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Should Samuel open a deli?
Well, should he?
I've added a poll mainly so we take the discussion out of the 'new members' thread. And in the spirit of creeping commercialism, Sam will have to pay for if he wants to see the results.
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There is a credit crunch ...so am thinking hard about it . Its also a matter of the right space !!
Best location on SGR is a difficult one. If you want to get some ideas Lygon Street in Melbourne is a fantastic place for this sort of thing.
Have a look at http://www.kingandgodfree.com.au/ or http://www.lygonst.com/
Be brave and locate between La Porcheta and PPs offering fantastic coffee, ice creams etc and get some of the before and after trade from the restaurants as well as the daily walk
Colllettte is right - good bread is what we need round here.
I don't think that it would work on Blackstock Road. I know that people think that it will go the way of SGR following the opening of the new stadium, but it'll take time. There are plenty of areas around London where property prices have risen dramatically, but the area is still scummy. You're not going to replace all of the current businesses that have Algerian men standing around outside just like that. It took ages for Good For Food to get as busy as it is now. I remember when it was only open M-F, until 5pm.
Does anyone here ever go into any of the other places on Blackstock Rd? I've been to Sim Sim a few times when GFF shut before I had finished my work. It can get a bit uncomfortable when the regulars sit around staring at you.
I've also been to Fish & Cook and the Islington library. The library sucks. They have all of the latest best sellers with the shiny covers and very little else.
I have wondered about blackstock rd ....but the front room does so well around here , isnt there room for more . I do like the front room ..very friendly !
I agree though, it will take a bit of time.
Amici in East Finchley is a good example of a combi deli/café. Lots of fresh produce, ciabbatas, sandwiches to order, good coffee and always an enthusiastic welcome.
Anywhere could serve better coffee than the "Italian" deli on SGR, absolutely undrinkable and not a great atmosphere ( my wife describes it as the place that the WLOM regulars go to sober up )
@Rainbow carnage - you're very wrong about the N4 library. It may not have as wide a selection as you want on site, but browse the Islington library online catalogue, and they have masses. And will send whatever your reserve online to the N4 library for free.
I think it would be terrific to see a decent café or deli open in SG but it seems to me that such a business should be either a café, concentrating on selling food and drink to people eating in or a deli that caters to selling food to people who take it out to eat or prepare at home, not both.
These deli-café combinations seem to be everywhere and they rarely seem to work because the focus seems to be off. Unless it’s done well, one side of the business always suffers and it’s usually the deli side and then you end up with forlorn shops selling a some cups of coffee or tea and the occasional muffin and panini.
I buy my cheeses, meats, olives , pesto etc. from shops that specialise in those items, such as Lina Stores, Camisa, Gazzano, Brindisa, German Deli, etc.
I don’t buy them at the fancy Italian in Crouch End because that place to me is a restaurant. It looks like a successful deli/café but I wonder how much product they actually sell to people who take out. The items on the shelves appear to me to be more for decoration than anything else. But they are busy with people eating in so they must be doing something right in that area (enough to compensate)
I think that it would be wise to establish a shop as cafe or a deli, be the best, and then as a way to expand the business in the future, branch out into the other area.
Sam good luck to you whatever you decide and if you do open shop I'll be there everyday if you sell some good loaves of bread.
There are several good delis that I use and am not sure if I would have room for another unless it was expectional, but a very good cafe, a real cafe, that concentrated on pastry/bread, eat in or take away, now that would be something.
You should try the Italian deli in Crouch End. The best Eggs Benedict I've had outside of the States. Good chips and coffee, too.
The last time we were there, I had a bit of a spazz. This is the only library I've ever been to that does not have a drop box to return books. I stood in a queue for ages while the woman at the counter repeated the same information over and over to the idiot who was ahead of me. The other staff just stood around chatting. Eventually I interrupted her (perhaps not as nicely as I should have) and asked if I could just hand her the book. She looked at me that I has smacked her across the face with it.
If a bookshop had service like this, it would go out of business in a month.
@ samuel - Have you been to Good for Food? They are sort of a deli and cafe at the same time. They sell cheese and some sort of ham products. The coffee could be better, and it could be open later, but other than that, it's fab.
I don't supposed you could ban screaming children from your establishment, could you? Or, more specifically, the parents of said children, who think it's cute that junior hasn't shut up in 30 minutes.
The library does charge for DVD and CD rentals. It's not a lot of money, but enough so that they could afford a drop box.
And the reason why I hate screaming children is that I like to sit in a cafe and do my work. I don't think that's unreasonable. I don't get in your personal space. What makes you think that I want your brats in mine?
Not all children are screamers. Part of it is the little darlings' own personalities, but mostly it's the parenting. If I couldn't keep my spawn quiet in a cafe, I would not go to one. The same goes for theatre and the cinema. Take them to the park instead.