Potter & Reid

A cup of filter coffee on the window-bar of Potter & Reid, with the sky reflected in the surface of the coffee.Now that London is no longer on my doorstep, I don’t visit as often as I once did, so when I was passing through two weeks ago, I took the opportunity to head to Spitalfields in East London to catch up with a familiar name in a new setting. Potter & Reid occupies two rooms on the west side of Toynbee Street. You’ll find the counter and a limited amount of seating on the right-hand side, while the bulk of the seating is to the left, along with a bench and tables on the pavement outside.

Although the coffee shop is new, having opened at the start of last year, the names Potter & Reid are familiar to the London coffee scene, the pair having met in the Allpress café around the corner on Redchurch Street in 2010. Unsurprisingly, you’ll find the ubiquitous Allpress blend at the heart of the espresso menu, backed up by a guest roaster on batch-brew filter. There’s a strong retail offering, featuring a pair of guest roasters, and, unusually, there’s also wine/beer on the menu. Meanwhile, if you’re hungry, there are separate breakfast/lunch menus from chef Eleni Thoma, along with a range of cakes and pastries.

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Sarah’s Leytonstone

An espresso extracting into a glass from a Rancilio Silvia espresso machine at Sarah's Leytonstone.Sarah’s Leytonstone is brought to you by the eponymous Sarah, who runs B-Tempted, the gluten-free bakers whose cakes you’ll find in various places as diverse as coffee shop chain, Notes, health food supermarket, Whole Foods Market, and supermarket, Morrisons (you can also buy cakes direct from Sarah via B-Tempted’s webshop). Sarah’s Leytonstone is Sarah’s latest venture, serving coffee, cakes and good cheer from the front of the railway arch that houses the B-Tempted bakery.

The set-up (for now) is a relatively simple. There’s a pair of tables on the quiet side street in front of the arch, while inside is a neat counter with the espresso machine, till, cakes and, of course, Sarah herself. For the moment, the coffee is from Perky Blenders, with a standard espresso-based menu, plus batch brew. However, things are evolving all the time, with plans for some indoor seating once COVID-19 restrictions allow, plus an expanded offering.

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Gray

An espresso, made with Workshop's Snap single-origin espresso, served in a glass at Gray in Leytonstone.Gray is one of those chance discoveries that I delight in. I was on my way from Stratford to Sarah’s Leytonstone and very nearly took the bus. However, at the last minute I decided to walk, and while strolling along the High Road through Leytonstone, I passed a coffee shop that caused me to do a double-take (the A-board actually caught my eye). So I backed up, took a closer look, and then decided to go in.

Gray describes itself as a family-run coffee shop, selling food, furniture and homewares. It instantly reminded me of Curio Espresso and Vintage Design in Kanazawa, although on a smaller scale. There’s a neat front section, where you share the space with the vintage furniture, while at the back is a cosy room with more conventional seating. You can also sit outside where there’s a pair of tables.

Gray serves a concise espresso-based menu using Workshop’s single-origin Snap espresso, plus tea and hot chocolate. If you’re hungry, there is a range of tempting cakes, along with dedicated breakfast and lunch menus, with slightly expanded options at the weekend, including brunch, all cooked in the kitchen behind the counter.

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Wood St Coffee Roastery

The roaster, a 5 kg Probat, at Wood St Coffee in Walthamstow.Welcome to what has turned into a very rare occurrence: a new Meet the Roaster feature! This is just the second of the year after Peixoto Coffee Roasters, which came out in February. Mind you, that’s an improvement on last year, when I managed just one! The focus of today’s Meet the Roaster is Walthamstow’s Wood St Coffee, which started off six years as a Sunday pop-up in Wood Street Market, run by Gareth with the support of his girlfriend, Claire. Fast-forward six years, and Wood St has gone from a one-man, once-a-week operation to a thriving coffee shop and now roastery, employing multiple staff, a real success story and a testament to the hard work of Gareth, Claire and all their staff.

Although the roastery’s output is primarily to support the coffee shop, Wood St has a growing wholesale market, as well selling direct to the consumer. You can buy 250g bags of Wood St’s coffee in the coffee shop itself, or on-line on Wood St’s website. These days, all the coffee is roasted on-site using a 5 kg Probat in a container outside Wood St’s home in the Blackhorse Workshop, although, as we’ll see, that’s a fairly recent development.

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Long & Short Coffee, Walthamstow

Part of the amazing mural on the wall of Long & Short Coffee in Walthamstow, showing a bird's head.Long & Short Coffee was a chance discovery during my Saturday afternoon spent revisiting Walthamstow at the end of last month. A coffee shop/roaster, I knew the name from the original on Brick Lane, but unaware of the second branch in Walthamstow until the staff at Wood St Coffee mentioned it. Even then, I had no idea where it was since, at three weeks old, it wasn’t even on Google Maps (now, thankfully, resolved). However, when I saw it as I passed by on the No. 158 bus, I seized my opportunity.

Long & Short is part of Crate, Saint James Street’s answer to the Box Park, occupying an end unit which is, appropriately, long and thin. There are three two-person tables inside, with Long & Short having access to the communal seating on the terrace at the front of Crate. The offering is pretty simple too, with a house and guest espresso, plus filter options on batch-brew and pour-over, backed up by a selection of tea and a small range of cakes and pastries.

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Dudley’s

Dudley's in Walthamstow, with its door on the corner, open and welcoming you in.It really is a small world. Three weeks ago, I finally returned to Walthamstow to visit Wood St Coffee. Along the way, I popped in to see Froth & Rind, which, it turns out, is on Orford Road, next door to Wood St’s previous location. And then there’s the subject of today’s Coffee Spot, Dudley’s, who I visited at the recommendation of Wood St’s baristas. And where is Dudley’s? On Wood Street, of course, just a little way down from Wood Street Market, the original home of Wood St Coffee. A small world indeed.

Dudley’s only opened in March, but has already established itself as a firm neighbourhood favourite and it’s easy to see why. There’s a friendly welcome from the staff, plus plenty of seating, including a cosy second room. The coffee is from old friends, Assembly, with its seasonal espresso joined by a single-origin on batch brew through the Moccamaster, all served from a concise coffee menu. Dudley’s also has an interesting brunch menu, which is served until 3pm, with everything prepared in the open kitchen behind the counter. Finally, if you want something sweet, a selection of pastries, muffins and banana bread is available all day long.

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Froth & Rind

A lovely espresso in a classic blue cup, made using the Curved Brick seasonal espresso blend, served at Froth & Rind in Walthamstow.In some ways, it’s a very small world. My only previous trip to Walthamstow was in 2014, to visit Wood St Coffee, then in its second incarnation on Orford Road. My next trip was two weeks ago, over five years later, again to visit Wood St Coffee, now in its permanent home in Blackhorse Workshop.

In 2014, Wood St was pretty much the only speciality coffee game in (Walthamstow) town, which is most definitely no longer the case, so this time I had a long list of places to visit, including today’s Coffee Spot, Froth & Rind. What I didn’t realised untilI walked down the familiar street, is that Froth & Rind is next door to Wood St’s old home on Orford Road. Small world indeed.

What sets Froth & Rind apart is that it’s (to my knowledge) the only shop to combine craft beer, fine cheese and speciality coffee, simultaneously acting as off-licence, cheesemonger and coffee shop, serving an espresso-based menu from local roaster, Curved Brick, a wide selection of cake and a menu of innovative cheese toasties. While I can’t speak to the beer, the cheese looked excellent, my toastie was awesome and my espresso very fine indeed.

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Wood St Coffee

The Wood St Coffee logo, taken from the sign outside Blackhorse Workshop in Walthamstow.It was five years ago that I first ventured to Walthamstow to seek out Wood St Coffee, at that point in its second incarnation on Orford Road in the heart of Walthamstow Village. Effectively a counter in a shop, Wood St shared the space with two other businesses, opening four days a week. Mind you, this was a step-up from the original, a Sunday pop-up in Wood Street Market which started in 2013 before moving to Orford Road in February 2014. However, in the autumn of 2014, not too long after my visit, Wood St Coffee moved again, this time to a permanent home, still in Walthamstow at the Blackhorse Workshop. And ever since, I’ve been promising to return…

When I finally made it, I found a thriving coffee shop, with plenty of seating inside and out. These days, the coffee’s roasted on-site, with a seasonal single-origin plus decaf on espresso, and a daily batch-brew option, the beans selected from the three or four single-origins in stock at the time. However, it’s not just coffee, with Wood St serving an excellent brunch menu at weekends and more traditional breakfast/lunch menus during the week, backed up by a small cake selection.

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Pavilion Café

The word CAFE in white on the side wall of the Pavilion Cafe in Victoria Park, glass dome soaring above.The Pavilion Café, a fixture at the western end of Victoria Park in Bethnal Green, has been going strong for over 10 years, serving excellent coffee and locally sourced all-day breakfasts for over 10 years. These days, the Pavilion Café has been joined by pair of bakery cafes in London (Broadway Market and Colombia Road) and an outpost in Newquay, Cornwall, which opened earlier this year.

The Pavilion Café occupies a circular, glass-domed pavilion (hence the name) on the eastern side of the park’s West Lake. During the winter, there is seating inside, but in the summer, it spreads out the lakeside which provides some of the best views in London. These days the coffee is from Cornwall’s Origin, with a single-origin on espresso. Although the default seems to be to serve all the drinks in takeaway cups, there are proper cups available. You just need to ask when ordering.

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I Will Kill Again

The logo from the back of the wall of I Will Kill Again, proudly proclaiming 'Dark Arts Coffee Relieves Fatigue'.Dark Arts Coffee has been roasting since 2014 and I’ve enjoyed its coffee at various places, including The Black Chapel in London, plus in a cluster of places in the northwest, such as Manchester’s Idle Hands and Siop Shop and Chester’s Little Yellow Pig. I Will Kill Again, its interestingly-named coffee shop/roastery, has been on my radar pretty much since it opened in May 2016. My only excuse for not visiting sooner (other than to give Mike Stanbridge something to nag me about) is that Homerton, its East London home, is not somewhere I get to very frequently.

Located in a railway arch, the roaster (off to your right as you enter) is in action from Monday to Friday, while the space is open to the public as a coffee shop from Wednesday to Sunday. There’s a range of (mostly) communal seating, including several picnic-style tables outside.

Dark Arts only roasts single-origins, which it then gives some interesting names. The espresso, available as black or white (with milk) in sizes of 4, 6 and 8oz, rotates between Lost Highway and Dead Brick, while there’s a single filter option on batch brew. If you’re hungry, try the eclectic all-day brunch menu.

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