Chez Sophinette, 184 rue Cardinet, Paris

Chez Sophinette, Paris, 19 April 2013.

This small little café adjacent to my hotel, the Abrial, on the Rue Cardinet, Paris, looked a bit like a snack bar when I first passed by. There were 'meal deal' posters on the window, which is always a bad sign in my books. So, I weaved my way towards the Rue Brochant where, the night before, I had spotted a nice little café, but, alas, it was closed, so I walked around the block and went back to the Chez Sophinette.

It was a small place with tables by the window and a servery, behind which a rather attractive French woman was busying herself with whatever people who work in cafés busy themselves with.

"Bonjours!" I said with a smile, adding that it was the only word in French that I knew, but then, as I sat down to await my breakfast, I realised that I was mistaken: there were loads of words, especially if you took into account all those French words that have made their way into the English language, like 'entrepreneuer'.

I ordered tea, fresh orange juice and bread and jam, having turned down the traditional croissant, which, incidentally, the girl behind the counter DIDN'T pronounce in that awfully pretentious way that English people do: 'cwass-orr'. I hate that and found it refreshing that the French don't pronounce it that way, just poncy English people. I might be wrong, of course, and would only know the truth if I conducted some kind of survey by asking random Parisiens to say 'croissant'. Needless to say, I couldn't be bothered.

Petit Dejeuner – a small breakfast on a small tray, but then came the bread!

The breakfast was pleasant (see photo). A pot of hot water, a trendy tea bag (English breakfast), a can of fresh orange juice – rare to see these in the UK and, I have to admit, I thought she'd handed me a fizzy drink, like Fanta, but no, it was genuinely fresh, 100% orange juice with no added sugar. The bread was amazing. Not a slice of bread but a kind of crusty baguette thing smothered in strawberry jam. Oddly, I'd asked for marmalade and she told me I could have apricot or strawberry, not understanding, perhaps, that in England marmalade is predominantly made from oranges. Later, as she prepared my baguette she confirmed that I wanted 'red fruit'. Why didn't she say strawberry? The breakfast arrived on a small melamine tray and was nicely presented.

Within seconds of my arrival, others turned up and made similar orders as I gazed out of the window hoping that my toothache wouldn't return. The previous evening I'd gone out for dinner in a local Italian restaurant, not far from Chez Sophinette, and was in unbearable, jaw-breaking pain. So bad that I got the bill and left and, as I write this from my hotel room (room 406) I can still see the half bottle of Valpolicella with a cork stuck in the top. It's wasted and I should have left it in the restaurant. I had the choice: painkiller or wine? In the end I opted for the former.

The view from Chez Sophinette's window was not good: building sites, cranes, that sort of thing, and a busy road in front of it all, but that was the only down side and I'm guessing that once the building work is completed, the view will be much better. This was, effectively, a snack bar, not the sort of place to get cosy while reading a book, in my case, Cycling Home from Siberia by Rob Lilwall, which I finished on the Eurostar home.

The bill for my petit dejeuner was EUR4.50 – very reasonable. Downside? Not many, but it could have been a little cosier in my opinion.

The Quality Café, Merstham, Surrey

A nice caff. Opens early and closes early too.

Here's a caff with some tough competition from local competitor Hunger's End on Merstham High Street. In fact, there's a big difference between the two establishments: one is on the main high street (which doubles as the busy A23) and the other is on a road leading down to the railway station.

The Quality Café is the underdog as it closes early, at 3.30pm, and its side street location means it's not the first choice for the impulse buyer – unless it catches people coming off the train. Although in this case, Merstham residents would probably want something a little more upmarket, like the new art gallery on the corner of the same road with one foot on the high street.

A big breakfast: mushroom omelette and chips.

Merstham has three caffs: Hunger's End, the Quality Café and the new (ish) art gallery caff, but the two big players are Hunger's End and the Quality Café, which I'm guessing picks up the early birds on their way to work in the morning. Why does it close at 3.30pm? Probably because it's not worth staying open unless you're sitting pretty on the A23.

Big, gaudy menu and small servery, but this ain't a bad caff.

The caff itself is a bit gaudy in decor terms. Unlike Hunger's End, which has gone for that more rustic, local look (even though it is a proper 'caff') the Quality Café adopts a fast food stance, with a gaudy menu situated over a small servery and a bright easyJet orange decor. The green chairs are plastic and secured to the floor.

But in caff fayre terms, it's all you would expect to find: bacon and sausage rolls, chips, beans, omelettes and Full English breakfasts. They pile on the chips too. I ordered a mushroom omelette and was given mountains of chips and a decent-sized pile of baked beans. Just what the doctor ordered after strenuous exercise, but in others, just a bit over-the-top. I felt I needed more strenuous exercise to work it off.

A mug of tea is 90p, which ain't bad considering it costs £1.75 in a Costa Coffee.

All-in-all, a good caff, but remember to get there before it closes mid-afternoon. It should get rid of its fast food appearance, ie ditch the furniture screwed to the floor, and possibly consider getting rid of the gaudy orange paint job too.

On the prices front it was fine. My big breakfast and a mug of tea was under a fiver.

Coffee & Chocolate, Knoxville, Tennessee

Outside Coffee & Chocolate facing Market Square.

This excellent little coffee shop on Union Avenue, near Market Square, is well worth a visit if you fancy tea or coffee and perhaps a cookie or some kind of delicious cake. It's all to be found at Coffee & Chocolate.

I sat there on a Friday afternoon reading The Knoxville Journal while discovering how to kill a bit of time.

A medium-sized tea in a paper cup and a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie cost me $4.96.

The place followed the Starbucks model in terms of there being a jug of milk adjacent to the counter along with everything else, ie sugar sachets and plastic spoons.

Confiserie Tea Room Fredy's, Montreux, Switzerland

Confiserie Tea Room Fredy's, possibly named after Freddie Mercury
who lived here and has a statue to his memory in Montreux.

No more than a stone's throw from the shores of Lake Geneva, this excellent caff offers everything a caff aficionado is looking for: good value, high quality food, pleasant, efficient service and a decent atmosphere.

I'd walked from central Montreux for about one hour, following the pathway that hugged Lake Geneva until it ran out and I was forced to hit the road. The road follows the route of the 201 heading towards Vevey (in the direction I was travelling). After about an hour of walking I left behind suburban Montreux with it's old and seemingly empty mansions, some overlooking the lake, others overlooking the road. I was in a small town not that far from Vevey. I think it was called Vaud and the only reason I've worked that out (if I have) is that I've gone on to Google Maps and retraced my walk from central Montreux.

My soup and tea – lovely!

The address, according to Google, is 19 Grand-Rue, La Tour-de-Pielz, Vaud, Switzerland so I'm saying that's where this excellent little café is located.

It's fantastic as it sells everything from high quality cakes, pastries and bread to chocolates and has a small but cosy little restaurant area out back.

I chose a bowl of soup and bread (I can't remember the variety of soup, possibly leek and potato) plus a cup of tea, all for about seven Swiss Francs. The place was busy and, to be honest, I could have stayed there all day, but I only had enough money for the soup and tea so I savoured the moment, paid up and took the 201 bus back into Montreux.

If ever you find yourself in Montreux, there are a lot of places like this and they are truly magical places. I just wish I'd had a newspaper or my book with me as that would have been true bliss.

TV star beats Starbucks to buy coffee chain

Patrick Dempsey

A report on Yahoo! Finance today states that Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey, better known as McDreamy, has won a bankruptcy auction to buy a small US coffee chain.

For more details, click here.

Boycott Starbucks today...there's plenty of independents out there!

Who needs Starbucks? The answer is nobody. Why? They don't pay any tax. Think about it. All those people who work at Starbucks pay tax (at least I hope they do) but the big boss man, who must be based over in Seattle somewhere, birthplace of the coffee chain, pays nothing on the earnings of his UK-based stores.

And think about this: you have to pay tax so why can't Starbucks?

In short this is outrageous, especially when you consider that there are many independent coffee retailers out there on UK high streets who offer a superior product and ambience but do have to pay tax.

Starbucks represents 'the man' and if you want to stick it to the man, there's only one thing you can do: boycott Starbucks. By all means enjoy a cup of coffee in a Caffé Nero, a Coffee Republic or a Costa Coffee, but steer clear of Starbucks. The best thing to do, of course, is to support the UK's independent coffee houses, of which there are many.

It's really simple: you're walking down the high street, you need a coffee. You see a Starbucks. But don't go in. Remember, they don't pay tax! Look around you. Is there a Costa or a Nero or an independent coffee shop in sight? If yes, then make your way there instead. You'll feel a lot, lot better.

TeashopandCaff won't be visiting Starbucks anymore and was never that impressed with the coffee chain. 

Let me know your thoughts and I'll happily publish them on my blog.

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Teavana adds 105 stores....

According to World Tea News, Atlanta-based Teavana, now a 284-store specialty tea retailer, added 105 stores in the past 12 months and is ramping up its marketing efforts with the hire of John Aylward, former brand director at GAP Europe.

Source: World Tea News.