I immediately ruled out pod systems on the basis of being restricted to whatever coffee is available in the right shape to push into it, not to mention the obvious environmental concerns, so decided instead to opt for a traditional espresso type machine. Nearly twenty years ago, I owned a Gaggia Espresso Deluxe that did sterling duty until it suffered catastrophic failure through lack of maintenance on my behalf, something I regret to this day. That machine featured a difficult to clean network of pipes that were intended to ease the passage of milk frothing. Since then I’ve gained a bit more experience with a steam wand, so that added to the criteria, meaning just a plain metal steam wand without any of the silly plastic sleeves that seem to proliferate on many models.

With those ideas in mind, I had my eye caught by Sage Barista Express, the in-built burr grinder adding another attraction to this bean-to-cup style machine. £450 felt like a decent chunk of cash to drop on a domestic coffee machine, but still a much smaller amount than the catering examples that this reputed to match for quality. For the record, I picked it up from John Lewis who currently have it for £400 at the time of writing.

The machine itself is extremely handsome in stainless steel and sits relatively unobtrusively in the corner of our moderately sized kitchen. Thankfully its height and my measuring skills tallied to ensure it had a few millimetres of headroom under the wall mounted cupboard I’d intended it to be placed. Getting set up was a doddle, consisting of little more than topping up the bean hopper, filling the water tank and jabbing a few buttons to get a hot espresso shot. This is where the snag comes though. The descriptor bean-to-cup implies that you can mindlessly dump beans in one end, prod a button and be rewarded with a perfect cup of your chosen coffee, but that isn’t really true. Having read up on this machine, I was aware that this would be the case and ready to undertake some significant fiddling to get the results I wanted. I started by doing nothing more than throwing a bag of supermarket beans into it and sticking to the factory settings then using the built in pressure gauge to judge if the timing, weighing and extraction was balancing ok. Suffice to say, the results were mixed, being acceptable but not what one would expect from a new investment approaching half a thousand pounds.

Luckily for me, I’ve a friend who’s a well regarded coffee industry consultant, former cafe owner and reputed entrant in the UK Barista Championships who was happy to pop by and fiddle my new toy into proper configuration one morning and explain the balancing of water quantity, length of extraction and weight of grounds. Her detailed tuition while we weighted out coffee and water and knocked the grind back and forth to allow the appropriate extraction was an enlightening experience. I can’t thank her enough for giving me this great shortcut to setting my machine up to work with the Pact coffee subscription I took out to partner it.

Your success or otherwise with the steam wand will depend on your skill and commitment to practising. I became competent enough a few years ago while working in a restaurant so have reasonable judgement with it, certainly enough to please any of the audience in this house. Note though that the steaming jug has a temperature indicator mounted on its side to help in your efforts.

Having been using this machine a few weeks, I’m extremely impressed. The standard of coffee I can produce at home is the match of most I’ve been commercially served, though the committed ones retain their edge unsurprisingly. It heats up quickly, is easy to clean and packed with clever touches such as a dated water filter to prompt replacement, a reminder to empty the drip tray that elegantly floats into view when needed and a magnetically concealed tamper.

There’s really very little to mark it down on. It’d be nice to have a larger reservoir and it takes a couple of moments to build pressure for steam but those really are the most minor of complaints for a domestic machine that impressed my tame expert a great deal. That said, the scope for disappointment does exist if you’re not enthusiastic enough to properly configure the machine, though I’d suggest that spending hundreds of pounds on a coffee machine would be a strange thing to do if you lacked that drive. I was lucky enough to be able to call on a friend’s expertise, but I know other people who’ve successfully used Youtube tutorials to achieve success. If you’re in the market for a smart addition to your armoury of kitchen appliances that’ll transform your coffee offering, I would recommend the Sage Barista Express without hesitation.

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I started my day by hopping on the train to Manchester, a journey I’m familiar with thanks to Manchester Airport being on the same line and one that only takes an hour and a half. Thankfully the train was not as crammed as can be, so I was able to crack on with some work throughout the journey while trying to whittle down my list of places to visit.

When I asked on social media for recommendations to explore Manchester, I hadn’t been prepared for quite how inundated I’d be. The suggestions flooded in and seemed to all be worthy of a check out. A little bit of my decision making was forced by my visiting on a Monday when some places were shut so I crossed a few off my list and was arriving before I knew it.

Arrival at Manchester Piccadilly is now marked by a beautiful sculpture that depicts blinded soldiers in the First World War and was commissioned by Blind Veterans UK. There was another sculpture around the corner from the station that I wanted to check out so I continued that theme to see the memorial to Alan Turing, who of course had strong associations with the city.

By now I was in serious need of caffeine and stumbled across the diminutive and charming Nibble who were perfectly placed to oblige. Suitably refuelled, I made my way onwards to another Manchester institution. Afflecks is a labyrinthine mix of niche retailers that cater for all manner of tastes. I spotted plentiful clothes, lots of vinyl, a tattooist, card games, posters and a shop specialising in Manchester themed memorabilia.

Next up was lunch, something I’d failed to decide upon having been overwhelmed by the quality and breadth of the offering. My decision was made when I happened upon Cottonopolis and checked out the menu. This was strongly recommended by the world of social media and didn’t disappoint. The menu is made of small plates divided into sections roughly aligning with raw, fried, griddled and steamed with some snacks and sides thrown in.

The welcome was warm and I was made entirely comfortable dining alone with sensible advice given on the menu, from which I chose 3 dishes to make up a light lunch. Yellowfin tuna nigiri arrived first with four pieces neatly presented, which proved hugely satisfying with well seasoned rice and delightful slices of tuna. The seafood theme continued with crab tempura served with togarashi and kimchi mayo. The batter was thankfully light and further given character by the kimchi. I hoped that the final dish to arrive would be the star and I wasn’t disappointed. I’m an absolute sucker for steak tartare so had to get my hands on the Wagyu beef tartare. This one was everything I hoped for, served with quail egg and a honey and mustard miso that gave it a healthy kick. I grabbed a few more suggestions from the server, parted with around thirty quid and made my way onwards.

To make sure I grabbed some culture before I made the return trip East, I headed up to the People’s History Museum. This extensive collection lays out the history of the development of democracy in Britain and proved as fascinating as I’d hoped with plenty of hands-on exhibits and well told stories that gave life to our country’s history, particularly pertinent given the present goings-on in Parliament.

By now the need to think of getting back to the station was becoming relevant, if not pressing, so I made my way over to Hatch. This is a box park similar to Spark:York so I was keen to take in the differences and similarities. A Monday afternoon isn’t the best time to let a venue such as this shine but there were still a healthy few serving a good bunch of happy punters enjoying the sun. I’d initially thought it looked a little on the empty side, but this is the result of new units having been put up for an imminent expansion. It was the perfect spot to finish the day with a superb coffee from Takk.

By happy coincidence, a friend was working in Manchester that day, so I was able to finish off my chance to explore Manchester with a quick drink at one of the bars in the station before resting (well, working) on the train home. I’ve plans to explore Manchester a couple more times this year and now have a great resource of places to try out. It was great fun becoming reacquainted!

The spending money was gifted by Hotels.com, but all views are my own.

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The front tables in the Fossgate make a great place to people watch from, so we settled into one of the window tables to take a look at the Fossgate Social brunch menu. The main offering consists of open sourdoughs, pancakes and hot sandwiches while there are a range of specials to look at on a black board. We went for a selection, taking in avocado and crispy bacon, a halloumi burger and a black pudding stack. Plenty of good coffee was forthcoming while we waited for the food and chatted about what exciting developments might be in store for the Fossgate’s future.

Avocado may now be forever associated with millenials’ alleged profligacy, but that doesn’t make it any less tasty, especially when paired with bacon and poached egg. I might not be quite as fixated on avocado as much of my peer group but it’s hard to deny its appeal when layered and stacked amongst bacon, slices of home-made muffin and a poached egg. A stack of black pudding, muffin and poached egg with Hollandaise felt similarly indulgent, perhaps too much so as it would have benefited from a touch less of the black pudding. Matchsticks of apple completed the dish to add some sharpness. The last plate we tried was a “Social Halloumi Burger” which also featured roast tomato and peppers with spinach to temper the salty, toasted cheese; a relatively simple dish that did justice to good ingredients.

All the new brunch dishes I tried were excellent, though not a conspicuous bargain. I occasionally hear people comparing the drinks prices unfavourably here to more conventional pubs and the food pricing matches the ‘quality over quantity’ thinking, but the Fossgate Social remains a superb place from which to watch the world go by.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for this meal, opinions remain impartial

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House of Koko opened in Chapel Allerton in 2015, offering a great selection of loose leaf teas and Northstar coffee alongside good quality seasonal food. Along with Chris Hale, who made the quarter finals of Masterchef 2016, they’ve redesigned the dining space and menus to be more befitting of such a prestigious building.

The launch evening started with live music and canapés in one of the gallery spaces. I’ve got to hold my hand up to not having made it as far as the Hepworth Gallery before and was impressed with the open space. The canapés reflected what we’d see on the menu later on, featuring fig, avocado and corn fritters with chilli jam. We’d noted that there was a heavy vegetarian slant to the menu that was explained when Sophie and Chris Ball (of House of Koko) introduced themselves, with Sophie being vegetarian and the guys from ‘Koko vegan. It’s clear that there’s a great deal of passion behind this partnership and project. I was interested to hear more about the opportunity for private events at the gallery, in particular it being licensed as a wedding venue.

After talks, we moved downstairs to find Chris (Hale, not Ball. Do keep up!) demonstrating a wild mushroom ragu that he served on sourdough. Clearly it wasn’t practical to cook for a large group from a single portable hob, but Chris made the dish look fantastic with those limited resources before friendly servers arrived en masse to give the rest of us a plate each. This sort of dish is exactly the kind of thing, in my view, that you want from a day out. Good quality produce that was well prepared and didn’t demand a time commitment that would distract from your visit. The rest of The Hepworth Gallery Cafe menu caters well for vegans and vegetarians with gluten free options available too. I love the sound of their homemade baked beans on sourdough.

After eating, we had the opportunity to try a few desserts and some of the well reputed Northstar coffee. The espresso mousse I tried was absolutely fantastic, deliciously light and well balanced. We ended the evening admiring the beautiful plants from Fleurs before making the journey back to York. The evening had shown a really solid start for this new venture that I’m sure will continue to grow strongly. A return visit is definitely on the cards.

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Slowly, though, the floodwater receded and left the scale of the clean up all too clear to see, both on an economic level, for the city’s continued well-being, and on a personal level for so many individuals, businesses and families. As is so often the case, the coming months showed up the best of people’s resilience and tenacity with many offering their neighbours help and many businesses open again in a startlingly short time.

One of the most notable examples of this spirit finds its home in the Fossgate Social. Faced with rising floodwater that had already inundated the cellar, the staff decided to shift the fridges up onto the first floor, and, having taken that step, and being faced with a not insignificant amount of work to do to get the main bar open again (achieved in only a few days), the prospect of getting that first floor ready for customers seemed less of a challenge. Being that it was all looking so “easy”, why not throw a new kitchen into the mix too?

Now that the Fossgate Social upstairs is fully open to the public and the kitchen is up and running under the stewardship of Becky Harrison, we called round for breakfast for a chat and to check out the offering. On entering, there’s little evidence of change. Perhaps the staff look like they’ve a little more space to work behind the bar now that food prep doesn’t need to be accommodated, but the flood water hasn’t washed out any character. Still hitting the sweet spot between coffee and beer, this is still one of those places where the staff won’t sneer if you order coffee after five in the afternoon or tut if you order beer before three.

Chef Becky is keen to promote healthy food and use as much locally produce, freshly prepared of course, as possible. That said, toasties and platters haven’t had the axe! Grace tucked into a ‘Valley Brunch’ consisting of scrambled egg and white bean mash that play host to portobello mushroom, cherry tomato and baby spinach. I forced myself into an ‘Eggy Stack’: French toast layered with bacon and roast cherry tomatoes.

My stack was as comforting and filling as you’d expect from this style of dish. Well-executed French toast cut through by tangy and sharp tomato while the bacon was maybe a touch crisper than my taste. Perfect to linger over with black coffee. Grace’s vegetarian breakfast received great praise, which I’ll leave for her to share below. Rather foolishly I didn’t appropriate any of the original-sounding white bean mash, any excuse to go back eh?

Fossgate is going from strength to strength at the moment: the monthly car-free Sundays now playing host to the Fossgate Festival with street food stalls, bars, dancing, music and plenty of family entertainment buzzing around. There’s a real sense of community on show here, perhaps the involvement of residents rather than just business in the planning of these monthly events lend it a more cohesive air. With businesses lending each other space to recover post flood, it’s perhaps no surprise to see different spaces being used for different things, be it closing the road once a month or screening short films, hosting music or art in the Fossgate Social new upstairs space or organising weekly fun runs (frankly ownership of a bar to return to is the only good thing I can see in that plan, but each to their own). Fossgate is on the up, and so is the Fossgate social (in the most literal sense).

Grace says: I was recommended the Fossgate Social Valley Brunch. When served, I can honesty say that I didn’t experience menu envy at the sight of my companion’s bacon.

The Valley Brunch is a portobello mushroom floating on a cloud of scrambled egg and butter bean mash. Baby spinach leaves and roasted cherry tomatoes provide colour and variety to the dish.

The handful of fresh ingredients may seem like a simple meal, but there’s enough going on to make it interesting. The sweet tomatoes and peppery spinach provided the strongest flavours, with the mushroom and mash made it a meal. The butter bean and scrambled egg mash is far lighter than the expected mashed potato, and tastes wonderful.

The most satisfying thing about the Valley Brunch is that it doesn’t leave you thinking that it could have benefited from adding bacon or chicken. Overall, it’s a meal which is delightfully confusing. The fried mushroom hails from a cooked breakfast, while the tomato and spinach is salad. It’s all very nutritious and hits the spot. In short, the Valley Brunch is a hot salad which fills you up. Try one for yourself.

Disclosure: The breakfast mentioned here was complimentary.

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Minor pronunciation-based confusion aside, it’s not too hard to find Bicis y Mas on Walmgate; the latest addition to the street’s food scene comes from a slightly oblique trajectory. A bike shop and workshop that offers vegetarian food and continental beers (‘bikes and more’, literally) situated in the former GA White’s furniture store feels a slightly worrying collection of specialities to fill.

We popped up early on a Saturday morning for breakfast and made a couple of easy choices to have a standard vegetarian breakfast and some spiced beans on toast.

Service was a little bit on the slow side but when the food appeared, it was clear that the presentation and fresh preparation took a little bit of time. In the interim, a well balanced Americano and an Earl Grey tea (loose leaf) kept us ticking over despite my partner’s difficulties with the mechanics of the teapot.

The vegetarian breakfast was pleasingly hearty and varied in taste. A brace of perfectly fried eggs topped bubble n’ squeak, veggie sausage and a hash of tomato and mushroom while toast was served on the side (a mix of granary and white). The bubble n’ squeak was excellent, fried to a perfect crust and consistently tasty. It missed the pleasingly unpredictable nature of Sunday roast B&S leftovers, but this was a moist pleasure. Vegetarian sausages were a touch less overwhelmingly successful: butternut squash, sage and onion came through but none strongly enough to really replace a more porcine offering. I’m still trying to place the flavour, but this was the one element which felt notably inferior to its fleshy counterpart. Tomato and mushroom chunks complemented everything well to negate the need for other sauces and I left satisfied. Those eggs in particular were notable. I’d not want to fight a hen laying eggs with yolks that size!

Spiced baked beans was a more straightforward dish, though not to the detriment of flavour. Lemongrass flavours made their way through from the more generic spice and marked out an adventurously spiced portion. It was perhaps a touch too much so for my taste but (as mentioned before) that reflects me as much as the dish.

The coffee was good, tea was good and came with an offering of lemon or milk, loose tea portions being left to one’s own devices to infuse (unless you get confused… ), so everything worked. Having a sniff around the bikes, I found them more sensibly priced than I’d feared too.

That name though. I can’t help but think that easy pronunciation of one’s name should be a priority when opening a new place. As we were leaving, we asked the staff how it should be pronounced and got a very mixed response. Still, if you can manage to arrange the meeting point and are open to vegetarian food, you’re onto a winner with Bicis y Mas.

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Those friends’ recommendations still made me a bit nervous since I accepted a recommendation to try Nandos from some people whose opinions I otherwise trust implicitly, so it was with expectations kept in check that I arrived with three suitably qualified/hungry companions to be quickly seated in the surprisingly large space. It’s clear that there’re no half measures in this newly fitted out place, everything either immaculately positioned or artfully contrasting the neighbouring piece of furniture.

Luckily with four of us, there was the chance to try several different things from the menu: porridge, egg royale, vegetarian breakfast and ‘Bill’s Breakfast’ all were requested along with coffee and water. First signs were decent despite, as with many other establishments habits, the request for some tap water seemingly remaining subject to selective amnesia.

Food arrived promptly and hit the spot for all concerned. My Bill’s Breakfast was perched on sourdough and had superbly fresh mushrooms, black pudding and sausage sheltering under bacon and fried egg. The egg could have done with being less well cooked and the accompanying beans were covered by a bit of skin that suggested they’d been waiting for my presence for a little time, but all the good quality ingredients made their presence felt. The vegetarian breakfast was nicely original, the same sourdough as ‘Bills’ soaking up guacamole, houmous, tomato and poached egg. Well-timed egg poaching also formed the basis of the egg royale while that dish and the banana-topped porridge made the recipients sigh with satisfaction at the close.

All good then. I suppose the only point of concern is that York has some great choices for breakfast. Cafe No. 8 and the Perky Peacock on Gillygate and the Brew and Brownie, amongst others, are local businesses that offer good value and I still feel a loyalty to them on the basis of locality. I’ve no doubt that Bill’s will crop up on the breakfast rota at some point in the not too distant future but, without entering into the local/national complaints I made about Byron, you’ll undoubtedly enjoy breakfast here and I’d heartily encourage you to give it a go. I’ll pop back and try out the dinner menu sometime soon.

One noteworthy way to gouge a touch more money was the paper bag deposited on every table containing a pencil to tick boxes on its bag that signified which takeout bits you’d like, a little over the top and felt a bit cynical though I’m sure the marketeers would suggest it’s nothing more than a pressure-free opportunity to try a bit more of Bill’s magic.

Bill’s is a great addition to Coney Street that breaks up the monotony of chain stores and the occasional bar. Give it a go and I’ll see you there for dinner soon.

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Quirkily decorated without pretension, everything feels functional without giving way to style over substance. Cute old cinema seats in particular make an appearance. The brown paper aesthetic of the menu fits in neatly!

Americano, toast with peanut butter and scrambled eggs with smoked salmon appeared after a short interval. The chunks of unscrambled yolk raised a few questions about how much time was given over to the actual scrambling but being perfectly seasoned and generously festooned with smoked salmon made things more than right. A patty of neatly presented butter accompanied toast with peanut butter for my companion as we both appreciated the Haxby Bakehouse bread.

If pushed I’d ask for a slightly ‘softer’ tasting coffee, the default being a touch harsh for my taste (I can’t abide milk in coffee so perhaps notice minor variations more. or am fussy) and a touch smaller portion but there’s no reason Brew and Brownie shouldn’t be one of York’s many default breakfast/coffee/elevenses/coffee choices. Here’s to many more years of success!

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