Hello Guys,
How are you on this wickedly chilly Monday evening? I hope you’re wrapped up warm in blankets, moonboots and onesies as the temperatures dip to horrid sub-zero levels (I hate the cold, I’d hibernate like a bear if I could in the winter months).
OK, I just had to hop on and tell you about a few cool things that I discovered this weekend. After lunching at The European Bistro in Derby (review coming shortly, bear with me on that one), I went to Nottingham for a spot of shopping and hanging out. The weekend’s always fly by, so I think it’s always worthwhile getting out and about to make it count. I window-shopped till I dropped, ogled at pretty things in John Lewis, picked up their lovely Cook Edition magazine and had a blast.
There were the usual suspects and some of my favourite haunts that we pit-stopped at; Wired Café (who do a mean coffee), Delilah’s Deli (where I picked up an intriguing jar of creamed artichoke, see photo) and my latest discovery, another café to add to my ever-growing list of fab places to be.
Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to 200° Coffee. Quaint name, quaint place. Now, I’ll be honest, I haven’t had a coffee from there – yet. We had to rush in and out (begone time that flies by wahey too quick). And because I hate rushing whilst imbibing manna, I refrained from gulping down coffee. Food, drink, chocolate (and cuddles) should never be rushed, so I made a mental note to visit there again this weekend. Expect a full review of the café soon. In fact, I promise to take my laptop with me on my travels next weekend and review the café on the spot. The magnetic pull of the café is unforgettable; the romantically steamed windows, comfortably crammed tables, cosy lighting and effervescent customer service is a heady cocktail which draws you in and makes you crave more.
I got talking to a cool barista dude, who also informed that the 200° Coffee triples up as a coffee shop, roast house and barista school. Could this place get any cooler? I really can’t wait to check out the café and maybe even the barista school. Can you imagine learning some wonderful latté art and really getting to know more about the bean, its origins and everything else a self-respecting foodie coffee-fiend should know? I’ll keep you posted on how the Barista School unfolds. How about you, have any of you attended coffee class? If so, how was it? I attended an espresso tasting class years ago at a quaint café in Manchester’s Northern Quarter (The Northern Tea I think it was called) and I had a blast then.
I would love to hear your coffee-fuelled stories. Keep warm, be safe and I hope Blue Monday (apparently the most depressing day of the year) wasn’t too blue for you. In fact I hope it was positively green and relaxing.
See you soon, RAxx