Le rooibos

Nous sommes allés hier à Wallingford et nous avons pris le lunch à Bean & Brew, notre café préféré là-bas (depuis la fermeture de Catherine's Corner), en compagnie des parents de ma femme. Je crois que mon beau-père aurait préféré aller ailleurs, il avait en tête le moins compliqué et surtout moins prétentieux Greggs, mais ce sera pour une autre fois. Un peu pour me faire pardonner de lui avoir imposé Bean & Brew, j'ai voulu flatter sa fibre patriotique en buvant du rooibos (celui-ci vient de Tea People). Mon beau-père est sud-africain, voyez-vous, et le rooibos est originaire d'Afrique du Sud. C'est aussi une excellente boisson chaude sans caféine et donc assez relaxante. Je n'en avais pas bu depuis des mois, je crois que je devrais recommencer à en consommer régulièrement.

Time for cream tea

It has been a very long time since we've been to Wallingford and I miss it. It has also been a long time since we've been to the Bean & Brew there, one of the best coffee houses I have ever been to. They serve a traditional cream tea, with scones, clotted cream, jam and well, tea (from Tea People) that would be perfect for this time of year. The weather is really nasty outside: cold and wet, or cold and dry. Which means that I need sugar to keep my endorphin level up and hot tea to keep warm. I kid you not: it works. Try a proper cream ta on a cold day, with plenty of tea to accompany the scones, and you will be warm and happy for the day.

The cream tea and Bean & Brew in Wallingford

As this is (still) the weekend and as a weekend tradition on Vraie Fiction I am plugging a meal from a restaurant. This is the new discovery I made yesterday in Wallingford: Bean & Brew, an independent coffee house. For the record, Wallingford is one of my favorite English towns and one of its appeals is its independent businesses, like this one. And because it is such a pretty town. So I had this classic delicious cream tea yesterday afternoon, with scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam. The tea was from lose leafs, not teabags, from Tea People, a company Bean & Brew advertise a lot. It is the first time I've heard of them, but I will learn more, because this was one of the best teas I had in ages. That means it was the best cream tea I had in ages too, because it needs to start with a good tea. But the food was delicious too. I could have eaten more, greedy as I was. So I intend to go back to Wallingford as soon as possible to enjoy the town and this new place.