Two London institutions combine next week with the opening of a new café from the St John stable at the London Review Bookshop, around the corner from the British Museum in Bloomsbury.
Launching on Wednesday 1st October, the new venture replaces the London Review Cake Shop that has been sorely missed by regulars since closing down in July last year after 17 years. It is the third café from the bakery spinoff of the famous nose-to-tail restaurant opened by Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver on the edge of Smithfield market 32 years ago.
The café will open daily from 8am-6.30pm, serving a menu of sourdough bread, croissants, Eccles cakes and doughnuts alongside coffee, tea and hot chocolate, with savoury tarts, sandwiches and wine available from lunchtime. Appropriately for the bookshop setting, St John’s signature madeleines will be baked to order for peckish bookworms seeking a Proustian snack. The café will stay open when the shop is hosting a reading, book launch or private event.
Reneé Doegar, publisher of the London Review of Books, said: “As soon as it became clear that St John would be joining us on Bury Place, it felt like one of those delicious pairings, like bread and wine, madeleines and coffee. In my 14 years with the LRB, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such unanimous delight across the magazine and bookshop teams! Bringing this idea to life with St John has been a genuine meeting of minds, and I’m thrilled to offer our bookshop community something so rich in both flavour and spirit.”
Trevor Gulliver added: “We were curious when the London Review of Books asked us about their café at the bookshop which was closed, would we come by and take a look? One thing has led to another, the discovery of the hidden square with the little terrace behind the bookstore, the general delight in working with the LRB, its location and the good feeling that an independent bookstore provides to many. We are delighted to announce that we will be opening our small Bloomsbury café on Wednesday 1st October, a small changing menu with good things from the bakery, to enjoy at the table or take away, a short wine list, and a happy adjunct to the joy of browsing and books…. and that little terrace for a glass perhaps too?“
