What and where? This charming pile is surely NW5’s cutest coffee spot, formerly known as Kentish Town Stores. Now it’s packed with freelancers, its first-floor co-working space rammo on any given weekday. As you will undoubtedly know, it’s first and foremost a speciality coffee shop serving brunch, cakes and pastries.
What’s the story behind the building? As some locals will know, it was Crossroads Women’s Centre until 2012. It was then empty for four years before being used by Morgan’s Stationary as storage-cum-office space. In the late teens, former Stores owner Luci Noel lived on Gaisford Street and walked past regularly: looking for a space to open a cafe, she saw that Morgan’s were moving things out and put a note through the door. It then became Kentish Town Stores in late 2019 until she moved her concept to Hampstead last autumn.
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What’s the vibe? Downstairs it’s solo laptop-wielders, the odd post-walk lounger and friends catching up over coffee. There are obligatory toasties at around £8 (or a half for £4.40) with toppings ranging from kimchi and truffle oil to gherkins and cured meat. There’s soup and breakfasty items, too.
The coffee and food? Excellent: a good crema on the long black; you can buy take-home bags too. And sandwich-wise, the vegan filling was a delicious new coronation carlin pea with tamarind chutney, sprinkled with toasted almonds and fresh cos lettuce. All on sourdough from nearby Bread By Bike.
Anything else we should know? Yes, there’s something magical about the low building opposite and the way the daytime sun moves from east to west: it’s a proper suntrap. Scorchio even – but we’ll have to wait a couple of months more for that.
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