I like to go to Laporte’s on
sunny but breezy days. Their garden is surrounded by a high flint wall which
captures the heat of the day, but excludes the wind. You feel like a
particularly fortunate lizard, basking in the sunshine while being served your
food. There’s also a bit of shade if you get overheated.
They do a good line in
simple lunches (sandwiches or salads with local ingredients), generous
vegetarian specials (carrot, coriander and lime fritters were on the menu last
time I was there), but they are best known for their all-day breakfasts.
The French toast with bacon
is particularly good. The toast looks hefty – each slice an inch high – yet it
is gloriously light and gooey inside. It makes the perfect cushion for the bacon,
especially once you’ve drizzled tangy blueberries and sweet maple syrup all
over it.
Recently, they’ve opened a “chic
shed” or garden room so you can shelter from the rain but still feel like you
are outside. It’s arranged like a family’s much-loved outhouse with furniture
stacked against the wall, cobwebs connecting garden forks with benches, and
blackberries ripening above the skylight.
I sat in there the other day
and had carrot cake and a cup of tea. The cake was very well-judged – moist and
full of flavour, yet light and springy. I leafed through a magazine while the
sun warmed my ankles and children squabbled outside.
There is also a little shop
as you walk into the cafe. It’s like a mini encyclopaedia of local produce.
There’s fresh fruit and veg (I got some good quinces from them last autumn),
cheese, milk, bacon, sausages, flour, pulses, preserves, chocolate, cooking
oils, honey, dips, and so on.
A great Lewes cafe.
Definitely worth a visit.
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