[title]
There’s no Londoner more intimidating than an indie-coffee-shop barista. They inspire awe and anxiety in equal measure. Here’s how to engage in just-dead casual chit-chat.
DO SAY
‘Very into the whole mid-century-meets-Basquiat aesthetic you guys have curated in here.’
DON’T SAY
‘Have you heard of Banksy? You should get a Banksy print.’
Photograph: Ozone Coffee Shoreditch
DO SAY
[Gesturing towards a Sonos blaring perplexing electronica]
‘What’s this playing now? It’s fantastic.’
DON’T SAY
[Gesturing towards a customer’s ringtone – ‘Shotgun’ by George Ezra]
‘What’s this playing now? It’s fantastic.’
Photograph: Prufrock Coffee
DO SAY
‘The almonds in your milk, are they locally reared and humanely blended?’
DON’T SAY
‘Could I get squirty cream, hundreds and thousands and five extra lids, please?’
Photograph: Old Spike Roastery
DO SAY
‘How much for one of your tote bags? Not the vagina one, the cat grave one. £27? Super.’
DON’T SAY
‘I’ll have the cheapest item you sell, the wi-fi password and directions to a power socket so that I might ostentatiously hammer out another four chapters of my self-published erotic sci-fi novel while grunting unsettlingly.’
Make friends using your new coffee chat in one of these brilliant coffee bars in London.
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