Aubaine Kensington

Chic all-dayer Aubaine takes advantage of French café culture’s hold over romance-starved Anglo-Saxons. Baskets of pain de campagne, subtly distressed wooden furniture & soft, flattering lighting would be enough to impress most people, even without the menu of breads, patisserie & viennoiserie, madeleines, macarons, mille-feuilles, financiers, ficelle & fougasse… it’s enough to make you want to cough up six quid for a cup of Mariage Frères tea. But this mini chain of urbane cafés isn’t just good for a caffeine & sugar fix: breakfast & brunch gives way to a menu of fashionable Med-influenced fare, for example roast rack of lamb with a niçoise garnish, lobster spaghetti or Roquefort salad with pears, dandelions & figs. They’re licensed too &, surprisingly, have some global wines slotted in amongst the French contingent.