This is the coffee shop right underneath my piano teacher's flat. Usually I get there too early for my lesson so I go and have a coffee and read the paper thoughtfully provided by the coffee shop.
My mother used to take my granny into town for coffee every Tuesday but there are various things that would astonish Granny if she could come to this (or indeed any) coffee shop with me. (And how lovely that would be. She died in 1980 and I still miss her.)
1. The coffee - all the different concoctions that are available now. I like cappuccino and this coffee shop serves it with a little foam heart on the top.
2. The comestibles - there are scones, tray bakes and so on which are all about three times the size they were in my granny's day. I don't actually eat any of them because it would make me three times the size of my granny, which would be undesirable.
3. The chairs and tables - they're shabby chic and don't necessarily match each other. I imagine she would think this odd in a café.
4. The walls have been stripped back to the stone in some places. (I imagine she'd think that building works were in progress. I don't really care for it myself.)
5. The newspapers - never provided in the past but a jolly good thing, in my opinion.
I wonder what cafés will be like in another 32 years. When I'm 94... .
The Government will have banned cafes by then, perhaps. Can't help thinking of Miss J. Brodie when you mention your piano teacher's flat. I'm sure she's not inciting you to revolutionary thoughts, what with all that mismatching furniture. Mind you, I think JB would have been muchly at home right there!
ReplyDeleteMy piano teacher isn't in the LEAST like Miss Brodie. Mind you, some of my actual schoolteachers were...
ReplyDeleteThey serve massive muffins and cakes and biscuits in my local cafes too, I suppose they appear to give value for money but they are generally more than I can comfortably finish... I always think of them as man-sized serves, you wouldn't see Mister Fixit complaining!
ReplyDeleteYes, why have cakes and muffins become so huge? If I make my own cakes and slices I can cut them whatever size I like. However......unlike you I do like the mis-matched look!
ReplyDeleteWe have the same problem here; delicious food, but serving sizes far too big for most of us who just want a snack with our cuppa.
ReplyDeleteThe look of stripped walls, mismatched furniture and crockery seems to be taking off everywhere. One of our local cafes buys their china from opshops, and they have a charming collection of non-matching Royal Doulton and other well known English brands of teacups and saucers.
Portions get bigger and bigger !
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about Vesta curries the other day , the way you do , and realised that there's no way you'd be expected to feed a couple of hungry campers with one these days .
Just wanted to say that I always enjoy your blog, but I especially enjoy your daily November posts. You always find something thoughtful to say. I wish I could do the same on my blog.
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