» Cover Feature: Spinelli Coffee
Latest 7 meets Carlo Torre, William Stewart and Tomasz Smieja, the partners behind Spinelli Coffee, as they launch a second café in busy St James’s Street
Jimmy Street, as it is affectionately known by many, is busier than ever with a growing number of new businesses. Shops and cafés sit side by side and there is possibly the strongest sense of community of any of the city’s unique shopping districts.
Community is something that Spinelli managing director, Carlo Torre, an American of Italian descent, truly understands. A few years back he spotted an opportunity in fashionable Kemp Town Village and opened a coffee house: Spinelli Coffee. Spinelli was an immediate success. It did what people wanted it to do – opening sensibly early to catch busy professionals on their way to work, staying open late enough to catch them on the way home and appealing to the local community throughout the day.
The offer was simple: a small range of patisserie and sandwiches and excellent coffee – coffee that would make you go back time and time again. The formula worked. Very soon Spinelli had grown a band of loyal customers who loved the relaxed atmosphere, the stylish interior and, of course, the great coffee.
It was such a success that it was almost inevitable that Torre would open a second branch. But Torre is no fool. Aware of a receding market he was happy to bide his time and wait for the right opportunity. He had his eye on a possible location and simply waited for the right moment – which is now.
Taking over Strength Café was a smart move. The location is excellent with a high profile frontage on the main street and there is strong competition. Competition is good; the area already draws an audience of people looking for a relaxed café environment. Now Carlo has given that audience a wider choice.
Spinelli–College Road was limited to a small menu of food as there was no provision for cooking on the premises. The new branch has a full kitchen, headed up by Sam Holdsworth and Daniel Wolinski. They also have a license to sell alcohol.
“The original was very much a coffee house but here I am able to offer a new menu with a wider range of cooked dishes,” Carlo says. “We have kept a range of traditional English breakfast dishes but I am also adding some of the dishes that I grew up with back home in the USA, and as we grow I intend to develop that side of the business. Having the kitchen here also means that we will be able to prepare our own fresh food and expand the menu at Spinelli–College Road.”
Favorites like eggs Benedict and eggs florentine are a welcome discovery on the menu, but Sloppy Joe, a dish most of us have only heard about through American fiction, also fascinates. There is also the classic cobb salad, a dish the girls in Sex And The City seemed to dine on exclusively. That is, when they were not secretly gorging on a classic burger served with salad and fries, which is also included in the new menu. If Carrie Bradshaw lunched in Brighton she would soon find Spinelli. Already their hottest seller is a range of American pancakes and French toast – a delicious indulgence. And with the most expensive dish so far coming in at an affordable £7.95, Carlo is clearly responding to a market that will, for some time, be price conscious.
The interior is a work in progress. The café closed for just three days to allow for a deep clean and a lick of new paint, but future plans will see the space re-configured to make it more comfortable and efficient.
When the first Spinelli hit the street we were impressed, and it’s rapid popularity was amazing. We see no reason to doubt that Carlo Torre and his team will pull it off once again with that excellent blend of good coffee, affordable food and personable service.
Spinelli Coffee, 111 St. James’s Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 1TH, 01273 818084, www.spinellicoffee.co.uk
Open Mon–Fri 7.30am–7pm; Sat 8.30am–6pm; Sun 8.30am–5pm
