Wednesday 29 January 2014

Week beginning January 27th - Nothing to report here

Busy week this week, no real news to report, but we do have another cracking menu. You have to try the chicken pie, absolutely delicious.

I will have news next week on two different and exciting speaking engagements I have been invited to in February, the Tamper tantrum at Birmingham UKBC super heats and the UK Coffee Leaders Summit.

Have a great week and please enjoy, as we will enjoy bringing it to you.


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passion fruit) 3.70
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with home made preserves 1.90
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.40
Banana bread 2.40
Porridge with choices of muscovado sugar, dried fruit, chopped nuts, honey, golden syrup or compote 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.90
Pain au chocolat 2.50
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Forced rhubarb and wild sorrel 2.40
Savoury Scone: Courgette and feta 2.40
Lemon and coconut friands 2.40
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 2.00
Afgan Biscuits 2.00
Lamingtons Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon 2.50

Lunch:
Soup: Sweet corn chowder 4.50

French retro baguettes 5.00
Ham, sauté mushrooms, cheese fondue, spinach
Smoked salmon with rhubarb and almond pesto, cucumber, rosemary and rocket

Foccacias 5.30
Pancetta, aioli, tomato, avocado and spinach.
Tomato, mozzarella, peri peri and rocket

Salads: 5.50/6.90
Charcoal prosciutto, wild fennel leaf, blood orange, castelfranco, with a sow thistle dressing
Crown prince squash roasted in Brazilian panela sugar and chilli with Gorgonzola and coriander
Swede and carrot baked in fennel seeds and nutmeg
Tart: 4.40 or 7.90 with salad
HG Walters organic chicken curry pie

Monday 20 January 2014

Week beginning January 20th - Australia Week

Yes, Australia week. Why not. Australia day this year is on Sunday 26th January and in Australia it is a very big day indeed. Chef Jared has just returned in time from a six week holiday in Australia and New Zealand for the annual rush on what are possibly London's best lamingtons.

He has also returned with a new and inspirational menu, using the old favourite of Fosters beer and lamb soup, but adding wild cabbage to it, and Golden gaytime muffins. Gaytimes are a very famous Australian ice cream with toffee, chocolate and honeycomb crunch, and he has transferred tis iconic Australian treat in to an amazing sweet muffin, you have to try.

Even the beef and beetroot salad is a take on the famous Cherry ripe chocolate bar, and we have the best ever cheesy sausage rolls on as the 'tart' this week.

We expect to be very busy on the weekend and especially on Sunday, so we are opening earlier on Sunday at 8:30 am and closing later at 6 pm. Pre-orders are highly recommended for lamingtons and ANZACS and we will be running lamingtons until Monday the 27th.

If you do wish to re-order, please call or pop into store and we will look after you.

Have a great week, have a great Australia day and if you are out celebrating, take care out there.


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passion fruit) 3.70
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with home made preserves 1.90
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.40
Banana bread 2.40
Porridge with choices of muscovado sugar, dried fruit, chopped nuts, honey, golden syrup or compote 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.90
Pain au chocolat 2.50
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Golden gaytime  2.40
Savoury Scone: Vegemite and cheddar 2.40
Lemon and coconut friands 2.40
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 2.00
Afgan Biscuits 2.00
Lamingtons Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon 2.50

Lunch:
Soup: Fosters, lamb and wild cabbage 4.50

French retro baguettes 5.00
Pancetta, tomato, avocado, aioli and spinach
Red onion marmalade, grilled halloumi, basil and rocket.

Foccacias 5.30
Aubergine, sweet chilli cheese, roasted red onion and spinach.
Ham, glazed plums, taleggio and rocket

Salads: 5.50/6.90
HG Walters beef and beetroot slow roasted in cocoa, pickled cherries, toasted coconut and white mustard.
Cracked wheat, ox-eye daisy, tomato, parsley, with a solo dressing.
BBQ corn with outback dressing

Tart: 4.40 or 7.90 with salad
Cheesy sausage roll

Weekend Menu 11th, 18th and 25th
Salads 5.50/6.90
Tandoori lamb with cucumber, cherry tomatoes, new potato, baby spinach, yoghurt ad mint dressing
Grilled halloumi, blood ornage, pomegranate, rocket, golden beetroot
Mixed squashes, maple syrup, hazelnuts and pecorino

Tart: 4.40 or 7.90 with salad
Mixed mushrooms, spinach and pancetta quiche

Saturday 11 January 2014

Week beginning January 13th - London Living Wage Accredited Employer

When I first worked in London in the mid 90's, my main job was at a restaurant on Sloane Sqaure, the old Oriel. We were paid £20 per 8 hour shift but we made tips (which were not included in the bill, but were discretionary) from our own sections, which we shared with the bar staff, the expediter and the hostess. The more shifts you worked each week, or the busier sections, the more money you generally made. So I worked six days per week, or double shifts. Work harder, make more, simple. But it had to be done to survive.

When my wife and I came back in 2005, my first jobs while looking for full time employment were through hospitality agencies as a waiter where I was paid the minimum wage of £5.05 per hour. So I worked for three different agencies, which of course meant I did not get the tax free threshold on the second and third employers. That was hard. Travelling all over London to jobs and earning take home about £180 per week. We had so little money in those early days that we used to go to Cafe Nero and buy one coffee to share between us. So I sort of know what it's like to be in London on minimum wage.

When I was employed as staffing manager at Marylebone Cricket Club, they paid just above the minimum. The pressure was on to pay the least possible, even though the pressure was also on to recruit the best possible skilled staff to work in situations such as the corporate boxes, serving the elite of the cricket, corporate and entertainment worlds.

How do you attract and retain staff to work in such world class environments and expect so much, when you pay them £6.00 per hour before tax? Having a world class environment helps, as does supportive and encouraging management who care for you. But at the end of the day, the staff member has to live in London, travel from usually zone three or four and have a life. How can you expect staff to work above the minimum, when you only pay them a minimum?

A room to rent is about £120 per week, weekly tube zone 1 to 4 is £44 per week. Food? Depends on how much you eat but maybe £60 per week? London is not only hard, it is expensive.

As staff costs are usually the highest cost you will have, not just in weekly wage cost but also in recruiting, inducting, training, motivating, feeding and entertaining them, then obviously they are also your greatest asset. Not just because you pay them, but also because without them you would not be able to operate. Kaffeine does not have the business model to add a service charge, that is the way the business is, so tips are put into a jar at the front counter and staff make about £10 per week each, which we (they) are very, very grateful for.

Currently the minimum wage across the U.K. is £6.31 per hour. At 40 hours per week you will then take home £225 per week. The problem that was recognised is that this wage does not work in London, where costs are so much more than in other areas of the U.K. So a group of people set up the London Living Wage as a guideline for employers to pay staff so they stay above the poverty line. It is backed by both political parties as well as the London Mayor and has over 200 employers accredited and is run by Citizens UK.

Currently the Living Wage for London is set at £8.80 per hour, meaning for 40 hours you will take home £293.

It is basically this:
'The Living Wage is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually, based on the cost living in the UK. The Living Wage campaign has been running for ten years and has lifted over 10,000 people out of poverty.
An independent study of the business benefits of implementing a Living Wage policy in London found that more than 80% of employers believe that the Living Wage had enhanced the quality of the work of their staff, while absenteeism had fallen by approximately 25%.
66% of employers reported a significant impact on recruitment and retention within their organisation. 70% of employers felt that the Living Wage had increased consumer awareness of their organisation’s commitment to be an ethical employer.'

When Kaffeine first opened I paid just above minimum as well, but soon was able to start to pay a bit more and it has always been very, very important to me to pay as much as we possibly can. It has taken me a few years to get to the stage where we can implement it here, but late last year we were finally accredited as an employer who pays the London Living Wage.

We also, except for our two full time chefs, have always paid an hourly wage instead of a salary. This way we ensure that the staff are being paid for every hour that they do, not working 60 hours to only be paid for 40. Even then, they usually work 45 -50 hours per week so they can make more money for themselves.

I am very, very proud of the staff who have worked and who do work here. Trust me, it is really hard work and we (they), work really hard. It is not only fair, but essential, that as a business the staff are paid as much as possible and rewarded for being your greatest asset, not your minimum one.

Ask our staff how happy they are to work here, watch how fast and professional they are at their their work, how good they are at it. It is not to get extra tips, or a guaranteed service charge, it is because they enjoy all aspects of it and are rewarded for it.

Our staff retention rate is very low, our staff satisfaction is very high. This hopefully means that your (the customer) satisfaction and expectations are not only met, but exceeded every time you visit.

More information can be found here. 
http://www.livingwage.org.uk/

Please enjoy this week's menu, as we will enjoy bringing it to you.


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passion fruit) 3.70
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with home made preserves 1.90
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.40
Banana bread 2.40
Porridge with choices of muscovado sugar, dried fruit, chopped nuts, honey, golden syrup or compote 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.90
Pain au chocolat 2.50
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Blueberry and bran 2.40
Savoury Scone: Courgette and feta 2.40
Lemon and coconut friands 2.40
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 2.00
Afgan Biscuits 2.00

Lunch:
Soup: Broccoli and Gorgonzola 4.50

French retro baguettes 5.00
Smoked salmon with lime fresh cheese, cucumber, thai basil and rocket
Roasted red peppers with courgette, red onions, basil pesto and spinach

Foccacias 5.30
Roast chicken with salsa verde, brie and rocket
Tomato, bufala mozzarella, basil and spinach with aioli

Salads: 5.50/6.90
HG Walters organic chicken with satay dressing, cucumber, avocado, cherry tomatoes and rocket
Baked apples with red onions and hazelnuts, watercress, mature cheddar, mustard and thyme dressing
Edamame with chilli and buckthorn sauce

Tart: 4.40 or 7.90 with salad
Cornbread with baked tomatoes and capers

Weekend Menu 11th, 18th and 25th
Salads 5.50/6.90
Tandoori lamb with cucumber, cherry tomatoes, new potato, baby spinach, yoghurt ad mint dressing
Grilled halloumi, blood ornage, pomegranate, rocket, golden beetroot
Mixed squashes, maple syrup, hazelnuts and pecorino

Tart: 4.40 or 7.90 with salad
Mixed mushrooms, spinach and pancetta quiche

Monday 6 January 2014

Week beginning January 6th - Julia C. and Blazej 'Blaze' Stempin - Kaffeine legends

As we finished for the Christmas break, two of our 'legend status' staff members finished up at Kaffeine, Julia and Blazej.

Julia:
Julia has been working at Kaffeine since August 2011, primarily on service. Julia's hair styles were one of the most noticeable aspects about her, but was also even more important was the rapport that Julia built up over time with our regular customers.

She began on service and quickly moved to senior level, then to Assistant Manager where she remained until recently when asked for more time to focus on her own skills in drawing and sewing that she did in her own spare time as well as working nights in a craft beer bar.

Julia also had great skills in the kitchen, on the espresso machine and just one of the small details that make a difference to Kaffeine, her handwriting for all our descriptor cards. Iconic it was, no-one could beat it.

She was also one of the fastest stickerers ever, until beaten by Tara in the great sticker off of 2013, but she was also one of the fastest at everything, from sandwiches in the kitchen to packing down at night time.

Julia has seen Kaffeine grow over time to be regarded as one of the best cafes in the U.K., and it is because of Julia and others like her that we are fortunate to have that reputation.

Julia thank you very much for everything you have committed to Kaffeine over the past two years, it is very, very much appreciated.


Blazej:
When he started in May 2012 Blazej quickly became known as the man with coffee in his veins. When most of us would be finishing a dinner with a last drink, he would be having an aeropress. If anyone fitted the stereotype of a London barista, it was Blaze. Coffee permanently ingrained into his hands, roaring around town on his fixed wheel bike, jeans rolled up to his calves, beard and bald head, hanging around in every other cafe in London on his days off.

He came to us as the Polish cup tasting champion of 2011, wanting to work in London as that 'was where it was all happening' and has left, in my eyes, as being one of the people who have not only improved the reputation for coffee in Kaffeine, but also in London overall.

Starting as a barista, he was soon enough promoted to senior barista and for the past six months has been the Kaffeine lead barista, managing our coffee supply chain, our guest espresso program and our machine, grinder and RO maintenance as well as continuously improving our standards and quality.

He will be remembered (with a smile) as the man who broke most everything. Blazej the destroyer. In the time he was here he took 4 fridge handles clean off the fridge doors during service and we had to increase our par levels of spare latte art glasses.

But Blazej's sense of humour, his absolute speed, efficiency and work ethic, his incredible passion and knowledge for coffee and for the coffee industry overall is what he will be really remembered for, as well as his commitment to his family back in Poland, which is why he has returned. Respect.

Both Blazej and Julia. Two Kaffeine legends who fully deserve that title and the respect and appreciation from us all for all that they have committed to Kaffeine. Thank you both, we wish you all the best.

In other news, welcome back to the New Year! Lots of decaf and green tea already sold this week, we had the shop repainted over the holidays so we are all fresh and ready to go, we hope you are too.

Thank you for reading, please enjoy the menu this week, as we will enjoy bringing it to you.


Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passion fruit) 3.70
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with home made preserves 1.90
Coffee, cherry and walnut toast 2.40
Banana bread 2.40
Porridge with choices of muscovado sugar, dried fruit, chopped nuts, honey, golden syrup or compote 3.00

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.90
Pain au chocolat 2.50
Almond croissants 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet Muffins: Blackberries and apple 2.40
Savoury Scone: Broccoli, chilli and manchego 2.40
Lemon and coconut friands 2.40
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 2.00
Afgan Biscuits 2.00

Lunch:
Soup: Spiced sweet potato 4.50

French retro baguettes 5.00
Italian roast ham with red onion, gruyere, gherkin, spinach and dijon
Roasted sweet potato, pea pesto, red onion, ricotta and spinach

Foccacias 5.30
Pancetta with tomato, avocado, aioli and spinach
Roasted crown prince squash with mushrooms, blue cheese and rocket

Salads: 5.50/6.90
Vietnamese noodle with HG Walters organic chicken, carrots, coriander, peanuts & chilli sauce
Blood orange, grapefruit, avocado, pecorino, hazelnuts & watercress
Roasted beetroot with marscapone cheese and walnuts

Tart: 4.40 or 7.90 with salad
Brown rice tuna bake with rouille