Editorial
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Can
I have a black Americano , a couple of slices of sourdough and the smoked salmon ”.
“ Of course ,” said the mildly distracted student working the till . “ And would that be interest only or repayment ?”
Café culture . I love café culture . I grew up on tales of Parisian cafés and Satre , Soho and films like Expresso Bongo . I got married in a café . The rise in café culture is one of the biggest changes in our world in the last 30 years , so much so that one of the best loved jokes in our neighbourhood goes like this .
“ Look , there ’ s an empty shop . What it ’ s going to be ?” “ A café !” It ’ s a cracking joke , never fails . But it ’ s easy to forget that life wasn ’ t always like this . Once upon a time , when I was a young buck about town , getting a decent cup of coffee was a bit of a mission . Back then , I lived in London , and there were maybe half a dozen places you could go to get a decent cup . There were the famous names like Bar Italia , the Portuguese on Goldhawk Rd , Café Delancey in Camden ( where I got married ) and precious few others . There was a place upstairs on Portobello and one opposite the Donmar in Seven Dials .
Now we ’ re in a different Seven Dials , and the reason I ’ m thinking about coffee and cafés is that there ’ s been a fair storm brewing in our ‘ hood about a new coffee shop opening . I was thinking about trying to shoehorn something about ‘ blowing a gale ’, but ... already the gag ’ s having to work too hard .
As you may be aware , the council has recently approved a targeted use of herbicide to get the city ’ s weeds problem back under control . How bad that problem is will of course depend on where you go in the city . In some more central areas , the high footfall and regular presence of City Clean staff means that it ’ s not such a big issue . However , in other parts of the city it ’ s so bad pavements have become inaccessible . Many people , including wheelchair users , parents with buggies and those with visual or mobility impairments , have taken to walking in the road .
Following a campaign by the Pesticide Action Network ( PAN ), the council stopped using glyphosate “ with immediate effect ” in 2019 . Ironically , that was contrary to PAN ’ s advice , which recommends a managed phase out to avoid losing control of the situation . Unfortunately , that is precisely what happened . There was no plan for managing weeds in the city going forward .
When we began looking at this after the election in May 2023 , we were determined to find a way to get the situation back under control without the use of herbicide . We
Gail ’ s Bakery is opening a new branch on the corner where there was recently Night Shift and before that Small Batch , and it ’ s all gone a bit net curtain twitcher . Some wag with a spray can has had his funny half-hour . A grafitti penis ? Really . A grafitti penis and the word “ Boring ”. Move over Banksy , there ’ s a new kid in town .
The Community Facebook page went full of “ We don ’ t need another café . What we need is a shoe shop ” type posts , and in fairness , who doesn ’ t like shoe shops ? But anyway , as I said , I kinda like cafés and if there ’ s another café , that ’ s OK . And if it ’ s good , that ’ s also OK .
Because we ’ re professionals , the esteemed Food Editor and I decided to try Gail ’ s and as the Dials branch isn ’ t open yet - it ’ s “ opening soon ” - we went to the North Road branch for breakfast . And very nice it was too . She had a latte and avocado with salsa verde on toast . I had a black Americano , and a couple of slices of toast - sourdough , obvs - and butter . I was going to have the smoked salmon , but there were tax implications . Toast is fine . £ 17 .
Café culture is like this now . It ’ s gone kinda posh - we ’ re a long way from the world of Bongo Herbert ( the Cliff Richard character from Expresso Bongo ). This morning , like most mornings , I went to the Flour Pot . I love the Flour Pot , but it ’ s one of the main reasons why I haven ’ t taken early retirement . Two loaves , a dozen eggs and two croissants . £ 19.80 .
Maybe it ’ s best to look at it like this . We bang on here quite a lot about climate and the environment and all that - hopefully you ’ ve noticed - and if it costs a bit more to have food that ’ s properly produced , made from animals that are properly kept , well that ’ s what happens . You can ’ t have your climate
Weeding out the weeds looked at every conceivable alternative , conducted trials , had demonstrations and met with other local authorities . We pushed the limits of the existing manual and mechanical methods . We managed to weed almost double the number of streets compared to the previous year , but that still equated to only 34 % of the city .
After five years of unchecked growth , the problem is too big to tackle manually , and we need a reset to get it back to a manageable level .
What ’ s been agreed for 2024 is different to what was being done prior to 2019 ( and what is still done in most other local authorities ). The conventional approach saw quad bikes driving up and down every street in the city three times a year , every year , blanket spraying glyphosate regardless of the extent of weed growth . This spray was a fine , pressurised , water-based mist that would easily drift to nearby areas . It was also used in parks and in other green spaces .
The new approach uses a controlled droplet method . A lower concentration of glyphosate suspended in an oil that sticks to target plants will be applied only to
conscience and your environment conscience and treat animals well and still have a chicken that costs £ 2 . Bogoff . Can ’ t happen . It costs a bit more , so you pay your - OK , considerable - money and you make your choice . If the price of a cheap bacon sarnie is a pig in a cage it can ’ t move in , then I don ’ t want that bacon sarnie . If your flat white is made with milk from a cow whose kid has been ripped from her and who ’ s never seen daylight , then I don ’ t want that flat white . It ’ s straightforward .
Actually , I ’ m not entirely sure the negative chat is because it ’ s a café . I ’ m not even sure it ’ s because of the prices . I kinda suspect it ’ s because there ’ s an idea that it ’ s corporate . “ There ’ s a Gail ’ s in Hove ! And in the North Laine !! It ’ s a chain ! It ’ s a chain !!” It ’ s a bit knee-jerk , this idea that if it ’ s a chain it must be corporate and if it ’ s corporate it must be bad . Well , I ’ m not sure life ’ s that simple , and as our esteemed Food Editor finds out on page 8 , Gail ’ s is actually on the side of the angels . To mis-quote Al Gore - and doesn ’ t he seem a long time ago now - it ’ s an inconvenient truth .
There ’ s a bit of a coffee theme in this issue . On page 6 , there ’ s a feature on how a couple of fantastically clever people are using used coffee to create beautiful kitchen worktops and furniture . They ’ re lovely people , they make really beautiful stuff , it ’ s all recycled . It ’ s a really cool story . There ’ s not a lot not to like . And we ’ ve got an exclusive - well , it ’ s not really exclusive , but it ’ s what journalists say - interview with our outgoing MP , Caroline Lucas .
In other news , the new puppies - I know that ’ s what you ’ re really interested in - have settled in perfectly . Can ’ t imagine life without them .
visible weeds in the pavement and roads . No breathable droplets are produced , and the risk of drift and run-off is greatly reduced .
Once the problem areas are back under control , we will reduce the use of herbicide in the way that the Pesticide Action Network suggests – managed , controlled and responsible . How it should have been the first time . Cllr Tim Rowkins Chair of the City Environment , South Downs and The Sea Committee