Little People

 Great little doors for kids - to the loos and exit - alongside the usual adult-sized versions at Chobham Adventure Farm.

Doing Simple Well

The menu at our Cafe of the Year 2018 Spider on a Bicycle with Turmeric Oat Milk Latte selling well in Aboyne, Scotland

Ace plate presentation, food quality and menu

Great cake and traybake display

Kids Appeal

 Yeatman Hotel, Porto is a first class hotel but knows how to appeal to kids - age appropriate plates and mugs by the breakfast buffet and clear signage

Buggies Bedlam

We need to talk about buggies?
 
Buggies have been super-sized. Buggies are now not only baby movers but more or less a moving nursery, fully equipped with all the items that used to be considered luxury but are now considered an essential part of our everyday lifestyle; spare outfits, baby-wipes, nappy sacks, creams, food, bottles etc. We get that it all takes space and we understand that the natural progression of coming to the Aquadrome for a walk is to walk the buggy right into the café and up to the table, often with baby asleep from the the long walk and fresh-air.  We get that. We understand that if you take a sleeping baby out of their buggy they are unlikely to remain a sleeping baby. We really do get that. We’re just struggling with the space that these buggies take up, meaning that for customers and our team alike, moving around the café is becoming increasingly difficult. Additionally for those less able-bodied or wheelchair bound, we have been told that the café is becoming more and more hostile and inaccessible.
  
We absolutely do not want to alienate any group of people and we sincerely value the custom of all. What we love about being in a park is that all softs of people, differing in; age, race, creed, size, ability; all sorts of people use parks and we are rewarded by getting to serve a rich diversity of customers meaning that our job here is interesting and fulfilling. We want all people to continue to feel welcome and that is why we feel we have to do something about the buggies. We are not banning buggies, we understand that this would be met with anger and resentment but we do have to start requesting that people try, whenever possible, to leave the buggy in the car or outside and bring their babies in; in arms, carriers or in car seats. We simply can not continue to manage with the numbers of buggies that block access routes and make the day more difficult for our team and more inaccessible for some of our customers.

We are hoping  to start the conversation, open the flood-gates for opinions and work with our community to ensure that the café continues to be a welcoming place for all

Plea from Cafe in the Park, Rickmansworth Aquadrome and many operators will sympathise - see their Facebook page for comments from mums.  For some solutions see:
http://greatcafes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/bugged-about-buggies.html

http://greatcafes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/buggy-park.html

Just for Kids

Kids offer at a Morrison's cafe

Bye Bye Barefoot

The wonderful Storytellers Cafe at Barefoot Books in Oxford is closing for good just before Christmas.  Barefoot plan on sticking to publishing childrens books and no longer want to operate a cafe for children and their parents.  This means they are selling a complete cafe's worth of kit - https://www.barefootbooks.com/files/7314/4690/3103/Oxford_Studio_furniture_sale_with_photos_PDF_Sheet1.pdf

The kitchen equipment is only a few months old as someone reversed their Mercedes into the kitchen, narrowly avoiding the chefs and resulting in a new kitchen fit out!  Let them know if interested and no, we are not on commission.  Sad that a great childrens cafe is closing - see it or buy it!

Welly Good

Crayons kept in kids wellies in a child-friendly corner at Bang! cafe, bar and rooms in Wells-next-the-Sea.

Little Pack of Fun

Jamie's Italian shows the way in terms of kids' menu.  

Kids activity pack is good too with a packet of seeds to plant.

Simple Welcome

Dogs, children and muddy boots welcome at the Royal Oak pub, Marlow - maybe not right for every cafe but a menu message that is so right for the informal times we live in. @RoyalOakMarlow

Get Them Young

 Esquires Coffee's latest opening in Ireland - their boss Tony McVerry reports:"The store is pretty large at 5,000 sq. ft so we decided to hive off about 1,000 sq. ft and introduce a Kids Educational area which parents love and plenty of seats in the area for them to relax and enjoy their coffee while their kids are kept busy. The iPads are all programmed with Montessori games and and all books have an educational theme as well as the maps on the wall etc. We very much see a distinction between a kids play area and our kids educational area."