As London enjoys the plethora of great coffee options now available (remember those times when it was Monmouth or nothing people - it ain't that long ago!) we need to take some time to give a nod to the people that have helped this happy state of affairs occur. In my mind, one who deserves special attention is
Fabio Ferreira - from the
first Flat Cap cart in Strutton Ground, SW1 - Fabio's coffee outlets have put a smile on my face. Typified by good service, great coffee (made with Square Mile beans) and a whole lotta class, all of Fabio's locations are great.
Notes Music & Coffee on St Martin's Lane is something really special and marked Fabio's move from cart to cafe. The follow up
Notes in Covent Garden is just as good and the other Flat Cap carts are worthy additions to the fold. I still haven't visited the Borough cart (although I plan to soon) but I was an early visitor to the Fleet St
one (thanks to my friend Gen - who alerted me to the very first Flat Cap cart as well) and I am delighted to welcome the latest, Flat Cap St Giles, which (joy of joys) happens to be directly across the road from the building my company is moving into in April. Not good news for the surrounding cafes however as it's unlikely I will feel the need to look further afield, when I have a Flat Cap cart on my doorstep - hurrah!
ADDENDUM: Alerted by a helpful commenter on this blog post, it appears I am only up with half the story and should have also given a shout out to Fabio's business partner, Rob Robinson as well. Certainly was not meaning to exclude Rob - so big up to him too. Thanks for the (continuing) service to London's caffeine-starved population. You guys rock!
Let me start off this post by talking about Strutton Ground - I discovered this cute little street market around 10 years ago. I was doing a brief stint at the most boring internet company you could think of, with offices above Victoria Station and at lunchtimes I would pound the pavement, trying to find something to brighten up my working day. Obviously this particular lunchtime I was in dire need because I walked almost the whole length of Victoria Street when suddenly to my right I noticed a cute street market. I liked the fact that you went from being in central London to being in what felt like the East End - or perhaps more accurately you went from 21st century central London (typified by Victoria Street) to 1950's central London. If you walk the length of Strutton Ground to Great Peter Street (snigger) you find yourself surrounded by lovely Peabody Trust housing estates. Keep wandering down here and turn left into Little College Street (basically the last street before Millbank and the river) and you get the most beautiful view of the Houses of Parliament. I love it around here - particularly early in the morning before the tourist hordes. Anyway I digress, this post was meant to be about the Flat Cap Coffee cart at the start of the market - this was certainly not here when I stumbled on Strutton Ground in 2000 but it is here now and it serves really decent flat whites. Grinding Square Mile beans (those guys are everywhere!) and served with a smile (as you can see from the photo) this is a little gem and brings some much needed coffee quality to SW1. I just wish they would add another cart to their collection and put it outside Victoria - something like this is much needed there amongst the "coffee" chain overload in the station building.
