Andrew's tour of the West Midlands A pick of plates in Birmingham

Date Published:

20/06/2008

Garden centre cafés are normally the preserve of retirees and elderly horticulturists, nothing wrong with that, but often the eatery is second fiddle to the flora. Not so at the Kitchen Garden Café

Kitchen Garden Café

The café was lauded on the map as 'an amazing organic cafe where you'd least expect it, hidden in a garden centre off a suburban street'. The Kitchen Garden Café (and garden centre, and shop) was set up in an old lumberyard in 2005 by Brett Rehling and his wife Tracey, "We love gardening, we love food, and we just thought that food [production] had got removed from what it was," says Brett, who's keen to encourage anyone to grow their own. The business is now a real community hub, with local arts groups and societies meeting upstairs. They also put on comedy nights, poetry readings and exhibitions as well as offering a children's play area and free Wi-Fi. "People often describe it as an oasis," says Brett.

Sounds great, and when I arrive the place is humming with lunching mums, local workers, freelancers on laptops and even the odd elderly gardener; in all a picture of late spring contentment. However Brett cautions, "This trade isn’t as rosy as it seems, it's very hard work, but it is more fulfilling," says the former IT manager. "Having the public on your doorstep is quite a responsibility," he adds.

On menu matters Brett says they wanted something healthy but not whole food, so the mung bean count is mercifully minimal. As well as breakfasts there's lunchtime favourites like toasties and jacket spuds, sandwiches and stir-fries. Thursday to Saturday however the café is also open in the evening for dinner. I have a chat with head chef, Karl Dudley, who's putting together tonight's menu. It's light and accessible and includes swordfish, snapper, veal, lamb shank, pasta, risotto, polenta and mushroom stew. Karl and his assistant chef, Ollie, are keen to reflect the area's rich cultural mix and enjoy adding Asian, Caribbean and Polish influences to their food. So for starters there's things like carrot and courgette pakora with cucumber raita.

Birmingham history expert Carl Chin is also a regular and together they're about to bring back some traditional Brum recipes from yesteryear too. As I leave Karl points out the gaps in the herb pots for sale. "I can't help taking a few for the kitchen," he says with a chuckle.

Maison Mayci

A mere stone's throw across the Alcester Road from the Kitchen Garden Café is Maison Mayci which user 'Dan101' describes on the map as 'A Parisian bakery hidden in a Birmingham suburb' so I couldn’t resist a poke around while I was in the neighbourhood. The Gallic ambiance was increased as I tucked into a croque monsieur and fell in chatting to Luci the waitress about her abstract expressionist painting career. A stroll along the Seine would have rounded the afternoon off but a) I was actually in Birmingham and b) I was waiting to speak to Remi Faveau, the manager.

Remi's brother, David, along with business partner James Smith set up Maison Mayci in 2005 supplying the trade with traditional French breads from a unit across town. Soon they wanted a retail outlet for their wares and so started the shop. The premises used to be a Greek cafe, then a greasy spoon, before its current incarnation and their aim was to create a French inspired coffee shop and patisserie. The coffee the brothers use is supplied from France, but all the pastries, bread and cakes are made at the unit. While talking Remi plates up some beautiful individual tarts they've made, writing what flavour they are in crème Anglais on the plate, which is a nice touch.

Again, similar to Kitchen Garden Café, Maison Mayci opens Friday and Saturday evenings offering a range of French classics based on what the brothers get that morning from the market. It's 'bring your own booze' and there's just one sitting of 20 covers. Booking is already a month in advance so they must be doing something right. The evening cooking and service is all done by the two of them, despite Remi already have done a full day in café mode. Does this faze him? "No, I enjoy it," he says. I get the feeling switching into evening service offers the brothers a chance to flex their culinary muscles and do what they love best, which is cooking. "So you're like the next generation Roux Brothers"” I jokingly venture. "No, we are better," says Remi with a smile. You've got to admire that Gallic pride.

A final stroll around the Alcester road reveals a number of other interesting food destinations, including a traditional butchers, a Caribbean café, another organic café and a handful of South East Asian restaurants.

Is there a mini gastro tour in your neighbourhood? If so, why not add a handful of places to the map and I'll check them out.

Find out what else Andrew got up to on his tour of the Midlands.