with "The Window Spotter" in tow.
First stop - PARIS
Courtesy of my taste buds I'll be spilling the beans on the best coffee pit stops in France, Portugal, Morocco, Spain, and Italy
Coffee Cantata will unearth the best places to enjoy a memorable cup of coffee.
"The Window Spotter" will seek out goods that deliver that leading designer edge, but with a realistic price tag attached. You'll be in safe hands, on my travel budget thrift is a must.
To re-cap - What is Coffee Cantata all about ?
As my contribution to the pleasures of the palate Coffee Cantata is intended as an 'open ended' blog where coffee tragics (my daughter's take on my habit) can tap into my sources, and hopefully add their own favourite haunts to the collection.
Coffee Cantata is about making comment and giving bouquets (1 for bad to 5 for brilliant) to cafes that come up with a cup of coffee that's worth going back for again and again.I'm not a coffee purist, nor do I claim to be a blends and beans expert, but I do recognise a good cup of coffee when I taste one.
Forty years of globe trotting on at least one cup of coffee a day represents a minimum intake of 14,600 cups (horrors). Some have been sublime, enhanced by the settings and surroundings I chose to enjoy them in, others less than perfect, and by far the biggest percentage could only be classified as well on the downside of average. Not many of the 14,600 cups have reached my required level of perfection, but some have come really close. In some places the cafes have been more enticing than the coffee they serve. To score on both the ambiance and the coffee is a bonus. In Prague there are cafes that are so elegant that if necessary you could excuse an inferior blend. It's not necessary (check out Coffee Cantata - Prague - January 13, 2012). In Paris, the constant promenade of elegant locals makes up for some of the most expensive cups of wish-wash coffee I've experienced anywhere. At a hole in the wall cafe in the small Italian coastal town of Amalfi I discovered the true nectar of the Gods - no need for expensive decor or streets paved with gold there.
Coffee Cantata - Five Ways, Paddington
Gusto Deli Cafe at Five Ways, cnr Broughton Street
To get me zone ready for the pavement seated, people spotting mind set of the Parisians I headed for Cafe Gusto at Five Ways, Paddington. It's ideally located on the up side of a roundabout where five small roads meet. Quaint, with that London Mews look, on a sunny day it's bliss to sit outside. French was my intention so I ordered a Soy Cap ($4), not French at all, but redeemed myself by ordering an Almond Croissant. No self respecting French Patisserie would be seen to be selling the cow pat sized croissant that accompanied my coffee. A plus though, at $4 it would be ideal to share. The coffee had plenty of thick froth on top, but in the small cup it was served in there wasn't much room for a decent shot of coffee.
Score: 3.5 Bouquets
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