The recent Fresh Air Meet-up I went to was a presentation by Charlotte Austin who knows a thing or two about communication skills. She comes from the Dale Carnegie school of ‘How to make friends and influence people’ and she certainly came across as someone who knew what she was talking about. It was a fascinating workshop and gave me plenty to think about into how we can improve our skills of communication in all areas of life. Sitting at a cafe is a great place to ponder on life and what I’d been learning so I cycled over to Preston Park on the other side of town to Floriana’s.
There’s something about cafes in parks that the other cafes just cannot match. Something to do with the space, the greenery and the unhurried, relaxed feel of the park setting. In Preston park Floriana’s Rotunda cafe has been there as long as I can remember sitting at its southern tip. So called because of its circular build. The terrace filled with tables and chairs follows the curve of the building on an elevated position looking over the wonderful rose gardens and pond. On a late August day the rose gardens that front the cafe were in full bloom with the heady perfume to match.
Inside its bright and spacious should the weather turn but the reason for visiting this cafe is for settling yourself at one of the outdoor tables on the terrace. Seated away from the hustle and bustle you can hear the rumble of traffic on nearby Preston Road and spot the green Southern trains rumbling high up over the viaduct ahead but all of that is far enough away not to intrude on the calm. Customers gradually began to fill up the terrace as the morning wore on making the most of the early morning sunshine. On offer there’s the usual cafe fare of jacket potatoes, sandwiches and cakes all at reasonable prices, nothing fancy but nothing pretentious either.
Afterwards I had a look around the rose garden. 
A sign lists the locations of the beds of over a hundred varieties of rose. Try Rosa Mundi, Scarborough Fair, Ipsilante, Sceptr’d Isle, Buff Beauty, Wildeve, Sweet Juliet, Sophie’s Rose, Getrude Jekyll, Camerieux, Amelia, Leander and Teasing Georgia for a few to be getting on with. Then I had a peak at the impressive community allotment site, which is just behind the cafe, with its cornucopia of healthy vegetables coming into season.
So I’d had a dose of Fresh Air with plenty of inspiration and practical ideas for living well the previous evening at the meet up workshop. Followed today by a ponder on what I’d learned in the intoxicating air of the rose garden by the Rotunda cafe.
Life is about change and no more so when you are a mum of a teenager. My gorgeous eighteen year old daughter got her A Level results recently and she’s been accepted at Nottingham University to read American Studies. She’s about to fly the nest in a matter of weeks and all the adjustment that will come with that both for herself and for me. When there’s a lot going on in my mind getting on my bike to visit a cafe is a great antidote.
It takes about half an hour to cycle from my home in west Hove to Shoreham along the back roads which are fairly quiet with not much traffic at all. I had a picnic lunch sitting by the banks of the Adur first. The tidal river was about as high as I’ve ever seen it and there were great views over to Lancing College and the recently restored old toll bridge and of course the art deco airport. Some kayakers were paddling upstream, a father and son, and a few office workers crossed over the bridge for a lunchtime break from the engineering company based on the western bank. Lunch eaten I cycled over the bridge too taking the eastern perimeter airport road down towards the main airport terminal. I’ve been visiting this airport ever since I moved to Brighton. It’s an art deco gem and being on Brighton’s urban fringe you get a sense of getting out of town without having to go very far.
Straightaway on entering the cafe I noticed
some changes and found out that Truffles, a local Bakery company, has recently taken over the running of the cafe. Food did look improved and there was an impressive line-up of cakes and scones on the counter. The cafe itself is spacious and light with plenty of windows allowing great views over the airfield. The best seating though is outside when the weather is good enough so that’s where I headed for. Being lunchtime there was plenty of take-offs and landings of mainly small Cessna aircraft and it can get a bit noisy at times. You get fantastic views of the Downs from here all the way from Annington Hill in the west over the Arun valley with the familiar landmark of the old cement works tower towards Beeding Hill and Truleigh Hill to the east with its communication masts and youth hostel.
Being a grade two listed building inside the main terminal there are loads of original art deco features such as the whispering gallery on the first floor. There is also an exhibition of black and white photography on the ground floor showing the even earlier days of the airport from around 1910 in the days when planes were made of wood.
I remember taking my daughter to the airport here many times during the school holidays when she was much younger and enjoying the cafe ambiance and the distraction of all the flight activity. Those days are gone in much the same way as the wooden planes have and its new pastures and new adventures for both of us.
My book last read is ‘Diary of a Lady’ by Rachel Johnson where she tells of her time at The Lady magazine attempting to turn it around to attract new readers while not losing too many of its loyal subscribers. It’s an excellent insight to the world of publishing and magazines told with flair. This is my diary in a way told through my tales of cafes making use of my time by not just idling away the hours but exercising the writer within, taking a few photos and spreading the word about my favourites. August is whizzing by with first my birthday party bbq on a fortunately warm evening, my day out filming as an extra and its now a bit of a reality check with a visit to a new cafe that’s just opened in Hove.
What a brilliant idea to sell books in a cafe. Waterstone’s and Borders to it the other way around by having a cafe in a bookshop but this independent is doing it with some panache. Hove St. is one of those little cut through roads that people tend to forget about. In the past few years a few new businesses have moved in bringing this stretch of Hove to life. Now with the addition of a new cafe it’s most definitely on my map. The sunflower yellow awning gives a golden glow to the tables below on the double-width west facing pavement. It’s the perfect place for sitting out enjoying a tea or coffee with plenty of outdoor seating. The blackboard outside declares that they make the ‘best coffee in town’ as well as ‘mouth-watering cakes’ and ‘freshly made sandwiches’. To the south you can see Zippo’s Circus setting up on Hove Lawns and to the north the busy junction where Church Rd transmutes into New Church Rd. Kim the owner has put a lot of detail into setting up her new venture from the recycled wood for the indoor tables and the choice of the art displayed on the brilliant white walls. The art on display will change regularly and will be the work of local artists. The natural light streams through the full length windows and there’s a really light and airy feel about this cafe. There’s a great selection of contemporary second-hand books lined up in the two bookcases by the door which look well worth a browse through. As well as the wooden tables and chairs inside there are two areas of lime coloured tub chairs for those who want to settle in for the long haul. Kim wants to get local writers and book groups involved to make this cafe a community hub for those who love reading and writing.
My current read is a paperback titled ‘Whitehawk’ by Simon Nolan. I picked up this copy on a book swap evening I went to last week and find it a dark yet riveting read. The story is of a social worker’s weird entanglement with a dysfunctional family on the notoriously bleak estate to the north-east of Brighton. So my recent reading has taken me from the privileged and hard-nosed publishing world of central London to the desolate and bizarre lives of a family in my home town. It’s all too easy to get carried away with a good read and to remember that real life actually goes on beyond the pages of a well thumbed book.
Sunshine Books, Art and Coffee
Cafes continue apace to open and you begin to wonder if there will come a point when Brighton and Hove has sufficient numbers of them to meet the demand of its residents and visitors. That point doesn’t seem to have been reached yet as the newly opened Flour town bakery and cafe was doing a roaring trade on my first visit there. It’s been open about four weeks and it was time for me to pay a visit.
The look is clean and modern with a bit of retro and industrial thrown in for good measure. The walls are light grey tongue and groove and the flooring pale grey wood effect. Its the seating that is a bit different from the norm, I remember this style of chair from my own days of having school dinners. The wooden seating and back rest parts have been restored and varnished but the metal frames have been left naturally distressed adding a touch of character contrasting with the simple formica topped tables.
A mum with her two young daughters had ordered toast and were making use of a startlingly bold orange Dualit toasters, one of two on each of the longer tables in the centre of the room. It’s all very hands on here with the jam and marmalade in china tea cups ready for customers to dig into.
A tall aluminium rack displays the Infinity 
Foods artisan bread which is the first time I’ve seen Infinity bread being sold this side of North Road. The rest of the pastries and cakes on offer are all baked and put together on the premises and displayed temptingly on the counter top next to a gorgeous vase of tall fresh flowers. From the savoury breakfast mushroom pastries to the home made cupcakes and amazing looking Oreos oozing with cream filling there is plenty to be enjoyed here. It was still early enough for customers to be tucking into muesli with raspberries and pecans as well as granola with Greek yoghurt and fruit compote, both served in white enamelled metal bowls with dark blue rims. Black coffee seemed to be served in glass tumblers.
There’s a great range of salads and sandwiches for those seeking something a bit different in the middle of the day. Outside there is plenty of bright white seating on the wide pavement with the tables adorned with not flowers this time but growing herbs in shiny aluminium planters. One of the chefs popped out to pick some fresh Rosemary from the pot on the table just through the window where I was seated to add to one of the dishes he was preparing.
As well as friends meeting for breakfast there were a few business meetings going on along with the mums entertaining their kids off for the summer holidays. Flour town is in a great location just at the point where Church Road turns into Western Road and looking westwards towards Palmeira Square. So fingers crossed that this is one of the cafes that will make the distance and become a firm fixture on the local cafe scene.
I’m a voracious reader and always have several books on the go. As I’m in between jobs at the moment, or currently re-inventing myself as one friend put it, I’m reading a lot of books around this subject. ‘How to find fulfilling work’ by Roman Krznaric has much to make you think. I heard him speak at a recent Fresh Air meet-up group in Brighton. One of the things he spoke of was taking a radical sabbatical. He suggests trying out different jobs and careers before investing a lot of time and money in courses, just try out and see what fits. Maybe that’s one reason on receiving an email from a cycling friend that I answered ‘Yes!’. The one day’s work is for nine cycling film extras in Eastbourne and there’s even a payment and travel expenses. I was part of a cycle group crowd scene as part of a video shoot a few years ago filmed up on Devil’s Dyke. It’s all part of getting out of my comfort zone and trying something different while I’ve got the time. Back to real life for the moment though and I’m on the prowl for my next cafe review.
I’ve always called this little spot of calm in the Lanes Dolphin Square because of the wonderful Dolphin fountain set bang in the middle. You walk through the maze of lanes and then suddenly the space opens up and you are there. The sound of the water cascading down into the pool below is like any moving water, a bit hypnotic and relaxing all at once. The fountain is a bronze of two nymphs playing with two dolphins. The water flows down into a sea green and beige mosaic-tiled pool below with the dolphins dancing above. Cafe Oasis was my choice of the two cafes to choose from. Unusually for a Lanes cafe the menu is mainly sandwiches with a huge variety of fillings made to order as well as hot breakfast sandwiches served all day. Its white interior with bold colour splashes is fine but its the outside that is the draw here. The square is packed with tables surrounding the fountain while tourists wander around the edge window shopping in one of the upmarket jewellery shops or specialist pen shop. 
I noticed that Rounder Records was closing down after being in business in the square for 44 years since 1966 and a well known name in the Brighton music scene for supporting independent record labels. Above the shops are flats mostly with their windows open to catch the breeze and I wonder what it would be like to live in one of them. With the murmur of the chat rising up from the cafes and the constant soothing sounds of the water splashing from the fountain it could be a rather nice backdrop to your home. My table complete with sun umbrella right next to the fountain was perfect spot to relax and take in the surroundings and take my mind off any worries
I’m most definitely in my comfort zone while visiting cafes and writing about them and its what I love to do. Another writer I’m a fan of is Natalie Goldberg who is a Zen Buddhist living in New Mexico. She’s a creative writing teacher and talks about living in the moment and expressing that in your writing. So even if the film role doesn’t materialise there are plenty more cafes to write about in fact I’ve counted five new ones that I’ve spotted just this week.
Cafe Dharma 