Coming soon: Arlo & Moe
When are you opening?
24th September 2012.
What will the place be like?
Arlo & Moe will be a cafe serving a) Quality Coffee & Tea. b) Breakfast menu. c) Lunch menu. d) Sandwiches and snacks. e) Cake, including cake orders as we already have an online celebration cake service: www.juliemadlydeeply.co.uk
Quality coffee is a real driver for us, as we are both local coffee drinkers, knowing we have to go as far as Browns one way, and Honor Oak the other to get a decent cup of coffee. Our coffee is supplied by an award winning independent roaster.
Foodwise, we are making as much as is physically possible on site, with the obvious exceptions-butter, milk, plates, salt, pepper! Bread and french pastries are being supplied by a local French bakery, but pretty much everything else savoury or sweet is made by us. In the winter months we plan to have our own soups and stews with our own shop made soda bread. Summer will see more pulse, quinoa and couscous-type salads, although these will be available year round.
As this is a new venture in a new area our menu will surely evolve, but so far we have a set menu which we hope will provide something for everyone-real coffee made well, artisan tea, healthy, hearty and tasty lunches and snacks, salads/soups for a lighter lunch and delicious cakes for anyone you can't resist a Victoria Sponge.
Ambiance-wise, we are both in the mid century nostalgia, rockabilly/swing/country music, fashion and dance scene so inevitably the decor will reflect this. And lets be honest, almost everything made in the 1950's looked nice! As for the general ambience we feel as long as we focus on the important stuff-our service and quality of products, we are happy for the space to discover its own feeling. But already whilst refitting the shop, the sun streaming through the re-instated shop front lends itself to the space.
Are you catering for any particular types of customers?
That's a tough question. We have free wi-fi, artisan coffee, 'real' food and spacious baby changing facilities and hi-chairs so maybe there will be space for anyone who wants to eat good food in a tastefully designed space?
Why did you decide to open in Brockley?
We started our planning application and talks with the landlord over 12 months ago with no other indie shops on the horizon. We could feel a change in the area and thats one reason we felt we had a good business case for opening up in Crofton Park.
We know from our own experience and through speaking to lots of local friends that there is a shortage of decent places to eat in Crofton Park. And the proximity of the shop to the train station and local amenities made it the perfect place to open up....hopefully!
We wanted to work locally too, a 15 minute walk to work over Hilly Fields will do nicely!
What new qualities do you hope to bring to the party?
Again, quality coffee and food are the main ones. But moreover, providing a pleasant space and service, somewhere customers feel valued is a really important one for us. We have both spent hours and hours over the years eating and drinking in cafes, and we know how important feeling valued is to us at least.
There have been a lot of good new businesses opening in the area in the last 12 months (The Gantry, Pistachios in the Park, Pat a Cakes and Gently Elephant, for example) - do you think there is a particular reason for this?
People like nice things.
What will your opening hours / contact details be?
This will be dictated by business, but our hours of trade to begin with will be as follows:
Mon-Fri 07.30-16:00
Sat/Sun 10.00-15.00
We are also considering evening openings for acoustic music events (you may have heard Jamie's band play for Story Jam at Jam Circus), supper clubs, Rivoli Ballroom nights. But let's not run before we can walk.
Until our website is up and running we can be contacted in arlomoe@gmail.com or on our Facebook page.
