I am thinking of making filled pancakes for breakfast. I spent 3 weeks in Bali now and every morning it was banana pancakes with honey, sliced fruit and watermelon juice. I miss that breakfast! Of course Empire would make a range of fillings, not just bananas. Bolognaise, bacon, rocket and...

I enjoy the simple breakfasts more – good colours, clear flavours, reminiscent of home cooking… :).

We now serve Lady Bonin’s real teas. These are beautiful loose leaf teas, served in Nigiro glass teapots. That way you can see the leaves and appreciate proper tea :). Aromatic tea in elegant teapots We have a new range of high quality products on offer, not just excellent tea and...

http://www.oatshoes.com So cool – plant these takkies when they’re old and they’ll grow wildflowers :D

This is one of my favourite cakes of all time – right up there with a well made Kirschwassertorte.

Every morning now I’m chilling at work – getting all the latest and lamest while huddling over my 1st, 2nd, 3rd mocha. Ain’t life grand!

Seriously. Come and see – we’ve been painting, cleaning, cooking, serving great food and excellent coffee. Ha – if I was superstitious I’d say it’s like I’ve been born again :D

Yup. It’s true. We started buying beans from “Tribe” a.k.a.  Jake Easton. No pesticides, organic beans. 100% Arabica from Ethiopia (home of all coffee), Brazil, Indonesia and a secret mix from Central America :) We’ve been taking lessons on frothing and grinding....

So perps… erm, I mean peeps. Empire closed for 6 days (to the sound of much wailing and nashing of teeth). We have begun the paint job. I contracted Steve The Painter. He’s pretty amazing; contact me for his details once you’re impressed with the work :). We have new salads,...

Phew. I’m a little freaked out with all the shopping around, samples and what what. Really looking forward to refreshing my shop interiors. Aquamarine tiling in the bathrooms, a good paint job. new basin, new taps in the wash area. Been collecting samples and soon will paint swatches on...

We’re in the planning stage right now. New, much better looking toilets; new colour schemes, website will be updated to match. I’m pretty excited and inspired by it all :). New artwork too, gray scale and single tone images, aerial photo’s from the 1940′s. I will...