Petitou

Rumours that Peckham was becoming as up-itself as East Dulwich have been, thankfully, greatly exaggerated. All the same, Petitou occupies a leafy corner plot in an area rather grandly known as the Bellenden Conservation Area, which comes as something of a surprise, being just one block down from the roustabout Rye Lane with its Asda, myriad phone unlockers and halal meat markets. There are tables on the pavement, among the planters, and inside the L-shaped café a good deal of reclaimed, scrubbed wood, and flyers about yoga and meditation. Food is bracing: hefty quiches and salads, well-filled sandwiches on hunky granary breads, with own-made chilli jam among the extras. Meat and fish is responsibly sourced, with oft-praised hams from Flock & Herd. A colourful three-salad combo (Greek, green and creamy new potato) came with delicious warm flatbread, so made a satisfying lunch. Repleteness did not, however, prevent us from ordering a moist lemon polenta cake with our coffee, along with a Tweet Tweet biscuit. The latter we assumed would be worthily punishing, being gluten- and sugar-free, but turned out to be a melt-in-the-mouth, protein-packed composite of tahini, dates, seeds and nuts – a sweet tweet indeed. It doesn’t do to judge by appearances round here.