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OUR MARATHON OF A FIRST ISSUE
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This month sees The Breakfast Club turn ten. We’ve been around 11 months longer than twitter! On the 22nd of August 2005 at 3pm we opened the doors to our caf on D’Arblay Street and took a grand total of twenty six pounds and thirty five pence. Nobody really noticed us for a while, we were just the odd little yellow cafe in Soho that called itself The Breakfast Club but didn’t serve eggs. You heard me right - no eggs! I wasn’t sure I could cope with a rush on fried eggs, it was my first time in a kitchen. We did have ‘secret eggs’ available to our regulars and ordered with a wink and a knowing smile. We didn’t open weekends - nobody goes to Soho on a Sunday morning (how wrong we were). Inexplicably, London gave us a chance. People always talk about London being a harsh place to set up business, a place that chews you up and spits you out. We found quite the opposite. London gave us a chance, we royally screwed up a few times but people were forgiving - London roots for the underdog. 10 years, eight cafes, four bars and one new town later (the lovely Brighton) we’re still here! I think we’ll always have that underdog mentality - it’s what stood us in good stead in the early days and what we’ll see us through the next 10 years. Not to take anything or anyone for granted and to always understand we can be better. We are very proud of what we’ve achieved over these last few years and the role we play in our local communities. We’re telling a few of those stories in here as well as getting you to colour in a Huevos Rancheros - how’s that for variety. To all our staff past and present, it has been a dream to work with you these last 10 years, some of the most fun I’ve ever had. To our customers - thank you for giving us a chance when you could have gone somewhere else.
Karl has worked with the BC for three months, changing lives one pancake at a time and started at our Canary Wharf restaurant just after it opened. He’s from Blackpool (he then responded with ‘Ouch’), but now lives in Whitechapel. If he’s not watching a TV series in one go, he’ll be doing his musical theatre thang.
WE’VE GOT AN EMPTY SACK! As it’s our first issue The BC post bag has no mail :( Have you got something you want to get off your chest? Some advice you are seeking? Has one of our staff or customers taken your fancy and you’d like to publicly make your feelings known? Have you drawn us a picture?
email ferris@lovetbc.com
Let’s see if he can handle the breakfast gospel that is the BC staff profile questions. May the breakfast gods have mercy on his eggy soul.
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What’s your hidden talent? For some reason I can do the splits only when I’m drunk.....
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You’ve got the day off. How do you spend it? I think a day off is ruined if you get up before 10, unless you’ve planned an excursion. I usually like to sit around in my pants drinking tea until at least 12... I think that’s acceptable. I usually like to do something that involves me faffing about in some way, cooking or cleaning or dragging my friends to some point of interest in London. I do love to be a tourist, I’ve seen Big Ben hundreds of times but still stand opened mouthed and say “I can’t get over how big it is” or Buckingham palace “do you think she’s in?” Without fail!
Q Who would play you in a film about your life and why? Well the story of my life would have to be a trilogy. Who would play me? I think maybe Johnny Depp. I think with his experience he would be able to do my life justice - he could show every part of my personality the toils and troubles! Either him or Meryl Streep because she is a legend.
KARL from
canary wharf
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We LOVE a bit of
GASS Some nice muffins or a sausage always goes down well on the old Instagram. Taking a snap of a BC brekky or you in one of our cafs? Tag us @TheBrekkyClub and we’ll pick our favourite of the month to win a boozy brunch for them and a mate.
The hottest date on the Summer festival calendar is a new entry on the list - our very own festival to celebrate a decade of The Breakfast Club. BC staff of past and present will be treated to sets from The Venga Boys, Cuban Brothers and Angie Brown.
@FashionMumblr
PANCAKE PISS UPS Brighton BC will soon be hosting weekly Thursday night Pancake Piss Ups. Get a stack of pancakes and a cocktail for a tenner - plus happy hour prices on booze for the rest of the night. A perfect way to set you up for a night out.
NEW MENU TRIALS
@kickstartultimatetraining
We’ve been trialling a new menu down in Hoxton BC and are nearly ready to roll it out to the rest of our cafs. Check out the Short-Rib Beef Bun with pico de gallo, cheddar and butter lettuce or the Cubanos Sandwich with pork loin ham hock, dijon mustard, Swiss cheese and pickles. Wash them down with a Marmalade Margarita or three.
@opheliaparis
WOMAN OF THE WEEK Those of you who follow us on Instagram (@TheBrekkyClub) may be familiar with our Woman of The Week posts. We thought it was about time we found a spot sassy enough to show off our chosen mega babes for all to see and you’ll now find them framed behind the bar in Hoxton BC.
BC LIVE Have you been to one of our live music nights in
@asti_loren
Hoxton and Canary Wharf? To see who’s playing go to thebreakfastclubcafes.com/whats-on. If you’re a musician or band and fancy playing, send an email to tom@lovetbc.com.
@ THEBREKKYCLUB
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NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
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We’re honing in on the communities surrounding each of our cafes. Be vigilant! If you see or hear of anything that looks suspiciously like a good time tweet us!
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BC REGULARS
@thebrekkyclub
Each month The Lucky Dip Club mail out personalised packages of handmade, personalised presents and surprises in the post to 1,400 subscribers. Founder and Hoxton BC regular, Leona Thrift-ola, lives and works in East London so we thought we’d ask her why she reckons her neighbourhood is so great.
I love living and working in East London and Hackney has been my playground for nearly 20 years now. Last year, I launched my super fun subscription box business Lucky Dip Club for lovers of kitsch, colourful & fun surprises in the post. When we hit 1,000 monthly subscribers I moved into a studio in the Old Hackney Town Hall which a really exciting spot because it’s easy to get to London Fields, Dalston, Brick Lane & just a 10 minute walk from our flat in Clapton. On my way into work each day I grab a coffee from Cooper & Wolf which is a pretty Swedish cafe on my street or sometimes I’ll take a detour to Lion Coffee & Records on Lower Clapton Road because they serve my favourite coffee by Allpress. So good! After a busy morning replying to customer emails, designing & making goodies for the boxes, if it’s sunny then we eat our lunch picnic style in London Fields which at this time of year has a wildflower meadow which attracts bees and butterflies & you feel like you’re in the countryside! On a Saturday it’s always worth a
Rufus Street on FLEEK*
We thought it was about time our Hoxton caf had a bit of a spruce up. Thanks for bearing with us while we had to close for the refurb. *Yeah, we just said fleek
DAVE AT HOXTON RADIO RECOMMENDS...
I’ve been enjoying playing a very cool band called Yak. They are local to the East and rock soooo hard. Listen to them at facebook. com/yakyakyak
trip there to go to Broadway Market to visit stalls by the likes of the Meringue Girls (try the unicorn poo!) & Rebel Rebel florist and just round the corner in Netil Market are more craft, food & vintage stalls. I love the candles & cacti by Earl of East London. After work we often go for a cheeky tipple in the Spurstowe Arms on Wilton Way who serve a mouth watering elderflower sangria and have a lovely little beer garden out the back, perfect for a post work chill. Then it’s a choice between seeing a film at the Hackney Picturhouse, going to a gig at Oslo or heading home and perhaps swinging by Clapton Craft to see what latest beers they’ve discovered and FIND OUT MORE OR on Fridays it’s SUBSCRIBE TO THE always Yard LUCKY DIP CLUB: Sale pizza time! LUCKYDIPCLUB.COM HOORAY!
Alone in London
Alone in London is an amazing charity that helps young people in danger of being homeless find a home and get back on their feet. While our Hoxton cafe was closed for the refurb, our staff had a great time volunteering with the charity, helping to makeover the home of six residents. We finished off the project with a slap up lunch together. Thanks for having us Alone In London! Find out more about the cracking work they do at
www.aloneinlondon.org
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Brought to you by
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Cocktail
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BASIL A L’ORANGE INGREDIENTS 50ml Grand Marnier 25ml lemon juice 15ml simple syrup 3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters 10 basil leaves Egg white
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Lightly muddle the basil leaves with sugar syrup, peychaud bitters and a slice of orange in a boston glass. Add all the other ingredients and shake hard without ice to cause the egg white to foam. Add the ice and shake again. Strain into an ice filled glass and ENJOY!
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IT’S HARD TO DO JUSTICE TO WHAT HAPPENED ON OUR TRIP TO THE ARCTIC CIRCLE. I think this is far more suited to the montages of pictures, slow mo video and uplifting music that you get at the end of the big sporting events. But this being old media, here’s a few words. I first had the idea last Summer - “let’s take five or so Breakfast Club people out to run The Midnight Sun Marathon in Tromso and raise some money for charity.” I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to get five people to volunteer themselves up. This was the first time I underestimated the sheer bloodymindedness and enthusiasm of our staff and we ended up taking a squad of 31. 26 runners, one coach and four supporters. Underestimating our staff was to become a theme for the months that followed.
AFTER MONTHS OF TRAINING AND DISGUSTING ENERGY GELS WE SET OFF FOR THE NORTH POLE. We arrived on the Friday, the race wasn’t until 8:30pm on the Saturday. Our first challenge was to avoid a big night out. Try getting on a plane with 31 Breakfast Club people to a town where the sun doesn’t set and ask them not to drink. In fact the only partying that went on before the race came in the form of a pasta party - a strange phenomenon that seems to take place the world over before marathons (google it). Long, long tables of marathon runners stuffing their faces with pasta talking about split times and carb loading. Technically not a ‘Party’, not in my book Still, we must have enjoyed it, because we held our own “porridge party” in the hotel reception the next day. Maybe life would be more fun if you stuck “party” on the end of everything you do “commute party”, “email party”, “accounting” party - maybe not everything.
The support team did have a more traditional “party party” on that Friday, checking out the Tromso talent at an open mic night and chatting up Kindergarten teachers that looked like Arnie Schwarzenegger. More on these superstars later. Race day arrived, but we still had to wait until 8.30pm for our race to start. What to do in Tromso on a Saturday afternoon? Another pasta party, of course. Finally race night arrived, most of us were in our team kit, a golden yellow BC Track Club running jersey with our names and ‘Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose’ emblazoned across the back (I have a strange fixation with ‘Friday Night Lights’ and a huge man crush on Coach Taylor). As the gun went for the start, the crowds cheered and everyone waved goodbye. 800 smiling faces crossing the start line.
I COULDN’T HELP BUT COMPARE IT TO A GROUP OF COWS GOING INTO AN ABATTOIR. All happy faces oblivious to the pain they are just about to embark on. It’s here that the experience becomes very personal. Running is fairly lonely, especially in Tromso. Training is lonely. Getting up a 6am in the morning and running in the dark is lonely.
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on an emotional tap. Goose bumps and tears. Seeing our HR Director, who’d spent the last 5 weeks training on a bike because of injury, smashing it (I don’t normally use the term smashing it - very Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, but it seems appropriate in this instance). I must have been close to tears every time I saw any of our golden jerseys - despite the very fleeting nature of these moments there’s very few times in my life where the word ‘team’ has felt more relevant. I crossed the line just before 1am, was handed a beer, had a party popper popped in my face and a blanket put around my shoulders.
I WAS HUGGED BY SOME OF MY FAVOURITE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD - THE BEST HUGS I’VE EVER HAD.
I’ll be honest, I was worried. I’d organised a team building event around the most individual of all sporting events.
YOU GO TO SOME VERY DARK PLACES ON THE WAY ROUND. My first came at 11km when the calf muscle I’d been nursing for two weeks gave way. On cue, it came at the furthest point from Tromso town on the whole course - the term ‘middle of nowhere’ was invented for this very place. It’s hard not to feel sorry for yourself at that point, self pity took over, all those months of training gone. There’s no way I’m making the next 31km. What I thought was the worst place was actually the best place. At 11km you turned back on yourself and headed back to town. It was the first opportunity I’d had to see the rest of our ‘team’. Initially it was self pride that took hold and I carried on trying to run and pretend I was ok. Then self pride turned into the very thing I’d been hoping for from the start - I was getting high fives from the golden yellow jerseys, it was starting to feel like the greatest team event ever. I saw BC people who were in a worse place than me smiling through it and getting on with it. No self pity, no poor me, poor me. Our FD even stopped to take a photo of me feeling sorry for myself - no room for sentiment. I was a sorry self loathing mess being shown up by some of the very people I’d been telling a few weeks earlier to pull their fingers out and get training. The body is a wonderful thing, adrenalin and some very strong pain killers (strong enough to ensure I couldn’t feel my right leg) meant I got back into town - my second giving up point. Only to be greeted by the wonderful BC support team screaming and high fiving. There were also some magical moments, crossing the Tromso bridge with views across the town, sun shimmering on the water, whilst listening to Rudimental’s ‘Feel the Love’ turned
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#BC GOOD DAYS CHARITY UPDATES
I duly committed to giving out some of the best hugs I’d ever given to the BC people yet to cross the line. Over the course of the next two and a half hours we waited for more golden yellow jerseys until we were just about the last people left. The clock came down, the barriers that lined the street were being collected by the volunteers. A bunch of people in running gear on a freezing cold Saturday night in Tromso waiting for the last golden yellow jersey. The thumping baseline from the nightclub across the road came to an end at about 3am, people piled out and grabbed a kebab. And then it happened, a speck of yellow appeared on the horizon.
“IS THAT HER?” “IT FUCKING IS, IT FUCKING IS” Cue wild celebrations, more tears and a hugs.
Pride We had a ball hosting celebratory breakfasts at both London and Brighton Pride with our partner charities Opening Doors and Brighton LGBT Switchboard.
Credit to the guys who came as our support, who stood outside for six and a half hours and cheered every one of us home. Without doubt I would have stopped without your support, I am a huge wuss. The next day - Super Sunday - was in all honesty what we were all looking forward to. We’d hired a pub for an afternoon of £9 beers and endless ‘you had to be there’ chat about running a marathon. We did ourselves proud for a second day straight - The barman promptly told us it was the biggest day they’d ever had, beating the time Tottenham Hotspur were in town. We ended the night singing songs around a piano in an Irish bar. On that cold Arctic Night in June we sent 26 people out, 26 brave souls made it back. We’d left nobody behind.
WE RAISED OVER £25,000 FOR CHARITIES WE ALL CARED PASSIONATELY FOR.
Therapaws Our Angel caf regularly volunteer with The Mayhew Animal Home. Their Therapaws initiative has them taking dogs into care homes, hospices and hospitals for cuddles with residents. Each week we take Bertie (Our GM Kelly’s pup) to visit our partnered care home, the Muriel Street Care Home. Find out more at themayhew.org
CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS...
Love Patrol Brighton BC have been hitting the streets twice a week to bring bacon and egg butties and cups of tea to the homeless
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differences Can you spot the between our two pictures of Sam and co?
E E Q S L T’ G T UIZ ZIC AL C R O S SWO R D A mixed bag inspired by our fave BC dishes, tv, film and music. Finish the sentences or guess the correct answers to complete the crossword.
ACROSS 4. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t ____ (4) 6. What dairy item do we use in a fried chicken sandwich? (10) 10. What bus is coming that’s getting everybody jumping? (5) 11. Where everybody knows your ____ (4) 12. We were on a ____ (5) (Iconic line from American sitcom) 13. How do you like your ____ (4)
S ’ E R E WH ? Y L L WI
DOWN 1. A spicy red sausage (7) 2. How many pancakes do we serve in a stack? (4) 3. You can leave your ____ on (3) 5. Thank f@*k it’s ____ (6) 7. The name of our resident doctor at Canary Wharf (6) 8. Slam dunk da ____ (4) 9. Don’t you forget about ____ (2) 12. The owner of the hotel in Fawlty Towers (5) 14. Green is ____ (4)
Way back when we first started out our founder used to enjoy hiding willies on our menus. Did you ever spot them? Ten years later and the school boy humour hasn’t much changed. He’s insisted we hide a knob in every issue of The Morning Glory.
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE: 1. Poster has dissapeared off the wall 2. Diane’s jacket colour 3. Diane’s handbag 4. Bar snacks have dissappeared 5. Sam is wearing sunglasses 6. Carla’s watch 7. Diane’s BC badge 8. Shield on wall has dissapeared CROSSWORD: Across 4. Lose 6. Buttermilk 10. Venga 11. Name 12. Break 13. Eggs Down 1. Chorizo 2. Four 3. Hat 5. Friday 7. Kluger 8. Funk 9. Me 12. Basil 14. Good ANSWERS:
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Can you spot it? If you think you know where the willy is, take a photo and tweet us @thebrekkyclub with the hashtag
#BCKnob
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Big thanks to Kyle Platts for adding his wonderfully warped touch to this issue!
Colour me in while you wait for your food or feel free to take me home. When you finish, show off your masterpiece by tagging @TheBrekkyClub on Twitter or Instagram
We got crayons. Ask us for 'em
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S U O L S L U E V O L R L A E V M MAR
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Our merch is ava ilable in all of ou r cafs, tell one of staff if something our takes your fancy or to buy online, go to
thebreakfastclub
A. BACON ROLLS T-SHIRT............................................ £16 Available in sizes S,M, L and XL. B. BC MUGS............................................................... £8.50 Choose from Zippy, Smiley and Bacon Rolls. C. BACON ROLLS SHOPPER BAG............................... £12 D. MAPLE SYRUP.......................................................... £12 100% pure Canadian Maple Syrup. ALL profits go to local charities. E. BACON ROLLS TEA TOWEL....................................... £7.50 100% cotton. Hand made and screen printed in the U.K.
cafes.com/shop
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LISTINGS CANARY WHARF
M A I N STAG E GATSBY MODERN CLASSICS, 90’S THROWBACKS & DISNEY
FRI 21ST AUG
8PM
MEMPHIS
SIMPSON DJ SET
& THE ELEVATORS NORTHERN SOUL, MOTOWN AND A WHOLE LOT MORE
FRI 4TH SEP DR. KLUGER’S DJ OLDE TOWNE TAVERN SETS AUG 21ST
GATSBY 16TH AUG
JONATHAN CARR 21ST AUG
JONNY GASH
STEPHANIE MAYER (XFM) SEP 11TH
JAKE EVANS
8PM
JAKE EVANS
30TH AUG
SUPERGREEK THEY’RE SUPER AND THEY’RE GREEK. MAYBE.
6TH SEP
CHELSEY CHANTELLE THE ORIGINAL GIRL WHO GOT US DANCING ON THE CEILING/TABLES.
SEP 18TH SEP 25TH
JAKE EVANS
BINGO
(DJ SET)
FINANCE BY DAY. THE STUDENT UNION BY NIGHT.
AUG 28TH
TRIX MALISH
EVERY THURSDAY
BC
14TH AUG
JAKE EVANS
SEP 4TH
SOUL, FUNK & DISCO
MAIN STAGE
STONE 8PM
SCOTT
HOXTON
13TH SEP
JONATHAN CARR
AND MORE... MARGARITA
MONDAYS
WEEKEND
BOTTOMLESS BOOZY
BRUNCHES
EVERY WEEKEND
EVERY MONDAY
HALF PRICE MARGS
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
12-5PM.
APRES HOUR
5-7PM EVERYDAY
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