Groundworks

1 Churchyard, Hitchin SG5 1HR

Hitchin is a weird case study in middle class wants and needs. Hardly a bustling metropolis but it’s not the rural backwater that many of the neighbouring villages nearby could fairly be described as. And yet, it had, pre-pandemic, somehow managed to create a sort of micro-culture of speciality coffee shops that was an accurate, if slightly miniaturised, mimicry of a city far greater in size and populous than itself. So my worry was, since this time last year, I had imagined that many of these places would have struggled and potentially disappeared. It was, then, with great surprise that I not only found all of my favourites carrying on with a takeaway service and a smile, but also a new spot that had opened its doors, lockdown be damned!
Of course, further inspection suggestions that this newer spot may look and feel like an independent but has the backing of a larger food group and thus is why it has the capital backing and wherewithal to open during a less than perfect time for the service industry but that still doesn’t mean it isn’t going to face the same challenges (granted with greater resources at its disposal). Anyway, I’m not in the habit of doing a deep-dive on a businesses financial backers just before I walk through the doors.
In any case, on an Easter weekend where I wasn’t expecting to find anything of quality on my, now legal foray out into the sun, getting to the head of the queue of somewhere that sells the delightful beans of Allpress coffee was somewhat of a boon. Sneaking in and requesting a latte, oat latte and chai latte, I did wonder., for a moment, if that the abundance of lattes might cause some confusion but they no issues arose and I pondered over the possibility of one of the selection of vegan cakes on display. I opted not to indulge in the end but noted the burger bar off to the left, perhaps for a later date when indoor dining is, once again, ‘a thing’. Still, to roll around the delicious smokiness, that Allpress specialise in oh-so-well, on the tongue whilst walking in bright, if not a little frigid, sunshine it was hard not to be swept up in the optimism that things may be picking up for the hospitality industry, and the rest of us in general.