So far so good! I’m managing to stick to the 6 alarm clock, dragging myself out of bed and off the gym while it’s still dark. This morning was another tick in that box but it wasn’t all plane sailing especially when the Northern Line’s involved. Showered and changed I walked to Waterloo tube station to make my way to work only to find it was being evacuated (I’m not sure why). “Ok” I thought, that’s not all bad. It’s a sunny morning and I’ll enjoy the walk over Hungerford Bridge and catch the tube on the other side. It’ll make a change to my routine.
Once across I thought I’d carry on the theme of change and instead of the tube, take a Boris bike. It wasn’t to be. My attempts were thwarted by not one but two docking stations; or was it my key fob? Who knows? While walking along Craven Street between the two stations I noticed a blue plaque on one of the Georgian town houses saying that the author of Moby Dick, Herman Melville, had lived there. He’s in good company with his fellow countryman Mr Ben Franklin up the other end of the street.
No tube and no bike; might as well carry on walking and headed towards St Martin’s Lane. And that’s where I came across Notes and Music Cafe. Not your usual coffee shop format so I decided it was worth closer investigation.
I guess it takes it's musical inspiration from it's proximity to the Colluseum, home of the English National Opera. It's right next door. Inside, it’s a lovely welcoming space with small tables at the front and long, sharing tables at the back beneath and big skylight filled with a chandelier made of standard lamps that looks a bit like a giant spider. Besides selling coffee, they also have a decent selection of classical CDs and “world cinema” DVDs for sale. All in all a really calm and relaxing vibe.
For breakfast they offered the usual selection of pastries, savoury and sweet croissants as well as filled baguettes. There was also a big bowl of fruit salad. I was in the mood for something heartier and it just so happened that they also served porridge. Of course, being a Scot, porridge is the food of the gods along with haggis, shortbread and irn bru! This would be a good test. Will their porridge and their coffee stack up? I plonked myself at one of the big tables at the back and waited for both to arrive while surveying the DVD titles in the rack next to me. The Draughtsman’s Contract by Peter Greenaway, a strange film from the early 80’s starring Anthony Higgins and Janet Suzman, caught my eye. I never was able to work out the plot of that one. Also in view was a compilation DVD of Wimbledon and Love Actually. Phew – not so out of my depth after all.
Coffee (a black Americano) and porridge arrived minutes later. I was struck by the decent sized bowl of porridge and the coffee looked like a good’n – a rich dark colour with a little bit of lighter coloured froth on the top. A sturdy cup too. A dash of milk in the coffee and a good dollop of honey in the porridge and I was good to go. Both were quality. I’m sure I detected a pinch of salt in the porridge, as it should be after all and the coffee was spot on; as good as you’ll find in among any of Fitzrovia’s finest. Unfortunately I couldn’t hang around too long as the transport cock ups earlier had made me late for work. The good news is I’ll soon be working close to Covent Garden and look forward to making Notes and Music a regular haunt.
Image Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamrhoades/5182482151/in/photostream/
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