One of the joys of life (especially in summer) is enjoying your time at a beautiful café. Whether it’s mid morning or a few hours after lunch, it’s always nice to walk into a pretty spot and just recharge, tastefully caffeinated of course. Especially when it’s a spot where you’re a regular. Where the moment you walk in they already know what you’re gonna get. It’s a special feeling and something I never take for granted.
That being said, there are a number of cafés in this world that charge a premium for nothing. You want to make sure your dollars go toward an establishment that’s doing things the right way. Here are some things worth spending money on, café edition.
Freshly pressed juice over carton concentrate
I’m of the belief that every self respecting café (or restaurant) should be making freshly pressed juice if there’s a juice offering on their menu. It’s not that difficult. All you need is a little elbow grease!
Side note, if you’re wanting to make good juice at home invest in a stainless steel mechanical juice press! It’s the best way to make fresh juice in the comfort of your own home.
Pastries / sourdough made from scratch
The best cafés either partner with a local bakery or make their pastries and bread from scratch. There’s nothing worse than those spots that clearly sell frozen pastries at a markup. It just doesn’t feel right and you’re almost always not getting your money’s worth. I will always support the establishments that do things the right way! I believe it’s worth paying a premium for real pastries, especially in spots that go out of their way to use things like good French butter instead of cheaping out on a canola oil blend. Also… think about it. A lot of these bakers get up at the crack of dawn to make these little beauties for us. The least we could do is vote with our dollars.
Real milk
Cafés that drop dairy entirely are usually not that good. Support your local cafés that have good, real dairy milk! Though I have to say plant based milk option that I wish more cafés will use is coconut milk - or even to offer coconut water in some of their coffees! I tried a coconut latte once and it was incredible. Especially in the afternoon during a hot summers day.
Beautiful non-plastic cutlery
Now, this is something that’s becoming a rarity. More and more cafés are opting to use disposable whenever they can. Paper bags for pastries over a plate with a nice fork and knife, disposable “to go” cups even when you’re having it there. I always make it a point to support the café that still sticks to their guns and gives you good cups, plates and flatware. There’s just something about sipping your piccolo off a small ceramic cup that enhances the experience. When you think about it, the idea is the same as the whole QR code menu thing. These are little things in the grand scheme of things that “increase efficiency” for the business but it deteriorates the customer experience, however so slightly.
A nice ambience
The best cafés are full of natural light. When it’s dark out, they’re well lit with warm yellowish amber. I don’t get cafés that install white bright LEDs that just blind your eyes. It just doesn’t feel good. I want to sip coffee, enjoy a warm pain au chocolat in an ambience that feels like a cool friend’s living room. It’s better to spend money at the café that takes this into consideration. It’s not just more beautiful either, it’s better for your circadian health.
Friendly staff
This is one I wasn’t sure whether to include. Some might say that this comes across as somewhat pretentious and don’t get me wrong - I’m not saying you deserve to be treated nicer just because you’re paying more, say in a more upscale café. I’ve just found it to be such a taint on the experience in those small circumstances where you meet a barista who just does not want to be there. When it’s clear they just aren’t in the right headspace for any form of human interaction (and hey, I don’t blame them sometimes!). BUT, I have to say having friendly good people who emanate a positive vibe is such fun to be around. Sometimes, this starts from you!! Always take the initiative to start the hello, ask about their day, without being too intrusive. Just be nice. Especially if it’s a café that you intend to visit more often. Regular maxx.
Great coffee
You just know when a café cares about the coffee that they make. They almost always have a signature blend (or blends that you choose from) and are usually enthusiastic about recommending you something you should try, especially if it’s your first time. All I’m going to say for this is that good coffee is almost always worth the premium it demands.
Intentional music
I don’t really care about the music in a café unless it’s outrageously loud or just playing songs that just don’t fit the vibe. It’s always nice when there’s a well curated playlist in the background that’s at a volume that lets you talk, with songs that add to the ambience.
What would you add? What does a café (or even restaurant) have that would make you be willing to spend a premium at? Leave your suggestions in the comments below!
The sandwich is a marvelous invention
You need to be sandwichmaxxing
Fruits for August
What are you looking forward to this August?
Pain suisse
It’s pain au chocolat but better
❋ Sweet Corn Spoon Bread with Honey and Butter by Maddy
“My recipe strikes my personal perfect balance. We’ll steep the corn cobs (kernels set aside) in a milk + sugar mixture before adding in the corn meal and fresh corn kernels to thicken it up into a batter consistency. Then we’ll fold in whipped egg whites to make it light and fluffy before sprinkling with a generous layer of sugar that forms a cracky sugar crust in the oven.
Like a traditional soufflé, spoon bread is best eaten straight out of the oven. I like to make it even more ridiculous with a pad of cold butter that begins to melt immediately on contact and a drizzle of honey. I didn’t grow up in the South—not even close—but one bite of this immediately elicits a nostalgia for a childhood memory I never had... or maybe it’s just the faint reminiscence of Aunt Maggie’s sweet potato version :)”
❋ A Chef's Guide to Weaning, Episode 1 by Rosie Mackean
“Chefs are famous people pleasers. It’s why we tolerate high levels of stress, anxiety, occasional humiliation. We do it to serve the people eating the food. Which in turn soothes our own egos. For me certainly the pleasure in cooking someone something delicious comes from seeing how it affects their mood, and how it affects their perception of me. I get such joy and satisfaction from seeing people take pleasure of my cooking, not least because I then also jump to the conclusion that they think I am talented and creative and effortless. It is also how I, and I think many others, communicate affection. A love language so to speak. So when the reactions are a bit more lukewarm it feels like a huge rejection. Add in a baby who is literally not interested in your feelings at all (rightfully so) and things get spicy.” — Rosie Mackean
❋ Oma’s Waffles by Jillian
“These traditional German waffles (Waffeln) are my all-time favourite. Not too sweet, easy to whip up and just so satisfying to eat! This recipe was one of the only ones passed down from my Oma to my dad, who would often make them for breakfast when it was just the two of us.
Please make them and eat them greedily with lots of powdered sugar and salted butter.
Makes: 5 waffles (I will usually make a double batch and then freeze leftovers to reheat for a quick breakfast later on.)” — Jillian
❋ The Only Grill Sauce You Need This Summer by andrew gruel
“One of the biggest misconceptions in cooking is that great food requires a pantry full of expensive sauces and seasonings. Walk down the condiment aisle, and you’ll find bottles filled with seed oils, corn syrup, gums, preservatives, and ingredients you can’t pronounce. Most of them promise to make your food taste better. Most of them just cover it up. Instead, start with real ingredients.
This butter-based grill sauce has become my go-to all summer because it takes about three minutes to make and works on just about everything. Brush it over chicken during the last minute on the grill. Spoon it over a rested steak. Toss it with grilled shrimp, salmon, vegetables, or potatoes. It even doubles as a bread dip - one simple sauce with endless uses.” — andrew gruel
❋ The Locker Room by Andrea Petkovic
“The locker room in the sport of tennis is a strange ecosystem. On the surface, it’ a place where tennis players change and shower before and after matches. In reality, however, tennis players eat there and nap there, they meditate and prepare their materials in the locker room - while, most importantly and somewhat eerily, they’re surrounded by all their opponents and rivals. You technically go back to the locker room to be yourself, supposedly the one area in professional tennis that promises privacy, but you actually have to present a neatly put-together façade.
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If you were to externalise some of the feelings you have before a match - crying, yelling, nervous breakdowns - your opponent would see you. So, you better pull yourself together.
There are not many other sports where opponents share a space before they go out to battle. Not many other sports where you can study your rival’s face, their rituals of preparation, how they do their hair, whether they like their outfit, how many times they sprint to the bathroom (signs of nerves?) and what they eat for hours before you eventually see them across the net. Your focus on the opponent before a match is like a computer calculating every information and breaking it down to one question: How confident are they that they can beat me today?
Hopefully, the answer is: not very.” — Andrea Petkovic
“Honey Oat Sourdough Bread is a hearty, golden brown loaf made with bread flour, rolled oats, honey, and an active sourdough starter that delivers a soft crumb with a chewy bite and a beautiful nutty crust. The honey adds a little bit of tang and sweetness while the oats give this homemade bread a great texture and rustic finish that makes it perfect for sandwiches, french toast, or simply slathered with butter.
This easy honey oat sourdough bread fits right into your day with a baker’s schedule that’s similar to a traditional sourdough loaf: mix the bread dough in the morning, let it complete its first rise and bulk fermentation, shape it the next day, and bake a delicious bread that stays fresh for days and freezes well for baking ahead.”
❋ Did Our Ancestors Sunbathe? by Zaid K. Dahhaj
“Our ancestors met the full spectrum, shifting in composition from sunrise to noon to dusk, in an order and rhythm that modern glass, sunscreen, and indoor life scramble completely. An evolutionary argument that fixates on UV stress while ignoring the other 93% of the spectrum, and the timing of the whole package, is answering the wrong question with confidence.
Our ancestors got vastly more lifelong sun than we do, and their bodies were adapted to receive it. How they spent their leisure hours with it is beyond recovery, and no story about tanning, pulsing, or ochre changes that. The people insisting ancient humans carefully rationed their exposure are guessing. So are the people insisting every ray was an assault our ancestors fled. Both are dressing preference as history.
What we can say with confidence lives in physiology and spectrum, not in imagined behavior. We evolved under abundant, full spectrum light delivered on a daily cycle, and we built our biology around it. That is the ground worth standing on. Everything past it is a campfire tale, and it is worth knowing which one you are being told.” — Zaid K. Dahhaj
Rebuild your IG Algorithm (more fun links):
❋ Melon balled in melon with limaaaa 🍋🟩
❋ Every little thing is an opportunity for unlimited artistic expression
❋ Crema di caffè is Italy’s answer to hot summer days
❋ Caffè shakerato meets cappuccino gelato for a cold, creamy, slushy take on the classic affogato
Enjoy your week beautiful people!
— Rocky
❋ All our digital issues are free to peruse. Explore our latest:
❋ Winter 25/26 Coffee Table Book (Print)
❋ Explore the full WARKITCHEN archive here.
❋ Join WARKITCHEN book club here.
❋ Got an article or recipe in mind? We’d love to hear more! Please send your pitch to rocky@warkitchen.net.
Non-plastic cutlery is everything!!! And music. I’ve walked out of many places because of the “noise pollution” lol.
My pet peeve is when the staff doesn’t know what coffee they’re brewing. “Organic espresso bean!”Really !?!