Pre-wedding rendezvous with the rellies at the Fiero Cafe in San Mateo, California

Breakfast in Britain goes to California! The old Rendezvous Cafe re-born as Fiero Cafe sits on El Camino Real in the heart of San Mateo. Clean, quiet and free wifi. Upscale and up-price, but great location for an easy walk from the rellies.
The Rendezvous closed unexpectedly in April 2015.  It has opened under new ownership and a new name. Filipo, the proprietor, chats cheerily and proudly as we admire his efforts at revamping the joint.

The cafe remains retro, but the grime has been scrubbed away and the interior sparkles with newly painted walls and shiny counters.

Food options (and prices) are shi-shi -- no eggs and toast in this world. Rather we order crescents with scrambled eggs and bacon.  I request that each item be laid side by side rather than built into a sandwich.  Tasty.  Happy son-in law enjoys a hearty omelette. 
Another enjoyable breakfast on the road -- a pleasant rendezvous with the rellies pre-wedding.           

A blast from the past in Eastbourne at TJ Hughes

Remember the department stores of childhood -- not part of a chain, but the independent glamorous sparkling carries-everything-you-need store, owned by a local resident who lives in a mansion on the hill?  Like Marshall Field's Department Store on State Street in Chicago, once housed in the magnificent 12-story store built in 1902 for Field's merchandising business started in 1846.  And Carson, Pirie Scott and Company, also on State Street in Chicago's Loop, with it's dazzling Tiffany dome delighting shoppers for more than one hundred years.  Two favourite haunts of mine as a teenage shopper.  I also remember delighting in the Lynden Department Store on Front Street in Lynden, Washington.  It opened in 1897 and sadly was liquidated in 1979.

A few grand department stores still exist, or did the last time I visited... Selfridge's on Oxford Street in London, Haddon & Sly on Fife Street in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and the iconic Myer flagship store on Bourke Street in Melbourne, Australia. They continue to offer the all-inclusive shopping experience without being a mall.  And there is always a restaurant upstairs.

My mother's special treat was taking me and often an out-of-town visitor to lunch at the Marshall Field's store restaurant, a "garden" restaurant as I recall.  This week we found it's double...the Cafe at TJ Hughes Department Store in Eastbourne, Sussex.

Okay, not quite the Garden Room double, no waiters in starched shirts nor silver and china, but the echoes of days gone by and a cheery nostalgic experience.

We get a late start, so it matters not that the cafe opens at 9:00, for that is the time of our arrival. The breakfast buffet does nothing for our appetites, but the  the sunlight streaming through the tall Victorian windows, leaded windows overhead and domed skylight warms our souls.  And the friendly staff welcome us with smiles and conversation, even posing for a photo.  The large potted palm plants, hardwood floors and rattan chairs create a pleasant atmosphere.  We sit beside the corner windows which open to let in the morning warmth and provide a view of an ancient church tower and the sea at the end of the street.

We return midday and the place has filled with grey-haired locals enjoying tea cakes and fresh fruit scones. "Good morning ladies, tea cakes today?" is the refrain from the counter attendant, arms blue with tattoo designs, as he greets the regulars.  A gigantic fresh fruit scone, hot from the oven, with clotted cream and jam (yes, they are in packets) costs only £2.50.  A must if you are visiting Eastbourne!

And while you're there, enjoy the pier and the seaside promenade.  On a summer evening there's entertainment at the bandstand. We caught wafts of Big Band music as we passed.

Eastbourne is not on a main road to London.  Consequently it has taken us five years to get there.  But it is a well-kept secret of the south coast of England which we plan to enjoy again.  For it surely provided us with a memorable Breakfast in Britain!

PS  The good news is we had a wonderful experience at T J Hughes; the bad news is I've just found out, after writing this nostalgic reflection, that it is one of a chain of discount stores started in 1925.  As Wikipedia explains:
"T J Hughes is a British discount department store brand which first emerged in Liverpool in 1925 and had become a national chain with 57 shops by 2011. The business now consists of 12 shops around the country, following liquidation and rescue in 2011."

Sometimes our reality differs from the facts!  

Forest Hill & Dulwich Picture Gallery

Skipping out into the drizzly morning, we decide to hop on the P4 bus heading to Dulwich (dull-itch) Village.  Our short trip highlights a visit with Norma, a friend who volunteers as a Street Pastor in Lewisham -- inspiring work on the city streets after 10 pm.

Turns out she reads this blog and asks where we are heading for breakfast! 

Aware from a Google search that  Dulwich Village lacks a breakfast cafe, we disembark at Forest Hill and find the familiar "Cafe Open" sign at  BB & Friend Cafe celebrating its 35th anniversary!    

When we ask the proprietor if he's the original owner, he laughs and announces he's barely 35 years old! He had been head chef at the Peckham Cafe which was also owned by the previous owner, and 1 1/2 years ago he bought him out.  

It's a step above a regular cafe with printed menus,table service and seats for 64.  A bowl of shiny fruit on the counter makes it almost posh!  Five pen and ink sketches of Forest Hill High Street (2006 by Sivokorn, the artist)  and an oversize antique guild framed mirror provide tasteful decor.

But BB's is full of locals, and the tea is hot!  To top off a good experience, seeing us waver between wholemeal and crusty bread, the proprietor kindly offers us a slice of each. 

We meander through Forest Hill, past the new aqua centre and refurbished Victorian library, down Havelock Walk -- a series of artist's studios stretching down a side street.

Next stop Dulwich Village home to prestigious Dulwich College (frist grade through high school) started in the early 1600's as Alleyn's College of God's Gift by Edward Alleyn an actor and "theatrical entrepreneur."  The surrounding bustle of the city seems lightyears away from this quaint quiet village.  The Church of England primary school  (connected to the College) and the original hall of Dulwich's "College of God's Gift" remind the visitor of the prominence of education here.

Our attraction to Dulwich is the Dulwich Picture Gallery,the oldest public art gallery in London started with the collection bequeathed to Dulwich College by its founder in 1626.  We gaze upon Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Rubens and more now housed in a building specifically designed by Sir John Soane 1811.  A treasure indeed.  One favourite, we don't remember ever seeing before in art books -- "A girl at a window" by Rembrandt.
So, if you're in London and craving country life, drop in on Dulwich Village to step back in time, to slow down, and to enjoy a stroll among the masters.

Another brilliant Breakfast in Britain!
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Regency Cafe, London - and a walk through Pimlico & Chelsea

A gem in Pimlico...suggested to us a couple years ago by our young friends from Australia. Truth be told, we expected the Regency to be posh, but surprise! surprise!  It's a classic cafe unchanged by time and fashion from it's original look of 1946.

Red-checked cafe curtains provide the colour theme, and the shiny tile walls provide the backdrop for a gallery of iconic cafe art and framed moments-of-acclaim for the Regency Cafe -- ads from Vogue and LK Bennett highlighting the cafe and numerous notable personalities enjoying their cuppa in front of the red-checked curtains. 

This is definitely a favourite London spot for photo shoots.  And a favourite spot for breakfast!  The queue snakes through the cafe packed with tables for 50.  This morning it's an all-male clientèle, many donned in business attire, others sporting reflector vests.

46-year-old owner, Marco Shiavetta serves a tasty meal -- no extra grease, everything cooked just right.  The day's fresh potatos are being peeled and piled by a diligent worker behind the counter.  Another focuses on the task of smacking minced beef into sausages and patties.

 Happy Husband enjoys the Full English Breakfast, while I stick to my standard -- 2 eggs on toast.  We welcome the absence of background music and TV, but the megaphone-voice from behind the counter calling out the orders (no table service) takes a bit of getting used to.

After our leisurely meal, we meander through Pimlico -- passing picturesque strips of terrace housing and overarching trees.

To our delight, we discover a gem in St James the Less church, hidden behind other buildings.  The ornate chancel glows in the morning light.  Musical instruments create a crucified Jesus -- clarinets, piano keys, flutes -- the death of music and joy, perhaps?  Makes me want to shake educators reminding them how important music is for children!  Don't eliminate joy from the curriculum!
To one side, there's an inviting children's area, a place children surely anticipate populating on a Sunday morning.  Just how welcoming are our churches to children? to families?  Where is their space in the church to which they clamour with glee?

On we go toward Royal Chelsea Hospital, the last resting place of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and home to retired soldiers. They are gathering for a VE Day photo decked out in full regalia.

My thoughts go to my father, an American Vet about the same age as many of those assembled here today.  While the cronies in his photos are Veterans for Peace, nonetheless he would have enjoyed being here today.





We pop into their chapel and dining room for a quick peek -- magnificent, as one might expect.  Amazing to realize that the retired men and women who call this home are here out of need, not out of entitlement.

London never lets us down!  Another wonderful Breakfast in Britain!