BAKER AND SPICE – Maida Vale, London 0

http://www.bakerandspice.uk.com/welcome.aspx

In 2002 I visited London for a month. My sister was living here at the time, working 7000 hours a day and I had no money. …And anyone who knows London, knows that without money, you can forget it.

Each day I would sleep in until forever and upon rising I would grab a couple of pounds from her money drawer and take myself for a stroll down the street to Baker and Spice.

At the time there wasn’t really anything else like it….well not that I knew of anyway….. I would get a famous jumbo meringue each time I visited and I would power walk home and devour it in front of Eastenders. I did this every day for a month and it’s what kept me alive in London, during winter, broke…..

My sister – who was working  – could afford the finer things so her choice was always either the Carrot cake or the Cheesecake Brownie….. I should probably confess now that it wasn’t just a ‘broke’ thing – I was a bit of a dieter back in the day (hard to believe I know!!!) so I thought the meringue was the ‘healthy’ option!

Ok – banter aside – Baker and Spice now exists in several locations – like so many other food establishments in London – it is now a ‘chain’ (in that there’s more than one of ’em) and sadly, the quality of it overall has diminished.

The food still kinda tastes the same….Meringues are just as big, Cheesecake brownie just as swirly, and I have discovered some new faves: Avocado Salad (Mouth-watering chunky avocado salsa-ey kinda thing), Pecan Nut slice (creamy caramel-ey nutty buttery heaven) and Scrambled Eggs on sourdough (top quality creammmmmy yolks with crunchy fresh bread)…..

But I guess it is more the atmosphere and the service…….not as many smiley, genuinely foodie types that work there and slowwwwwwwww as all hell to get anything you are after…..again, it seems to be one of those places where there are 62,000 people running around looking REALLLLLY BUSY AND Important, but no one has time to bring you your coffee, food or bill……On many occasions I have ordered the scrambled eggs which arrive delicious and piping hot but then the toast follows like 10 minutes later….. I DONT WANT PLAIN DRY TOAST, I WANT TOAST WITH MY EGGS…..y’know………and I WANT TO EAT MY PECAN SLICE WHILSTTTTTT MY MOTHER HAS HER CROISSANT, not 10 minutes AFTER………….And……I want to LEAVE NOW so…..bring me my bill NOW….or in 5 mins BUT NOT IN 25!

In summary, Baker and Spice, Maida Vale has some SERIOUS ‘management’ issues, in my opinion. Someone needs to be there on top of everything telling one person to serve the shop, one to take orders and the other to clear and serve. Service should always be with a smile and the space should feel relaxed, pleasant and fun – as that’s what food is all about.

There are times when my craving for pecan slice is soooooo strong that nothin’ could keep me away from those orange awnings….. but there are far MORE times when the THOUGHT of going through the whole ”order, wait, don’t get served, do get served, wait, clear, wait to pay, get angry” experience makes me choose the joint across the street instead.

Come on guys…..wake up and smell the coffee!!