Wednesday 12 May 2010

Café Culture

Cafés are pretty standard on a club cyclist's itinerary. Most people have one - whether it's at the start of the ride, during, or at the end of a ride. I have been known to do all 3, if I was feeling a bit rough. My club's local is Café St Germain at Crystal Palace. Many of the local riders in South London go to the café in Fanny's Farm Shop in Surrey. My second claim club stops at Nonna Rosa's in Purley. The thing in common with all these places is that they are cafés that cyclists go to while doing a club run.

Well how about a café that cyclists can go to without needing to be on a club run, or even in cycling gear. How about just going to a café that has a cycling theme, but without there being any sign of lycra. Anyone who has a vague connection to cycling could go in there. Whether you are a club cyclist, a courier, a teenage BMXer even old Bojo or our new Prime Minister could go there with a nervous George Osborne in tow! You don't even need to have your bike, and you can drink beer!

That's what Look Mum No Hands is all about - a new café in Old Street that has a cycling theme and appeals to all types of bicycle rider. I went to the launch a couple of weeks ago and the inside is nicely decked out, with arty furniture in a bright clear room with trendy music - various styles of bicycle hang in the windows and themed modern and retro posters on different aspects of cycling adorn the walls.


The coffee is good, as Lewin is a real connoisseur in this field. And if you need repairs doing to your bike, they have a workshop where Sam will be able to attend to your steed's needs. I look forward to going there more, as it looks a great place to hang out.

This month they'll be showing the stages of the Tour of Italy bike race on their big screen so that'll be another reason for me to go there. Andiamo!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What a great idea - thanks for the tip, we are totally checking out this cyclist friendly cafe :)