I first noticed that The Haberdashery was a little different from the other coffee houses in our new London area of Crouch End because of this sign:
It says, ‘Unattended children will be given espresso and a free kitten.’ I chuckled to myself all the way home – it was such a refreshing and funny sign I knew I had to visit the cafe next time I was shopping in Middle Lane.
So, a few weekends later, the Englishman and I stopped for a coffee and a bite to eat at The Haberdashery and found that we had – together with the rest of the area – fallen in love with this little quirky place serving fantastic coffee, salads, home made breads and cakes. There was just the one table free, and soon there was a queue outside.
Nothing at the Haberdashery is boring or ugly: even the loo has a design statement with the light cord adorned with a large roll of thread; the breads are served in small clay flower pots; the hot chocolate in tiny pudding basins; the food on vintage mismatched dishes. And in the background there’s music from old vinyls.
When Massimo at the cafe told us about their plans to start a monthly supper club, we immediately booked the last table for a Swedish evening. That was two weeks ago.
Before this Friday, the day of the Swedish supper, I wondered if a small coffee place could pull off a full evening of food and fun, and whether the predominantly day-time venue would lend itself to night-time. But I shouldn’t have worried; even from the outside the Haberdashery looked magical in the twilight. The tables were adorned with vintage coffee cups, inside of which little tea lights flickered. A string of fairy lights mingled with the bunting.
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| Massimo serving the drinks. |
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| The atmosphere was very jolly and festive. |
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| Gravad Lax and Toast Skagen |
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| Home made delicious bread with butter served in a sweet vintage pate jar. |
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| Lindström’s Biff and Haselbackspotatis. |
Next we had another fish course, this time fried herring with creamy mashed potatoes. Again this was a fine Husmanskost dish, but by this stage we were all so full up that we really couldn’t do the dish justice.
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| Fillet of herring with creamy potato mash. |
And there were still puddings to contend with…the Kladdkaka, a chocolate mud cake, was intensely chocolaty, but I was so full of food I could only just have a little taste of it. As I considered asking for a doggie bag, a further pudding of rhubarb and yogurt arrived. This was the perfect end to the meal – it was refreshing and not too sweet. I just wish I’d left a little more room in my tummy for the final piece de resistance of this excellent first supper club evening at The Haberdashery.
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| Kladdkaka. |
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| Rhubarb ‘fool’. |
Oh, and the wines were very good too – I had a few glasses of fruity Pino Grigio which suited all the dishes very well. To help the pudding go down better I ordered a glass of Prosecco to finish the evening off with a flourish. A decision which I regretted the next morning when I woke with a slightly heavy head. Oh well, a good time was had by us all. And as my mother says, ‘Nobody died.’ (I often wonder what she’d say if some did die, but that’s another conversation – or blog).
Now I cannot wait for the next culinary evening at The Haberdashery, which will be a Croatian feast. We were promised smaller helpings, and I will try to drink less wine. (A fat chance…).
The next supper club at The Haberdashery is on May 11th. It’s very good value at £35.00 for a five-course meal including a glass of Prosecco, but the evenings get booked up very quickly, so hurry.
The Haberdashery
Eatery, Coffe House and Old Vinyls
I am just up the hill in Muswell Hill and a friend mentioned this place to me just the other day, your review has definitely made me want to visit 🙂