At last a touch of theatre for tea

Photo shows Carl Pretorius (left) and Pete Ethelston.

Coffee has it all when it comes to 'theatre'. Espresso coffee machines have made a song and dance about producing a cup of espresso or cappuccino ever since the milk bars of the 1950s. While there might have been a blip back in the 1960s, when instant coffee took over for a while, roast and ground coffee is now back with a vengeance and chain operators like Costa, Caffé Nero and Starbucks, to name but three, are all offering their customers a touch of theatre everytime a cup of coffee is ordered.

Sadly, if you're a tea drinker, there's little in the way of theatre when you order your cuppa, apart from being asked in Starbucks whether you want one or two teabags. 

A short while ago there was a glimmer of hope when Unilever Best Foods starting promoting Chai tea and developing interesting looking dispensing equipment for tea that easily rivalled the espresso machines produced by companies such as Brasilia UK. Can't say I've seen a great deal of Unilever's tea machines so I can't vouch for their continued availability.

However, two South Africans claim to have developed the world's first 'tea espresso' based on the South African Rooibos tea. The product has already proved a great success in South Africa, the USA, Canada, parts of Europe and Asia and now it has landed on UK shores. The product is known as Red Espresso and it can be purchased in the UK by clicking here.

For an interview with the two men who have developed and marketed tea espresso – Carl Pretorius and Pete Ethelston – click here.

The Shakers, Praed Street, London W2

After sitting on an InterCity train for two hours, stranded at Slough and not allowed off the train, it was a welcomed relief to arrive at Paddington just in time for lunch.

Praed Street runs parallel to the station and it has some interesting caffs. I found The Shakers where I enjoyed a rather nice slab of lasagne with salad and a mug of tea – all for £6.18, an odd sum, but there you go. The restaurant had a downstairs and an upstairs gallery area affording customers a view of the bustling counter below.

The Shakers offered traditional sandwiches but also a full range of hot meals, which were displayed in a hot servery area at the front of the shop. There was beef and chicken curry, lasagne, you name it, all piping hot and ready to eat.

While the food was good, the restaurant itself was not really that swish in terms of decor. You might be able to see from the photograph above that there's a hole in the window where one of those ventilation thingys should go; that was a bit offputting. Generally, it could have done with a lick of paint to make it more welcoming.

I left satisfied with my lasagne and tea – although I noted that the tea had been made on an espresso machine and the guy making my tea had obviously used hot milk, which lent it a frothy coffee appearance and almost causing me to question whether it was tea. Still, it was okay and I shouldn't grumble.

There appears to be a website address on the shopfront (www.shakers1.com) but it must have been closed down.

Blackheath super caff in Heinz Ketchup TV ad

The Gambardella Cafe in Vanbrugh Park, Blackheath – the oldest café in south London – is hailed as one of the best Formica ‘caffs’ in London. This is the sort of place where you can eat honest food, where you can be anonymous and where you can simply watch the world go round. Ask Jools Holland. He used to live locally and was often known to tuck in to egg on toast.

The Gambardella is also a bit of a movie star having made appearances in The Boat that Rocked (with Bill Nighy and Kenneth Branagh) and the ITV drama, The Fixer.

The café was opened in 1927 by Andrew Gambardella, a former ice cream maker from Naples, Italy. It is now run by James and Alex Petrillo, his grandsons (pictured above).

The caff is also being used in a new television advertisement for Heinz Tomato Ketchup, a key ‘caff’ brand if ever there was one. A caff without Heinz Tomato Ketchup isn’t really a caff.

The ad – which was screened in June and again in August – celebrates the many iconic ways that Heinz Tomato Ketchup is enjoyed and is costing Heinz £2 million. In the ad, people from different generations are seen patting, squeezing and scraping an invisible sauce bottle onto their delicious meals.

It goes without saying that Gambardella has been a staunch fan of Heinz Tomato Ketchup for over 80 years.

The Caff that never sleeps – in London EC1

The pic at the top shows the view from the table looking out. The shot above is the exterior of the café. 

Take a stroll up Cowcross Street when you step out of Farringdon tube station in London and, just around the corner, across the road from Smithfield Market and opposite a Barclays Bank, you will find La Forchetta, pronounced La Forketta. Forchetta means fork in Italian, according to the Portugese lady behind the café's counter during my visit.

Having managed to miss lunch, I was starving hungry and decided to order lasagne and salad, this being an Italian café. They put the lasagne on a plate and then microwaved it, which was fair enough, it was nearly 4pm. Naturally I ordered a mug of tea too and then sat down at the back of the caff watching people as they passed by.

What's on offer? Plenty. During teashopandcaff's visit there were some tasty specials like sausage pasta, chicken risotto, chilli con carne and, of course, the lasagne. My order cost me £5.50. There's also a range of pasta dishes, paninis (£3.50), jacket potatoes (£4.00), a full English breakfast for £4.50, sandwiches from £1.80 and a number of different styles of speciality teas courtesy of Twinings.

Newspapers and refrigerated soft drinks round it off but wait, what was that? It stays open all night at the weekends? It's true! The caff opens early and closes late (around 11pm) most days, but on Saturday night it goes through the night, servicing those coming out of the nightclubs and, of course, the market traders. 

After paying for the lasagne and tea, teashopandcaff was tempted to remain in situ, order another tea and try the Millionaire's Shortbread too. Not bad!

New Mexico Tea Company opens teashop

If ever you wondered what a fruit kabob looked like, wonder no more as this is them. Think kebabs with fruit, not meat.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, the New Mexico Tea Company (a retail tea shop) has opened a teashop. The new foodservice element will operate as an integral but separate business.

The New Mexico Tea Company's 150 varieties of tea are available hot at the teashop, and there are three iced tea products available.

The reason behind the teashop according to the NMTC's owner, David Edwards, is that he wanted to promote his business to a wider audience and that he thinks a teashop has more of a buzz to it than a retail shop.

Scones with clotted cream and jam, muffins and fruit kabobs (see photograph above) are also available.

For the full story, click here.

Café Macchiato, Elland, West Yorkshire

Whether there is any connection between the town of Elland (in West Yorkshire near Huddersfield) and the famous Elland Road (home of Leeds FC) I have no idea, but I do know that Café Macchiato can be found in Elland and very nice it is too.

To be honest, it's not your traditional teashop and caff. It has an Italian flavour to it, which is evident in the name (Café Macchiato) but also in the food on offer, like Bruschetta Macchiato (£3.10) which consists of diced tomato, red onion, garlic, basil and olive oil. Also on offer is a range of cold sandwiches. Paninis range in price from £2.75 to £3.00 and there are specials like meat balls and cheese panini (£3.10).

But don't be fooled into thinking you're in some kind of trendy 'eaterie'. You're not! Café Macchiato has true 'caff' credentials thanks to a breakfast menu available between 9am and 11am. Bacon, sausage, eggs, beans and toast costs a reasonable £3.95. Where's the teashop element of this amazing caff, I hear you ask. Let me tell you that there are some amazing home-made cakes on offer – even some home-made Millionaire's Shortbread (a caramel slice in caff speak). And talking of 'slices', a lemon slice is £1.20, a caramel slice is £1.30, carrot cake is also £1.30 and muffins cost 95p.

As the comedian Jimmy Cricket said, "There's more." Scones with home-made jam are just £1.30 or £1.45 with added cream and let's not forget chocolate and beetroot cake at £2.30. Apparently it's like carrot cake but with chocolate and (ahem) beetroot.

The staff are friendly too and it is very much a family affair. During my visit it was mother and daughter on duty.

Elland is about 20 minutes by bus out of central Huddersfield. 

Choosy's in Huddersfield – a shop and a teashop!

Huddersfield is a million times better than I expected it to be; probably because the sun was shining and I found myself moseying around West Yorkshire looking for a decent teashop or caff. 

Needless to say, I found one, called Choosy's, one of those places that sell a load of tea and coffee paraphernalia, like mugs and teapots, strainers and a selection of speciality teas and coffees. 

A box of Twinings' Chai tea took my fancy but I decided against buying any, opting instead for a teapot-shaped used teabag holder (£2.75). I like to have permanent mementos.

Walking through the door was fantastic, thanks to the aroma of coffee beans and the general ambience of the place. The shop is downstairs and there's a quaint teashop upstairs where I enjoyed an excellent pot of tea served with fresh milk and all for just £1.30 (much better than that Costa on the M3 last week).