Cafes / Reviews
Door & Rivet – cafe review
There is not much point describing all of the assorted anglepoise lamps, metal tables and wooden chairs currently to be found in Door & Rivet as by the time tomorrow comes much of it could already be gone.
‘It will never be the same place twice’ says their flyer, which also helpfully includes a map of how to find this unique cafe and shop hidden away in the nineteenth century crypt of City Road Baptist Church on Upper York Street just off Stokes Croft, which has lain empty for years until being taken on in this beautifully formed new incarnation by a group of friends.
As well as developing the cafe and shop, future plans include cookery classes and pop-up restaurant nights.
is needed now More than ever
An alleyway and courtyard gives a tantalising glimpse of the delights within this Tardis of a location, a narrow room hemmed in by thick stone walls, a fireplace at one end and the kitchen at the other.
“I work on Backfields Lane,” a bearded gentleman says by way of introduction. “I’ve been away for a week and you’ve appeared.”
He can’t stay for lunch but promises to return tomorrow for the current £5 deal of a bacon sandwich and coffee – a single origin Brazilian roasted for them by friends at Blind Owl in Pucklechurch.
Breakfasts here include granola (£4), overnight oats (£4.25) and ‘dippy ducky egg’ with sourdough soldiers (£3.75). Lunch mostly consists of platters and salads, with lighter bites the likes of baked Camembert (£5.50) and scotch egg (£4.50).
My own lunch on a recent Monday lunchtime was The Gaudi (£8.75), a Spanish-influenced platter of meatballs, chorizo, Manchego cheese, olives, and bread from the Stokes Croft bakery just up the road perfect for mopping up the tomato sauce covering the meatballs.
Served on a wooden chopping board, if this was a collection of tapas you found in a backstreet bar in Barcelona, it would be a meal talked about long after the end of your holiday.
But this is St Paul’s. And never has there been a better excuse to find yourself in an old crypt.
Door & Rivet, The old crypt, City Road Baptist Church, Upper York Street, Bristol, BS2 8TP
07746 332323
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