Hollies Farm shop and concept cafe, Lower Stretton

Cafe Tuscano Knutsford

definite thumbs up
great espresso, service, atmosphere, good food.
much more individual with a continental feel

Hollies Farm shop, Little Budworth

fabulous new cafe

its what Sundays is all about

Great Budworth Real Dairy Ice Cream Farm

So many flavours, how does one choose?

great for family trips, there's indoor and outdoor tables, playgrounds, a maize maze, hens, other farm animals, it is fun fun fun for the little ones therefore fun for the parents too.

I had cherry, Charlie had chocolate, both lacked depth and flavour

The Chocolate Lounge, Harvey Nichols, Edinburgh

The day after the farm shop my daughter took me to a another coffee shop -  glamorous, stylish, chic, it was on the Forth Floor at Harvey Nichols Edinburg.


The Chocolate Lounge is simply put,  pure heavenly indulgence. From champagne with your croissants,   gorgeous cup cakes, rose petal chocolate drinks, you can easily spend all day there. I had a chocolate shot with rose and black pepper, Francesca had one with cinnamon and chili. 
Also , espresso was really good, which is rare for me to say in the UK.












Then there is the view, not to mention the rest of the Forth floor, foodie heaven! 






Th challenge was to actually get out of there and go to onto the streets and shows at the Edinburg Festival (which was the main reason for taking the trip) 

Alan Hill Farm shop, St Andrews. Scotland

On a rise, overlooking the town of St Andrews, with a view of the beach. 

My daughter took me here couple of weeks ago, we bought some strawberries and local honey

There's plenty of open space and a playground for kids and easy parking

The coffee shop is small, very cute and homely, with just enough stuff to browse through while you wait for your tea; and the cakes are lovely.

Roses Tea Rooms at Ness Botanic Gardens

home made cakes, speciality teas and coffees, wide variety of food. I had the China Rose tea, very light delicate tea; Charlie had Peppermint, both perfect for a warm spring day.

Ness gardens is well worth a visit, and Roses is a good refreshment stop,

there are tables outside too

Ness Gardens Neston Road, Ness, Neston, South Wirral CH64 4AY

St Peter's Church, The Cross, Chester

I’m not religious but the money goes to a good cause, 

what a fab atmosphere for a tea stop!

Great little tea room, friendly service ( no pun intended) cheap tea and coffee, cakes, sandwiches, in St Peter’s church.

There’s also some PCs with internet access.

Riverside Farm shop and Cafe, Davenham, Chehsire

There isn't much to say about this place apart from it needs a serious amount of TLC.

Its in a great spot with an outside play area and a nice view, and that is it for the positives.

Orphée: Hotel & Restaurant | Untere Bachgasse

I know... its not even in Cheshire but I wanted to share it.


Was in Regensburg in Germany last week. This medieval city is a UNESCO world heritage site, and has preserved its character and charm.

Just like the cafe our friends took us too for breakfast, at the Hotel Orphée In an impressive 16th century salt warehouse just a stone's throw away from the old stone bridge across the Danube. The restaurant Orphée is amazing: imagine a traditional afternoon tea at Betty’s in York, now convert it into breakfast; a continental breakfast, that is what we had.  Croissants so light, crispy, fluffy and flaky, they just melted in your mouth. Little cheeses and cold cuts, pastries, muesli served in dainty pots in strawberry compote, home made breads (good enough to break your gluten-free diet for ), perfectly cooked eggs, the list goes on….

St Luke's hospice shop cafe, Chester road, Hartford.

Its not a farm shop but it really does deserve a mention.
At the back of the charity shop, (which by the way is a very smart charity shop, even with a separate section for children) is  a lovely little cafe, serving home made cakes, paninis, sandwiches, baked potatoes and good coffee. The meat is from the local butcher, bread from the baker next door, and prices are very reasonable.

service is lovely, and its staffed by volunteers.

well worth a visit.

Costa

Recovering from a bout of flu, so have not been out much recently!

did visit Costa Coffee on Sunday to meet a friend, used to work with her; was good to catch up. Costa may all be very samey, but it is predictably reliable and warm! some of the small unique farm shops can be cold or have draughts which one can do without when run down!

Davenports - a wonderland indeed

Davenports - Farm shop, Tea room, Florist.

Bridge Farm, Warrington Road, Bartington, Northwich, Cheshire CW8 4QU

Friends that live nearby have said that they have driven past this many a time, and thought about stopping. All I can say “they must”! Those that don't are missing on a charming family run establishment with a few surprises.

• Taylors, Atkinsons and Tregothnan are just some of specialist suppliers for the connoisseur tea and artisan coffee, of which there is great choice.
• Alice in wonderland theme as homage to Lewis Carol who was born a mile and a half away 
• Real bone china tea service, lace cloths, even a chess set, quirky decor. 
• Full afternoon tea (needs to be prebooked)

Belinda

Lovely personal service, backed up with Belinda Davenport's great knowledge of the tea and coffee is excellent, and she will help the undecided.

Today, she suggested the Kwazulu tea would be more to my liking , and she was right. Jane loved her Atkinsons's earl grey.

Katja's creations, they really have to be seen 

The farm shop - 

We drooled over the Katja's cakes, (they are utterly amazing), before meandering round  local produce delightfully displayed defying any New Year willpower you thought you had.

I couldn't resist a box of cinnamon, date, walnut & orange biscotti, and Jane bought a jar of the legendary Mrs Darlington's lemon curd!

Woke up this morning to 3 followers already - yay!


check out my book review page!


"Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death and as sweet as love."Turkish proverb

January 6th

Its way past my bedtime, have I already got into the standard blogging bad habits?!?

More research and a few days later, I set up the easy option for a blog. I just couldn't face the thought of setting up my own domain and website, nor do I have the time this week. 

This Sunday, the first stop is  the Hollies Farm Shop in Stretton with Jane.

The week after, I'm meeting Jaci at Davenports in Acton Bridge.

Need to see if I can enlist a friendly person to help compile a list of places.

Coffee Days and Sundays

2011!

Another new year.......

January 1st 2011


At a party with friends, I arranged to meet Jane next week at a local farm shop with a coffee shop that she hadn't been to. That led to "Hey, why don't we meet at a different farm shop with a coffee shop each time?"  "great idea, we can do all the ones round here" "why don't we do the whole of Cheshire this year?"
That led to "do a blog, Ravi!"

Being a bit of a technophobe and a total novice to blogs was scary so I laughed off the idea.   But coffee I love, tea and coffee shops I love, food I love, meeting  friends at  individual venues with character rather than the samey chain coffee shops is something I already do.

Some quick research revealed that there is no existing guide to all the farm shops with tea shops or cafes around Cheshire; and there are several.
These are special places, each one has its own unique charm, unique decor, and unique menus. They vary from designer concept cafes to small homely rooms that resemble grandma's lounge. In fact the one down the road from me even has my grandma's china service!  They are run by wonderful personalities with stories to tell; people that enjoy what they do and really care about food and service, with home made cakes and biscuits lining the shelves. Many are organic, stocked with local produce that supports the local economy.

25 years ago, I came very close to buying a lease in Altrincham and setting up a coffee shop. It was going to be called "Lazy days and Sundays", which later got changed to "Coffee days and Sundays" so that it wouldn't just remind us all of the Carpenter's song!
For various reasons, I chose not to, and today, I still choose not to have my own coffee shop, yet the dream has still lived on inside me. So the blog had  a name already, how could I not do it?

I couldn't shake off this idea of writing about coffee shops, along with the challenge of visiting all the ones in Cheshire this year. I work more than full time with a lot of travel, am a single parent with a partner in Germany, the rest of my family are in other parts of the country. I spend a lot of time travelling so am not in Cheshire often enough to do coffee every weekend. However, a challenge is just that; after all, if I knew i could do it easily it wouldn't be a challenge now would it? So I took it up.

Here I go!