Not Your Average Brew Up

Salt not only has good quality tea but tells you the temperature of the water and the brewing time.  Terrific detail for the increasing band of tea connoisseurs.

Hot Drink ideas at our Pinterest Board http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-hot-drinks/

Hot Peas

Wasabi Pea snacks at Camden Food Co

see previous posts:

http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2011/05/edamame-beans.html 

http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2012/02/snacking.html

Salt's Sandwiches

Great sandwiches at Salt in Great Queen Street

Check out our Pinterest Board for more great examples http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-sandwiches/

Design Tips 2

Wall as menu in Barcelona

Communal 'distressed' table at Workshop Coffee (previously St Ali), Clerkenwell

Concrete chairs and sun loungers by Barcelona beach

See our Pinterest Board on cafe design http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-design/

Savoury Muffins

Salt is an independent cafe in Great Queen Street, Covent Garden and the owner also runs an artisan bakery.  It shows.  Spring onion, pancetta and cheddar muffins.  Check out our new Pinterest Board on Savoury Pastries at http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-savouries/ or click on the 'Savouries' label at the foot of this blog to see previous posts.

Birthdays - Our 24th & 1st

   

   

Turpin Smale is 24 years young this month and this blog is celebrating its 1st birthday.  How life has changed since 1988!

Our blog has reached over 50,000 page views and the cafe sector is just so dynamic - there is always someone, somewhere doing an even better, more quirky, tastier, more temptingly displayed cafe.  As a birthday treat for you all, check out our Boards on Pinterest:

• Design  http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-design/
• Sandwiches  http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-sandwiches/
• Hot Drinks  http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-hot-drinks/
• Savouries  http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-savouries/
• Fruit Display  http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-fruit-display/
• Cake Display  http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-cake-display/
• Cold Drinks  http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-cold-drinks/
• Kids Food  http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-kids/
• Humour  http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-humour/

Barcelona Rocks

How to make rock with a message

The fat sugar sausage is pulled

The message is miniaturised

Nothing to do with cafes but fun to watch in a Barcelona shop

Belgium - Vivid, Fun & Unique

Belgium company Roltex seem to understand that trays don't have to be grey and dull.  See previous blog post: http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2011/12/are-you-fun.html

Westmoreland Services are one of the few with a little colour in their lives

Edible Petals

Edible flower petals - freeze dried or sugared - with no taste but good looks from Uncle Roy's Comestible Concoctions based in Dumfriesshire http://www.uncleroys.co.uk/Edible_Flower_Petals.htm

Adds a touch of (natural) class to any cake.

Video on the Shelf

Caffe Nero have gone high tech on their multideck chiller shelf with video selling the virtues of panini

Plus the old-fashioned back up - poster on easel

New Juices

Proganic's Mulberry Juice (sourced from Turkey) is not something you see very often - as much iron as a sirloin steak they say.  They have some interesting other flavours - fig for one.  Melia Foods  http://meliaorganic.com/

Home of the Frothmonsters

 Eat.  Drink.  Worry a bit.  Puccino's have great signage.

Cake, Cake and more Cake

The presentation may be a little corporate stainless steel, glass and chilled but you cannot fault the variety, home baking and eye appeal.

Dobbies garden centre cafe, Ashford.

Dog Refreshment Area

Look after the dog and make money from the owner

Two Cuppa Costa

Smart and convenient two cup holder

Table Setting

Pain Quotidien's table setting and condiments are that little bit different from most others, available for retail sale and give the impression of something for free.  Their table service format and all-day menu are deservedly popular.

Pies Boxed

Pieminister have their own unit in Boxpark, Shoreditch 

The 'Hope & Glory' rugby special pie

Be a (Skinny) Angel

Skinny Latte and Flat Whites at Dobbies

see previous post http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2011/08/guilt-free-coffee.html

Market Inspiration

Buy with your eyes at Barcelona's food market

 The 1 euro tapas sticks were selling well

Ready-to-drink fruit juice of every imaginable combination

Could we cope with this here?

Savoury Swirls

Bridor's roulé - mustard and three cheese plus two other flavours - will be marketed here as a swirl.  Possible confusion with the ubiquitous pain au raisin but they taste good and certainly make a change.
Savoury pastries:
http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2012/02/fougasse.html
http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2012/02/spring-has-come-early.html
http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2012/01/tortino.html

Fast Food Juice

Spied in a Barcelona McDonalds - freshly squeezed orange juice.  They showed the way in UK fast food with bean-to-cup coffee.  When will they set the juice pace here?

Quirky or Corporate?

Quirky cafe design gets you noticed and provides an amazing ambiance

Table of Butterfly specimens at Passatje del temps cafe in Barcelona

Displays of origami

The mop head seating

Tea for Two

Afternoon tea is booming at the Ritz and Brown's hotels in London and at stately homes such as Chatsworth.  So why not at your local garden centre?  Dobbies go for it.