Ate Cakes and Took The Plates Home

I wouldn't have bothered to visit this spacious new cafe so quickly if not for Y's interest in it. Perfect to have Y along this afternoon. She loves her sweets and bakes. Me, naaah. If the coffee or tea at a cafe doesn't appeal, then I won't hang out there. But yes, the vibe of Carpenter and Cook is simply darling. All I needed was to scoop a bite of the pear almond loaf and the salted caramel Valrhona tart, and I could just pretend that I had more than that. Hurhurhur. I asked for a flat white with less milk. The lovely people complied. Coffee was surprisingly decent.

My problem is, overly sweet desserts (yah...an oxymoron) are eeky, and I don't like sour things. So. The lemon tart lies in an odd but favorable position. Of course there's a difference between the filling of lemon cream and lemon curd. I prefer the latter. At Carpenter and Cook, a short chat with S convinced us to give their lemon cream tart a shot. Y and I liked their version which was fairly tangy and zesty. We appreciated that the shortbread crust wasn't too buttery. Lemon tarts are strange like that. "Lemon tarts are divisive." They're either sweet or not; you'll either like it or hate it. It's not possible to remain ambivalent about it.

A pity the kitchen was out of plum frangipane tarts. It was yesterday's special. If they ever do figs tarts, I'll like...queue for it. Really. The fully equipped kitchen churns out bites of pride. The cafe leans towards English favorites of savory biscuits and pies, breads and tarts hits a good note with me. Furniture's on sale here too. Bakes were eaten, and Y bought the plates. There was no way she could resist their vintage allure. Johnson Brothers china. Classics! At the rate that customers buy up these cups, plates, forks, spoons and all, S, P and E would have to ship in more supplies within 2 months!

Carpenter and Cook is clearly a labor of love- think individually re-upholstered wooden chapel chairs, 1940s cupboards, shelves and weighing scales of old. Very charming and elegantly quaint. The vases of fresh flowers add such a homely touch. Craft beers will make an appearance soon. That spells a new venue for the evenings. I'd love to return soon (on a week day) to have a cup of tea and nibble on a plate of scones.