The Monocle Café

Just when you thought Marylebone couldn’t get any hipper, along comes The Monocle Café, the first UK opening from the international magazine’s founder Tyler Brûlé (it’s a hot street – Andre Balazs is opening a hotel in the nearby old fire station later this year). It follows on from the success of the Monocle café in the Hankyo Men’s department store in Tokyo which opened back in October 2011 and accordingly, the new opening will be in the style of a Tokyo café, albeit serving a selection of Brûlé’s favourite snacks. There’ll be Swiss-inspired bircher muesli, toasties and a Midori salad together with macarons, green-tea-roll-cake and strawberry gateau from Lanka, Masayuki Hara’s shop (the Japanese chef, formerly of Le Gavroche). Open seven days a week, the café has a Japanese/Scandinavian minimalist design with seating for 15 (think Ercol chairs and vintage tables). You can book and reserve a table in the basement where there’s an Epson projector and screen for presentations, but only if you’re a Monocle subscriber. The café officially opens on April 15th but it has a soft opening next Monday 1st April (7am-4pm), when you’ll be able to pick up a coffee and have a look around.