Landrace Bakery

White Sourdough
Landrace Bakery, Bath

It's hard to believe that less than 10 years ago it was difficult to buy a good loaf of bread in much of the UK.  We all know why.  The Chorleywood Process has a lot to answer for.  Not just for propagating bad 'bread' but for turning it into such a cheap commodity that small independent bakeries couldn't compete with the fast, mechanised production process it introduced.  Bakeries disappeared from the high street.  It's been a long haul but now most towns boast a decent baker using traditional leaven methods of baking, though they'll most likely be found well away from the High Street.  Many of us even make our own bread from time to time in homes where pots of sourdough starter rise and fall on many a kitchen work surface.  But it's a time-consuming activity, and it's the time - the thing those Chorleywood scientists were so focussed on reducing - that really matters.  Stripped of the hydrogenated fats, the flour treatment agent, the bleach, the emulsifiers and preservatives we are left with flour, water, salt, which requires an injection of time.  With the return to basics, some bakers are now turning their attention to the quality of the ingredients, which means the grains - the growing, the milling and the using.  And it's this, along with producing excellent bakes that is the focus of attention at Landrace Bakery which opened last week in Bath.

Producing naturally leavened sourdough from organic British-grown stone-milled flours they are already producing outstanding loaves with a moist crumb and really satisfying depth of flavour.  It would be hard to think of a more intimate bakery.  The baking is within easy ogling distance of the counter which is stacked with dough and pastry bakes.  So if you're looking for lunch and can't choose between pumpkin and ricotta pastries or a Westcombe cheese toastie, you can keep an eye on the progress of the sausage rolls puffing up beautifully in the oven.  There's a light-filled cafe area with a window which opens onto the street in summer.

Pastry
at Landrace Bakery, Bath

Sourcing is clearly very important to Landrace Bakery.  Ricotta and cheddar from Somerset's Westcombe Dairy, eggs from Cacklebean Farm in Gloucestershire, butter from Fen Farm Dairy, flours from Gilchesters Organics, chocolate from Pump Street, coffee from Workshop Coffee and fabulously fresh salad leaves from Bath grower Undercliff Urban Farm.  It's an impressive ingredients list which Landrace Bakery are certainly doing justice to.  For the moment they have a small milling machine to experiment with whole grains, and interesting plans for a "flour club" for customers.

You'll find Landrace Bakery close enough to the city centre but off the tourist drag, on Walcott Street.  A few doors down from the Fine Cheese Company, Landrace fits perfectly into what's known as the 'Artisan Quarter' of Bath.  On my visit locals were pitching up to try out the newcomer to the neighbourhood, and they seemed as taken with their new bakery as I was.

So why the name Landrace Bakery?  Broadly speaking,  'Landrace' translates as a 'domesticated animal or cultivated plant which has, over a long period of time, adapted to the local natural environment in which it lives'.  The name, I believe, tells you a lot about the intentions of Landrace Bakery.  This place is only going to get better with time.

Landrace Bakery
61 Walcot Street
Bath BA1 5BN

Turin Time

Time for Dinner in Turin

I live in a city of around 8 million people and, yet, when I need to breathe some distant air I'm far more likely to choose another city than that beach holiday or country house hotel break.  Venice, Florence, Paris, yes please.  I like the hustle and bustle of cities, but I like a sense of lives being lived too.  Some places can be just too set in aspic and a bit of grit in the oyster is not a bad thing.  So, to Turin - an industrial city with a baroque heart.

Alpine view, Turin

I was there in 2004 when Turin was preparing to host the 2006 Winter Olympics.  The spectacularly beautiful Alpine range filling the skyline to the north was at odds with our evening taxi drive from the airport.  The City was grimy, noisy and confusing thanks to the construction of stadia and a new Metro system which was part of the Olympic package.  Next day we discovered the almost 10 miles of baroque colonnades and over 40 museums offered an escape from the cacophony.  And then there was the food.  Piedmont, of which Turin is the capital, is after all where 'Slow Food' was born and we were there primarily for the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto.

Open door in Turin

On returning to Turin this Autumn that Metro proved invaluable and there were signs that more tourists  - though, thankfully, not too many on our visit - were now enjoying those collonaded walks, museums and cafe's.  Turin's Olympian effort has paid off in terms of attracting visitors.  But there are also signs that not everyone has benefited.  Homelessness is more visible and there is a legacy of crumbling Olympic structures with migrants and refugees occupying the former athletes' village, not altogether comfortably.

Piazza Reale, Turin

For 300 years Turin was the capital of Savoy and became the first capital of a unified Italy in 1861.  But a mere 3 years later the seat of power was relocated to Florence then centrally located Rome.  Turin turned to industrialisation and the automotive industry became vitally important.  There were many companies but it's Fiat we associate with Turin thanks to the construction of its Lingotto car factory opened in 1923.  These days Fiat is less important to Turin's economy. The hugely successful Fiat 500, in its new guise, is manufactured not in Italy but in Mexico and Poland, though their luxury brand Maserati is locally made.  The Lingotto 'Centre' is now in commercial use.

With 8 Royal Palaces amongst those 40+ museums, colonnaded streets, tree-lined avenues, elegant architecture and good food, Turin is no longer just an industrial city but a centre for culture and tourism too.  So, what to see and do?

Walk the Colonnades and tree-lined avenues; the City is built on a grid system, so you're unlikely to get lost.  A walk up the Via Roma from Metro Porta Nuova is a grand central start taking in four of the main Piazzas and the ritziest of shops.

Pasta e Ceci
at Caffe Platti, Turin

There are so many cafes and bars in Turin that frequent stops are inevitable for coffee (this is the home of Lavazza) a Bicerin, the local chocolate/coffee/cream indulgence, or an aperitivo.  The grandest and most recommended of the old guard are Caffe Torino and Caffe San Carlo where the price of a coffee is low despite the splendour of the rooms and the locations.  Historic Caffe al Bicerin at Piazza della Consolata 5 is considered the best place to order a Bicerin.  Piedmont grows very fine hazelnuts, many of which go into the hazelnut and chocolate spread called Gianduja and into filled Giandujotto chocolates.  The chocolate making industry goes back hundreds of years in Turin and bean-to-bar maker Guido Gobino is considered one of the best here.  If your taste runs more to Nutella, you may be interested to know Turin is its home.

Papardelle Funghi
at Caffe Platti, Turin

We had fond memories of the belle époque Caffe Platti at Corso Vittorio Emmanuelle II, 72 and were so happy to find it again.  I read that it had closed in 2015 but if this is so then the new owners have done a fine job of making it feel like it never went away.  Plates of Paccheri Rigati Pasta with chickpeas (Pasta e Ceci) scented with rosemary was wonderful, and local Porcini came in the form of Papardelle Funghi.  We noticed restaurant Sotto la Mole (at the foot of the Mole Antonelliana) was still going strong.  The memory of a plate of truffled cheese agnolotti still lingers in my mind but we were a little early for the white truffle season and we ran out of time to visit this time round.

If it's Michelin stars you're looking for, head for Del Cambio where Matteo Baronetto is serving up one star food overlooking unified Italy's first Parliament building in Piazza Carignano.  Expect glittering chandeliers, red velvet, crisp linen and baroque mirrors along with traditional Piemontese dishes.  The restaurant has been feeding the great and the good since 1757 - from Cavour, Casanova, Balzac, Nietzsche and Verdi to Maria Callas, Audrey Hepburn and the Agnelli (Fiat) family, of course.

Veal braised in Ruchè wine
at Consorzio

For a much more recent addition to Turin dining, book Consorzio at Via Monte di Pieta, 23.  It describes itself as "Well-rooted in the Piemonte area with an eye on faraway regions ..".  The sourcing of ingredients here is exemplary, the handling deft and the service without fuss.  The Steak tartare Piemontese style was served starkly as a disk of raw beef with salt, pepper and good olive oil; Agnolotti Gobbo pasta was stuffed with three different kinds of meat with enough fattiness to make them luscious, rich little morsels; Veal braised in Ruchè wine, a Piemontese red wine, was deep and succulent; and then came the best Panna Cotta ever, so light on gelatin that it barely held, yet every one emerging from the kitchen wobbled to its table intact.  Wines are mostly Natural and a bottle of Barbera d'Asti Trenchiro Terra del Noche sated well our increased liking for the Barbera grape.  Consorzio is one of those rare places where you feel there is a real meeting of minds and appetites in the kitchen and out front.

Banco Vini e Alimenti, Turin

We also liked Consorzio's bar, Banco Vini e Alimenti a short walk away.  With a narrow frontage at via dei Merchant 13/f, it's easy to miss.  It is quietly friendly, keeps a great range of natural wines and serves up simple dishes like farinata fritta and Alice fritte and larger ones like roasted hake with crispy prosciutto or spaghettoni all vongole.  It's small and can get busy but there's a deli counter at the back which means you can pick up some slices of mortadella, a piece of cheese and a bottle of wine to take out.

Porcini Seller at Mercato Porta Palazzo, Turin

Shop the Markets.  There are 42 open-air markets in Turin.  Mercato Porta Palazzo at Piazza della Repubblica is the biggest and is open Monday-Saturday.  There are scores of stalls surrounded by buildings housing fish, meat and cheese halls, but the north-eastern corner was where we found the 'farmers market' - where the best stuff was.  But it was the outdoor market in Piazza Madama Christina we fell for, where there were the most signs stating "nostrano (ours/home grown) and where we watched one smallholder clean and place his haul of porcini like each was a precious gem.  What we saw on the market stalls was reflected in the restaurant dishes - seasonality is alive and well in Turin.

We stopped for coffee, several times, at Orso Laboratorio at Via Berthollet 30g.  And, joyfully, right next door - through a connecting door in fact - we found Mara dei Boschi Laboratorio del Gelato which is very good indeed.  The memory of the Nocciola and, also, the Fichi gelato will stay with me for some time.

For taking in those Alpine views you couldn't head higher than the Mole Antonelliana on Via Montebello.  This unmissable building, standing at more than 167 metres, was originally conceived as a synagogue until the architect's desire to go upwards went too far and the money ran out.  It's now home to the Museo Nazionale de Cinema.

Rooftop Test Track at Lingotto Centre, Turin

It's nowhere near as tall, but the view from the Lingotto Centre on Via Nizza (Metro: Lingotto) would be my choice.  The old factory was redesigned in the 1980's by Renzo Piano and now includes an hotel, conference centre, theatre, and shopping mall.  I love the industrial architecture but it's the rooftop test track that is the draw, along with the 360 degree view complete with that Alpine horizon to the north.  As everyone will tell you, scenes from the original 1969 The Italian Job were filmed here.  If you stay in either of the hotels in the Lingotto building you can ask for a key to access the rooftop but, as part of your entrance charge, you can also gain access when visiting the Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli - Canaletto, Canova and Matisse are represented in the gallery's permanent collection. For real petrolheads, the Museo dell' Automobile is nearby.

Natura Morta (1957) by Giorgio Morandi
at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna (GAM)

There must be a museum to suit everyone in Turin but I would head for the Museo d'Arte Orientale (MAO), and the Museo Egizio which has one of the largest collections of Egyptian antiquities in the world.  Also, the Museo d'Arte Contemporanea at Castello di Rivoli - out of town but there is a free shuttle bus.  I have to admit to being a bit underwhelmed by Galleria d'Arte Moderna (GAM) but they do have some admirable Morandi works.  I wish I had visited the Museo della Frutta!

Cheese 2017 in Bra

Our visit was timed to coincide with the International Cheese festival which is held bi-annually in the lovely small town of Bra, around 50km south-east of Turin.  So, along with what seemed like half of Turin, we took the train to this highly regarded Slow Food event which this year, bravely, was all about raw milk.  Neals Yard Dairy explain the importance of this event best.

Apart from tasting and learning more about cheese, it's a chance to get up close to the Slow Food movement whose HQ is in Bra.  Here the association plans and promotes their worldwide projects. Their philosophy "envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it and good for the planet".

Roast Goose Leg
at Boccon di Vino, Bra

In the HQ's courtyard sits the cooperative Osteria Boccon di Vino (Via Mendicita, 14) where we lunched very happily on plates of pasta: Tajarin with shavings of black truffle, Agnolotti del plin al burro e rosmarino; Melting roast goose leg and slow-cooked veal in red wine; and, inevitably, Panna Cotta to finish.  Oh, and more delicious local Barbera wine.  Despite having to queue, this was a lovely relaxing place to lunch with great staff and very good food.

For coffee we took the recommendation to visit Bottega delle Delizie at Via Polenzo, 6, Bra. Specialising in sourcing and serving up northern European style roasts, this is not coffee in Italy as I know it and it's all the better for that.  The coffee we drank had been roasted locally but they also had guest coffees from Five Elephants and Paolo told us they were expecting some Nomad Coffee from Barcelona soon.  Really good coffee served with genuine charm and enthusiasm.  I loved this place.

So, what is Turin Time - or Piemontese Time?  For me it has to be autumn, when the hazelnuts have been harvested, the grape harvest is well under way, the porcini are in the kitchen and there's the promise of truffles arriving.

Border Crossing
Italy-France

If you have the time, going to Turin by train is the scenic option!

Autumn in Berlin

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

Can four years really have passed since I was in Berlin?  Four years since that visit during the spargel  (asparagus) season when there was no time to take a train to Dessau to see the Bauhaus Foundation.  Ah, well next time.  So, let's try again.  A visit to the icon of modernism had to be top of the list.  But first it was time to get our bearings and renew acquaintances.  You'll notice there are very few photos of food in this piece.  It just doesn't feel right in Berlin to be photographing your food, so let's eat. Maybe it'll start a trend!

Kreuzberg, Berlin

We left our bags at the hotel and headed south into Kreuzberg where the Turkish influence is strongest.  There are many things to like about Turkish culture but, for me, Turkish Coffee is not one of them so we held out until we found the 'Coffee Roastery and Cake Shop' Five Elephant on Reichenbergerstr.  A couple of cortados each and a slice of walnut and honey pie were life savers, but, but ...  there was such a difference in the delivery of the the two coffee orders that I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a lack of consistency - perhaps just down to different baristas.  The pie had a good filling but was spoilt by too much pastry.  I'd say it's worth a try if you're in the area but I'd probably head for Companion Coffee 5 minutes away on nearby Oranienstr.  OK, they don't roast their own coffee but they do brew up some fine guest ones including one of my favourites, a roast from Denmark's Coffee Collective.  Sometimes it's Square Mile or Workshop from London.  The Belleville (Paris) espresso, on when we visited, isn't one I'd seek out but there's no doubting the care and attention Companion Coffee pay to what they do.  They also serve up a delicious banana cake and the set up, in Voo clothing shop in a quite yard off the main street, is a bit of a haven.

The Barn, Berlin

I've saved the best for last.  The Barn roast their own coffee and it's the place in Berlin that reminds me most of my favourite London roastery, Monmouth Coffee.  I don't know The Barn well enough, yet, to be sure but there's a similar sense of sincerity that translates from what they say about themselves to how they deliver - keep close to the farmer and focus on quality and service. The Barn describes their roast style as "rather light" but it has never been too light-roast for me and I have an aversion to the new light roasts favoured by some roasteries.  The Barn, we soon learned, was the only place to go when breakfast called - a cortado goes rather well with a pot of Bircher müsli.  Sandwiches and cakes here are very good too.  Expect consistent standards.  It's tiny, so also expect to spill out onto the stools outside.  

A Mitte roofline, Berlin

There are a couple of useful places in Mitte district worth knowing about, particularly if you're looking for German/Austrian cuisine with its emphasis on meat.  Aigner close to Gendarmenmarkt serves up very good Beef Consommé, Wiener Schnitzel and various game dishes with, maybe, plum dumplings to finish.  The Kupferkessel (copper kettle) way with beef is particularly good.  Everything is done very properly but without fuss.  Rotisserie Weingrün is Aigner's sister restaurant where the, mostly meat, menu's success is down to careful sourcing and the flame grill.  Both restaurants stock good wines, some from their own 'Horcher' vineyard.  

Restaurant Pauly Saal, again in Mitte, had been recommended to us more than once.  Housed in a former Jewish girls' school, just down the road from The Barn, it's an easy place to miss.  An understated frontage conceals a courtyard dining area, a gentleman's club like bar and murano chandelier bedecked dining room.  No reservation and a pretty off-hand delivered "two hour wait" meant we went down the road to Cordobar instead.  This German/Austrian collaboration proved much more welcoming, despite the place being rammed with locals and no tables available.  OK, it's a bar but with really good wines, some natural and biodynamic served without making a big thing of it.  As partner Willi said to us, what's most important to them is that they "serve good wines".  We really enjoyed the natural wines we tried, all from Austria, all delicious, and none we had tried before. The fine glassware helped the flavours develop nicely.

A regular changing menu of small sharing plates is titled "Cold Bites, 'Warm Bites' and 'Sweets'.  I am, seriously, recommending you order the Bread & Butter - the best rye bread I've tasted comes with a bowl of whipped butter and it's a heavenly combination.  A Fritz Blomeyer cheese plate  was an eye-opener as to how good German cheeses can be (regrettably, I don't think these find their way beyond their homeland).  I would have liked a little more generosity for 15 Euros but every portion was perfect and the fig chutney was beautifully spiced.  You might find Oysters with almond emulsion & dill flower or Ribs with Jerusalem artichoke chips & a smoked vanilla dip on the menu, and maybe a chocolate cake with passionfruit cream.  If we'd had a table instead of standing at the bar we'd certainly have ordered more food.

Autumn in Tiergarten, Berlin

Despite several visits to Berlin we'd never managed to penetrate Charlottenburg in Berlin's far West.  So we walked along Unter den Linden, passed through the Brandenberg Gate and ambled through Berlin's green lung, the Tiergarten.  My expectation of a more conspicuously wealthy Western Berlin was turned on its head.  The former West looks much like the former East to my eye, the architecture being quite functional and there is generally a lack of conspicuous wealth.

Smoked Sardines at Rogacki, Berlin

Rogacki deli has been around since 1928 and here on Charlottenburg's Wilmersdorfer Str. since 1932.  It's very green - in colour rather than in credentials - and I have to agree with Foodie in Berlin that if it was in London it would have had "half a dozen facelifts" by now and probably be the worse for it.  Needless to say it's a German institution.  Although I'd give some of the food counters a miss - bakery and cheese are particularly underwhelming - the meat, poultry, game and fish sections are musts.  In their raw state they're impressive enough but the variety of smoked fish in particular is outstanding.  We paused for lunch at one of the standing bars where I confidently decided 'Krabbentoast' had to be Crab on Toast - it turned out to be prawn salad!.  Fortunately the staff are hugely tolerant of non-German speakers and, with the help of local diners, we were offered either North Sea (peeled prawns) or German Sea (brown shrimp) . The firm favourite that day was clearly the Fish Soup so that's what I had.  A huge bowl of good mixed white fish in a clear broth topped with chopped dill, the brown shrimp salad, bread and two glasses of Reisling and the meagre bill was under 20 Euros.

Manufactum, Berlin

Charlottenburg is also home to a Manufactum store.  With two floors of traditionally made household and gardening products, food and clothing, its presence just off Ernst Reuter Platz was like a honeypot to a bee.  Expect to see everything from a boot scraper to a dinner gong.  All is top quality and not necessarily German.  The prices reflect the quality, but it makes compelling browsing.  There's also a good-looking bakery/cafe next door called Brod & Butter which I wish we'd had chance to try.

Bauhaus Dessau 1

Bauhaus Dessau was calling and this time I would make it.  The train from Hauptbahnhof in Mitte takes less than 2hrs.  Once clear of Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf it cuts through the 827km Naturpark Hoher Fläming so the ride is far from tedious.  I'd waited so long to see the Bauhaus building and suddenly, 5 minutes after stepping off the train, it was right in front of me.

Bauhaus Dessau 2

A collective that lasted only 14 years, 7 of the most productive in Dessau between 1925-1932, the Bauhaus movement continues to influence art, architecture and design.  Recently restored, the building is once again brought to life with students attending classes in the Bauhaus Lab, College, Summer Schools and Workshops.  It's also now occupied by the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation.

Bauhaus Dessau Masters' Houses

The Bauhaus building and the nearby Masters' Houses, designed, furnished and worked in by their occupants - including Walter Gropius, Laszlo Moholgy Nagy, Lyonel Feininger, Oskar Schlemmer, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe - are open to the public every day. You can even eat in the newly re-opened Bauhaus Canteen (though I have to say there is still room for improvement on the food front), and stay overnight in the Studio Building.  Well worth a 2-hour journey.  I made it!

Back in Berlin, Museum Island will keep you occupied for days.  A central area of the City where the greatest of Berlin's treasures are gathered - the architecture is a big draw in its own right.  My pick would be the Neues Museum, recently restored by the British architect David Chipperfield, where the surviving war damaged parts of the building have been beautifully integrated into the new.  Amongst its great works is the famous, and stunningly beautiful, bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti presiding over a room of her own.  Frustratingly, although we joined the queue for the Pergammonmuseum, we simply ran out of time to visit so this is top of my list for next time.  The closed-in architecture of the Jewish Museum Berlin adds to the experience making this the most affecting museum I've ever visited.  If you can't catch the train to Dessau, you can get a Bauhaus fix at the Bauhaus Archive right in the centre of Berlin.

All about Origin at Monmouth Coffee

Finca El Guamal, Huila, Colombia
Farmed by Guillermo Libardo Ome

Two cups of coffee a day is my limit.  One filter and one double espresso.  Modest by the standards of most coffee drinkers, positively wimpish to many.  What I drink has to be good and I'm happy to pay for it.  Not that I'll hand over my hard-earned money to just anyone with a shiny La Marzocco - not twice anyway.  Call me what you will - connoisseur; addict; coffee snob; or worse - but it's taken me a while to arrive at this place and I'm happy to be here.  So where is "here"?  It's appreciating the work that has gone into a carefully sourced coffee, the growing, the exporting, the roasting and the serving, whether it's beans to take home or a shot on the go.  Most of all it's a thoughtfulness about what I'm buying because I now understand why coffee 'origin' really matters.

ORIGIN: beginning, foundation, root, starting point

The OED

Our thirst for coffee is growing.  Certainly in London there seems to be an endless stream of new coffee shop openings, both chain and independents.  But the cultivation of the Coffea plant is suffering a three pronged attack: climatic oscillations, disease and low pricing.  Most of the coffee industry is still based on purchasing at the lowest price, even in the speciality coffee market.

I asked AJ Kinnell, head of quality assurance at London's Monmouth Coffee, to explain to me the effect of farm-gate pricing.  She told me "If you're a farmer you have to sell 100% of your coffee. You'll have a speciality coffee and you need a market for your lower grade as well.  If the lower quality doesn't go somewhere the good quality can't be grown and the farms go out of business, so big buyers have a role" in taking that coffee.  In the speciality market, however, she feels "buyers could be doing so much more to help growers" just by paying a little bit more.

"The speciality coffee business is about real people...... 

Real product in a cup, the fruit of real effort somewhere 

at the end of a remote track in Guatemala or Rwanda 

or Somalia."

Mercanta, The Coffee Hunters

The impact of low prices on producers and the benefits from paying a premium for top quality have been brought home to Monmouth by their direct sourcing in Colombia.  Practically and financially it has taken many years for them to be able to source in this way.  AJ told me they'd been having difficulty finding good quality Colombian beans over a period of time so decided to step it up a bit.  Instead of going in and buying a predetermined amount of beans, they spread the word to small farmers that they were to hold a competition. There were lots of entrants and they selected 22 small lots of coffee.  "One of the coffees was only 2 bags because the farm it came from only produced 2 bags of top grade beans that season.  The farmer still had to find a buyer for the lesser grade of beans he produced but he earned a lot of money for those 2 bags and he got to sell his coffee for the first time with his own farm name on it.  For a long time it had just been put into a generic blend."

Monmouth's Chief Buyer, Flori Marin, told me how emotional the competitions are.  "The farmers know we are going to pay a premium.  It's a massive thing for them.  If the grower simply sells to the market they are paid what people think the coffee's worth.  Sometimes it's bought even without tasting.  The coffees we tasted and selected in Colombia the first time were amazing".  There were 86 entries for their first competition and by the second, 6 months later, 360 entries.  "We were able to pay a significant premium over the market rate and people were talking of using the money to pay off their mortgage or move their home down the hill so their children could get to school more easily". Paying a premium price for top quality beans improves the lives of the farmers and enables them to invest in their farms and families to secure viability for the next generation.  Seeing directly the effect of their actions has only made Monmouth more determined to play the long game and work with the farmers to improve coffee origin.

Monmouth don't often talk about themselves.  They've been around for more than 30 years and are focused on sourcing and roasting rather than serving cups of coffee.  The shops are there so that customers have the opportunity to taste the coffees before buying a bag to take home - though that doesn't stop Monmouth being a regular pit-stop for many London coffee lovers.  Their passion is for improving the quality of coffee and the lives of the coffee growers.  Anita Le Roy explains, "The area I wanted to develop focused on origin and quality.  We don't publish vision and mission statements, but we do know what we want to achieve.  The aim of the company is to have a positive impact on quality and price at origin and a positive impact on service and quality for the consumer."  Having only three direct London outlets is a deliberate policy to retain focus on what's important to them.

"The growing number of good independent coffee shops is 

welcome but it's an increase in the number of independent 

roasters that will really raise the bar for good coffee and 

give a better deal to the growers".

Anita Le Roy
Monmouth Coffee

A market for quality coffee has to exist and I asked Anita what she thought was needed to raise customers' expectations for their daily drink.  She told me that although the growing number of independent coffee shops is welcome, "It's an increase in the number of independent roasters that will really raise the bar for good coffee and give a better deal to the growers.  In the 1980's when things were very difficult for us to buy better coffee, with more traceability, I knew what would change things was if there were more roasters asking for high quality.  That would have changed what the suppliers were offering.  Whenever I asked for different coffees I was told no, there was no demand for it".  Throughout the 1980s and 90s "there were so many times when we would show interested people what we were doing.  Jeremy Torz and Steven Macatonia came to see us in the mid-90's before they started supplying the Seattle Coffee Co (they later went on to set up Union Coffee).  It was only about 6-7 years ago that the floodgates opened.  We're really happy about it but I think we still need more roasters."

Coffee Facts:

2009/10 coffee exports US$15.4 billion (est)

2nd most traded commodity after oil

25+ major species of Coffea

60%+ of world production is arabica and canephora (robusta)

26 million workers employed in 52 producing countries

More often than not these days it's beans from one of those Monmouth Colombian coffees that go into my burr grinder.  Currently it's Finca El Guamal grown by Guillermo Libardo Ome at Huila but the coffees come in small lots, so whats on the counter changes regularly.  It's not entirely altruistic on my part as the Colombian coffees Monmouth source are exceptional. Buying better coffee can make a huge difference to the farmers allowing them to invest in the future.  It's what Monmouth Coffee see as "sustainable, fair and equal trade" and it's why these days I'm more thoughtful in my coffee buying habits.

Monmouth Coffee Company
London

Sources and further reading:

International Coffee Organisation

Kew Royal Botanic Gardens
A Coffee Crop Withers by Elisabeth Malkin - The New York Times May 5, 2014

Stockholm Summer

Nacka Strand, Stockholm, around midnight early July

It took me a few hours to get my bearings on my first visit to Stockholm.  Spread out over a series of islands, the task of getting around everywhere on a short visit can seem a little daunting.  That is, until you realise that getting around on foot is great, taxis are expensive and rates vary, but the public transport system is fantastic.  The Arlanda Express train from the airport to the centre of town takes 20 minutes.  It has much in common with our London Heathrow Express - fast, efficient and expensive - but in summer they do a 2 for 1 offer to ease the pain.  Tickets are available at the airport Information Desk where you can also pick up city maps .  You arrive at T-Centralen station.  Do not despair, the areas around railway stations are never good and it gets much better, believe me.

Johan & Nyström
Stockholm

The Swedes, I was told, are obsessed with coffee.  What, more so than Londoners?  After my visit to Sweden last week I can't say I saw any evidence of their capital city out-drinking London in any way, but to 'f'ika' - to spend time having coffee - is certainly an important part of their day.  So, of course, once we'd checked into our hotel we went native.  We had a little help.  'The White Guide Cafe' is an invaluable little book (and there's an App) rating the best of the coffee shops in Sweden.  With only 48 hours in Stockholm we were never going to get around too many of them but we sniffed out the best on Södermalm.  Johan & Nyström at Swedenborgsgatan 7 is a lovely place with skilled and enthusiastic staff.  Yes, the Aeropress, the Chemex and the Siphon are all there, but it was simply great tasting coffee.  In addition to the delicious espressos we  tried what I'm calling a 'cooled brew' as I've never come across it before - coffee brewed hot then put on ice (no not an iced coffee).  The result was beautifully clean-tasting, full-flavoured Kenyan coffee.  Johan & Nyström also won on price, incidentally, and they had the best cinnamon and cardamom buns, which I learned they get from Dessert & Choklad).

Dessert & Choklad
Stockholm

Södermalm, or Söder, by the way, is the island/area we found most interesting.  It's also where you'll find the Terminal Slussen Bus and Metro Station.  We found buying 24 hour SL cards invaluable for getting around by metro, bus and tram.  The various ferries linking the islands are great too but the SL card isn't valid on all of them, so check.

Pärlans Konfektyr
Stockholm

Only on our return to London did I learn that the writer Stieg Larsson took inspiration from Söder in its grittier days.  It's lively with a good mix of rough and smooth, unhip and trendy with small businesses setting up on unprepossessing streets.  One such is Pärlans Konfektyr at Nytorgsgatan 38.  Here you'll find the most delightful toffee shop you could hope to come across.  You feel just like you've walked into a 1940's film with caramel makers beavering away in the workshop to your left and the shop sales conducted by Greer Garson in Mrs Miniver's front parlour.  It's a joy to find such a focused business, run by young staff, making and selling a really good product with such style.  The caramels are hand-made and have just the right degree of chewyness.  Sweets such as 'Salt Likrits' (salt liquorice) and Mandel & Vanilj (almond and vanilla) are subtly flavoured to perfection.  They also sell jars of caramel spread and just a few other sweets.  The finishing touch is the the hand-stamping and wrapping.  Don't miss.

Riddarholmskyrkhan, Stockholm

Also on Söder: 
Fabrique Bakery, Rosenlundsgatan 28 (bakery and coffee) and Gögatan 24 (bakery) and other branches - Londoners may have come across Fabrique Bakery in Hoxton, which I rate highly.    
Drop Coffee, Wollmar Yxkullsgatan 10 - rated very highly in The White Guide; we had our most expensive (3.60kr) and mostdisappointing espresso - a strange wheaty aroma and flavour, which I'm told could be down to a very light roasting of 'green' beans.  Maybe just not to my taste.
Urban Deli, Nytorget 4 - at this hip restaurant and deli we found the wait long, the wine thin and the food average, but nobody seemed to mind at all.
Saltå Kvarn,  Renstiernas gata 27 is a small grocers which started out milling organic and biodynamic flours. Unfortunately it was closed for the summer break when I visited, denying me the chance not only to see what their products were like but to ogle the rather beautiful packaging.
Fotografiska, Stradsgardshmann 22 is Sweden's Museum of Photography.  They had 3 really good exhibitions on when we visited, and the top floor houses a cafe rated for its coffee and offering a fantastic view across to the main island, Gamla Stan (the old town) and the island of Djurgården.

Snickarbacken 7, Stockholm

Moving to the Östermalm district on the main island, where I would recommend to eat is P.A. & Co, Riddargatan 8 (Metro Östermalmstorez) where we ate a dish close to every Swede's heart - meatballs.  Now, I've been to Berlin and utterly failed to be seduced by their obsession with Currywurst, so it was with some trepidation that I ordered 'the meatballs'.  How wrong could I be, they were fantastic.  Two mains, 2 large glasses of good Cotes du Rhone 560kr plus service.

Östermalms Saluhall is the traditional indoor food market in Stockholm that  has been serving local people since 1888.  It's small and intimate with some very good food stalls - notably J. E. Olsson & Söner - and bars where I wish we'd had time to eat.  Next time we surely will.

Also in Östermalm:
Snickarbacken 7 - P.A. & Co. came recommended by Catti Åman of the retail collective Snickarbacken 7 off Birger Jarlsgatan, central Stockholm. This clothes shop, coffee bar, art space, music store is a great place to 'fika' and browse.


Djurgården:
Djurgården is the greenest part of Stockholm and a great place to walk or take a tram.  
Rosendals Trădgård - is a biodynamic garden with an "ecological" cafe and a small deli/gift shop.  I have to say I was underwhelmed by the cafe food on offer but it was after lunchtime.  A plus point is you can take a tray out into the lovely gardens.  They do have a wood-fired oven in the bakery producing delicious bread and they sell excellent conserves, typical of Sweden.   The corner of a field planted with phacelia was a beautiful sight, and the nearby compound of wolves a surprising one.

Rosendals Trădgård, Stockholm

For places to stay, I'd recommend the Hotel J at Nacka Strand.  It's a 20 minute ferry or 10 minute bus ride from central Stockholm.  Usually, I like to be in the centre of town but this proved a good choice.  Apart from the ease of public transport, it's reasonably priced, really peaceful and right by the water. There's an America's Cup theme to the hotel, the 'J' referring to the J Class yachts, and there's a New England feel to it.  The rooms are good and fairly spacious with small balconies.  I'd definitely recommend booking a room with a view.  It serves a great breakfast in an old Villa just below the hotel and the hotel's restaurant is right at the water's edge a 3 minute stroll away.  The staff were lovely, but then everyone we came across in Sweden was.

On my next visit I'd like to get to restaurant Djuret, Lilla Nygatan 5 on the island of Gamla Stan.  It was recommended to me by one of my favourite London chefs.  Disappointingly it closes in July for summer holidays.  One coffe place I would try to get to another time is Mean Coffee at Vasagatan 38, close to Terminal Centralen - mainly because it came recommended by someone from Johan & Nyström.

Wild Bilberries at J.E. Olsson & Söner, Ostermalm Saluhall
Stockholm

Dining out can be expensive in Sweden, with hefty taxes on wine, but portions tend to be large so don't over-order, and do go there! I'm sure you won't be disappointed.