Don Senneville and Jim White
Coffee seemed to somehow elude us in our visit to London. Except at the Italian Gardens in Hyde Park, with the rare espresso machine and thoughts of pistachio gelato. Maybe it was just having come from Italy. Joggers everywhere in the morning, tourists everywhere in the afternoon. Dogs everywhere. Tea is still quite popular (Don didn’t have any), but some statistics show that UK-ers drink 4% more coffee than tea. That’s close enough to call it a draw.
We saw several Starbucks in our sojourns around London, but they were obscured in light of the city’s ultra-modern coffee cafes and hundreds-of-years-old pubs. Where we stayed in London offered coffee pods. You know, things you put into noisy coffee machines that make in one cup at a time? We shouldn’t judge London coffee on the basis of coffee pods.
After all, London is the land of ‘Gentlemen Baristas’, boats on the Thames, tea at the Globe, and hop-on-hop-off buses. We boarded boats to cruise the Thames. By that time it was usually time for beer, so coffee wasn’t a thing. There were jokes from the tour guides on buses and boats. One in particular, as we floated near London Bridge, had to do with Lake Havasu. Really! As Arizonans we were proud. Our boat and bus rides led the way to Hogwarts School (think Harry Potter), statues of everyone in history, bridges galore (none had fallen down), and Windsor palace where the last Queen is enshrined.
One highlight was the torture palaces (think Tower of London) and displays for dead kings and queens. We saw bridges where heads were spiked in years past. But now, the Eye of London dominates and seems out of place. We learned that the Big Ben bell weighs the same as the Liberty Bell and is cracked!
Under the heading of all things must end, we got the London homesick blues (J. J. Walker, 1973). Time to go home. Imagine being strapped in a metal tube at 40K feet at 600 mph for 11 hours with really bad coffee. Now imagine an excellent and relaxed cappuccino in Carefree. From London Town, we have beamed back into the comfort of our own Coffee Row. No hop-on-hop-off buses here, only the roar of the occasional biker and the quiet blossoming of our special desert.
So now we’re back, and we visited a new coffee shop that has opened in the Holland Center. The Organic Bread Cafe, neatly tucked into the corner of the Holland Center, is like that little European cafe where you search for a good espresso, and this is it. The energetic and gracious owner, baker, and barista brings a special touch to her unique breads and pastries and her efficient espresso machine that turns out a great double espresso for Jim and of course a to-go Americano for Don. This cool spot is at the center of a Community complex with a college, YMCA, art shows, outdoor markets, child care, and now good coffee. We interviewed a customer who had just finished a tai chi session, swam a lap, finished a Google refresher course at the college, and hung her artwork in the Holland Center after dropping off her three kids. Give The Organic Bread Cafe a try and enjoy talking with a very interesting barista who has lived in London! We’re glad we’re here.
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