As the mornings grow colder and the London light turns a shade of caramel, there are few things more appealing than the prospect of a cosy café in which to while away an hour or two. Not the sort where you perch awkwardly on a stool and gulp down a coffee, but somewhere that summons you to settle in and order something so delicious you linger for far longer than intended. Better still, somewhere that feels less like a room full of strangers and more like a friend's kitchen: warm, lived-in, and with the promise of something tasty.
This is the idea behind Clementine, the new Islington café from pastry chef Anna Higham (formerly of The River Café and Lyle's), which opened its doors on New North Road in early October, directly opposite her much-loved Quince Bakery. If Quince has become a go-to neighbourhood takeaway destination for its big-hearted approach to baking – and its brown butter buns – Clementine is more of an invitation to stick around for an entire meal. Here, breakfast is not just a flat white and a pastry grabbed en route to work, it is an occasion all of its own – and potentially a multi-course one.
Daydreaming about a the perfect morning at Clementine, Anna tells me that she pictures her customer at their favourite corner table: ‘Maybe they start with some toast and jam with their first coffee and then, for their second breakfast course, a sausage sandwich or some Scotch pancakes with some apples or pears.’ Listening to Anna, it almost seems unfathomable why, on a crisp autumn morning, anyone wouldn't want to begin the day with a banquet of toast, followed by something sweet, and then something savoury, and with no reason to be anywhere else.
There is something invigorating about Anna's vision of a British café, too. She is keen to capture the bustling, egalitarian spirit of the traditional greasy spoon – the place that serves as a community hub as much as a place to grab a bite, and where people from all walks of life can come together – with the addition of ‘a beautiful feminine, nurturing element’. She describes Clementine's sweet spot as being somewhere between a caff and a tearoom, with extra ‘finesse and thoughtfulness’.
Feminine may seem an interesting word to apply to a café, but one that feels central to Clementine's identity. This isn't femininity in the saccharine, frilly sense, but a space that understands the pleasure of being well looked after. The food is served to you with a smile and on a plate, the room is designed to make you comfortable, and Anna is very happy for you to stay as long as you wish. She wants people to feel at home, just as they do at Quince, where shelves of her cookbooks and jars of preserves have helped create the impression of walking into someone's kitchen.
The design philosophy of Quince is carried across to Clementine, but with its own identity. Designed by Dan Wilson Studio, the interiors draw on Shaker shelving, Arts and Crafts references and the beauty of practical design. Anna's admiration for William Morris and his belief that ‘a home should contain nothing that is neither beautiful nor useful’, informs the approach. She is equally drawn to vintage furniture, whose age and solidity, she says, bring an immediate sense of ‘warmth and humanity’.
The name itself is a fitting expression of this sensibility. Clementine, like Quince, is one of Anna's favourite fruits. ‘The two names began as an in-joke between my sister and best friend, who suggested they would be suitable names for my hypothetical children,’ she says. Both, she adds, have a distinctly feminine quality.
Even the inspiration for the colour scheme is derived from the green of a clementine leaf, and the interior is painted in a bespoke shade inspired by the fruit's pith, developed with Atelier Ellis. There is a pleasing thoughtfulness to this, a design that is led less by interiors trends, and more on the ingredients at the heart of the business.
Of course, the food is every bit as important as the surroundings. At Quince, Anna has built a following around baking and British culinary traditions, and Clementine gives her the opportunity to explore our culinary heritage more expansively – and with dishes served as they are meant to be eaten. Tattie scones, for instance, can now be experienced warm on a plate and the bakery's batch bread becomes the incorporated into a proper sausage sandwich. Anna is excited to provide a whole world of griddle cakes to explore, too, from scotch pancakes to the many regional British variations that deserve a place on the breakfast table.
Instagram content
As we move deeper into autumn, apples, pears, squashes and pumpkins will feature on the menu. Anna is already imagining roast squash and kale pie, rich Lancashire and onion pie and rice pudding with poached quince. She is particularly looking forward to the first mince pie of the year, served with a generous dollop of cream.
However, perhaps the most compelling thing about Clementine is that Anna's ambitions extend beyond the plate. She speaks about her wish for customers to get to know one another, of neighbouring tables becoming the beginnings of friendships, and sees the café as an anchor in a city where it can be all too easy to feel anonymous. At Quince, the line between customer and friend has already become wonderfully blurred – some of her customers even attended her wedding, held just around the corner.
I keep fantasising about Anna's picture of a winter morning at Clementine: the beautiful light, a cosy corner table, perhaps a fire lit – and plenty of time. In a city forever finding new ways to make us feel busy or lost, there is something especially lovely about a café whose greatest luxury is the permission to slow down and savour the experience.
.png)
