Love & Scandal
Hidden behind Waterloo Station in Lower Marsh a little coffee shop that in the evening during the summer turns into a bistro.
I happened upon Love & Scandal when I went on a detour to Lower Marsh to investigate a street food market behind the back of Waterloo Station.
Would I like to try a coffee?
Yes, but sorry no time, I am on my way to a coffee festival, Union Summer Carnival at Union Hand-Roasted Coffee, somewhere in Docklands, one of the top coffee roasters in the country.
Maybe later, If I have time.
On leaving Union Hand-Roasted Coffee, I decided I would return.
Too hot to sit outside, we sat outside discussing Cyprus, Turkey, the divided island and the Middle East. It turned out my host was a Turkish-Cypriot.
Interesting to hear from the other side.
Eventually I got around to ordering falafel wrap, hummus and salad. Followed by a cappuccino.
The coffee used, a blend from Alchemy, Opus Espresso v 12. Like Pioneer from Horsham Coffee Roasters, the blend is seasonally adjusted to attempt to retain a similar flavour profile, cocoa, hazelnut, orange.
I had not heard of Alchemy, but speaking to a Greek barista at Union Summer Carnival, he said it was a highly regarded coffee roaster.
On the walls, art by Alice Bowsher and a few paintings exhibited on the walls.
I asked did the art often change?
Not very often.
I suggested change periodically, use the walls as exhibition space for local artists. Maybe sell the paintings, charge 10% commission.
We used to have galleries with a cafe, now we have coffee shops doubling as art galleries.
A table at the back has periodicals, including Caffeine, information on local events.
Only for the last couple of weeks, Love & Alchemy has been opening in the evening as a bistro, and will do so throughout the summer.
Sadly on my first visit I was the the only one there, but when I visited again the following week, during a launch party for Waterloo Food Month, I was pleased to find it was packed. Word had got out, now open in the evening.
On my first visit, leaving sometime after ten o’clock, I was surprised to find in the street a man with a van from Grimsby selling fresh fish.
