Bea’s of Bloomsbury

Here is a great place to have coffee. 

Beas’s is on Theobalds Road in Bloomsbury in London and is a combined bakery and coffee-shop.   

I was walking to my next meeting and I wanted coffee and I wanted to feel like I was having coffee, not sit in a chain-cafe with a cellophane-wrapped brownie.   I wanted Hemingway in Paris, not Joe Ordinary at Heathrow Airport.  Well, the Van Rijn subconscious good taste kicked in as I passed the door of Bea’s.

Beas is a combination bakery and coffee shop.  Literally.  The front of the shop is a coffee/tea cafe and the backroom is Bea’s bakery.  The bakery room is raised up a couple of feet but entirely open.  You can see everything and watch the bakers at work.  When I was there they seemed to be making meringues the size of small trucks.  I do not know how they get the air-con to work with two such different environments but they do and the coffee-shop in front is comfortable.

Bea’s has lots of glass shelves holding lots of cakes.  The wall’s are a gray-blue-green wallpaper with a floral overprint that looks oriental.  The overall effect is modern but somehow very comfortable.  The room is long and narrow. split about equally between the counter and table space.  At the end of the counter they have a large and bulky coffee machine that looks like it was converted from a piece of Bugatti chassis.  It has more brass than a steam train.     

The staff are welcoming, the display’s are good, it is easy to see what they are selling.  As a man that works for me, I like the simplicity and ease of service.

Coffee and Food 

The important things first.  They make a superb cup of coffee.  Without exaggerating I can say it was the best coffee I have tasted in recent years.  I am really particular about the coffee I drink (look for a coffee posting soon) and this was the best.  Secondly the food.  I did not have any of the cakes but they look inviting and inventive.  Some of them are mini-works of architecture.  However the sandwich of the day was Chicken Caesar and that was just excellent, really tasty.  The service was quick too.

So I asked about the shop.  They are a cake shop and sell all manner of cakes large and small that Bea makes (more about Bea in a moment).  They also make cakes to order, and I suggest you look to their website for that.  They also run the coffee shop. 

They do not have a big menu, except for the cakes, which seem to run to several pages.  But from my experience what they do they do well.  They sell coffee, tea and hot chocolate (the chocolate is Valrhona, the French gourmet chocolate) some sandwiches of the day, some soups and some stylish and original salads.                     

Good atmosphere 

Everything about this place was good.  The tables are nicely spaced, the acoustics are good and the ambient noise not too loud, the atmosphere (aided by the bakery at the back) is pleasant and unhurried.  If I had one criticism it was that it was a little untidy, with pieces of cardboard boxes stacked against the counter.  Still, it was the end of lunch, which I guess is their busiest time, so maybe they had not caught up yet.  

Bea’s is also a little sexy.  When you see people who are really good at their jobs and mesh together well, handle the work elegantly and without strain, there is something sexy about that competence.  I do not know how politically correct they are at Bea’s but I can see it, and it’s my blog, so I can say it.

Bea’s works on a summer’s day and is cool and laidback.  It is the kind of place where, if it was hammering a thunderstorm outside, you would just want to sit and drink coffee until it was over.     

I looked on their website and found out a bit more about them.  Bea’s is the inspiration of Bea Vo, who is the founder/head chef.  She has a CV of culinary expertise as long as your arm.   She has four businesses running in the shop:

The Bakery, both retail and bespoke cakes (bespoke cakes, that fits right in on this site)

The Coffee shop

A cookery school, for anyone who enjoys good food

A corporate food service. 

Their food is home-made and locally sourced wherever possible.  They operate a green business and they source their coffee from independent roasters.  They call the coffee machine “Enzo” and pride themselves on making great coffee.  What clinched it for me was when I left there was a man sitting in the sunshine at one of the outside tables, wearing shades and drinking a cappucino.  Perfect.  

I took the picture above from their website.  Next time I go I will take some pictures and post them.   Beas’s has style, go try them.

If any of our readers know Bea’s and want to comment, please feel free to do so, it would be interesting to get more impressions of this fun coffeeshop.

Details:  

Bea’s of Bloomsbury 

44 Theobalds Road,

London

Tel:  44 (0) 207 242 8330 

www.beasofbloomsbury.com

Why is a blog on men’s style talking about chocolates?

Simply because chocolates make a superb gift for women. Stylish men know their chocolates.

Recently a number of good chocolates have have come to market and, full disclosure here, I met the founder of Sir Hans Sloane at a luxury goods symposium. He offered to send me some samples of his chocolates and I took this opportunity to review them.

Sir Hans Sloane chocolates
I like the fact that the brand is called Sir Hans Sloane, after the original inventor of chocolate. It makes it clear that the brand knows its history and affirms its connection with the luxury chocolate tradition. The brand image feels authoritative and discriminating.

Sir Hans Sloane is the brainchild of Bill McCarrick, who is variously a chocolatier, chef, and member of the international Academy of Chocolate. Bill trained in Switzerland and Austria, the traditional homes of luxury chocolate. He has worked and studied in in Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Bali and Dubai and of course England. Working as a chef and chocolatier in all of these places Bill explored the local cusines and experimented with local products and tastes in his quest to produce excellent chocolate.

I have left out big chunks of Bill’s impressive resume but by 2001 he was head of production for all chocolate, bakery and pastry products at Harrods. In July 2006 Bill created the first Sir Hans Sloane chocolate in the kitchen of his home. From here he went on to win a Gold award for his organic dark chocolate at the 2007 World Chocolate Awards.

In person Bill is gently spoke and quietly humourous. Listening to him is an inspiring experience and a masterclass in chocolate connoisseurship. If you want to tour the chocolate studio and hear Bill speak you can sign up at the website here. http://www.sirhanssloane.com/

Making Chocolate
There are two secrets to great chocolate. The first is the beans.

Sir hans Sloane are meticulous about selecting only those cocoa beans that they think will be good enough for their chocolate. They select from a limited number of estates that meet their criteria for taste and quality. This concentration ensures a consistent quality and taste.

Second is of course the the chocolate making process. Sir Hans Sloane’s chocolate-making studio is situated near the old Brooklands racetrack in Surrey. Here they make their chocolates. They start with their own carefully controlled conching process. Conching is the process whereby the cocoa liqueur is kneaded and rolled over time to produce a silky liquid to which the Chocolatier (step forward Bill) adds Cocoa Butter and other flavourings to make what is called Couverture, the raw chocolate. To my knowledge, Sir Hans Sloane is the only chocolate company in England which produces its own Couverture.

Like a good winemaker creating a vintage, a chocolatier gently conchs his raw Cocoa liqueur. Bill McCarrick conchs his over three days, compared to some other Couvertures which are boiled to completion in only six hours. Bill’s slow conching allows him to cook the Couverture slowly, preserving the deep, subtle flavours of the chocolate.

Once the Couverture is made, bill creates the final chocolate, using the flavours and ingredients he has made his own. The final product is quality chocolate and pralines.

Seeing is believing
So what are the chocolates like?

Firstly they look good. Sir Hans Sloane pralines come packaged in white boxes with red trim, with matching red typography. The boxes are very well-made being high-quality paper over board, bound by a corded ribbon. The look is artisan, expensive and stylishly adult, without fussiness or overpackaging.

The individual pralines are finely made, with no chocolate spills or unevenness. A further nice touch is that they have the legend “Sir Hans Sloane” printed on the underside in edible white type. I would like to know how they do that.

Tasting is believing
So I arranged an informal chocolate tasting. I represented the men and three female friends gave a woman’s assessment. The pralines were the “Artists Pralines” set with each praline flavour named after a classical artist.

The first taste was that of the chocolate itslef, which was silky smooth. The dark chocolate had a rich flavour but without the bitter bite some chocolates have. The chocolates released their taste slowly into the mouth. The flavour was luxurious.

Then came the flavouring, distinctive and subtle. The coffee-flavoured “Caravaggio” had a full roasted arabica-bean taste, without any harshness. The almond-flavoured “Goya” was finesse itself, creamy and nutty. Only the vanilla-flavoured “Gauguin” felt a little over-flavoured.

The third pleasure was the texture, each reflecting the flavour. “Caravaggio” came out tops here, with a wonderful understated crunchiness, that tasted of coffee beans.

All of this combined to give the pralines a fine clean taste which left the flavours, not the chocolate, in the mouth. Rich in flavour but light in the mouth, they left us with a feeling of having our palettes cleansed.

Chocolate Gifts
If you want to give chocolates as a gift, then giving Sir Hans Sloane shows that you know chocolate and know what you are doing. One of my female friends pointed out that women would recognise the quality inherent in these chocolates and feel very special if given Sir Hans Sloane as a gift.

If you are looking for an even more exclusive, more personal gift, Sir Hans Sloane has a bespoke chocolate service. Bill McCarrick will use his expertise on your behalf to create a signature chocolate, for you alone. This would be a truly stylish gift to give.

Good stuff chocolate, its another weapon in your style armoury.

Sir Hans Sloane is here. www.sirhanssloane.com

 Now this really is style on a budget! 

This is a lively, zesty Cote Du Rhone Villages from Wine Discoveries.  Very smooth, but with a big flavour, lots of blackberry and raspberry flavours with a fruity, peppery aftertaste.  This is a wine with obvious strength but also a good degree of finesse. 

Great for dinner parties but even better if you want to hand out some drinking wine that will get noticed.   This wine will be a staple in my cellar and at £6.99 they are giving it away.