With the news of the closure of Damson, Fred and Frann, and Salt this week I wondered how many of the third wave/independent/speciality coffeeshops open since the 2008/9/10 revolution had actually closed their doors. I always maintained it was very few, especially given the economic climate but the list is slowly growing. Sometimes places close […]
Category Archives: london
Ok, it hit the streets, shops and cafes in July but you might have missed it. Derek Lamberton of Blue Crow Media released the second edition of his print London Coffee Map. For this edition, Derek wanted a collaborative approach so enlisted Chloe Callow, Lee Gaze (coffee maniac and guitarist) and myself to pool out […]
This summer, I spent three weeks travelling down the West Coast to visit family and attend a family wedding. Of course I got to try a little coffee along the way. We travelled from Vancouver BC, down through Seattle and San Juan Island, Vancouver Washington and Portland Oregon to a week or so in Pasadena […]
Much of the protests about the involvement of Tesco in funding Harris + Hoole have proved a bit of a storm in a teacup to be honest but it’s interesting to consider the impact the coffee chain might have. My initial reaction to the idea was not positive I have to admit. I probably had […]
On the Delicatessen Soundcloud page are some desk recordings from our gig at he Vortex. This was a special evening, a completely packed venue and an attentive audience who lapped up the music. Here’s a taste of some of the Mediterranean sounds on offer…
There were a few places I wanted to visit flung among areas I am not often found in so I decided on a special cross London trip. Fortunately both the canal towpath and newly improved overground rail connections made the journey a lot easier than it would once have been. The plan was to cycle […]
What a great year 2012 has been. Highlights for me have included my music residency at Notes Covent Garden which has allowed me to develop a new playing opportunity with Maciek Pysz and Demi Garcia Sabat as well as appearances from Mike Outram, Alam Nathoo and Simon Roth. The gigs with Delicatessen have all been tremendous, […]
I’ve organised this by sections: click on the areas to go straight there. I particularly recommend Prufrock, Kaffeine, Rapha Cycle Club and Dunne Frankowski. West End North, Central and City East South and West My coffee map West End Tapped and Packed http://www.tapcoffee.co.uk/ 20 Rathbone Place 114 Tottenham Court Road 193 Wardour St closing the 24th 25th 26th 31st & […]
Interesting and thoroughly enjoyable trip to Belgium. Fabulous cycle infrastructure, very few helmets used, generally friendly and courteous road users and also, interestingly, cyclists who generally obeyed traffic laws. The four day trip to Leuven courtesy of the province of Vlaams Brabant (Flemish Bramant) showed me how a city could accomodate cyclists, walkers and drivers […]
I interviewed (by questionnaire) a number of the key figures on the London independent coffee scene. I have received a number of responses which make quite fascinating reading. If you want to be part of this, please email me here I purposely made the questions on the questionnaire very open. Also feel free to comment […]
Phil Wain 