Situated in East Sheen village, this place is one of these authentic little Italian cafés. Next door it has a shop, Villa Rosa, which sells anything you want Italian. We bought a fantastic panattoni to take home. From the outside, Leonardo Caffé and Villa Rosa look like separate entities but, don’t be fooled. Inside they are a single unit with a large garden area at the back. Must be wonderful in the summer. The business was set up by brother and sister team Leo and Rosa in 1983. Originally from Puglia in Southern Italy they pride themselves on everything they sell being authentically Italian. Okay, maybe not the coffee, it’s from Columbia … but it is blended in Italy. We will let them away with that one .. because it’s excellent.
The scones were just a tad on the big side for our liking, with a slightly pasty taste .. but having said that, they were very light and fluffy and not at all bad. Rosa looks like a typical strong Italian woman who you just know would not stand for any nonsense. However she has an ever-present warm welcoming smile.
Myanmar elections
She may have much in common with Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi who looks like winning the country’s first free elections in 25 years. This woman has conducted herself with such steadfast grace over so many difficult periods in her life that she must rank amongst the Mandelas and Ghandis of this world. Although slight in stature, women don’t come any stronger than this. She will need every ounce of it in the months ahead if she is to move her country forward. Although she thinks she knows what is best for her country the power still lies with the military who know what is best. She may need some help from Rosa … we wish them both well.
The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is one of those entities that sounds as if it has been around for centuries. However, it has only been in existence since 1965 when three smaller council areas were amalgamated. It is home to many attractions like Kew Gardens, Hampton Court Palace, Twickenham Stadium. Our favourite is the London Wetlands Centre which we visit frequently.
It is probably the single most affluent area of London and perhaps unsurprisingly is deemed to have the best quality of life. Also unsurprisingly it is almost exclusively white and conservative. You will all, of course, remember that we have been here before at the Bingham Hotel. We spent a very pleasant afternoon sipping tea in rather posh surroundings.
This time we were just out for a walk along the Thames but before we got to the river we stopped off here at Muriel’s Kitchen. There are lots of cafés and coffee shops in town but this one took our fancy. Perhaps because we once had an aunt Muriel who baked a rather mean scone. It’s a very pleasant place with a wide range of food on offer and somewhat retro decor; copper jelly moulds and frying pans in abundance.
Representative?
Sitting here, looking around, you realise that this place, and indeed the whole borough of Richmond, kind of represents the government. Predominately white, male, well heeled, privileged backgrounds, private and Oxbridge educated. A generalisation of course, but the flip side of the coin is a bit more worrying because this borough is nothing at all like the rest of the country. Hence, by definition, the makeup of the current government does not reflect the country it is supposed to serve. Given that only 1 in 4 of the electorate voted for it we should probably not be surprised. However, that’s UK style democracy, the most undemocratic state in the EU.
a jam jar, what happened to presentation?
It raises the question though; if a government is crammed full of Oxbridge alumni does it mean that they will make good politicians and govern well. Self evidently, it does not. We have the most right wing government in years introducing the Chinese Communist Party into the heart of UK infrastructure. A move, the only possible beneficiaries of which can be the bankers.
Learning from history
It’s not as if we don’t already know all this. George W Bush’s administration was made up of the cream of Yale, Princeton and Harvard graduates. We all know what happened under that leadership .. catastrophic wars and financial disaster. Whatever happened to politicians from working class backgrounds. The Nye Bevans of this world who had imagination and empathy? Perhaps, by way of an experiment, it should be mandatory for people who run for office to be certified eejits just to see if it would make any difference.
Unfortunately the scones might have been made by some sort of elite academic because, although perfectly edible, they would not have passed aunt Muriel’s exacting standards .. a bit doughy and a tad on the solid side … great coffee though!
It has been some time, thank you for all your concern. Some thought we had died .. scone overdose somewhere. Others thought we had been kidnapped by over-enthusiastic sconeys. Well, none of the above, we have been in Londonland. Might as well call it that because it is completely detached from the rest of the country. Unlike vast tracts of Scotland where everyone speaks with a home counties accent … here, hardly anyone speaks English. The Range Rovers are almost as big as a £2m house. Mad, but great, all at the same time! Okay, okay, the scones, what about the scones?
The Olympic Studios, complete with it’s statue of Captain Marvel up on the roof, is a very popular haunt for us when we are in the deep south. Either for a meal or to see a film, but this is the first time we have been here in sconey mode. Would we be disappointed?
The building itself has had an illustrious past. Byfield House, the residence of the Governor of St Helena and its dependencies of Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, stood on this site until 1906 when it was demolished and replaced by a cinema and theatre. Charles Haughtry and John Gielgud first trod the boards here. In 1908 Christabel Pankhurst, took to the stage and gave a rousing and provocative speech. Not about scones but something to do with votes for women. Six days later she was arrested at the House of Commons and imprisoned with more than twenty other suffragettes.
The great and the good
In 1966 it became the Olympic recording studio and was used by the Rolling Stones, Beatles, Led Zepplin, Madonna, Jimi Hendrix and our personal favourites .. Massive Attack! U2 were the last to record here in 2009. Now it is a cinema again and is appropriately showing the newly released film, Suffragette.
More importantly though it has a restaurant and cafe .. selling scones. And what scones! By far and away the best scones we have had in ages. Very light and fluffy on the inside with a delicate crisp outside .. absolutely fabulous darling. At £3 for two scones with plenty jam and clotted cream, the price was not too difficult to swallow either. Another small but lovely touch in the Olympic is that they just give you water and glasses without you having to ask for it .. great! So there you have it, possibly the best scone in Londonland .. unless we find another of course!
Men as women?
One hundred years after the suggragette struggle, and after our great Winston Churchill spent a year refusing to speak to the first woman to enter the House of Commons, it seems beyond belief that, in 2015, women are still struggling to get equality. Someone (it must have been a man) said that the best way to make women more comfortable in the workplace was to double glaze the glass ceiling. Well, how would men feel if they were obliged to take the same maternity leave as their partners? Would they feel as secure in their careers? Would they wonder about reorganisations happening in their absence, new people coming in, others leaving. We don’t think men would handle it at all well.
Men don’t have it easy
That does not make men different from women because women find it just as difficult. And it is not as if having babies is some sort of peripheral activity. It is fundamental to absolutely everything. Mind you recent statistics reveal that twelve men commit suicide in the UK every day, far higher than the female equivalent figure. So men don’t have it that easy either. Anyway whoever, woman or man, made these scones, we are sure that Miss Pankhurst would have been proud. Probably even prouder it it was a man!
This place, Roasted and Toasted, came second in the Falkirk Herald’s 2015 cafe competition. Goodness knows what criterion they were using. It is one of these places we find intensely annoying. A family run business you desperately want to support but which is ignoring some business fundamentals.
Fundamentals
The coffee was tasteless .. like it had been watered down. Costa and Cafe Nero know their coffee and are both just a few meters away and packed out with customers. Go taste the difference.
Decor is what we would call ‘extreme bland’.
Lighting unimaginative. Not helped by the fact that about 40% of the lights had failed and not been replaced so adding to the overall slightly depressing atmosphere.
Lots of lifestyle messages that make you slightly nauseous e.g. “when it rains, look for rainbows” .. how about “in a coffee house look for a decent cup of coffee”!
Scones not homebaked.
Tables only seemed to be cleared when somebody needed them.
Not bothered to take the name of the previous occupants off their street canopy.
Now all this is a shame because the service is very friendly, hard working and generally trying hard to please the customers. They asked if we wanted our scones heated in a microwave. Pat is firmly of the opinion that a microwave does scones no favours, so they offered to grill them .. nice touch. We previously had this done at Ardanasaig, and it was great, so we happily accepted the offer. Unfortunately it meant we had to wait ages and when they eventually came they had been heated in an oven rather than grilled .. but the thought was there and it was appreciated. Sad though that they are putting in so much effort but ignoring some of the basics. With more attention to detail it could be transformed .. but then again it has been a pretty sad week.
EVEL
‘Roasted and toasted’ could easily describe the current state of the Union after the poorly thought out EVEL (English Votes for English Laws) was successfully rushed through the Commons as a Standing Order. It hasn’t been done for constitutional reasons but rather for narrow political reasons. It means, for the first time since 1707, MPs are no longer equal. Of course, it has gone completely unreported by the BBC and most of the press.
One unelected head of state met another unelected head of state in a grotesque orgy of gold carriages, bearskin hats and obscene banquets in order to let all those using food banks how lucky they are. As a result of all this feting the Chinese will build a nuclear reactor for us. that is provided we pay double the going rate for electricity .. brilliant! The Chinese, of course, have a huge sovereign wealth fund second only to Norway. Just think .. if Scotland had become independent 30 years ago Cameron would be coming here with his begging bowl.
You may not have been worrying about this but it transpires that the Treason Felony Act 1848 has not been repealed after all. This act makes it a criminal offence, punishable by life imprisonment, to advocate abolition of the monarchy in print, even by peaceful means. The Ministry of Justice said that it had been repealed but then admitted that it hadn’t .. oops!
Roasted and Toasted can ignore all this, of course, they have more urgent matters to attend to.
Those of you who know Aberfoyle probably already know that this is Rob Roy country so the name of this particular tearoom is maybe not that surprising. The reason for us being here is once again down to R B Cunninghame Graham. You may remember, he wrote about the Princess of Buckhaven in a previous post. In another of his stories, ‘A Braw Day’, written in 1900 about his last day at his home in Gartmore House. He makes a passing reference .. ‘the curious moondial, with its niches coloured blue and red’.
If you Google ‘moondial’, unsurprisingly, it tells you that it is an instrument for telling the time using the moon rather than the sun. It also says it is only accurate on the night of a full moon. One week before or after a full moon it is more than 5 hours out! Why on earth would you bother?
We thought we should try to find out if it was still there and to see what sort of form it took. You’re probably thinking, “this pair couldn’t find a harbour the last time they went looking, what chance a tiny moon dial?” Turns out you would not be too far wrong. This particular moondial is no longer telling the time at Gartmore House .. it had been used to help fill in a harbour in Fife!! No, no,no, no, we did eventually find it tucked away round the back of the local Parish Church in a plot dedicated to the Cayzer family who bought Gartmore in 1901.
How to work a moondial
There it was .. not at all what we expected. A couple of hundred years ago, someone, somewhere spent a lot of time and effort designing this thing and presumably it must be more accurate than the Google one assuming you know how to read it. It’s an extremely complicated piece of kit. It cries out for explanation by some of you repositories of useless information. Yes, we are thinking of the Ludbrokes and Hopwoods of this world! Having spent some considerable time trying to figure it out, we concluded that, rather than get up in the middle of the night and go out in the dark to find out what the time was, we would just keep using our iPhones in that traditional and time honoured manner.
Now, if you have ever been engaged in hunting down moondials, you will know that time passes quickly. Before we knew it, it was late afternoon and we hadn’t yet had a scone. The solution was a couple of miles away in Aberfoyle where it was great to see everyone still sitting out at all the roadside cafés, in the mid-October sunshine. However, time was pressing and we just managed to catch Liz MacGregor’s Coffee Shop before it closed. We got the very last scone.
Rather than fight about it, Pat made the ultimate sacrifice and opted for a piece of coffee cake. I, the winner, set about my fruit scone. It came with a pot of jam and a very generous portion of cream. Not that much of a winner though. Perhaps, because it was the last one, it did not seem as fresh as it should have been. Not bad though, I enjoyed it but no ‘topscone’ award. It’s always a wee bit unfortunate when you get a place that’s just about to close. You end up the only ones there and feeling as if you are holding up proceedings. Not that anyone tried to rush us in any way whatsoever .. but you just get that feeling. But, with everything taken into account … lovely weather, a scone, a moondial … an all round ‘braw day’.
A Master of Life
On the nearby Cunninghame Graham memorial the epitaph reads “Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham 1852-1936 – Famous Author – Traveller and Horseman – Patriotic Scot and Citizen of the World – As Betokened by the Stones above. Died in Argentina, interred in Inchamahome – He Was a Master of Life – A King Among Men”. He is still hugely venerated in Argentina which has its presidential elections today. Something, being the politician that he was, would have hugely interested him. Canada also goes to the polls to today, it will be interesting to see if Harper’s Putinesque administration can survive. Let’s hope it’s a ‘braw day’ for the folks in Argentina and Canada as well.
This place, St Mungoi Museum of Religious Life, is very familiar. We both used to work in the adjacent Glasgow Royal Infirmary which you can see in the background on the left.
cafe area
We would sometimes come here for lunch if we wanted a change of scene. Also to look at Salvador Dali’s, Christ of St John of the Cross, bought by Glasgow in the 50s and now estimated to be worth in excess of £60m. Apparently Dali wanted £12,000 but Glasgow made him an offer he couldn’t refuse – £8,200 .. we dread to think. Didn’t see it this time though as it has been moved to the city’s Kelvingrove Gallery. The museum itself is interesting. It was built in 1989 and designed to reflect the architecture of the Bishops’ Castle which stood on this site in the 17th century. It aims to bring together differing faith systems and promote greater understanding.
Zen
It has Britain’s first zen garden and a Clooty Tree, which we always thought was a solely Tibetan tradition. Apparently, though, it is also Scottish, dating back to pre-Christian times. We don’t know of anywhere else where you can see so many works of art and other artefacts brought together from the six big religions: Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Sikhism. All sitting side by side, displaying the huge diversity of belief systems. Also the extraordinary lengths believers go to in creating these amazing artefacts. Each and every one designed to appeal to hearts and minds.
Nicola Sturgeon, a well known sconey, was after hearts and minds yesterday as she delivered her keynote speech to the SNP conference. A speech that the leaders of other parties must have wished they could have delivered. One of strength and unity. Since this place is all about understanding we wonder at the lack of understanding from Westminster for Scotland’s desire to simply stand on it’s own two feet. It’s not such a big ask, surely? Okay, okay, what about the scones?
Well the café area is pleasant enough and in keeping with the architecture of the rest of the building. Their scones, however,(bought in) are best described as ‘ordinary’. Don’t let that put you off visiting the museum.
If we were to ask the question, “which town has the most expensive homes in Scotland” it might be some time before you came up with the answer – Auchterarder. Perhaps it makes more sense when you realise that the main hotel in town is the Gleneagles.
It’s a nice little town, maybe more of a village. No modern buildings, so if you half close your eyes, you can almost see it as it used to be. Horses and carts, maybe some hens scratching about in the main street. Nowadays you are more likely to see a Bentley or an Aston Martin and .. dilemma of dilemmas .. quite a few tearooms and coffee shops. How do you choose? You ask! When we enquired in lady’s fashion emporium Bear Necessities as to what was the best place in town for tea and scones there was an immediate and enthusiastic chorus of “Cafe Kisa” from the entire staff. What better recommendation?
The Lang Toun
Expectations were therefore pretty bouyant as we skipped off down the street in eager anticipation. Would our hopes be dashed on the all too familiar rocks of preloaded scones and mediocre service? Not a bit of it, this place is great! It is located near the centre. Although it can be quite difficult to determine where the centre is, as the town straggles along 1.5 miles of High Street. It’s not known as the ‘Lang Toun’ for nothing. We were looked after by a lovely young girl called ‘Trainee’ who explained our options, ‘plain’, ‘berry and white chocolate’ or ‘apple and cinnamon’. All freshly baked. Pat went for plain and I, being utterly reckless, went for apple and cinnamon.
Pat took one little nibble at hers and said “topscone”! That’s how easy the decision was. The apple and cinnamon was fab as well and came with their homemade apple and kiwi jam which was absolutely delicious. This is just one of these places where everything comes together nicely. Although busy with a good vibe, it also has a quiet sense of calm that you tend to get when you know everything is under control. We think they probably take their inspiration from this picture they have in the loo.
Wildebeest
About ten years ago Auchterarder played host to the G8 summit. At these meetings we assume that they discuss global affairs and how to make things better for all us little citizens of the world. If they do, it’s not working! Currently the world is in a right old mess. A plethora of vicious wars and mass migrations of people reminiscent of these programmes you used to see about wildebeest.
Even in the UK we have 1 in 5 children living in poverty. It is now so bad, Vladamir Putin appears to be the world leader making the most moral and practical sense. That probably says more about the others than it does about him! Nevertheless, we are pretty sure that if all eight leaders were tasked (and we realise that this might be a bit of an ask) with finding the best scone in Auchterarder, a town of many scones, they would all end up here in Café Kisa.
Unless you are a climber or hill walker, Arrochar is not a destination, it is somewhere you pass through on your way to other places. For hill walkers the view from the village across the end of the loch towards the Cobbler is exciting. You come on it suddenly. Round the corner and there it is, your target for the day. Over the years the Arrochar has changed little. Still busy with traffic thundering through on its way towards the Rest And Be Thankful and beyond to places like Inverary, Lochgilphead and Campbeltown.
The young couple who run the tearoom are a delight, helpful and friendly and keen to chat. Somewhat oddly though, the scones on display are all individually wrapped in cling film, presumably to keep them as fresh as possible. Does anyone else do this .. does it work, let us know? We think it detracts from the look of the scones. They should be out breathing the fresh Loch Long air. There were some slightly perplexed looks when we asked if we could have our scones with separate jam and cream. Their cream scones were already made up and you all know what we think about that!
Its all to do with the car park
Never mind, the scones were homebaked and very good with generous proportions .. not quite topscones but not too far off either. I had the cream one and Pat had a plain one.
Pat’s plain scone
The tearoom is hard against the road, and if it wasn’t for a small parking area opposite, it would be very difficult to stop. It has had six successful years with the current owners however all is threatened by a proposal to build on the car park on which the tearoom largely depends. It only takes eight cars and has been used by the community for as long as anyone can remember. However, Luss Estates have discovered that they own it .. and now they have plans which, if successful, could completely scupper the tearoom. We don’t know the rights and wrongs of this particular situation but it does highlight a much larger problem.
Land Ownership
Scotland has the most concentrated land ownership in the developed world. Just 432 people own half of the private land. Land prices are far too high, rents are extortionate, and hence young people are leaving when they can’t even get a scrap of land for housing. The tearoom may have some sort of chance because at least they know who owns the car park .. sometimes it can be the devil’s own job finding out who actually owns
tearoom from the car park
land. Much of it is held in tax havens like the British Virgin Islands. The Scottish government is trying to do something about it with the Scottish Land Reform Bill. It, amongst other things, is intended to increase transparency via a land registry and help facilitate community buy outs. Needless to say they are meeting vociferous opposition. It is actually starting to look as if they have already caved in to pressure from powerful lobbyists. Land held in tax havens will not now be affected in any way by the Bill. In fact, the Bill may end up so watered down as to be next to useless.
More backbone please
C’mon Holyrood, a bit more backbone please! Find out more at SLAM. Anyway, next year if you are driving through Arrochar keep an eye out for this tearoom. If it’s still open, use the car park, go in and have a bite to eat .. you’ll get a lovely welcome.
Many, of a certain age, will remember the child singing sensation, Lena Zavaroni, who made her name on Hughie Green’s, Opportunity Knocks, way back in 1974. Her biggest hit was “Ma! He’s Making Eyes at Me”.
Lena Zavaroni
Apparently she still holds the record for the youngest person ever to have had an album in the Top 10 … at ten years of age. In spite of, or perhaps because of, her fame she led a rather tragic life dominated by anorexia and depression. As a result she sadly died in 1999, aged 35. Her grandfather had been an Italian immigrant and she grew up here in Rothesay, on the Isle of Bute, where her dad had a chip shop. The family name is still writ large above several establishments along the town’s seafront, including the chip shop and, of course, at Cafe Zavaroni.
Bucking the trend
Like many towns on the Clyde, Rothesay has many very grand Victorian buildings. A reminder of its illustrious past as the destination of choice for thousands of Glasgow working folk on their holidays. Lately, west coast islands, especially the ones that have become community owned, have experienced a healthy increase in population but unfortunately the Isle of Bute is bucking the trend. Probably not helped by the fact that the Marquess of Bute’s family own most of it but, of course, none of them live here. More rantings on land reform in the next post, bet you can’t wait! Nowadays, everyone flies off to Benidorm and the good times for Rothesay are but a distant memory.
Scrape it off
Cafe Zavaroni belongs to Lena’s cousin Margaret who is also a singer but it’s pictures of Lena that adorn the walls. A typical seaside establishment it offers ice cream and all the other tasty bites associated with seaside cafes. Margaret is charming, keen to introduce herself and give you a very warm welcome … nice, but maybe slightly OTT? When our scones arrived the jam and cream had already been added “to save you the bother”. We must have looked slightly askance because it was quickly followed by “you can scrape it off if you want!” This presentation was undoubtedly done with the best of intentions and Margaret would be sore affronted if she knew we were being critical, so don’t tell her! However, you sconeys know how we feel and this particular example was again … a bit OTT. The scones themselves were actually not too bad. Had they not been smothered in ‘stuff’, the story might have been different. Unfortunately Cafe Zavaroni has not made it into our Top 10.
Britnats
The news beyond Bute’s shores is interesting as much for what is out as what is in. In, is the EU referendum. Now those of you with keen memories will remember that before the Scottish referendum the word ‘ScotNat’ became a dirty word with almost traitorous connotations. Spat from the trembling lips of disapproving broadcasters. Now, somewhat oddly for those of us in Scotland, the folks arguing to leave the EU are arguing for … guess what? More control over their own affairs. Exactly the same as those pesky ScotsNats .. but, don’t call BritNats, BritNats – as it upsets them! Shall we just call them ‘separatists’?
Out of the news, certainly out of BBC Scotland’s news where it has not even been given a mention is the fact that the former LibDem Secretary of State for Scotland is in Court for lying during the General Election. Had it been an SNP MP it would have been given minute by minute coverage.
Jailed bankers
Also out of the news is Iceland, the country (basket case) with which Scotland was threatened with ending up like if it became independent. It has just paid off all its obligations to the IMF much earlier than expected. Mind you, most of its bankers are in jail. The ones who escaped are working .. guess where .. London. Slightly different approach maybe but well done the beautiful isle of Iceland.
Back on the beautiful Isle of Bute where none of this seemingly matters, we wish Margaret and Cafe Zavaroni well. It’s nice to get such an effusive welcome and it’s good to see Lena’s memory being maintained in this tiny, if slightly forgotten, corner of the UK.
Many people, especially Glasgow people, will be aware of Kate Cranston’s name and know that she was the owner and driving force behind the famous Willow Tea Rooms which opened in 1903 at 217 Sauchiehall Street. ‘Sauchie’ means ‘willow’, hence the name. She commissioned architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, to design everything; the rooms, the furniture, the cutlery, right down to the waitress’s costumes. It became the place to meet for the gentlemen and ladies of the time and by all accounts was the epitome of ‘genteel’. In 1901 it was reported “One states the amount of one’s indebtedness, and receives a check therefore from the attendant maiden. This, with the corresponding coin or coins, one hands in at the pay-desk, and so home. Nothing could be simpler or less irritating.”
a Mackintosh light fitting
For some reason that system fell into disuse but we definitely feel that ‘attendant maidens’ should be reintroduced.
The Glasgow Rose
The enterprise was a tremendous success and Kate, who was a tad eccentric, became a familiar and flamboyant figure on the Glasgow scene. Through her commissions she actively promoted two groups of artists. The Glasgow Boys and the Glasgow Girls who developed what eventually became known as the Glasgow Style. After her husband died in 1917, however, she lost interest, sold her tearooms and withdrew from society. She led a very low-key existence on the south side of the city until her death in 1934, aged 85.
She left most of her money to the poor of the city. The tradition she started over 100 years ago carries on to this day and so we find ourselves here in the Buchanan Street establishment which, although not original, is a faithful copy of the now defunct, Ingram Street tearoom.
the Mackintosh designed, White Room
Opera
It has replicated the White Room (the one we are in) and the blue Chinese Room, upstairs. Now we were in a bit of a rush because we were going to a lecture on opera at the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons .. don’t ask. Luckily the service was very efficient and in no time we had our scone. And what a scone it was! Quite big, but really light and fluffy and with plenty jam and cream. Looking at that picture of Kate you can tell that she just knew she would get a ‘topscone’ award. We think she would still be proud though.
Don’t mention Scotland
Proud, unfortunately is not a word that could be used about the last week in politics, particularly if you live north of the border. A year ago, the PM could not stop blabbering about how crucially important Scotland was to the UK but, now, just one year on, in his annual address to the party, barely a mention. And of course Labour MPs and activists have been advised not to use the word ‘Scotland’ at all. What would Kate have made of it all?
For those of a curious nature, we made the lecture on time and it was excellent; at some point however we may return to the Willow Tea Rooms for a more relaxed visit.
From the outside, Leonardo Caffé and Villa Rosa look like separate entities but, don’t be fooled. Inside they are a single unit with a large garden area at the back. Must be wonderful in the summer. The business was set up by brother and sister team Leo and Rosa in 1983. Originally from Puglia in Southern Italy they pride themselves on everything they sell being authentically Italian. Okay, maybe not the coffee, it’s from Columbia … but it is blended in Italy. We will let them away with that one .. because it’s excellent. 
This woman has conducted herself with such steadfast grace over so many difficult periods in her life that she must rank amongst the Mandelas and Ghandis of this world. Although slight in stature, women don’t come any stronger than this. She will need every ounce of it in the months ahead if she is to move her country forward. Although she thinks she knows what is best for her country the power still lies with the military who know what is best. She may need some help from Rosa … we wish them both well.
