A Perfect Peckham Sunday at Frank's and Pedler

On those rare summer Sundays when the sun comes out to play in south-east London, there is one obvious destination: Frank's Café, Peckham's most famous, if not its only, rooftop bar. I've been to Frank's a few times, but only in the evening. At lunchtime on a Sunday, though, Frank's is a lot more relaxed but just as fun.

No matter how many times you have seen the view of London's skyline from the rooftop of the multi-storey car park on Rye Lane, you can't help but stop and gawp as soon as you emerge from the pink-hued staircase. On a clear day like last Sunday, you can see way past The City to the north and beyond Crystal Palace to the south.

The other advantage to going to Frank's earlier in the day is that you can secure a table — even one with a view — and don't have to wait too long in the drinks queue. Our family's dinner reservations weren't until later but boldly, I decided to go for a negroni (£6) and it was perfectly cool, crisp and strong. Most of the cocktails are around £6 or £7 and there are also various beers and wines, as well as the British summer staple: Pimm's. We had a few nibbles to keep us going (the spicy hummus was particularly good) and there are a few more substantial dishes too.

After savouring our drinks and the view, we made our way down the pink stairs, down the ever-colourful Rye Lane and onto Peckham Rye. Since it opened almost two years ago, Pedler has remained one of my favourite restaurants in London. It's the kind of neighbourhood restaurant everyone wishes they had in their own neighbourhood: relaxed, stylish and whimsical, and with great food and drinks, it's a bit like having dinner at a friend's house — if your friend is a fantastic cook with immaculate taste.

This time, our group was big enough that we qualified for the gorgeous, padded teal booth towards the back of the restaurant. On Sunday afternoons, you can opt for brunch or a roast, and although I find to very hard not to order brunch dishes when they are available, I followed the herd and ordered a roast. I had the BBQ baby chicken with cornbread and corn-on-the-cob (£16). About half of our party ordered the chicken, and the others went for the roast beef; before long, our table was buried under a small mountain of food. Everything tasted great and embarrassingly, we managed to finish most of it. I tried some of the beef too and it was really, really good. The roasts at Pedler never disappoint, but don't take my word for it — try one for yourself!

It may look as though I'm atoning for my ambitious food order with a healthy juice, but in fact, my drink is a gin cocktail. Pedler is run by the same people as the good folks of Little Bird Gin, and my cocktail, the Sippin' On (£6), combined the house gin with apple, cucumber, mint and lime. It was refreshing, fruity and possibly even somewhat healthy. Possibly.

Although the restaurant was closing, the staff, who are always incredibly friendly and welcoming, let us stay at the table chatting and clutching our full bellies; afterwards, we ventured onto the pavement to drink our coffees before vain attempts to walk off a big but delicious meal. What a great way to spend a Sunday! And if you already like Pedler, you will be pleased to know that their new pizza and cocktail joint, The Beautiful Pizza Boy, will be opening soon a few streets over on Bellenden Road.

Frank's Cafe. 10th floor, Peckham Multi-Storey Car Park, 95a Rye Lane, London, SE15 4ST (Peckham Rye Overground). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

Pedler. 58 Peckham Rye, London, SE15 4JR (Peckham Rye Overground). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Flat White Revisited

My recent revisit to Clerkenwell-based Prufrock has encouraged me to seek out a few of my other old favourite London coffee shops, some of which I first mentioned on this blog some eight or nine years ago and also featured in my 2009 compilation of my favourite London places; others made it into my first London coffee guide in 2011. In several cases, I have somehow managed never to post a full review on this blog, however, so I'm going to be filling in some of those gaps over the next few weeks.

First up is Flat White, located in Soho's Berwick Street, whose website proudly announces that it is London's original flat white. I'm not sure whether it was the first Antipodean-style coffee shop I visited in London — I know that I also discovered Fernandez & Wells in early 2008, a few months after my 2007 discovery of Joe in New York prompted me to hunt out good coffee in London. I used to go to Flat White all the time — the coffee was great and so was the vibe — but it was often difficult to get a table at the weekend and gradually, over the years, other speciality coffee options began to open up, in Soho and Shoreditch, and then elsewhere in London.

When I stopped by for an early brunch on Saturday, though, I soon wondered why Flat White had fallen off my list of regular haunts. Don't get me wrong: it still isn't London's most spacious specaility coffee spot. The café is long and thin with fewer than ten small tables, and a bench out on the pavement. Arriving before noon and on a hot, sunny Saturday when many people would prefer to be outside enjoying the pleasant weather turned out to be a good strategy.

The coffee bar itself is very minimalist: a shiny white Synesso espresso machine sits on a stark black bar; the wall and the menu boards behind the bar are similarly monochrome. Large pendant light bulbs and the turquoise back wall add some pops of light and colour.

My order wasn't quite the full cliché but I came pretty close. I still find that even an Antipodean 6-ounce flat white is too much milk for me but more recently, I've been favouring the piccolo as my espresso-based drink over the macchiato. And so it was a piccolo that I ordered (£2.50), along with a smashed avocado on toast (£6.50). When in Rome... If you are feeling more original than me, there is also a broad selection of bagels, sandwiches and toasties, as well as plenty of cakes and pastries.

The piccolo was really rather good. Flat White currently uses coffee from Stockholm-based Drop Coffee Roasters and there was a gorgeous citrusy Gakombe coffee from Rwanda in the hopper that day. Naturally, the latte art was impeccable and the coffee looked as good as it tasted.

As for the avocado toast, I might even be so bold as to say that Flat White's avocado toast is the best I've had in London. The avocado was fresh, flavoursome and well seasoned, and it came with my top choices of garnishes: lime and coriander. I'm also keen on avo toast with chilli but I'm a sucker for coriander and that's what I use when I make it at home. The sourdough toast was great too and the dish came with an appropriately sharp and serrated knife to cut through the crust without making a hash of it. You can add a poached egg or feta and chilli to the dish, but why improve on perfection?

By the time I left, Flat White was starting to fill up with the post-lunch crowd. If you would like a table and don't want to wait, it's best to go earlier — especially at the weekend. There is a great ambiance at Flat White, with fab music and friendly staff. It's always nice to see when a café has moved on over the course of eight years, but is still somehow comfortingly familiar — and still serves top-notch coffee.

Flat White. 17 Berwick Street, London, W1F 0PT (Tube: Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road, Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square; it's pretty much equidistant from all four). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Bar Termini

When Bar Termini opened its doors in late 2014, its concept was very appealing: an all-day venue serving coffee and cocktails in a tiny, classy, Italian-style bar. And with cocktails from Tony '69 Colebrooke Row' Conigliaro and coffee from Illy's head of quality Marco Arrigo, what wasn't to like? But its location — at the eastern end of Old Compton Street, near the junction with Charing Cross Road — wasn't somewhere I walked past very often and I kept forgetting to stop by.

Fortunately, I was in Soho with time to kill on Sunday and I made a beeline for Bar Termini. The storefront is painted a chic navy and there is a bench on the pavement in case you are in the mood for some Soho people-watching. Inside, there are only a handful of small tables and a few stools at the bar. The seats are all pistachio leather and dark wood; colourful, vintage-style artwork livens up the walls and if you look carefully enough, you can even spot a few vintage suitcases (the bar's name is a nod to Rome's central train station). The result is a cool, calm and beautiful haven amid the hustle and bustle of Old Compton Street.

The cocktail menu and the cocktails I saw the cheerful, white-apron-clad bar tenders making for other customers looked great but it was too early for an aperitif and I was in need of coffee. Most of the coffee shops I frequent these days are coasting on the third wave, but you won't find any Aeropresses, V60s or flat whites at Bar Termini. The coffee menu is simple and focuses on espresso based drinks. I had a couple of espressi (£2.50 each — Romans might baulk at the price, although at least the current exchange rate is in their favour), but there is also, among other drinks, a bicerin on the menu — a sort of small, strong mocha. I used to drink a lot of bicerin in my days as an Italian student, but I'm not sure I would be so keen these days.

Both espressi were exquisitely prepared and came in beautiful espresso cups with Termini's signature 'T' logo. I don't drink espresso very often these days, tending to favour macchiatos, piccolos and filter coffee, and when I do it's usually with a much lighter roast. I still have a soft spot for a good dark Italian roast, though, when I'm in the right frame of mind and Bar Termini's coffees were very good; they use Illy coffee, of course.

Bar Termini also serve a few snacks, sandwiches and some pastries and sweet treats. I was too late for the cornetti but I did have a rather delicious slice of almond and raspberry cake (£3.50). There was a chocolate chip cake too, but the waiter talked me into the almond cake and I think it was the right call.

My next holiday is a one-week trip to Naples and Sorrento and I'm looking forward to returning to Italy. I spent a lot of time there as a child and a student but my visits have tailed off more recently, unless you count brief road trips across the border from Cannes. Although the quality of the coffee can vary, there is something terribly appealing about the Italian espresso bar culture and it will be fun to rediscover it. And if you're looking for Italian-style coffee in London, Bar Termini is an excellent place to start.

Bar Termini. 7 Old Compton Street, London, W1D 5JE (Tube: Leicester Square or Tottenham Court Road). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

The Manchester Caffeine Chronicles: Specialty Coffee Guide

To my embarrassment, I can count the number of times I've visited the north of England on one hand — my recent visit to Manchester for a conference made took my tally up to five, and the other four trips took place in the 1990s. I have always blamed the exorbitant UK train fares — for £70, I could take a train to Manchester or fly to Copenhagen, and the exotic (or, at least, international) option has always won out. I was only in Manchester for two days, most of which was spent in a conference centre, but the city soon won me over, so much so that I'm already stalking the Virgin Trains website waiting for their next sale. And, of course, I found a little time to hunt out some specialty coffee.

In fact, I had less than an hour of free time in total but I used it wisely and managed to visit two coffee shops. I had hoped to go to a third, but Pavé closed earlier than I was expecting and when I checked my train ticket and realised that I was on the 17:15 and not the 17:55, I knew I wouldn't have time to go to one of the cafés I'd earmarked in the vicinity of Manchester Piccadilly station.

Grindsmith
I was pleased to discover that one of the nicest-looking coffee shops in the city was also the closest to the conference centre. Grindsmith is a cool and beautifully designed coffee shop on the busy and bustling Deansgate. The café itself has lovely red-brick walls with plenty of comfortable seating (there's also a co-working space in the back).

Grindsmith serves a range of hand-brewed filter coffee options, and I really fancied a siphon brew, but I was in a rush, so I opted for a piccolo instead. My coffee tasted great: it was smooth, rich and strong. I had hoped to sneak away from the conference to try one of the filter options later on but I was doomed to the mediocre coffee of the press room, instead.

As well as great attention to detail to the coffee-making process, the Grindsmith team have put a lot of thought into design. The white saucer with its gold Grindsmith logo coordinated perfectly with the accompanying teaspoon (some of the prettiest barware I've seen in a coffee shop) and with the bags of the house espresso blend that are for sale. Even the espresso machine coordinates! The staff were also incredibly nice and friendly and I only wish I could have spent more time at Grindsmith.

Grindsmith is located at 231-233 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 4EN. Website. Twitter. Instagram.


Pot Kettle Black
After I left the conference, I needed more coffee for the long train journey back to London and I headed straight to Pot Kettle Black, drawn, in part, by its great name. The café occupies a large, bright space in a Victorian shopping arcade.

There are several large, wooden-topped tables in the centre of the café, long benches by the floor-to-ceiling windows and stools upholstered with old coffee sacks. The centrepiece, though, is the gorgeous white-tiled coffee bar, which houses the espresso machine, brew bar and a coffee menu so complex it requires three boards.

As I knew it might be my last coffee shop of the trip, I ordered both a piccolo (£2.50) and an Aeropress (£3.50). I asked for the guest espresso for my piccolo, which was a Kenyan Ndimaini Peaberry from local roaster Heart and Graft. The guest filters were all from Workshop and I asked the barista for a recommendation for the Aeropress and she suggested I try the Kenyan Gachatha. Just like at Grindsmith, the baristas were really lovely and helpful.

I took a seat at one of the high tables and awaited my coffee. The piccolo arrived first: it came served on tiny metal tray with a glass of water and, to my delight, a chocolate wafer straw. The piccolo was really excellent with some of the subtler notes of the coffee coming through very clearly. I had just finished when along came my Aeropress in a red Acme cup and an accompanying wafer. Unfortunately, this was the moment when I realised my train error and I had to drink the coffee while it was still rather hot, but it still tasted great. If I'd known, I might have ordered a cold brew or one of the other cold coffee drinks they serve — the Wilson (espresso over coconut water) sounded like an interesting variant on the espresso tonic theme.

I just had time to snap a few photos of the rather grand arcade before heading sharpish to the station. PKB is such a lovely place that I could quite happily have spent an afternoon there working my way through the menu. Something else to add to my list of things to do in Manchester when I have more free time!

Pot Kettle Black is located at Unit 14, Barton Arcade, Deansgate, Manchester, M3 2BW. Website. Twitter. Instagram.

If you are looking for suggestions of other good places to get coffee in Manchester, Brian of Brian's Coffee spot has an excellent and comprehensive guide. You can also pick up a copy of the Northern Independent Coffee Guide, which I flicked through at Grindsmith and which highlights 140 coffee shops in the north of England.

Etc — July 2016

UPDATE: UPDATE: Coleman Coffee is now permanently closed but you can order online from their Herefordshire-based roastery. 

Coleman Coffee Roasters
My usual Saturday morning routine is quite simple: run along the river with a small group of friends, finishing with a coffee at Monmouth's Bermondsey coffee bar (sometimes followed by a cocktail at Little Bird). However, the Bermondsey Monmouth is closed until 10 September, so we've been exploring a few other coffee options in the area, including Coleman Coffee Roasters, which I used to go to when I first moved to Bermondsey four years ago before Monmouth became the default.

Coleman's Spa Terminus home is in a railway arch they share with The Little Bread Pedlar, who make amazing pastries and cakes. The queue at Coleman can get pretty long — especially with Monmouth closed — but the macchiatos and pourovers are still rather good. You can buy bags of coffee beans too and follow up with a trip to The Kernel, The Ham & Cheese Co or any of the other great Spa Terminus producers.

The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe
I enjoyed Karin Tanabe's previous novel, The List, about the pleasures and pitfalls of working for a POLITICO-like media outlet and was intrigued by the description of her latest, which sounded rather different. The Gilded Years is based on the true story of Anita Hemmings, who was the first African American to attend Vassar College. The twist is that Anita, who is light-skinned, is attending a white student. We meet Anita in her senior year in the closing years of the 19th century where she begins to struggle with the tension between her ambition to continue her education and perhaps pursue a career in academia, and her burgeoning need to be able to be honest and true to her identity and her family. Can she keep her secret until graduation? And does she even want to?

Anita's story is a fascinating and important one — and one I knew nothing about before reading Tanabe's fictionalisation — and The Gilded Years is beautifully written, thought-provoking, sometimes sad but ultimately inspiring.

Seven at Brixton
My friend and I had hoped to spend a sunny Saturday night at Brixton Beach Boulevard but made the mistake of not booking tickets and so couldn't get in. It wasn't a challenge to make a new plan, however, with both Brixton Market and Pop Brixton just a few minutes' walk away. We ended up going to an old favourite of mine, Seven at Brixton, a cocktail and tapas bar in Brixton Market. The cocktails are good and cheap and we shared a delicious (and huge) platter of meat, cheese and other tapas. If Seven is too busy, they now have a sister restaurant, Three Four Eight, on Coldharbour Lane.

The Nice Guys
Unusually for me, I haven't been to the cinema in several months, partly because I've been busy and partly because there haven't been any films that I desperately wanted to see. But I had hoped to catch The Nice Guys and thought I had missed my chance until I discovered there are still a few screenings in London cinemas.

The eponymous 'nice guys' in Shane Black's 1970s-set film are borderline-alcoholic private eye and single dad Holland March (Ryan Gosling) and thug-for-hire with a heart Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe). The unlikely duo team up to investigate the suspicious death of a porn star, tumbling down a rabbit hole of sleaze, corruption and murder. Despite the dark themes, Black keeps the tone light with snappy banter between the two leads and a hefty dose of slapstick comedy. The Nice Guys is funny, fun and quirky — and a lot more enjoyable than the recent adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, which also involves a troubled private investigator in 1970s LA. The Nice Guys sometimes veers into parody but its tongue is usually firmly in its cheek, and while March and Healy aren't always especially nice, they are charming and make for an entertaining double-act. Angourie Rice, who plays March's tween daughter, puts in a fine performance.

The Fire Child by S.K. Tremayne
S.K. Tremayne's debut, The Ice Twins, posed the intriguing question of what you would do as a parent of twins if one of the twins died but you couldn't be sure which daughter was still alive. It was a fast, twisty read and the same is true of Tremayne's follow-up, The Fire Child. In a rather Rebecca-like set-up, Rachel marries the handsome and rich David and comes to live in his crumbling Cornish pile, Carnhallow House, along with David's young son Jamie. Jamie's mother died in tragic but mysterious circumstances the year before but her presence is felt throughout the house, and Jamie himself is — understandably, perhaps — still disturbed by her death.

Rachel wants to be a good wife and mother but she also begins to harbour suspicions about the death of David's first wife — and about whether her seemingly perfect husband is all that he seems. Rachel herself, it soon emerges, has a troubled past of her own and she thought that her whirlwind romance with David was the opportunity to start afresh. But are Rachel's past demons responsible for her newfound fears or is there something more sinister going on at Carnhallow House that could threaten her life? The Fire Child is an engrossing read, packed with depictions of the beautiful and dramatic Cornish scenery, and with a cracking twist towards the end — great if you are looking for holiday reading material.

Disclaimer: The Fire Child is out now, published by Harper Collins. I received a pre-release copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.