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Allpress has taken a long time moving its roasting operation from its Redchurch Street café to much larger premises in a converted joiner’s factory in Dalston Lane. It opened just a few weeks ago, and it looks great.
Allpress Dalston sprawls over two floors, though only the ground floor is open now. The roaster takes up a lot of space behind its glass partition. There’s an L-shaped kitchen and serving area, and everything except croissants is made in-house. On the ground floor there is seating for around 50, including a few covetable tables outside.
As in Shoreditch, you order at the counter and get your order delivered to the table. Service worked mostly well on our Sunday lunch, though they needed to polish their systems a little. But unfailing friendliness smooths over all glitchettes (another hallmark of Shoreditch).
Here too, food is a strong point. A plate of boiled egg, avocado, provolone cheese, jamón and tomato, with sourdough toast and butter from Brittany, is a great light lunch at £8; some people might think the price a little steep, but the ingredients are first-rate. And there’s no arguing with £6.50 for a plate of three excellent and filling salads. Chef Jenny Swan (formerly pastry chef at St John Spitalfields) really knows how to put flavours together.
Is it necessary to mention the coffee? Allpress is one of the best roasters in London and it trains its staff well in how to put the beans to good use. If you’re not addicted to milky comforters, try daily single-origin coffees in cold brew or filter.
I have 1.2 reservations about Allpress Dalston. The .2 is the queuing system, which can lead to fairly sizeable clumps of people by the register – a drag if you’re sitting at a nearby table, as we were. The full reservation concerns the upstairs space, which should open in the next few months adding another 30 covers (and rooms for training which will offer opportunities for the public as well as professionals). Kitchen and waiting staff kept up when it was modestly busy downstairs. When there’s also a roomful of people on the first floor, will they cope as well?
They may already have this sorted, and I hope so. This great company has put a hell of a lot of toil (and cash) into the new premises. If it pays off for them, it pays off for us too.