Kitchen is in the design style of Bill's Produce Store, Carluccios, Albion Caff and Jamies Italian - the food does the talking/styling.

Almost all storage is out front - you just keep the unbranded items out back.

Sit Back at Spianata & Co

Decorative external seating at Spianata & Co in Spitalfields