Walk up and smell the coffee

So we’ve got a Jamie’s Italian. There’s even a Carluccio’s And that’s on top of some heavyweight restaurant chains and fine dining establishments like Hart’s and World Service.

I’ll leave the reviews of Jamie’s and Carluccio’s to the acknowledged gourmands of the Nottingham blogosphere (that’s you, messrs Garratt and Lyle).

Instead, my own personal Christmas has come in the shape of a medio cappuccino from Costa Coffee on Lister Gate. It is the first sign that the coffee shop desert that extends all the way from Wheeler Gate down to the railway station has finally found its own oasis.

I’ve never quite understood how it was that an industry notorious for what some critics have described as carpet bombing (opening so many establishments that your rivals go out of business) has managed to ignore an entire quarter of the city centre.

Starbucks used to be on Lister Gate, but they bailed out and headed to a bigger (and less convivial) unit on the edge of the Market Square. It was, quite obviously, a numbers-driven calculation which ignored the absence of any rival outlet near Broadmarsh. So more fool them.

Anyway, enough of the silliness of a numbers-only strategy which ignores reality on the ground. Costa’s announcement that it was moving into a unit on the run down to Broadmarsh was greeted with unalloyed pleasure in the Post newsroom. So much so, that there was near despair when a fire broke out while they were ripping out the old tenant’s fittings.

But it’s open now and it’s a whopper. Two floors, 170 seats, and enough room to have a discreet meeting upstairs. The staff are finding their feet in a location which was bound to get hellishly busy at lunchtime, but there’s no need to worry for the thousands of workers around our base at Castle Wharf who are now within walking distance of a warm brew.

Personally, I don’t think the war’s over. I’ve yet to understand why my manor, a stretch where thousands of workers from the Revenue, Gala Coral, Castle Wharf and the courts rub shoulders with an immense bus and rail footfall, doesn’t deserve its own coffee shop.

But Costa is at least a start. For now, I can walk up and smell the coffee.

Just time for a coffee

Most of us are creatures of habit and I’m no different. When I’m out and about meeting people I’m looking for a place which is within 10-15 minutes walk, serves good coffee and is busy enough for some atmosphere but not so crowded that you can’t engage in discreet conversation.
The days of long lunches are history, which means you end up in a café or coffee shop of some sort.
I have my regulars and my views about them, and I’d be fascinated to hear what other people think/recommend.
Anyway, my coffee shop rundown:
Caffe Nero on Bridlesmith Gate – good service and a window seat means you can chat and watch the fashionable world go by. Dingy at the back, though.
Costa, Waterstones – service OK, the opaques stuck to the windows ruin what could be a great view. Better now it’s spread out, with a reading room vibe in parts. My greatest time-waster because you can linger amid the books afterwards.
Delilah – good food and coffee, but room limited and you’re stuffed if it’s busy
Café Contemporary – until recently, the only blemish on the Contemporary’s ground floor eatery was the fact that it is closed on Mondays, which is commercially silly. Otherwise, a hassle-free atmosphere in unique surroundings where it was easy to talk in your own space. Jury is out now, though: does the new franchisee understand its position as a particular kind of fashionable haunt?
Caffe Nero, Wheeler Gate – good service, roomier than the Bridlesmith Gate branch, room to breathe upstairs.
Starbucks, Sainsbury, Castle Marina - where I head when I'm working late. Except I can't now because they brought forward closing time from 7pm to 6pm. Aaagh*!?
Costa Coffee, Castle Wharf* – great addition to an already humming business location which daily attracts hundreds of visitors from the businesses in Castle Wharf, the courts, Castle Boulevard. Set to make a killing in the summer because of its canalside location. Overcomes the coffee shop desert which exists between Broadmarsh and the Station.
*OK, so I can dream, can’t I?