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Everyone needs a Cheers

I had the loveliest of mornings today. A little coffee shop has opened a few blocks from our house & it’s perfect. Somehow, in the space of two months Mio has become our “Cheers”. Daniel, the owner, knows our coffee order, he flirts with the old ladies, let’s the babies crawl round & serves phenomenal grilled cheese sandwiches. Lately we have been sneaking there once the baby is at nursery and enjoying a cheeky espresso and a fresh juice. Sometimes its a grab & go, other times it’s like a mini breakfast date with avo on toast & a good old chat with the other regulars.

Behind the bar is stacked high with traditional breads that he buys in from a bakery in Grunwald. BrotZeit makes real bread. Simple, rich, dark sourdoughs with ancient starters. Thick bread studded with walnuts or rolled in sunflower seeds. Bread that cries out for fresh sliced tomatoes and a crunch of salt.

This morning I got to hang out at Mio with friends. We drank coffee, ate bites of freshly baked apple cake & sampled bread. Then I rushed home, fed the baby and made cut myself a doorstep of walnut, chia spelt sourdough. It was slathered with the only butter worth eating (thank you Beillevaire for existing) and topped it with a stray plum tomato. Total perfection!

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Pumpkin festival and butternut bruschetta

We headed to a pumpkin festival this weekend. I have to admit that on the way there I had a ‘wow, this is what my Saturdays are now about’ moment. But it turned out to be a really really lovely afternoon. It was on the Billesberger farm and as much as I was fearing a single stall with a couple of pumpkin there was tons on offer.

 They had set up one of the barns as a farmers market and were selling homegrown seasonal vegetables as well as fresh eggs and bread. There was locally made tofu, elderflower syrups, local beer and pumpkin chutney. The farm also grows spelt and produce their own spelt pasta which was being cooked and tossed with pumpkin in an asian ginger sauce by a chef.

There was pumpkin cake (good!) and apple layer cake (so very good) as well as Emilio coffee (yes please!). They had pumpkins for sale to take home or for you to sit and carve with the family. Most of it was lost on the baby but she loved the goats and the inquisitive farm dog and hanging out on the grass watching the world go by, stealing pieces of pumpkin.

We brought home lots of goodies and today I made a really good butternut bruschetta. Its nothing fancy, just the cumulation of really good produce. Local garlic, local butternut, roasted and then mashed onto dark bread and topped with some crumbly goats cheese. YUM!

Ingredients (serves 4)
Half a butternut squash peeled and cubed
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 sprigs sage
Pinch dried chilli
1 clove garlic
4 slices good bread
40g crumbly goats or sheep cheese

Method
Preheat your oven to 180C
Place the squash into a roasting dish and coat with the olive oil
Sprinkle over the chilli and add in the sage and the garlic
Roast for 25mins or until soft
Once roasted, rub the bread slices with the garlic
Mash the butternut squash in a large bowl
Spread generously onto the bread and top with a sprinkle of cheese
Season well and enjoy

 

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A cup of Jo

How do you take your coffee? Do you drink coffee? I only started drinking it when I was 18 and that was only to impress a guy. He took his black because he was vegan, so I took mine black because he was vegan. I hated it the stuff, but I loved the ritual & the time spent chatting with my still good friend.

For years now I have always taken my coffee very strong & short with a splash of hot milk and my favourite way to make it will always be on a stove top moka.

I’ve spent a lot of my time working in coffee shops & I love the uniqueness that comes from the way people eat & drink. I remember one lady that drank her coffee with lashings of cold milk & 8 sachets of Splenda and another man that had a single espresso with 6 sugars. 

Having caffeinated myself through many in cities I thought I would share with you my top places in my four most visited locations to help you get your fix…

 

London

Fernandez & Wells– A total coffee Mecca with beautiful locations & a perfect cup. Order a stumpy & a slice of toasted buttered banana sourdough

Workshop Cafe – The only coffee shop I have ever found where the decaf is as good as the caffeinated. These guys kept me going during the non caffeine pregnant months

Tapped – We found this coffee shop as we were on our way to meet a team about fitting out our London shop. We were way too early and this shop was next door. The teaspoons are all vintage and the coffee is delicious

Monmouth is also phenomenal and no trip to Borough market would be complete without waiting in the line for a brew. I also love that mobiles are banned in their shops!

 

LA

Primo Paso – this gem on Montana Ave is open early serving perfectly fresh coffee made exactly the way you like. Order a cold brew & a monkey bread

Verve – Phenomenal fitouts, the coffee shops are seriously stunning & a great menu to boot. Don’t miss the juice flight tasting

 

Oslo

Tim Wendelboe – A homegrown coffee champion this cafe only seats four people but the cappuccino al freddo is worth the wait

Kaffebrenneriet– these guys have been around since I was a kid. I can’t go in without ordering a raisin ‘boller’ and thinking of all the times I nipped in with my mum. Their walls of multi coloured coffee packs are also very instagram  friendly

 

Munich

Emilios (Buttermelcher str) You can get this Munich roasted coffee in lots of locations but go to this tiny hole in the wall location. If you’re lucky Toni will make your coffee tailored to your tastebuds. Order an espresso macchiato with a side of Bavarian banter

Man vs Machine – as a mum with a pram I’m really only allowed in because our bull terrier ups my coolness factor. Locally roasted fruity coffee. Get an espresso, marvel at the beards

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How to spend a day in Munich

It may sound a little controversial but if I were to spend my perfect day in Munich, I would head out of Munich for the morning. We live here, not for the city centre, but for the surroundings. We are here for the lakes & the mountains and for all the things that they have to offer.  So I would pack up the paddle boards and head to Woerthsee. It’s one of the smaller lakes and it’s only 25minutes outside town. It’s beautiful, with crystal clear water which is ideal for swimming, paddling or simply dipping your toes in as you sip espresso from il kiosko (the waterfront cafe). I would spend an hour paddling, the dog standing proud at the helm (this is obviously my fantasy day because the dog is terrified of water & would either be trying frantically to climb into my arms or have capsized us within the first minute)

On the way back into the city, I would stop and pick up pumpkins from the roadside honesty market stalls to keep me inspired in the kitchen.

Back in town we would pull in at Ella’s. This great coffee shop/restaurant is attached Lenbachhaus, an eclectic art gallery housed in a villa that was built in the 1800s. It has been added to with a modern wing but the original house at Konigsplatz, still stands with a beautiful private garden. Time permitting I would nip inside to marvel at Geigers “Rotbild” before swinging by the gallery shop for the coolest kids toys & the best cards (what is it about museum shops always having the best stuff?!)

From there I would cross town to TheresienStr, in the heart of Swabing, to have an order of Le Du. These happy dumplings are made to order and I’m obsessed with their steamed vegan parcels of joy. Stuffed with mushrooms, broccoli & tons of spice they are easily my favourite quick bite in town. To fuel my walk I’d pick up a scoop of elderflower “ice cream” at Ice Date. This plant based ice cream is made with cashews and sweetened naturally with dates and is beyond delicious.

From here I would head into the famous Englische Garten and aim for the surfers. There is a surfing spot in the park, just where the Eisbach river comes under the PrinzRegenten Str. You can’t miss the meter high man made wave and the huge population of surfers waiting in line to jump in.

This is the easiest place to time waste. Grab an apfelschorle at the nearby Fraulein Gruneis kiosk. This former toilet is now the coolest cafe serving up everything from vegan cakes and super strong espresso to Thai green curry. The lunch queue is always out the door. But I would pick up an ice cold apfelschorle to drink bankside. Apfelschorle is one of the greatest German inventions. It’s simply apple juice & sparkling water but it’s the single most refreshing drink and just so you chose wisely Fritz make the best one! If you need another spot of culture, the surf spot is sandwiched between Haus der Kunst and the Bavarian National museum which are both beautiful galleries to visit.

Haus der Kunst has a great bar at the back of it, overlooking the park. It’s a great place to have an Aperol Spitz aperitif.

For tea, I would cross back over the river & head back into my hood. With a baby to put to bed I would order in as a special treat. Once the day was done we would head into the garden. We would hang out with friends & eat delicious food from Chuchin (which has dangerously opened down the road from us). They make huge summer rolls served with a peanut spicy dipping sauce and also a fiery tofu & lemon grass curry. We would sit up late as the sun went down putting the world to rights. A perfect day in Munich!

A few more favourite things:

Tushita tea house is a tiny cafe specialising (unsurprisingly) in tea. Everyday at 12 they also serve a plant based Buddha bowl which is always delicious! Pick up cake too as they make crazy cool ones like matcha tea & lime or sugar free black sesame.

Ignore the huge pretzels & seek out “dinkel sesam bretzel” – these are spelt sesame pretzels & are the best portable snack. You’ll always find them at Backspielhaus or in bio (organic) shops.

Viktualien market is a treasure trove of seasonal foods but it’s also at tourist prices. Dotted all around the city centre are fruit & veg stands at local prices. They are always seasonal and always local produce.

Man vs Machine or Emilios make the best coffee in town. I have sacrificed my taste buds for this fact so trust me & head straight to them.

Don’t head home without picking up a tube of My Muesli. They have a shop on the Viktualien market & you have never seen this many options for breakfast. You can customise a tube, try before you buy & even get a muesli advent calendar.

Finally, make sure to head to a stationary shop & stock up on GMund. Founded in 1829 they are based in Tegernsee, and use hydroelectric power to run their factories. There products are beyond beautiful & you have not had a post it note until you have had a mountain shaped post it note.

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