I’m back eating in one of my favourite areas of London – Shoreditch. Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Brick Lane and BOXPARK is Redchurch Street; home to
Franze & Evans and
T2.
Although this was a foodie trip by Mother and I, Franze & Evans was actually a find from Dad. He was given a slice of their banana cake a few months ago by a customer at work, and was raving about it the whole evening; I had to try it.
There’s often a queue of people waiting, so don’t be too hungry going there if you plan to sit inside. We stopped by on Sunday afternoon for cake to go: one red velvet cupcake, some lemoncello amaretti, and a slice of the banana cake that brought us here in the first place.
It’s only a small unit, but there’s a great energy in there from the buzz of conversation and orders being shouted around the kitchen and cake displays. Some of the most colourful and thought-out food displays I’ve seen. I want their hand-written labels on everything in my life.
It’s not all about the cake, and there’s a wide range of savoury treats to be had at Franze & Evans too. I spotted lots of vegetarian options, and there’s a very well stocked vibrant salad bar.
About 200m up the road from Franze & Evans is the most magical place in the world. It’s not Duck and Waffle this time, but T2.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate the geometric perfection in the store arrangement.
T2 is an Australian-born company, with a love for every element of the tea growing and brewing process. There are a few stores in the UK with the majority of them in London – lucky me! I first wandered into the branch on Regent Street on a rainy afternoon, and was greeted with a choice of 5 teas at their tea bar. The Shoreditch branch, and presumably the others, have a tea bar with various teas from the store on rotation. There’s an tester tin next to all the tea on display to have a good sniff of, and if you don’t mind waiting the barista will brew you a sample of anything you want to try.
The
teaware is a little on the pricey side, but I’m sure if you stand there for long enough you can convince yourself it’s a worthwhile investment (like Mother and I did).
Harleigh Reid
I write about food and eat a lot.
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