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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Behind the Broadway Theatre in Catford

A walk through quiet streets and parks --Hilly Fields and Ladywell Park -- to Catford. We discover the Stage Door Cafe nestled on the alley-lane behind the Broadway Theatre and the Town Hall and Civic Suite for the Borough of Lewisham.

Sir Steve Bullock serves as Mayor of the Borough.  We're proud of him for supporting the Living Wage Campaign and making the entire Borough a Living Wage employer, and he keeps the pothole repair crews busy.  We attend the Mayor's annual Valentine's Day Lavender Fund Fundraiser dinner.  This year we even took the rellies along!

Back to Catford ...I love the giant cat mascot slinking over the entrance to the shopping arcade -- source of great discussion and controversy.

Back to the Stage Door Cafe...classy enough for white collar workers and open early enough for blue collar workers, or should I say reflector-glo workers. A comfy place for early rising pensioners, too.


Pleasant decor: highlighting a set of framed theatre-themed super-size posters including the Chicago Theater by Wrigley Tower, Moulin Rouge dancers, and two Broadway New York scenes. Nice feel to the place and the friendly, animated wait staff, actually seem pleased for our custom.

Upscale calligraphied menu boards, comic font all caps -- quite posh.

Posted signs, "Customers are advised that during busy periods you may be required to share your table." Probably gets an overflow lunch crowd.

As for our brekky...we're happy with our 2x2 eggs and brown toast and enjoy our hot mug of builders tea --strong enough for the spoon to stay standing!  Not sure how I forgot a food photo -- must have just enjoyed it!

This place gets a "We'll be back." 
Another delightful Breakfast in Britain

Fat Belly's -- Who thinks of these names?!

A sign of a genuine breakfast cafe is a closing time mid-afternoon.  At Fat Belly's it's 3:00 pm. And, lucky for us, the opening time is 6:30 am.

The sky is still dark, as we're at the end of the second longest night of the year.  We've walked the length of Downham, in southeast London on the Bromley Road, passing three breakfast cafes. At the end of the commercial stretch, we loop back, crossing at a zebra crossing.

Happy Husband catches sight of a plain sign directing us toward, 'Mini-cars & Cafe'.  So we head off the main road, slipping behind a row of shops. 

There Fat Belly's cafe with tables and chairs under an awning beckons us.  Lights are on and the tiny cafe feels full to the brim -- obviously a local favourite.  We wonder if we'll get eats.  But a table directly beneath the front counter opens up, and in we slide, side by side up against the wall. Every table taken, all men, mostly in reflector jackets or vests - a glow of neon. 

Our hosts, a British couple, welcome us, "'Mornin' luv."  Turns out he, Ben, hails from North Cyprus and the wife is London born, her parents having immigrated from North Cyprus.  They explain that theirs is a "semi-arranged marriage." They've had the cafe for 13 years, and seem happy in southeast London.

Happy Husband decides to go whole hog and orders the set breakfast-- one of everything and a pile of beans!  I order my regular 2 x 2 (eggs and toast).  Piping hot tea in mugs arrives quickly.

A Delicious Southeast London Breakfast in Britain.

Rest-A-While in Strood, Kent

Headed for our favourite spot in Rochester, Kent, we decide to stop in Strood on this side of the River Medway.  “Rest-‘A’-While” Café stands on the V-corner where the two one-way streets that cut through the town centre reconnect. We almost miss the entrance -- Happy, now hungry, Husband happens to look up and see the sign 20 feet up the wall!  

We make our way past the dumpster and find ourselves in a warm and absolutely shining cafe. Turns out we entered by the back door.  The front tells a different story!

Almost everything about this café goes against our point system, as flexible as it is. The pictures are of food seem the variety that one would purchase from a DIY-Café-on-line-shop, the rigid table and chairs are attached and fastened tight to the floor and walls, a plastic DIY-café-on-line-shop menu sits on each table. 

  But the ultra-friendly staff make up for all that.  Ozzy, from Izmir, Turkey came to the UK 14 years ago.  He's chatty and insists on taking our picture, as we've asked to take his.

He keeps his café sparkling clean, serves very hot tea, provides newspapers, offers soft radio in the background, and has no noisy machines blasting on the scene.  There’s been an attempt to brighten things up with Christmas décor.  He talks of his homeland, Turkey, and we watch his eyes sparkle.  He recommends Nevsehir, Kapadokya for our next holiday, proudly describing fantastic scenery displayed on his phone screen.  The clientele, many workers donning reflective jackets, keep him hopping.

The food tastes great!  Typical cafe Full English Breakfast for Happy Husband and 2x2 for me -- an artsy touch with the bread arrangement -- a bit owlish!

 The sunlight fills the street while we eat.  We head out to enjoy the local art work -- sculpture of local shipbuilding.

 We head off across the bridge into Rochester for a visit to the Castle (an English Heritage site -- we do recommend membership) and all our favourite charity shops.

 Another delightful Breakfast in Britain.