Might Be opening a New Bar/Cafe in E.Dulwich

[Cassius]

Nico - you beat me to it - I was going to say please make the toilets more than just bearable - I go into so many bars where the money stopped being spent at the loos. At the very least - all doors lock, there is always paper and a hook. Nice liquid soap and fast hand driers are good too. The Vale although not a popular choice on the board had very nice loos after the first renovation. I don't even want to think about the loos at Inside 72.

[Michael Palaeologus]

Accoustics is the thing - EDT and The Gowlett also suffer, all being big old London pubs that had the partitions ripped out of them to leave echoing caverns. Especially bad are those with hgh ceilings and tile floors.

[Moos]

Especially bad are the ones where you have to yell to make yourself heard, and where you can't sit down. I'm not as young as I was. Am I on the wrong thread? Someone's hidden my teeth.

[Jah Lush]

Hmmm...I've got a feeling I know where this is going to be. Can you get some Extra Cold Guinness in as well please and staff who know how to pour it properly. Oh! and good luck by the way.

[Keef]

Northcross Road perhaps Jah?

[Jah Lush]

Yes, but I'm only guessing.

[Brendan]

Should I open a book?

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

What, for more scintillating dinner party conversation?

[Brendan]

The odds on that are far too high.

[NunheadGirl]

Nico,

It sounds like your place may be more of a bar than a cafe, but for the latter, IF you do want to get the buggy brigade through your door then let me tell you about a fantastic cafe on Northcross Road in Clapham, which has a childrens play area tucked into a small area at the back. It has soft mats and an upper and lower level (but very safely 'fenced') with just a few toys. Basically it means parents get to chat and enjoy lunch whilst children are fairly well out of the way and entertained, so in some ways less hassle than when expected to just 'sit and behave' with nothing to actually entertain them/keep them quiet.

That place also has a supply of nappies and baby food etc. to hand if needed and is very child friendly, and the menu has a good selection of food suitable for healthy eating Mums-to-be, young children, and those looking for something a bit more exciting. I have had more than one discussion with a friend about opening up a place like this in ED as I am sure it would do a roaring trade, and maybe it would reduce the number of buggys in some of the others cafes which I know would be welcomed by those who would like to escape 'us lot'!

It may not be for you, but thought I'd mention it!

Nunhead Girl

[Amelie]

Nico

On the subject of Ladies' loos, can I request the following:

A/C - overheated loos/changing rooms are horrible

Direct white light around the mirrors

Mirrors without distorting effects

Sound proofing - sometimes it's nice to get away from the noise of the bar

Supplies of moisturiser

Cotton hand towels

Comfortable chairs in the main area

Decent size handbasins with shelves (for make up etc)

Claridge's Hotel regularly wins the award for the best loos in London, so you could do worse than ask its management for advice.

[lozzyloz]

Don't forget the black flat surfaces ;-)

[Brendan]

Bottle beers that are served cold.

Like properly cold! So that they cause condensation on the glass when you pour them.

You will be unique in this entire city just for that. Well except for the Curry Cabin but they?re not a bar.

[Christopher]

So have you got your eye on a few sites then? Or is it the one that we're all thinking of...?

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Beer with a proper head.

[Jah Lush]

Even better. Head with a proper beer. (Whoops, sorry).

[James]

Can us blokes have nice loos too please? In the interests of equality.

[AllyCat]

THis all sounds lovely Nico....Can I also ask for handbag hooks under tables and if there is seating at the bar (which I love!) for there to be coat hook underneath.....

Also nice to supply newspapers/magazines for those on their todd - or waiting for someone to arrive.....

[alieh]

I agree with others that it would be great if someone could replicate the general "vibe" of Inside 72. More of a bar than a pub, but not a bouncers/sparkly top kind of bar...something a bit more relaxed. The kind of place you go to start off an evening, and then end up staying because the atmosphere is so good! The problem with Inside 72 for me was that unless you got one of the few tables, you couldn't go in with a group because there was really nowhere to stand around the bar (obviously a function of it being a very small space!). Cities like New York and Toronto seem to have lots of these types of places -- small bars, good beer and good simple cocktails, quiet and chilled enough to chat over a drink, but loud and busy enough to make a night of it. Cafe Kick in Clerkenwell might be an example of this (or at least the last time I was there a few years ago)? Though definitely more a function of music and who goes there as Cafe Kick is nothing special to look at (unless you're into table football, of course). My two cents anyway!

[MadWorld74]

I'd like to see a bar/pub that was for adults only and not kids! I'm sick of seeing breast feeding mothers with baby in one hand, glass of wine in the other.

[James]

Something like Cafe Kick would be great! That has a lovely laid-back, arty vibe to it

[WickedStepmother]

What I'd love, in fact ABSOLUTELY LOVE, is A) somewhere that's both family-friendly but still kinda funky. Somewhere I could get cool points for taking my nearly-but-not-quite teenage stepsons for lunch on a Saturday. (IE somewhere they're not mortified to be seen by their mates, I'm not mortified by their grubby torn jeans and we all rate the food) B) Somewhere with music that's more than aural wallpaper but not so loud you can't have a conversation about it. C) Somewhere the menu isn't just bog-standard clonepub favourites.

Incidentally, re the day-to-evening transition, music is half the battle. The other half is lighting.

Oh, and I did come across a bar in Hoxton that uses chainmail curtains to increase its number of semi-private group/conversational spaces in the evenings which seemed to work quite well.

And lastly could we please have your new enterprise handily located for the corner of East Dulwich Road and Peckham Rye?

Not too much to ask?? ;-)

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Maybe the old Williams Electrical building?

[Sue]

WickedStepmother Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> >

> And lastly could we please have your new

> enterprise handily located for the corner of East

> Dulwich Road and Peckham Rye?

>

> Not too much to ask?? ;-)

xxxxxxx

Whilst also being handily located for those of us at the North Cross Road end of ED ??

:)

[caro ed]

I'm with James on the shabby chic vibe, and also agree we could do with an addition to the Plough end of LL... although obviously Nico you are staying tight lipped on that one! I was in Paris the other weekend and it was so nice sitting in bars that aren't overpriced so that the locals happily while away the afternoon eating simple snacks (nothing fancy, just good ingredients) and drinking wine & chatting - rather than stuck in front of the telly like I was last weekend because I can't afford to drink outside of the house!! (i've been credit crunched)