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Heck! Some strong opinions there. You're right though, Norway is certainly a different place to the UK, you might swap the coffee/tea importance around and Crikey's poncey coffee options would likely be comparable to having too many English tea options here ;). Good coffee and simple/cheaper filter coffee is a staple drink.
Still, good input from a lot of folk and it is very interesting to hear what people would like from a cafe, even if it seems to stretch to every end of the spectrum.
We might have to have a doggo friendly cafe though since we have our own trail hound!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAz6jGHljOQ/
@morecashthandash - We'll be in the UK from Jan-March so could well visit the place you mention!
I think the place we're in is similar to Innerleithen in infrastructure/location. Small town with various facilities and trails just outside the town, some even arriving almost in the town. There are two buildings with most café facilities already installed which you could almost open tomorrow therefore the investment in setting up is greatly reduced. One of which is this nice little old building. (if anyone knows how to embed a Streetview image into a post then be my guest) 🙂
What happened to embedding Instagram posts?
it broke.
open past four/five (a closed cafe is never going to be great). Perhaps selling beers as well as coffee, crisps and salted peanuts too. Open fire, dartboard, lounge bar round the back...
Don't make it a 'mountain bikers' cafe'. You need all the customers you can get, not just MTBers.
For me, it'd be quick service (think about process here, if you are in the UK visit a Costa then a Starbucks and watch what the people behind the bar do, where they work and what they do), somewhere to lock bikes preferably with visibility from the seating, perhaps an area where you can be dirty (hard floor etc) but also a clean area if you aren't muddy.
Decent coffee and food of course. Cakes don't have to be home made but they have to be decent. And no sodding over-iced cupcakes.. they are popular with 'home made' cake people because they are easy to make, not because they are good to eat.
Also LOTS of cinnamon on lots of things. But then it's Norway so there probably will be 🙂
Don’t make it a ‘mountain bikers’ cafe’. You need all the customers you can get, not just MTBers.
I used to bake some cakes for a "cycling cafe" and, very occasionally, I worked there as well.
The cycling bit was really only at weekends, the rest of the time it became a haven for mothers - turned out there was a nursery just round the corner so after dropping their kids off, the Mums would all gather there for coffee and cake.
It was very open about being cycling themed - they had various roadsigns nicked from races across Europe, framed jerseys, cycling books, a big wallmap marked with routes but cyclists alone would not have sustained the place. Turned out that by making it warm and welcoming, it was a natural stopping point for nursery run Mums!
Tea in Teapots
If you are going to do breakfast, do a proper one and do it all day, decent bacon and sausage that doesn't taste of sawdust as a minimum, black pudding is much appreciated, i'd rather pay a bit extra for a good fryup rather than something that's beige and cheap. Good coffee is a bonus, cant be doing with instant stuff - tea you cant go too far wrong with. Stuff on toast but not on limp ****y supermarket slices and cake ovs...
@anyexcusetoride both Cafe Velo Verde and Cafe Allez at Belvoir Castle are pretty active on social media, so sure you can get a feel for them and probably get some tips and advice
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I'm surprised there has been no Barista's biting back at the 90 mins training to become a coffee weekend warrior
How long to become a master coffee bean roaster who can taste fruity papaya, caramel notes, toasted almonds, rum and raisin frooty notes a week intensive training perhaps
MoreCashThanDash
Full Member
@anyexcusetoride both Cafe Velo Verde and Cafe Allez at Belvoir Castle are pretty active on social media, so sure you can get a feel for them and probably get some tips and advice
I'd second this, in fact I have been known to visit both on the same ride.
Serving drinks and food in timely fashion is key, people will start getting cold in most months if waiting too long. There is another nearby café where cyclists seem an inconvenience and drinks take ages, I make my excuses and don't stop there if the rest of the club do.
Oh and free coffee or tea for responders to this thread.
And no dogs, absolutely 100% on that one.
No dogs in places serving food. Ever. I ( and I bet many others) would just turn and walk away if i saw dogs in there.
I’m surprised there has been no Barista’s biting back at the 90 mins training to become a coffee weekend warrior
My point was that, even a small amount of training is going to elicit a significant improvement in the quality of the coffee - it's more the acknowledgement that the quality of the coffee is important.
At least it is here in Australia - in Norway, I have no idea. In Crikey's UK, sounds like anything more than barely slowing down to slurp some muddy water out of a roadside puddle is considered bourgeois bellendery of the highest order
Bike parking in view, ideally with customer settable combination locks
Communal pump
Communal tools
Drinking water tap
Supplies like bananas or bars to takeaway
And the usual stuff to eat and drink.
No dogs in places serving food. Ever. I ( and I bet many others) would just turn and walk away if i saw dogs in there.
Are you sure about that? Or do you object to blind people (or others with assistance animals) from eating out?
I'm not a huge fan of people bringing their pets to the pub/cafe with them - because I don't like someone else's wet dug jumping on me when I eat my dinner but actually the vast majority of people who take 1 dog, to a pub or cafe have very well behaved dogs and there is something nice about coming into a rural pub after a day on the hill to be welcomed by a friendly dog and roaring fire. HOWEVER if multiple owners bring dogs it can seem a bit like having a pint in a kennels. The dog is not in the kitchen and I don't eat off the floor so I don't have a fundamental issue - certainly there are probably people who are worse trained in hygiene than many dogs - and some of them work in kitchens! Now don't get me started on cats in B&Bs though...
Assistance dogs are fine of course. I didn't think that needed saying. Dogs in pubs are OK. Dogs in establishments where they serve food is a basic H&S fail
Dogs in establishments where they serve food is a basic H&S fail
And yet many establishments that allow dogs in are still able to achieve a 5* food hygiene rating from their local authority.
I tend not to worry too much (at all) about H&S failings with dogs in places I eat 😉
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As I said earlier and as poly said - roaring fire, pint and some food at a country pub, it's absolutely wonderful having a few happy dogs around too
Good coffeee and homemade cakes/pastries - what makes life interesting is variation, I've had enough of eating the same mass produced frozen cakes that are bought in by cafes.
Dogs are welcome by me, the kids can **** off though.
+1 never been given a headache by a dog, been given plenty of headaches by kids screaming 10-20hz white noise. 😀
Big tables and plenty of space. Benches not chairs can be more flexible.
Outside picnic benches with space for bikes where you sit.
Outdoor under-cover seating area.
Friendly staff
Fresh cooked food not packaged.
Have a system for table/order numbers.
Good luck - sounds a great idea.
What makes a great café?
not being full of grumpy old men.
not being full of grumpy old men.
STW forum members banned then?
been given plenty of headaches by kids screaming 10-20hz white noise. 😀
This has given me a headache 🙁
STW forum members banned then?
given how long they seem to want to stay, how little they want to pay and how many others they want to exclude, it would seem good business sense...
HAH! White noise has a flat frequency doesn't it.
You mentioned Innerleithen. If you base your plan on No. 1 with a Norwegian twist you won't go far wrong. On the expensive side, but the best coffee I've had anywhere, good food and cakes, and friendly people that make it the town's social hub. It would be a different town now if it wasn't for them being there.
Colp nailed it 're making money and tray bakes, I do banana bread and bread pudding and even with organic ingredients am down to c 15p a slice.
Decent coffee, big slab of cake, friendly service.
Also, offer cakes with no sugar no butter options, I substitute Apple sauce for butter I cant tell the difference now.
"white nose" is a decent name for a cafe. Although so is "bourgeois bellendery"
Assistance dogs are fine of course. I didn’t think that needed saying.
But you wrote a one word sentence. Ever. When you actually meant something different.
Dogs in pubs are OK. Dogs in establishments where they serve food is a basic H&S fail
What about pubs that serve food? Would you eat a packet of crisps (with your fingers) in a pub that had a dog, but refuse to drink coffee in a cafe that had a dog? I suspect (at least in non covid times) the average pub table is actually grottier than many well groomed dogs but people will put their cuttlery on it to eat their stake pie or fish and chips. Would you even eat a picnic at a public bench/picnic table? I’m confused where the boundary lies. I probably share similar bias to you - but I can’t rationalise them with hygiene - I just don’t want someone else’s pooch or child pestering me or making a racket.