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In Defence of Chains
We hear a lot about how generic English town centres are due to the proliferation of chain stores and restaurants, and I've complained about this in the past. Today, partly because I've just had a nice lunch in Café Rouge (nearly 100 branches throughout the UK) and am sitting in a comfy brown leather chair in Café Nero (over 300 branches), I'm going on the defensive. Is a generic English town centre actually as bad as we're led to believe? →
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Café con Lechery
It's that time of year again when I start using up my annual leave allowance, which is almost always spent lounging around in Oxford parks and cafés because I lack imagination, money, and sufficient gumption to get out and do something less boring instead. This year, my first five days of leave coincided with the wettest May since 1983. →
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Café Culture
When spending a significant amount of time in a town or city, there are two things I like to be sure of; one is where I can get a decent cup of coffee in nice surroundings, and the other is where I can go to the toilet. I'm about to write about the former, because an article about the latter would just list 'Debenhams; by the Covered Market; underneath Magdalen Bridge', and wouldn't be much of a read. →