Pimp your Potsu

Itsu provides plenty of ways to personalise your lunch - soy, worcestershire, hoisin, sesame seeds and roasted pumpkin.   The moral is clear be it soup, food or coffee - Personalise the Experience.

Graffiti is Good

Graffiti art is mainstream - just visit Shoreditch to see the creativity and artistry.  One of our favourites is the Locksmith.

Some of the artwork is stunning even if I am not sure what it is selling.

Pop Up at Fortnums

 Fortnum & Mason have a pop up British Bakery cafe on their first floor.

Mark Hix's shortbread, garibaldi biscuits and more are on until 10th February.

 The Torta Di Ricotta cake with warm chocolate sauce is proving a winner.

 It sounds as if a fortnightly trip to Fortnums will be required until April.

Wow the Cyclists

Guest Spot

Cycle rack at Tesco's in Norwich spotted by Alan Miller.

Capital Gains - An Enlightening Tour

Read Henry Norman of OOH (Out of Home) Magazine as he accompanies one of our London Cafe Tours click the link or 'My London Cafe Tour' page opposite.

Kitchen Garden + Social Enterprise

Clever link up at Burford Garden Company with their kitchen garden and a social enterprise, Aspire.

Brookies

Brownie cookie 'Brookie' at Swallow Bakery in Cheltenham.

Over a Fiver Egg Sarnie

Individual box sandwich presentation plus crisps in Kilner jar and pickle for £5.45 at Burford Garden Company.

Savouries in Spy Town

Swallow Bakery Cafe, Cheltenham has some excellent savoury items - square Tomato, goat cheese and rocket tarts.

Sausage Rolls and Beef & Onion Empanadas

My Kind of Ironing

Guest Spot

Ironing board table spotted outside Sydney cafe by Andrew Silver.

Diets are Sad

Pret's great seasonal visual and message

Nice Details

 Supporting local charities

 Free WiFi

Design Touches

all at the Beach Cafe, Wells-next-the-Sea

Artful WC

 The Gunton Arms in North Norfolk combines great unpretentious food, stunning artwork and quirky design.

Extra Bold

 Fancy condiments at La Hogue Farmshop Cafe, Cambridgeshire - pepper "picked from the uppermost branches of the pepper tree" and salt "from the coast of Namibia".

Warm on the Beach

Simple, satisfying and self-serve hot food at the Beach Cafe, Wells-next-the-Sea with snow (and sand) outside.

Colours of the Rainbow

Rainbow cake at Harrods.  See previous blog post http://greatcafes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/very-special-birthday.html for a more alcoholic and home-made version.

Teapod

Teapod has two 'teahouses' in central London, tea for retail sale in pouches and some interesting food

Fishcakes

Eton Mess traybakes

Getting it Right

Hot food on display for instant service is the Achilles heel for so many cafe operations.  Left out for lunch service (above 63 degrees C or max two hours if under) items can often look unappealing.  Benugo get it right with these individual pies plus the cooling quiche at their British Museum Gallery Cafe.

Cows are In

Get used to seeing a lot more cow logos around as Beefeater roll out their revised branding

Fisher Farm Park

Milk & Honey at Pinewood Studios

Treasure Hunting

Great staff recruitment notice at Itsu with eight language and flag headlines.

Eat Me (Literally)

Personalised M&Ms are an edible and fun marketing idea.

Fruit & Veg Appeal

The Tower of London's caterer Ampersand uses fresh fruit to good effect.

Well packaged Children's crudites and San Pellegrino lemon display.

Set the Scene

Asian restaurant East Street in W1 uses genuine hanging signs from the countries of its cuisine - Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan and Korea.  Highly effective scene setting.

A Royal Dusting

Ampersand's Mincemeat Bakewell tarts with appropriate logo at the Tower of London.

We all need one of these

Tip boxes can be ever so tacky but the humour of this one at Choccywoccydoodah's cafe appealed.

Well Behaved Owners

Guest Spot

 How to get more off-season business - Beach Cafe, Wells-next-the-Sea - with credit to switched-on Manager Alan Miller.