Week beginning July 21 - Nostalgia week

This week’s menu is drawn from some of the more popular and best dishes of the last few years, as this week is the eve of when I started at Kaffeine 5 years ago. I started working here 2 weeks before the doors opened; this time allowed me to organise the kitchen (the kitchen resembled a construction site), order equipment and work out what exactly we can achieve with limited resources from the beginning. The kitchen consisted of 2 bench-top fridges, a dodgy swaying shelf and a domesticated oven from Argos.

From the beginning I wanted to make as much as possible from scratch. I’d worked in a few cafes before who tend to buy in pre-made products for retail or uses in menu items. This kind of cooking is uninspiring and soul destroying. I would turn up to Kaffeine at 6 in the morning, Mon-Sat (Sunday was closed) and make our muffins, friands and biscuits, followed by breakfast items, then later work on the second half of the day, lunch. 

The food display has always been the kitchens canvas to fill with visually enticing food, as it’s the first thing you notice when you walk past the shop front. After the first few weeks at Kaffeine I realised we could change our menu every week to suit the season and produce available. This turned out to be a big hit for us. I even remember after about 6 months I decided to keep the same menu on for 2 weeks in a row. Customers felt let down and cheated, they came in on a Monday expecting to find a new feast in our canvas display. I was surprised by this reaction; in the hospitality industry customers tend to return because they have their eating routine which involves a constant dish. This was not the case for Kaffeine. We still have our staples such as banana bread and bircher, but people come in just as much for our regular offerings, as much as they do for the ever changing weekly menu.

Nothing much has changed in how we create our food since 2009, we are just better equipped and have had a lot more practise. Even the kitchen team has pretty much been the same since 2010/11.  As I was saying this weeks menu comprised of some of the ‘Best Of' items that have graced our canvas display. Please come in and get nostalgic with our famous retro offerings. 

Jared Bryant

Lead Chef

Kaffeine

@redjar50

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60 (V)

Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60 (V)
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passion fruit) 3.70 (GF, V)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with home made preserves 1.90
Pumpkin seed and apricot fruit toast 2.40
Banana bread 2.40

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissant 1.90
Pain au chocolat 2.50
Almond croissant 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet muffin: Plum and almond (V) 2.40
Savoury Scone: Pickled red onion, mustard and cheddar (V) 2.40
Friand: Melilot and lemon (V, GF)  2.40
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 2.00
Raspberry and coconut slice 2.00
Canele 2.40

Lunch

French retro baguettes 5.00
Ham, avocado, tomato, gruyere, aioli and spinach

Grilled courgette, crushed minted peas, feta and rocket

Foccacias 5.30

Smoked salmon with salsa verde, brie and rocket.
Mozzarella, tomato, basil, smoked paprika mayonnaise and spinach. (V)

Salads: 5.50/6.90

Chicken adobo with camargue red rice and coriander (GF, DF)

Chicory with pineapple, Gorgonzola, Brazil nuts and basil (V, GF)

Roasted sweet potato, carrots, peppers, red onion and courgettes with fresh peas, black mustard flowers and green elderberry dressing. (VE, GF)

Tart: 4.50 or 7.90 with salad
Prawn and sea blite in peanut pastry and garnished with lemon and chilli marmalade


Weekend Menu 19/07, 26/07, 02/08
Salads 5.50/6.90
Prawns with cucumber, asparaguys, tomatoes, avocado salsa and baby spinach
Watermelon with mangho and feat, pecans, mint, coriander and rocket
Green beans with peanuts, coriander and a chilli dressing

Tart 4.50 or 7.90 with salad
Quiche with Italian roast ham, spinach and mature cheddar

Week beginning July 14th - Our own Peanut butter & Almond milk

This week at Kaffeine we are quite literally going nuts, for nuts. Last Friday we tweeted about several new products that we now make ourselves, our social media went Tonka-nuts with excitement and feed back. 

For the last 4 years we've been serving Whole Earths peanut butter that was until someone recently pointed out that they use palm oil to blend the peanuts. As you might know palm oil has been given a bad reputation lately for destroying rainforest in Asian and almost driving the orangutans to extinction. The brand Whole Earth is very misleading. So this got me thinking about making our own nut butters, we started using an American girls nut butters and they were great, until she decided to move back to the states and took the recipe with her. Then I though maybe we can make our own. After some research I started playing around with some recipes until we perfected the peanut butter and almond butter that we now use. 

I must admit I had a traumatic experience growing up with peanut butter. My brother Ben who is a year younger than me was obsessed with peanut butter as a kid (he still is obsessed) he ate so much of the spread that he smelled like peanut butter. Often we would go on long car trips through New Zealand and he would fall asleep on my shoulder snoring and drooling peanut butter breath on me. Even though he was slightly younger he was bigger than me and had a temper when woken up suddenly, I learnt this the hard way many times with a dead leg. Ever since I've not been a fan of peanut butter. So after testing several batches of peanut butter with Claire the nut butter connoisseur/manager, we have perfected our own blend. We have also perfected almond butter, which is much more to mine and Peters (also suffers from peanut butter phobia) liking. Very simple to make and 100% natural ingredients. Like the jams we make we will also have jars of our nut butters for retail.

In other nut news and probably the most interesting is we've started to make our own almond milk, this is another dairy free option instead of Bonsoy. Drinking high amounts of soymilk has been linked to breast cancer and early puberty in children, whether any of this true is still to be determined. Almonds are a hot topic this year as many models and actors are on raw almond based diets for their rich source of protein, monounsaturated fats which is link to reducing heart disease, and rich is vitamin E. In fact raw almonds are considered one of the healthiest foods in the world. It is a taste preference but I personally prefer almond milk to soy in my coffee, and it makes amazing latte art and doesn’t split in coffee unlike soy milk.

So please come in and sample our new nut products and let us know what you think. All feedback is welcome. This week’s menu is also nut themed, hopefully our staff can contain their inner nuttiness for your serving pleasure. 

Please enjoy this weeks menu, as we will enjoy bringing it to you.

Jared Bryant

Lead Chef

Kaffeine

@redjar50

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60 (V)

Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60 (V)
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passion fruit) 3.70 (GF, V)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with home made preserves 1.90
Pumpkin seed and apricot fruit toast 2.40
Banana bread 2.40

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissant 1.90
Pain au chocolat 2.50
Almond croissant 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet muffin: Rainbow carrot cake and walnuts (V) 2.40
Savoury Scone: Tomato and pesto (V) 2.40
Friand: Melilot and lemon (V, GF)  2.40
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 2.00
Raspberry and coconut slice 2.00
Canele 2.40

Lunch

French retro baguettes 5.00
Ham, heirloom tomato, gruyere, pommery mustard and rocket.t

Saute mushroom, roasted butternut, mature cheddar, red onion and spinach (V)

Foccacias 5.30

Bresaola, nectarine, mozzarella, basil and spinach
Tuna melt with caramelised onions and rocket (F)

Salads: 5.50/6.90

Chicken satay with cucumber, mint, coriander, crushed peas, chilli and gem lettuce (GF)

Roasted beetroot with fresh cherries goats curd, saffron cashews and rowan berry dressing (V, GF)

Yellow beans with red onion pickle and toasted hazelnuts (VE, GF).

Tart: 4.50 or 7.90 with salad
Lamb, almond, prune and olive pie.


Weekend Menu 28/6, 5/7, 12/7
Salads 5.50/6.90
Spicy chicken with carrots, red peppers, red onion, cucumber, coriander and peanuts
Nectarines with tomatoes, avocado, olives, mozzarella, rocket and basil dressing
Roasted beetroot with pecan nuts, marscapone cheese and watercress

Tart 4.50 or 7.90 with salad
Spring green vegetable quiche

Week beginning July 7th - Raw menu

For the 3^rd summer in a row Kaffeine is celebrating the rise in temperature with an all raw lunchtime selection. The benefits of a raw diet means maximum fibre and nutrients are absorbed without damaging vitamins, protein and amino acids through heat methods. A raw menu also gives the kitchen some relief as the kitchen can sometimes double as a sauna when the ovens are on.

This week’s highlights include heirloom tomato salad with bresaola, which is a very lean cut of beef that has been dry cured for around 3 months until the meat is almost purple in colour. The bresaola and tomatoes are then layered with marinated olives, fresh peas, red onion, goat’s cheese and rocket.

Our next raw summer goody involves cooling cucumber, fennel, pistachio, parsley, pomegranate dressing and wild carrot flowers. These florets have a very clear carrot flavour but with a more complex flavour profile. They are visually stunning with a small dot of red in the centre of the cluster of white blossom, this is meant to attract insect to pollinate.

Our tart this week has taken a little break to make room for an equally delicious yet healthier option. Rice paper wraps with fresh tuna that has been cold cured in an Asian spiced brine. We will be serving 2 per serve with the option of salads.

So please come in and let us hear you roar (love a food based pun) over this week’s selection. 

Jared Bryant

Lead Chef

Kaffeine

@redjar50

Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60 (V)

Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 3.60 (V)
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passion fruit) 3.70 (GF, V)
Ciabatta roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Ciabatta roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.90
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.90
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with home made preserves 1.90
Pumpkin seed and apricot fruit toast 2.40
Banana bread 2.40

Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissant 1.90
Pain au chocolat 2.50
Almond croissant 2.80

Baked Treats
Sweet muffin: Blueberry and bran  (V) 2.40
Savoury Scone: Spinach and feta (V) 2.40
Friand: Elderberry (V, GF) 2.40
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.40
White chocolate blondies 2.40
Portuguese tarts 2.00
ANZAC cookies 2.00
Raspberry and coconut slice 2.00
Canele 2.40

Lunch

French retro baguettes 5.00
Pancetta, balsamic apricots, Camembert, basil and rocket

Tomato, avocado, mozzarella, chilli and oregano mayonnaise, spinach (V)

Foccacias 5.30

Ham, onion marmalade, mature cheddar and spinach
Saute mushroom, fondue, tarragon and rocket (V)

Salads: 5.50/6.90

Heirloom tomatoes with bresaola, olives, fresh peas, red onion and goats cheese (GF)

Cucumber, pomegranate, pistachio, fennel, poppy seeds, parsley and wild carrot flowers (VE, GF)

Cauliflower with baby capers, shallots, basil, lemon and ribwort plantain flowers (VE, GF).

Tart: 4.50 or 7.90 with salad
Large rice paper wraps with cured tuna, spring vegetables, glass noodles and peanuts (F, GF).

Weekend Menu 28/6, 5/7, 12/7
5.50/6.90
Spicy chicken with carrots, red peppers, red onion, cucumber, coriander and peanuts
Nectarines with tomatoes, avocado, olives, mozzarella, rocket and basil dressing
Roasted beetroot with pecan nuts, marscapone cheese and watercress

Tart 4.50 or 7.90 with salad
Spring green vegetable quiche