Attendant - Foley St Fitzrovia W1

When I first started this blog back in 2009 one of the main reasons was to highlight the growing London coffee scene - I would faithfully visit every new cafe and write it up.  Then as the cafes started opening thick and fast, I realised that I was falling behind - my Central London Coffee Survival Guide Map was actually looking a bit out of date.  Eek!  Anyway - I am determined to set that right, fill in the gaps over the coming months but also make sure to alert all my fellow caffeine-addicts to new openings.  Attendant in Foley St is a great example of the latter.  Cleverly taking an abandoned old Victorian public lav (I am a big fan

 of old fashioned public loos - not in a cottaging/Joe Orton sort of way but because they are often really beautiful, with amazing tiling and huge old porcelain fittings.  For fellow toilet enthusiasts, check out this blog and pay a visit to the loos at RIBA.) the Attendant crew have turned this space into a really lovely cafe.  There is a dinky little take away hatch as soon as you enter, a communal table at the back and round the edges some rather wonderful seats in the old porcelain urinals!  I can only imagine how much disinfecting and bleaching must have gone on to clear a century of pong but the result is unique and super cool.  The

 doorway with the "Attendant" sign still on it is a nod to the naming inspiration and importantly the coffees are top notch.  Brewing Caravan beans and using wonderful creamy Somerset milk, I really loved my flat white.  Gail's hot cross buns were on offer as well as other tasty looking treats.  This is a really fantastic cafe, in a quirky and well designed space, serving excellent caffeinated beverages and yummy food - what's not to love?  I for one will be back - readers of this blog will know how much I love Fitzrovia and Attendant is just another great reason to visit this corner of London.

Aperture - Rathbone Place W1

Ah Fitzrovia, my beloved Fitzrovia - one of my favourite London neighbourhoods and luckily also where I work, so I get to hang out there at least 5 days a week.  I used to think of Rathbone Place as my quickest route from Charlotte Street and also as the location of the Jerusalem bar which was a bit of a dot-com/Millennium hangout.  The huge Royal Mail delivery & distribution centre dominates the western side of the street - but not for long as Royal Mail has sold it off and the last I heard it was going to be a major development called Newman Place (as the building runs through to Newman St).  Over the last couple of years Rathbone Place has definitely poshed up - but in a good way.  Tapped & Packed brought top quality caffeinated beverages in April 2010 and since then we have seen the opening of  a Lazarides gallery, Byron Burgers (in the old Black Horse pub) and East Street, a vast pan Asian eatery (which I must say is a tad style over substance).  Whilst some may see the last two openings as a sign that Rathbone Place is getting bland and chainy - be heartened by the opening this week of the second Aperture shop - what a gem.  Selling beautiful old cameras (lots of Leicas that I covet like anything) and developing film, this beautifully set out and peaceful shop also has a charming tea area at the back where you can discuss white balance and focal length with your fellow camera-geeks.  The original shop is in Museum St (in my other equal favourite London area, Bloomsbury) and I love the fact that such a unique, specialised shop has chosen to open an outpost in Fitzrovia.  If you are in the market for a classic camera, or you want some film developed or indeed if you just want to relax over a cuppa - be sure to go and visit Aperture.

T J Boulting Building - Riding House St W1W

I may have mentioned before how much I love Fitzrovia... but just in case you missed it, I LOVE Fitzrovia, in fact I love a whole swathe of London that stretches from Fitzrovia east through Bloomsbury and Holborn to Clerkenwell and Farringdon.  I have lots of love for lots of bits of London but it is these parts that have really captured my heart.  I long for a big Georgian house near Fitzroy Square, or perhaps within walking distance of Lambs Conduit Street.  I just love the tranquility you get walking around the streets of Fitzrovia, compared to what you would experience a few hundred metres away in Oxford Street or Tottenham Court Road.  As well as some great pubs, excellent cafes (think Kaffeine, Tapped & Packed, Lantana...) there are some lovely buildings and one of my favourites is the old T J Boulting building on the corner of Riding House Street and Nassau Street. Whilst the plaque dates the company (who were gas & electrical engineers and in later years made stoves and range cookers) to 1808 the building is actually from around 100 years later and has fantastic mosaic lettering on the corners and sides.  When I walked past the other day there was construction going on inside - I really hope whoever is moving in here and refurbishing it is sensitive to what a gem this is.

Riding House Cafe - W1

I have a new favourite place - the Riding House Cafe on the corner of Great Titchfield Street (home to my faves Kaffeine and Scandi Kitchen) and surprise, surprise Riding House Street.  It's a big old place (the photo doesn't do it justice) and I seem to remember it being some sort of run of the mill cafe/restaurant before - but perhaps not the whole space.  I went there once for a work lunch for a job I had briefly many years ago at a really crappy TV company.  Anyway I digress - whatever was there before, the entire block is now the wonderful Riding House Cafe and you just have to go!  The decor is brilliant - I do love a Frenchy, New Yorky, quirky brasserie feel and this place has it down pat - great wooden panelling, really cool lighting (including some fantastic wall lights that incorporate stuffed squirrels), a fantastic bar that just begs to be sat at for long cocktail-soaked evenings and wonderful leather banquette seating.  And the food - well my friends, prepare to be delighted - the other half and I shared a selection of small dishes that were all delicious, try this on for size - beetroot carpaccio with sheep's ricotta and a merlot vinaigrette; chicory with pear, radish and gorgonzola; goats curd, figs and honey; veal & pork sausage with lentils, mustard & sage; sea bass ceviche with lime & chili; and a lovely fresh chopped salad with avocado and palm hearts.  And it all tasted as good as it sounds.  Plus we finished off with a really top notch flat white.  This is the latest opening from the team behind Village East and The Garrison in wonderful Bermondsey so they know what they're doing.  I can't wait to get back here and have breakfast (I'm thinking I will make it a weekly thing given how close this is to my office), eat many more lunches and dinners, settle in for evening cocktail sessions and hang out at the aforementioned bar and just generally make this place my local.  Hip hip hooray for the Riding House Cafe.

3 Little Pigs at Black Truffle - Warren St W1

Warren St is a funny one - kind of at the arse end of Fitzrovia, best know for a particularly unlovely tube station, but just round the corner from the oh so lovely Fitzroy Square.  There are also some funky shops around here and Black Truffle is definitely one of them.  After starting in Broadway Market, these guys opened their Warren St outpost, selling shoes, bags and other stuff.  More interesting to me is that they are now serving coffee from a dinky little concession just inside the shop - called 3 Little Pigs, they use Nude Espresso beans and the flat white I had there today was really good.  Not super fancy in terms of latte art, but a nice strong drink with well steamed milk.  Plus they serve piccolos, which is always a plus in my book.  So if you are languishing in the coffee wasteland of north Fitzrovia ("NoFo"?) then pay the 3 Little Pigs a visit.

Scandinavian Kitchen - W1

I had walked past the Scandinavian Kitchen on Great Titchfield St many times (often after having an excellent flat white at Kaffeine) and wondered what it was like.  Well, yesterday I went there for lunch and found out - and the verdict?  Me likee.  I have to admit I am a bit of a fan of the Scandi - love Scandi design, love the countries themselves (Copenhagen is right up there as one of my favourite cities) and love the whole ethos (or at least my perhaps naive assumption of what that is).  Anyway, my first impressions of the Scandi Kitchen were good - yummy looking food on display, plus a sort of mini Scandi supermarket going on, with all sorts of tasty looking products, rye crispbreads, chocolate, pickled herrings, roe, squeeze bottles of funky mayonnaise etc.  I am a sucker for foreign sweets - preferably with weird, retro looking wrappers and there were plenty on offer here, however I am trying to seriously reduce my chocolate/sugar intake so I just looked.  When it's time for a binge though I will be back!  The deal for lunch is that you can choose either 3 (£5.75) or 5 (£8.25) items from the smorgasbord - it was a little bare when I got there (must have been rush hour) and I noticed several other tasty treats as I left so I will need to return to try some of the things I missed.  Having said that I had three really great dishes - a carrot, red cabbage, sultana & citrus dressed salad, "pizzasalad" of white cabbage with an oregano vinaigrette and some rare roast beef on dark rye bread with crispy onions & horseradish.  It felt quite healthy but was also full of flavour.  The tables were a little crowded together - this place is obviously popular so they are trying to cram in as many punters as possible.  Overall I really liked this place and it slots neatly into my rose-tinted view of all things Scandi.

Lantana Take-Away - Charlotte Place W1

You can never have too much Lantana as far as I'm concerned, so I was very happy to see the new Lantana take-away shop is open, next door to the existing cafe.  One of the issues with Lantana was the space - it got so crowded in there during peak times and sometimes the take-away coffees took a while to be made.  Solution: open a new take-away outfit next door to free up the cafe for eat-ins.  Genius.  The new take-away shop is clean and simple - offering a selection of cakes and yummy stuff to go with the consistently good coffee.  I had some delicious toasted banana bread today - I used to hate anything with banana in it, even though I liked bananas...not sure why but banana cake, banoffie pie, Barney Banana ice-creams (any Aussies reading this will know what these are) all made me want to barf, then suddenly a few years ago it was all OK and thank God for that because now I can enjoy the joy that is toasted banana bread.  Still no word on where the previous occupant of this space, Viet Baguette has gone - if anyone knows, please let me know. 

Tapped & Packed - Rathbone Place W1

So this place has only been open for 2 weeks and walking past all you see is a big "No. 26" on the outside - however I think it is called Tapped & Packed and there is a website, Facebook page and Twitter feed (see here)  and a blog which is so 2010.  Anyway whatever this place is called, I love it and it is within spitting distance of where I work so I am one happy bunny today.  I had an exemplary flat white, made with Climpson & Sons beans and also had a mighty fine bircher muesli-like concoction (although I shouldn't have added honey, it was sweet enough without).  They are also brewing single origin coffees with the added (and unique for London I think) feature of being able to choose the brewing method - filter, cafetiere, siphon or aeropress (the siphon is so cool - like a chemistry experiment).  They also use some Square Mile beans so the variety if fantastic.  The food options are limited for now but are all really good - a selection of pre-packaged sandwiches and salads (but good quality) for lunch and some tasty looking cakes.  So go and check these guys out - they are super new and they are just the sort of place that we all should be supporting.  Down with the chain stores - long live the indies!

Newman Passage W1

With a name that never fails to raise a snigger (as does Percy Passage nearby), Newman Passage is one of those cute hidden shortcuts that you only know if you either live or work locally.  For those in the know, it is a really handy way to cut through to Charlotte Street if you are coming from the western end of Oxford Street.  I also take it by choice, just because I get a kick out of walking down cobbled alleys, passages if you will...snigger.  Anyway - double entendres aside Newman Passage reminds me of Dickensian London plus a touch of Jack the Ripper when you find yourself alone there after dark (snigger).  It also has the benefit of having the Newman Arms upstairs Pie Room at one end of it - which is the perfect place to chase away the winter blues with a hearty pie and a pint of something.  This also used to be the site of the London College of Massage where you could get a cheap massage (snigger) but one day they just weren't there anymore - in fact if anyone knows where they moved to please let me know because I can't find them online and I miss those cheap massages (snigger...snort...).  Newman Passage also reminds me of my friend Matt who had to get a photo done for an article that someone was writing about him so asked me to be photographer for the day.  We chose Newman Passage for the shots and used his Lomo camera.  I totally got into the David Hemmings Blow Up vibe and the photos actually turned out OK.   Sniggers aside, I imagine all sorts of mischief has gone on here - particularly when Fitzrovia was populated by anarchists and drunks.  So next time you're wandering aimlessly around this area take a stroll down Newman Passage and when you emerge into Newman Street take a sharp left and proceed directly to Lantana for brilliant coffee, fantastic cakes and London's best breakfast.

Lantana - Charlotte Place W1

I have had many great take away coffees from Lantana (love that name) but had never "eaten in" - I think mainly because every time I'd been in there the lunchtime rush was on and there were no seats. I had read really good things on other blogs and I kinda felt like I was missing something - the place was funky, the take away coffee was good and the cakes looked nice but I didn't get the vibe I get from say Milk Bar. That has now all changed - I'm a fully paid up member of the Lantana fan club. The secret to loving this place is to eat here and spend some time here - I loved everything about it. The atmosphere here is great - particularly if you grab an early lunch and beat the crowds; the service was really good and the women working here reminded me of friends in Melbourne who I miss; the coffee was top notch (I had a flat white and a macchiato); and the food - SO good. I would go so far as to say that at Lantana, I had one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten - big call I know but their "Bert" sandwich with bacon, rocket, fried egg, tomato and aioli on delicious toasted bread is everything a sandwich should be. The crunch of the bread, the salty bacon, a perfectly just runny-enough egg, the freshness of the rocket and tomato and the creamy aioli (man I love aioli) were a perfect combo. Next time I am hung-over I am definitely turning to Bert. The cake selection is good too - the brownies looked great (I abstained) and they have a selection of "friands" - which will raise a chuckle from certain quarters, as I have been known to rant on about these innocuous yet delicious cakes. I had never heard of them before I moved to the UK 10 years ago and then suddenly about 3 or 4 years ago it seemed like everyone back in Australia was talking about them and it drove me nuts - "what the f*ck is a friand?" I moaned and why is everyone so obsessed with them. The answer is they are very like financiers or madeleines ("and what the f*ck are they?" I hear you ask).  Friands are made with ground almonds and come in a variety of flavours. They seem to go perfectly with strong, well made coffee. So there you have it - Lantana has won me over so much I am even discoursing on bloody friands. Anyway make sure you check this place out - it is on Charlotte Place, which I think has to be one of these most charming laneways/streets in central London.