Friday 20 March 2009

Farm

08/04/09
This is the station you'll need for the Farm. I personally take the bus 55, it's cheaper and smellier.
Oh look it's that man again!
Sneaked back in this afternoon to check out on the food and coffee.
Great to have met the boss with a vision, Dom, Johanna (pronounced YO- hanna!), cool hand Luke and the rest of the staff whose names I'll get to in due course. Don't let anyone misinform you that London is a miserable town especially not with the folks found at The Farm Collective.
Triple shot Flat White- 'A' all the way
Chicken and Leek Pie, I shied away from the mash and gravy. Had to save some space for the sweets.
Well there's is only one way to tackle a pie like this, just cut it up like a barbarian. This pie asked questions about why all the fuss with the Square Pie lot? Amazing effort!
I always leave the cuppy till last, a puerile legacy
The core innards that matter
Luke with the Synesso







Cute!




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Spectacular addition to Farringdon, great food and coffee, all shored up by an enthusisatic young team of the most friendly humans in town!

James@Dose , once again I’m indebted to you. Mr Coffee-AmbassaDose has done a decent thing and recommended that I try out yet another contemporary of his livelihood. I can’t believe this man has any foes within the coffea arabica fold.

This is not so much a review but a brief posting stating that I’ve been here and sipped a cup of milky coffee. Farm is within a month old and it thrives on the provenance of everything edible that they sell. You can tell that they’ve spent a bit on this new shop and it’s all rather tasty, but one thing that also caught my eyes was the concept or the brand that Farm projects.

From their own-label packaging to amongst other things like promotional blurbs, I can’t help but start to think of aspirations relating to enfranchisement. Although I didn’t succumb to the eating side of things, the impressive display of bespoke sandwiches and classy salads ensured that Farm were serious about the food they were selling. There’s an important factor that I ought to point out too, Farm is obviously run by conscientious dudes; they’re committing 10% of their profits via the Farm Foundation to a charity that brightens up the days for disadvantaged kids in Blighty. That alone is worth a standing ovation, good on you chaps!

Farm is located within the Smithfield vicinity. As soon as you walk in there’s a plaque (or was it an augury) on the wall behind the serving counter implicating that James Hoffmann (Gasp!) of Square Mile Coffee Roasters woz ‘ere. There you have it, this was precisely what I popped in for, a Square Mile fix. This impromptu (makes me self important doesn’t it?) visit also enabled me to meet Joanna (‘scuse us if the h was omitted), a terrifically friendly Swede!

Yes the train spotter equivalent of coffee machines would have juddered with the sight of this contraption.

First she introduced me to what I’ve been told, the best espresso machine in the world, the incomparable Synesso and at the time of writing there are only three of these beauties in Britain. Alright in all but does it kick though?

The young barista begins the masterclass.

Regular cappuccino- £1.70

I was reminded that the cap was inadvertently served in a paper cup instead of a real one, because Joanna thought I wanted to takeaway. Lovely rosie and thickset foam with the endearing black juice lurking underneath. A spiffing ‘A’! The girl was so impassioned with the art of making coffee, a good cup is thus guaranteed. Thank you Joanna.

Great cap made by a great barista, well worth a visit for that alone. I shall report back with the food and the rest in due course. James, thank you once again.



91 Cowcross Street
Farringdon
London EC1M 6BH

www.farmcollective.com

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Sounds good! How *do* you find the time to go to all these places? And you actually talk to people too (re: James of Dose and Joanna)! I'm far too shy for that!

bellaphon said...

LMR- I'm me own boss and I dictate the length of my lunch hours and of course the waist size in as such. Young lady, when you carry a large camera like I do, you get spoken to instead, it's human nature to get suspicious of creeps like me! Honestly this is London, shy doesn't figure ;o

Anonymous said...

JoHanna is my friend! so fun to see her here are your blog! she is the best even here in sweden according to moi!

bellaphon said...

lisa- I dropped the H! Ouch! I'm going back soon to confirm that first cup wasn't just luck! thanks for dropping by ;)