Bad coffee

Most of this blog is all about the good stuff in London. But today has been what Anne of Green Gables* would have called a Jonah day** - ie rubbish, frankly - and not at all helped by the fact that my meetings schedule meant I was in need of my caffeine hits at moments when I found myself first, next to Pimlico Village, and second, next to Cafe Amore.

These cafes are hardly new to me. One I lived by for 3 years, another I worked by for 3 years, and I spent most of that time in utter wonderment at how they could be so bad, to the point of getting the giggles about it one time (the only other alternative was crying...). And herein lies the problem. I am so snotty about Starbucks coffee as an evil corporation - let's face it, it's not so hard when the coffee is so weak - and whinge about how Nero's quality has gone down so much since they expanded so fast - but man those independents need to learn about coffee and service first...

Meanwhile I will continue to dream about my own ideal version of a coffeeshop as I'd run it, which I confess has pretty much already been done by some wonderful person in the hip part of Stockholm. String rocks, as do most of the people who hang out in it (see picture) - as the review says, 'String offers you everything from pies to furniture to cup cakes'. What they don't say is that they serve ace coffee, brilliant DIY museli, and are rammed full morning to night with aspiring poets, film-makers and other such beautiful people... come on London, catch up, catch up...

* oh my god there's a fanclub. see you in three weeks.
** oh my god somone's put the whole set of books on the internet.