Friday 27 May 2011

Week Beginning May 30th - Lords Cricket Ground and One Tree Coffee

Prior to Kaffeine, I was fortunate enough to be employed as the Staffing and Recruitment manager within the catering department at the most famous cricket ground in the world, Lords Cricket Ground and the Marylebone Cricket Club.

Now, after almost two years at Kaffeine, we will be returning to the ground as a part of their espresso and filter coffee offer within the Harris Gardens, the premier outdoor dining area, just up from the Grace Gate.

Marylebone Cricket Club approached us earlier this year, as they wish to improve their coffee offer within the ground which I believe is a great step forward in any catering business. That is, focussing on ALL component parts of their business and food and beverage offer and demanding that the best possible product be served in all areas.

We have also decided to name and brand this concession offer as One Tree Coffee. In the early 18th century, a French naval office tried takling 3 coffee trees to Martinique, however, only one survived, and it is this one that went on to be the catalyst for coffee trees in the New World. We think it's appropriate and we are very excited by it.

We hope to be able to see you at the cricket this year at one of the major matches, please say hello if you do.


Breakfast
Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.30
Ciabatta Roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.20
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.20
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.20
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Cinnamon and raisin toast 2.00
Banana Bread 2.00

Porridge with condiments of muscovado sugar, dried fruit, chopped nuts, honey or rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.50

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.60
Pain au chocolat 2.20
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Cherry and banana sweet muffins 1.80
Leek and cheese savoury muffins 1.80
Mango tea friands 1.90
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.20
White chocolate blondies 2.20
Portuguese tarts 1.80
ANZAC cookies 1.60
Pinky Snaps 1.60

Lunch

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.70
Smoked salmon with dill capers, spinach and red onion
Coppa cotta ham with balsamic cherries, brie and rocket

French retro baguettes 4.30
Ham with gruyere, onion jam, gherkin and spinach
Bufala mozzarella with peri peri sauce, tomato and spinach

Salads £4.40/£5.30
Adobo chicken with camargue red rice
Slow roast tomato with nettle pesto, bufala mozzarella and spinach
Crispy parsnip noodles with beetroot syrup

Tart
4.00 or 6.30 with salad
Ricotta and herb

Friday 20 May 2011

Week beginning May 23rd - The British Sandwich Awards

Last night (Thursday 19th), Kaffeine was awarded a gold award in the category of Best Independent Sandwich bar at the British Sandwich Awards. We received gold because of the five short listed, they could not decide an overall winner, so they gave all of us a gold award. I guess really we are therefore 'one' of the best sandwich bars in the UK, or at least one of the top five!!

All the same, it is a fantastic recognition of all the hard work, passion, innovation, dedication and expertise that goes into not just creating, making or serving these sandwiches, but also the cleanliness, atmosphere and service of Kaffeine itself.

Over 600 people from across the industry, mainly very, very big corporate companies, were at the awards and it was a black tie event at a leading London hotel, they even had the Bee Gees tribute band playing! I did not stay for the party, but went home to wife and daughter (who woke at 5 am today) for a rest.

I do wish to send a big thank you to all our staff, especially Chef Jared for his inspirational recipes and his kitchen team for producing such wonderful food and all our staff for serving it so well.

And thank you, as customers and supporters, for supporting us so generously, it is very much appreciated.

Well done, the cocktails are on me.

Breakfast
Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.30
Ciabatta Roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.20
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.20
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.20
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Cinnamon and raisin toast 2.00
Banana Bread 2.00

Porridge with condiments of muscovado sugar, dried fruit, chopped nuts, honey or rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.50

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.60
Pain au chocolat 2.20
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Lemon marmalade muffins 1.80
Goats cheese souffle savoury muffins 1.80
Raspberry Friands 1.90
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.20
White chocolate blondies 2.20
Portuguese tarts 1.80
ANZAC cookies 1.60
Pinky Snaps 1.60

Lunch

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.70
Tuna with cheese fondue and spinach
Coppa cotta ham with rocket, tomato, aioli, gruyere and dijon

French retro baguettes 4.30
Aubergine with goats cheese, sweet chilli and rocket
Bufala mozzerella with peri peri sauce, tomato and spinach

Salads £4.40/£5.30
Braised pork belly with breakfast radish
Orzo pasta salad red peppers, courgettes, onion, garlic and a spicy buttermilk dressing
Asparagus with ginger

Tart
4.00 or 6.30 with salad
Broccoli, chilli and blue cheese

Sunday 15 May 2011

Week beginning May 16th - Providing Service

I have always worked in hospitality, 25 years now, since I was 16 years old. There are a lot of people who are much better than I am at it, very very experienced people that I respect and admire, and one of the main things I do respect about these people and the places they operate is the attention to detail in the service they provide to their guests.

For that is what hospitality is to me, providing a service to people who come to your establishment to spend their money and time on your food and drinks, and to enjoy the decor, atmosphere and location.

It is only right that these customers are treated with respect and that every possible detail about their experience is perfect. It breaks my heart when I go to a place that has put so much effort into their decor, coffee, food and location, only to be let down but not having a standard of clearing a table as soon as the customer has finished. It's also one thing to have that standard, but it's another to recruit and retain staff who believe and understand in that standard, not in standing around behind the bar chatting.

Providing exceptional service is what will make a business stand out amongst others, because most of all the other factors are physical and cannot that easily be changed or altered or adjusted. It is where any busines scan lift its game above others and continue to grow and improve. Providing service (clearing tables, saying hello goodbye/name recognition/giving water with espresso/being fast and efficient/being friendly/being accomodating) is the first thing that we should all look for in an establishment and that an establishment should be recognised for, because it is the basis of any great hospitality venue.


I do hope you enjoy our menu this week and I especially hope that you enjoy the service we are trying very hard to provide.

Breakfast
Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.30
Ciabatta Roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.20
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.20
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.20
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Cinnamon and raisin toast 2.00
Banana Bread 2.00

Porridge with condiments of muscovado sugar, dried fruit, chopped nuts, honey or rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.50

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.60
Pain au chocolat 2.20
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Blueberry sweet muffins 1.80
Asparagus and Gruyere savoury muffins 1.80
Raspberry Friands 1.90
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.20
White chocolate blondies 2.20
Portuguese tarts 1.80
ANZAC cookies 1.60
Pinky Snaps 1.60

Lunch

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.70
Salmon with lemon butter, spinach and chive
Pancetta with apricots, brie and rocket

French retro baguettes 4.30
Coppa cotta ham with onion jam, gruyere, gherkin, rocket, dijon
Grilled potato with rosemary, garlic, mozzerella and garlic

Salads £4.40/£5.30/£8.50
Aubergines with a thai dressing
Roast beetroot with fresh peas, mint and feta
Organic free range chicken with gem lettuce, grapefruit and cayenne

Tart
4.00 or 6.30 with salad
English nettle tart

Friday 6 May 2011

Week beginning April 11th -- Home brewing

I am certainly not the expert to talk to about home brewing, there are a lot more knowledgeable people out there who know a lot more than I do. What I would like to say however, is that over the past few years especially, I have learnt a lot about brewing coffee at home and actually how easy it is to make a wonderful filter style coffee (not espresso) at home wuth a little bit of allocated time and effort.

Mrs K and I will always start our days off together with breakfast and either a pour over filter or french press coffee, following a recipe from one of the many experts and using SQM freshly gound beans. By the time she has prepped breakfast for our daughter and ourselves, I have made a great pot of coffee and we sit and enjoy our breakfast as a family.

You need to allow at least five minutes to get it done, about the same time as preparing breakfast really, and you will be able to sit and read the papers and have coffee, breakfast and a wonderful start to the day.

Not only that, but if you are going on a long drive or a picnic, get a thermos, make a pot ready before you go and stop and have really great coffee to keep you going. Much much better than Costa services.

Square Mile sell all sorts of equipment, and this is an amzing website with all sorts of recipes for brewing http://www.brewmethods.com/.

Now, if only we can get all the B £ B's of the UK to make us coffee this way too....


Breakfast
Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.30
Ciabatta Roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.20
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.20
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.20
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Cinnamon and raisin toast 2.00
Banana Bread 2.00

Porridge with condiments of muscovado sugar, dried fruit, chopped nuts, honey or rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.50

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.60
Pain au chocolat 2.20
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Champagne soaked berries sweet muffins 1.80
Corn cheddar savoury muffins 1.80
Strawberry Friands 1.90
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.20
White chocolate blondies 2.20
Portuguese tarts 1.80
ANZAC cookies 1.60
Pinky Snaps 1.60

Lunch

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.70
Tuna with cheese fondue and rocket
Manchego cheese with pesto, courgette and rocket

French retro baguettes 4.30
Coppa cotta ham with onion jam, gruyere, gherkin, rocket, dijon
Bufala mozzerella with aioli, spinach, basil, tomato, spinach

Salads £4.40/£5.30/£8.50
Cherries with goats cheese, rocket and basil
Orzo pasta salad with spicy buttermilk dressing
Organic free range chicken with gen lettuce, grapefruit and cayenne

Tart
4.00 or 6.30 with salad
Asparagus and gruyere tart

Tuesday 3 May 2011

Week beginning April 11th -- Espresso and latte art lessons

It is a wonderful thing that so many people these days are interested in the sourcing, the quality, the production and the consumption of food and therefore have higher demand for knowledge about where this food comes from, and coffee is no exception.

We also have many of our own customers who show a real interest in how we make coffee, and we have always encouraged and asked those who do to spend five minutes behind the machine with our staff who take them through our beans, grinders, machine, cleanliness and then finish with a double ristretto. This is somehting we really enjoy doing, showing people the precision and effort that goies into making an espresso based drink.

For this reason, we have started our own espresso and latte art lessons. Two nights per week, 1.5 hours per session, you will be taight by our own manager and lead barista Catherine, the theory of coffee production and tamping, the art of espresso making and then will finish with latte art lessons where your challenge is to pour a rosetta, tulip or heart.

If you are interested, please check Catherines website http://www.cathosaurus.com/ for details and bookings. Places are limited each week, so be quick.

In the meantime, with asparagus season well under way, wwe hope you enjoy this weeks menu.


Breakfast
Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.30
Ciabatta Roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.20
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.20
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.20
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Cinnamon and raisin toast 2.00
Banana Bread 2.00

Porridge with condiments of muscovado sugar, dried fruit, chopped nuts, honey or rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.50

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.60
Pain au chocolat 2.20
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Plum and honey muffins 1.80
Courgette and cheese 1.80
Strawberry Friands 1.90
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.20
White chocolate blondies 2.20
Portuguese tarts 1.80
ANZAC cookies 1.60
Pinky Snaps 1.60

Lunch

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.70
Smoked salmon with aioli, dill, red onion, capers, spinach
Manchego cheese with pesto, courgette and rocket

French retro baguettes 4.30
Coppa cotta ham with red onion, gruyere, gherkin, rocket, dijon
Bufala mozzerella with aioli, spinach, basil, tomato, spinach

Salads £4.40/£5.30/£8.50
Vermicelli noodles with free range chicken, carrots, coriander, sesame and chilli
Roast beetroot with goats cheese, broad beans and mint
British aparagus with duck egg mayonnaise

Tart
4.00 or 6.30 with salad
Stuffed courgette tart