We were really pleased to be interviewed recently by the UK’s leading industry publication, Boughton’s Coffee House. They were keen to get our take on what it’s like to operate both a mobile and a ‘bricks and mortar’ coffee shop and what led us down this crazy path in the first place…
Massive thanks to Mick, Chris and our other customers for being such good sports on the morning the photographer came to visit.
You can read our story by clicking here:
Cafe Allez! in Boughtons Coffee House
One year after filming in London, we can reveal that Van Henri was booked to feature in a scene for the latest Guy Ritchie film, The Gentlemen.
Starring Hugh Grant (as you’ve never seen him before!), Matthew McConaughey, Colin Farrell and Michelle Dockery, the trailer suggests a high-octane and very fast paced ride…
Did Van Henri make the final cut? We get to find out when the movie hits the cinemas on 1st January… but either way we had an absolutely brilliant day and evening on set, on the South Bank of the Thames.
The film company thought Henri would be a good choice as they were looking for a Citroen HY van in fine fettle but without lots of branding.
Contracts prohibited us from taking pictures of the cast but we can reveal that Matthew McConaughey absolutely drips star quality and that Guy Ritchie’s Cafe Allez! drink of choice is a regular cappuccino …
We’d love to see you over the festive season at Cafe Allez! Belvoir Castle. Here’s when we are open:
– From Saturday 7th, we will be closing each day at 4pm.
– We will continue to open daily 9am to 4pm except for Wednesdays and Thursdays when we close.
Christmas opening days:
Sunday 22nd: open as usual
Monday 23rd: closed
Christmas Eve: closed
Christmas Day: closed
Boxing Day: yes we open! More details to follow. 9am-3pm.
Friday 27th: closed
Saturday 28th: open as usual
Sunday 29th: open as usual
Monday 30th: closed
New Year’s Eve: closed
New Year’s Day: yes we open! More details to follow. 9am-3pm
Thus. 2nd: closed
Looking forward to sharing some good times with you!
A new experience for Van Henri this month: spending a few days as the star of the MSD Animal Health stand at The London Vet Show.
We worked in partnership with exhibition experts Aiver Contracts to make Henri the centrepiece of the stand, which had the look and feel of a vintage coffee bar.
MSD’s team were there to launch their new Vets Deliver service and Henri and Mark provided barista coffees and teas to the (many!) visitors to their packed stand… it’s safe to say it was a popular offer…
We’ve never taken Henri to one of the big indoor exhibition centres before, but it worked so well that we hope this will be the first of many. We thought there may be concerns with having a petrol engined vehicle indoors, but good alignment with ExCel and Aiver and a sensible approach to risk management won the day.
You know where to come if you want YOUR stand to be the biggest draw at an exhibition or show … and as always, we can easily have Henri re-branded in your corporate colours to inject some Citroen HY van style to the event.
We occasionally get asked for a ‘skinny’ latte, cappuccino or flat white. Historically our stock response – as with most speciality coffee shops – was to say “we can do you semi-skimmed milk – is that ok?”. Most customers would readily agree.
But it was when catering for some running races that we stopped and checked ourselves: why shouldn’t we offer customers truly skinny (ie. made with skimmed milk) drinks? We looked in the mirror and found some worrying traces of coffee snobbery: our view being that whole milk is preferable because it tastes so good and balanced; it can be steamed more easily to look beautiful; and it offers a lovely mouthfeel and we felt that this could be compromised by skimmed milk. It’s for this reason that we, along with most speciality coffee shops, will go straight to whole milk as a default.
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We’re delighted to launch the first of 3 promotional videos … this one showing just how good it could be to work remotely at Cafe Allez! Belvoir Castle during the week.
After all… we offer the views, the coffee, the sustenance and (arguably!) the welcome that you’re unlikely to get at home or in the office…
You can view the video on YouTube or on the Cafe Allez! Facebook page – and at this point I would like to thank two talented people, David Phillips-Peters and Simon Wilkinson-Blake, for making this happen. David is a fine and versatile actor, Simon is a talented director and producer and we couldn’t be happier with the results.
So : back to our suitability as a venue for remote working. Our wifi is fast and free. Our coffee is reasonably fast and incredibly good. And we also offer charging points for your ‘phone or laptop.
I used to work from home quite a bit in my previous (corporate) existence … Mars being quite a forward thinking company, it really embraced the concept, to the extent that we had to ‘hot desk’ in the office and were given leading technology to enable us to connect quickly with colleagues if working from home, although the introduction of Skype did necessitate the occasional change out of the pyjamas / dressing gown.
I could do more work in 3 hours at home than in a day in the office due to the lack of interruptions, but I won’t pretend it wasn’t a lonely experience. The house started to feel quite small and the lack of company, Missy the cat excepted, made me yearn for the buzz and chatter of the office on occasion.
We are, ultimately, social creatures and when the human connection is lacking, the day can feel empty. I firmly believe that’s why most of us would rather see a film at the cinema than at home… it’s about more than the big screen and the popcorn, it’s about sharing the experience and going through the same emotional journey as others, in the same moment, even if you don’t happen to know those sitting around you.
A good coffee shop should offer that exact same experience: at Cafe Allez! Belvoir Castle, we may not always know your name, we certainly won’t interrupt your work! – but we also hope to provide that welcoming environment where all the ingredients are there for you to relax and do your best work…
Here’s a link to the video:
We accept credit card payments, Apple Pay, Android Pay, you name it – on both Van Henri and at Cafe Allez! Belvoir Castle.
It’s still staggering to us that some mobile operators (and even cafes, shops), don’t facilitate this when the technology is so easy to use and cheap to run now. Although, not so long ago, we did get harangued at an event for not accepting Bitcoin!
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Sometimes the lifestyle offered by mobile catering can seem idyllic, and this is reinforced constantly by glossy, positive posts on social media by those in the industry. Sometimes including me!
The reality can sometimes be different: the hours can be punishing, the rewards limited, and days just don’t go to plan.Continue reading
Are you bewildered by the staggering choice of coffees in Grantham’s coffee shops? We spoke to Mark from Cafe Allez! Belvoir Castle to offer some guidance.
Mark thinks that “coffee shops are the new pubs … where people gather to meet friends, work in a relaxing environment, or just savour a fabulous coffee and cake. And a great coffee is the treat you really can enjoy every day without guilt or health risks!”.
Here’s Mark’s guide to some common coffees:
We actively seek your feedback at Cafe Allez! Belvoir Castle, so on every table you will find a form that asks 2 simple questions:
We’ve had scores of these returned already and they really help us to identify what we’re getting right and how we could deliver a better service for you.
Here, I won’t dwell too much on the positives although – and we will be passing this to the team – the friendly and courteous service gets mentioned time and again.
Let’s instead focus on the areas of improvement, partly to prove we’re listening! – also so we can set out what we’re going to do about it.
Top of the list would be the provision of cycle racks. Be assured – these are on order and we’re working with the Belvoir Castle team to get them supplied and fitted soon.
You also asked for some shade from the sun and again with Belvoir Castle’s help, we’ve had some very smart parasols installed for our lower outdoor seating recently.
A request for a loyalty card for hot drinks was seen and we rolled this out early on… pick up your card on your next visit! The number of free drinks being claimed as a result is actually really gratifying.
Dog treats / biscuits were also a request – and stand by for some genuinely exciting news for your dogs shortly!
Some of you asked for a small coffee biscuit with your drinks. We figured not all would welcome this and we don’t want to put our prices up to cover this, but we have now introduced lovely Border biscuits in several varieties, in case you fancy a treat with your drink, but not a full-on slice of cake.
A couple of you wanted plastic glasses to go alongside the glasses with our free spring water, (especially for kids). We’re trying to minimise plastic use so have chosen to stick with the glasses for now but just ask if you want a plastic glass, we do have them behind the counter.
We also had a request for soup on the menu … and we have plans to introduce home-made soup in the Autumn.
One request unfortunately we can’t meet is to charge no premium for oat milk. Today, a carton of oat milk costs four times more per litre than dairy milk, so we can’t absorb this fully. But you can have soya milk at no charge if you want to try a dairy-free alternative. Don’t let this put you off the oat milk though: for 40p you’re getting Oatly Barista Edition (the best we’ve found) and it tastes fabulous, particularly in a cappuccino!
Do keep your feedback coming, we love to hear from you and will publish regular updates on what we’re hearing – and doing.