Coffee Shop: Barber and Parlour
Time: Wednesday morning
Coffee beans: Various Origin roasted
Ordered: 2 x Long black

Beautiful interior. Open and light. Whitewashed walls. Big windows. Beautiful homeware on sale. Comfy sofas. Neville barbers in one corner. Macbooks and beards abound. Tasty breakfast. Tastier coffee. Fast wifi. Attentive staff. Carefully selected background music. Paper and fabric breaks up ceiling.

Coffee Shop: Slate Coffee
Time: Tuesday early morning
Coffee beans: Allpress Guatemala
Ordered: 1 x Long black

Small place. Very busy on the eyes. Wooden floor. Spraypaint decor. Left wall covered in signed loyalty cards. Empty except for staff. B-52’s playing on the CD player. Plenty of pastries, cookies, cakes. Backed by chirpy blackboard descriptors. T-shirts for sale, hanging from the ceiling. Imagine it’s steamy when full. Cyclist vibe with bench by outside window. Reclaimed and uncomfortable furniture. Fast wifi.

Coffee Shop: Four Barrel Coffee
Time: Friday late afternoon
Coffee beans: Herrera Nicaragua Four Barrel Roasted
Ordered: 1 x Americano

Warehouse feel. Wooden beams. Concrete slab floor. Airy and inviting. Lots of people on laptops. Record player on top of well stocked record shelves. Very well merchandised with plenty of beans for sale. Nice front of house staff. Slow barista. Great paintings on wall by Paul Madonna. Various milks available (skimmed, semi, full, almond, cream.) Nice tasting coffee. Distinctive, thick rimmed mug.

Coffee Shop: Sightglass Coffee, San Francisco
Time: Wednesday early morning
Coffee beans: Yetatebe, Shakisso Sightglass roasted
Ordered: 1 x Double Espresso

Beautiful coffee shop.No open brick! Hexagonal pattern tiled floor. Sturdy stools. Orb lights. Compact roaster. Light and airy. Staff are incredibly polite. They ask your name, they remember your name. Decent motown playing on crackly record player. Tasty espresso. Appetising food. Meeting with Gareth Kay and Dylan Williams (take out).

Coffee Shop: Saint Espresso
Time: Tuesday early morning
Coffee beans: Negosho Lekempte
Ordered: 2 x Long blacks

Very small unit with four tables. Flimsy furniture. Wobbly table. Standard brick wall, white and black interior. Beautiful looking food in breakfast display. Pretty average coffee. Slow but apologetic staff. Good music. Shelves full of coffee paraphernalia. No wifi.

Coffee Shop: Relax Coffee, Old Street, EC1
Time: Saturday morning
Coffee beans: Tilbury’s Modern Standard
Ordered: 1 x Nitro coldbrew

Outdoor space in the middle of busy roundabout. 9 weeks in to a 2 year pop up. Metal and concrete finish. Quiet during the day. Speedy and knowledgeable service. No wifi. No food. Nitrous charged coffee. Doesn’t taste as good as it sounds. Interesting space – will be rocking at night.

Coffee Shop: Origin, Shoreditch
Time: Wednesday morning
Coffee beans: Origin Batch
Ordered: 3 x Filter

Small space. Feels somewhat transient. Beautiful polished concrete floor. Flimsy feel furniture. Attentive and friendly baristas. Slow wifi. Delicious coffee. Much appreciated free refill. Inside crowded with architects (of both building and information). Outside bench busy with bike couriers. Nice place.

Here’s the first update on the 26 new recipes challenge.

#1. Zucchini, Basil and Parmesan Salad, POLPO, Russell Norman

#2. Spring chicken in a pot, BBC Good Food

#3. Fish Pie with Bread&Wine salad, St John (The Complete Nose to Tail)

#4. Chicken Cacciatora, Delia’s Complete How to Cook

Coffee Shop: Ozone Coffee Roasters, Old Street
Time: Friday morning
Coffee beans: Ozone Two Trees
Ordered: 2 x Americano, 1 x poached eggs

Massive space. Tons of seating. Decked out with reclaimed wood, open brick and oxidised metal. Beautiful long coffee bar. Quick service. Fast wifi. Enticing breakfast menu. Downstairs roastery alongside additional seating. Close to home. New favourite place.

I really love Buster Benson‘s codex vitae project.
I haven’t had the time to put down on paper everything that he has. But I thought I’d at least start with a list of books that I read over and over again. A personal canon. Desert Island Discs, but for books.
I’ve tried to limit it to an amount I could feasibly carry. And over time, I’ll swap in/out and evolve the list.

1 Make Space: How to set the stage for creative collaboration

2 Do Purpose – David Hieatt

3 Dear Future Me – Matt Sly

4 How to do better creative work – Steve Harrison

5 On the shortness of life – Seneca

6 The Giraffe, The Pelly and Me – Roald Dahl

7 Johnny the Clockmaker – Edward Ardizzione

8 The Media Lab: Inventing the future at MIT – Stewart Brand

9 Eating The Big Fish – Adam Morgan

10 A book about Innocent: Our story and some things we’ve learned – Innocent

11 Man Walks Into A Pub – Pete Brown

12 Change the world for a fiver – WAWWD

13 Mission Explore – The Geography Collective

14 Mind Your Business: Small Enterprise as Liberating strategy – Tom Hodgkinson

15 Shaping Things – Bruce Sterling