Villiers Coffee Co

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Brian Williams

Following the likes of Notes and Fernandez & Wells into the food, wine and coffee market, is Villiers Coffee Co, which opened this summer. It’s tucked away, appropriately enough, on Villiers Street, which runs alongside Charing Cross station, linking the Strand with the Embankment. Villiers, or to give it its full name, Villiers All Day Dining & Coffee Co (we’ll stick with Villiers) does what it says on the tin (or more accurately, the awning): all-day dining and (excellent) coffee. Plus wine. And cake. Which aren’t on the awning.

During the day, Villiers looks and feel like an upmarket coffee shop, with a dining room at the back. There’s breakfast (commendably served until five o’clock) with lunch from noon until five. From noon onwards, the all-day dining menu is also served. In the evening Villiers morphs into a wine bar at the front, with an atmospheric, candle-lit dining room at the back.

The coffee is from James Gourmet Coffee and, as far as I know, Villiers is the only place in London where you can get it on a regular basis.

I visited twice: in the summer for lunch, not long after Villiers opened, and again in November for dinner.

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Perky Peacock, Lendal

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Brian Williams

Back in June 2014, I made a long overdue visit to York, and, true to Coffee Spot fashion, I started with the second of the two Perky Peacocks (the one on Gillygate). It therefore struck me that I really shouldn’t leave York without visiting the original on Lendal Bridge. So, on Monday morning, on my way to the station, I called in.

Set in a medieval postern tower on the railway side of the bridge, it is perhaps the best setting for a coffee shop that I have come across in a long while. In fairness to York, though, there is another, Gatehouse Coffee, which I’ve yet to visit. This one’s set in Walmgate Bar, one of the many gates in the city walls.

Like London’s Attendant (the coffee shop inside a Victorian gents toilet), there’s always a danger that the location ends up doing the talking, in which case it becomes a gimmick. In this instance a coffee shop inside a 14^th century tower is pretty cool in anyone’s book. Fortunately for those of us who like our coffee, just as with Attendant, the coffee at the Perky Peacock is every bit as outstanding as the location!

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Ultimo Coffee, Graduate Hospital

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Brian Williams

I’ve saved the first until last, so to speak. On my trip to Philadelphia back in March, Ultimo Coffee was my first port of call, fresh off the train from Boston, whisked there by my generous host for the weekend, Greg of Coffee Guru App fame. It seems appropriate that of the nine Coffee Spots I visited (11 if you count The Franklin Fountain and Jany’s), it’s the last to be written up.

The Graduate Hospital branch on Catharine Street is the second of Philadelphia’s two Ultimos, the westernmost Coffee Spot that I visited (the original, on S 15^th Street, is a long way out of town and would easily have been the furthest south had I made it there; next time, maybe). After leaving the Amtrak Station and crossing the river, turn right and it’s a straight run down 22^nd Street to Ultimo, making it a logical place to start my coffee tour.

Ultimo serves Counter Culture coffee (with occasional guest roasters) with an emphasis on filter. Chemex is available until 11 o’clock in the morning, with V60 on the go throughout the day. There’s a choice of three single-origins, with single-origin house and guest espressos, plus decaf. There’s a range of sandwiches and cakes too.

December 2016: Ultimo now roasts all its own coffee which it serves in both its stores.

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One Shot

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Brian Williams

After my recent Manchester exploits (Cup North, Pot Kettle Black, Caffeine Magazine), I thought it high time I returned to Philadelphia, a city with many similarities to Manchester, to finish writing up the Coffee Spots from my trip back in March. So, I present, without further ado, One Shot, which was introduced to me by my host, Greg of Coffee Guru App.

To the north of the centre, One Shot is a lovely spot, best known for its food and, as a result, a very popular brunch spot. Naturally enough, Greg and I went there for Sunday brunch. It’s been serving great food and equally great coffee since 2005 and, in 2011, moved a short distance from its original location to its current premises, spread over two floors on the corner of W George and N American Streets.

A long, thin store, downstairs is dominated by the counter, while upstairs is given over to a wide range of seating options, including a lounge/library area (with its own motorbike) right at the front. There’s also seating outside. The food is varied, with numerous specials, while the main menu changes on a seasonal basis. The coffee, meanwhile, is from Stumptown.

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La Bottega Milanese, Bond Court

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Brian Williams

Bringing the best of Milanese espresso bar culture to Leeds might be one way of describing La Bottega Milanese. However you care to describe it though, there’s a distinctly modern, Italian feel to the new branch of La Bottega Milanese on Bond Court, which I was fortunate enough to visit back in June, a few weeks after it opened.

Compared to the intimate charm of, say, Laynes Espresso (before it’s expansion in 2017), or the brick-and-wood grandeur of Mrs Atha’s, La Bottega Milanese is a different kettle of fish entirely. It also doesn’t have a basement! On the other hand, few can boast a 26-seat communal table, which is clearly the pride and joy of owner, Alex, nor do they have the generous outside seating that Bond Court affords La Bottega Milanese.

La Bottega Milanese blends Italian espresso tradition with modern, third-wave roasting know-how to produce a really lovely cup of coffee courtesy of local roasters, Grumpy Mule (although La Bottega has now switched roasters to Dark Woods at the start of 2016). The food’s pretty decent too: in the morning, pastries and other breakfast goodies, replaced at lunch by sandwiches and salads, which in turn give way to cake in the afternoon. Finally, come evening, there are small plates, tapas and beer/wine. Truly a café for all occasions!

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Laynes Espresso, New Station Street

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Brian Williams

From its home on New Station Street, Laynes Espresso has long been at the forefront of speciality coffee in Leeds. Once-upon-time, there was just Laynes, then came Belgrave Hall, the (relatively short-lived) Sheaf Street Canteen and a pop-up at Leeds Dock, all of which have now closed as Laynes has consolidated, renewing its focus on the original Laynes in the process.

This used to be a small, cosy spot, with an equally cosy basement. However, Laynes underwent an expansion at the end of 2016, taking over the space to the right and knocking through both upstairs and down. The new Laynes is three times the size, transforming the upstairs into a bright, spacious coffee shop and kitchen, while the basement has lost its claustrophobic feel.

With the extra space comes an expanded menu and an increased focus on food. Building on the expertise gained first through weekend brunches at Belgrave and then Sheaf Street and various pop-ups, Laynes is as much, if not more, about food as it is about coffee. The result is an awesome all-day breakfast/brunch menu, heavy on vegetarian choices. The coffee, as ever, is from Square Mile, with Red Brick on espresso and a single-origin pour-over.

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Mrs Atha’s

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Brian Williams

On the pedestrianised Central Road, located, appropriately enough, right in the centre of Leeds, is the delightful Mrs Atha’s, perhaps one of the most complete coffee shops I’ve been to in ages. With a lovely interior, cosy little basement and small outside seating area, there’s plenty of seating options.

The coffee is provided by stalwarts Has Bean, with a house-blend, the charmingly-named “Mrs Atha’s Little Tipple”, on espresso and a single-origin on filter. There’s also a selection of single-origin filters from regularly-rotating guest roasters, quite often from Europe. Typically, I arrived the day before Mrs Atha’s new espresso machine, a Slayer no less, was due to be installed! Tea drinkers are also well catered for, with a wide selection of loose-leaf tea from Postcard Teas.

As good as the coffee (and tea) is, Mrs Atha’s is just as much about food, with a comprehensive all-day breakfast menu complimenting lunch and a selection of (very) specials, all of which are prepared in the basement kitchen. Add to that a wide range of extremely tempting cakes and you can’t really go wrong.

There is, by the way, a Mrs Atha: she’s the grandmother of the three brothers who own Mrs Atha’s.

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Bogotá Coffee

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Brian Williams

Continuing the Coffee Spot’s recent theme of finding great coffee in unusual places (Cambridge, Norwich and St Albans for example), I was recently persuaded to pay a visit to Milton Keynes. This, by the way, is quite an achievement, given that I have something of a hate-hate relationship with Milton Keynes, going back to my basketball days, when my team, the late, lamented Guildford Heat, used to slug it out with local rivals, the Milton Keynes Lions (who themselves are now the London Lions).

However, I was in the area and was determined to call in. Thus, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I found myself approaching the rather artificial and somewhat unpromising environment of “The Hub”. Despite this, I persevered and in due course I found myself in the oasis of loveliness that is Bogotá Coffee. If there is a coffee shop more out of keeping with its immediate surroundings, I have yet to visit it. Amidst the soaring glass, steel and concrete of central Milton Keynes, Bogotá Coffee is a homely spot of wood, brick and natural warmth, topped off by some cracking coffee from Cirencester’s Rave Coffee Roasters.

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Dose, Dealer de Café

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Brian Williams

Not to be confused with London’s Dose Espresso, Dose, Dealer de Café, is another Paris Coffee Spot that I’m indebted to Fancy a Cuppa? for putting me onto. It’s very useful, having advanced scouts to do the leg-work for me! Dose is on the popular Rue Mouffetard, which runs due south from near the Pantheon down towards Rue Monge and Avenue des Gobelins. It’s an area I’ve visited on many occasions, but without having the pleasure of Dose to call in on.

Dose was set up earlier this year by owners Jean-Baptiste and Grégoire (who I briefly met) and brings Brittany’s Caffè Cataldi to Paris. There’s a standard espresso menu, plus pour-over and a good selection of loose-leaf tea and hot chocolate. There’s also a limited menu of pastries, cakes (including muffins of Foxcroft & Ginger type excellence), a couple of sandwiches and a bagel of the day.

Unusually for Paris, but in keeping with Rue Mouffetard, which has an above-average number of takeaway places, Dose has a separate takeaway counter. So, in theory, you can order your coffee “à emporter” without having to go in the shop, although that would be a shame, since Dose is very lovely indeed.

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Strangers Coffee House

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Brian Williams

If I randomly picked an English city where I’d expected to find a vibrant coffee scene with one of the country’s top coffee shops, it wouldn’t be Norwich. Perhaps this is just a result of my ignorance, but tucked away in East Anglia, down the narrow streets of Norwich’s historic city centre, something very special is going on, and Strangers Coffee House is at the heart of it.

With a south-facing aspect on the broad Pottergate, the late summer sunshine was showing Strangers off to the best possible effect. However, no matter how visually pleasing it is, the real draw is the coffee, with an exclusive house-blend roasted by nearby Butterworth & Son plus two guests, one from Butterworth & Son and the other from London’s Caravan. These are rotated on a regular basis: for example, when this is published, Union Hand-roasted will be supplying the two guests, using same bean, but with the green beans prepared using two different processes, which should make for an interesting comparison.

Add to that three pour-over options (also regularly-rotated), plus loose-leaf tea (Butterworth & Son again) and decent selections of sandwiches and cake and you’re in for a treat.

September 2015: I’m delighted that Strangers Coffee House won this year’s Lunch Business Awards Best Coffee Experience. Congratulations!

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Category Archives: Sandwiches

Villiers Coffee Co

Perky Peacock, Lendal

Ultimo Coffee, Graduate Hospital

One Shot

La Bottega Milanese, Bond Court

Laynes Espresso, New Station Street

Mrs Atha’s

Bogotá Coffee

Dose, Dealer de Café

Strangers Coffee House