Rose Bakery at Dover Street Market

Back in the eighties earning a few pennies whilst still at college was a lot easier than today. The objective was simple, to buy as many pieces of clothing bearing the Comme des Garçons label as I could possibly afford from my fifty quid a day as a hi-fi salesman. Most of my peers then were either kitted out as New Romantics or Country Life Henrys (‘orrible cravats, tweeds, etc); me, I preferred the understated genius that’s Rei Kawakubo, the creator of Comme des Garçons. Comme was and still is horrendously expensive, a shirt then was around £80 and a jacket will set you back at least three hundred notes. The wonderful thing with Kawakubo’s designs is that they’re timeless and the materials used are made to last…the above photo of a jacket and shirt are an absolute testament to her wares; they’re a couple of decades old. These days my passion for men’s grooming has lapsed somehow, I’ve elected to go for a ‘don’t give a monkey’s’ look and channel all my available funds towards activities that created this blog in the first place.

I met up with ‘eat slipper rice’* Marc at Dover Street Market. DSM is a huge emporium comprising of six floors that showcases the Comme range of clothing plus a host of other well known and fringe designer labels. Everything in this place is prohibitively expensive and will undoubtedly prompt non-fashion victims to ask the same question like, is that for real?

The 21st century equivalents of my vintage shirt and jacket are now £260 and £900 respectively! If one is impoverished and at the same time desperate to leave the place with some kind of merchandise, I suppose there’s the T-shirt with the DSM logo (despairing IMO) for £40 to allay any fears of loosing face.

DSM is not just another fashion boutique, it’s more than that; it’s a temple where architecture, art and industrial design are all attributed. The owners of DSM will probably snarl at me for saying this, I think of it as a museum of contemporary culture, so go forth and appreciate. You don’t have to spend a penny.

The café that’s tied to DSM is hardly a token affair. Rose Bakery is better known to Parisians than Londoners. Englishwoman and Villandry founder Rose Carrarini (Kawakubo’s sister-in-law) started the now legendary bakery in Paris eight years ago. The concession at DSM specialises in upmarket salads and sandwiches plus their reputable bakes like fine cakes and crumbles.

Located on the top floor, this place is frequented by beautiful people who are obviously not short of a bob or two. The ambience is decidedly relaxing and calm. The service was equally polite and friendly.

Cappuccino
Passable, but certainly no destination material as far as coffee is concerned

Real and proper English Breakfast tea
I'll stick to this over the coffee anyday

Carrot cake
Good but pales in comparison to Lantana’s hummingbird beauty

Slice of coconut and berries

The price of £4.50 is unfeasible, but it was very good, quite possibly the best of its kind I've eaten.

I should think this place is worth coming to time and time again. Although expensive it’s quite simply a class act as well. The beauty with the Rose Bakery is that because so little has been written up about it, go before the whole world finds out.

NB photography is totally disallowed at this place, I was lucky to get away with it!

* ‘eat slipper rice’ is a vicious Cantonese term for an unemployed man who’s fed by his wife or girlfriend for life. Marc (not his real name but he knows that I’m writing about him, so he’s cool), is married to a heiress and he’s supposedly writing a play. In fact he has been doing precisely that for the past twenty years but to little avail. His life is what some people might describe as blessed. With an expense card courtesy of his wife, he only buys his clothes from DSM and that includes briefs.



Dover Street Market
17-18 Dover Street
London W1S 4LT, UK

www.doverstreetmarket.com