Words and photos by Susie Sandford Smith

A couple of Sundays ago I set off for a brisk 'exercise' walk. Armed with a book, my wallet and my camera. My aim was always to end up in a café somewhere spending some time just in my own company, sipping on a coffee and catching up on my book. I thought I'd head into Crouch End but I suddenly remembered this place, The Spoke, I'd walked past countless times recently but, for one reason and another, had never gone in. I was a bit intrigued by the place, it used to be a well dodgy pub but had been closed for years and now seemed to be some sort of cyclists' cafe or café. I've never really thought of Holloway Road as being a hub for cyclists, although the crop of rather brilliant bike shops on Holloway and Hornsey Road sort of suggests differently, and so it seemed a little odd to me and, I guess, that was in part why I'd clocked the place in the first place.

After pounding the streets of Upper Holloway for 45 minutes or so - not as quickly as I'd meant to, I might add, as I seemed to have hurt my foot somehow (hobbled the streets of Upper Holloway may be a more accurate reporting) - I rocked up at The Spoke.

As soon as I walked through the door, I loved the place. It was big and airy with tables of varying sizes, tables that were small enough for a cosy catch up with a friend or big enough for a large family gathering. The furnishing was a bit of this and a bit of that - I sat at a lovely round ironwork table that wouldn't have looked out of place on a Parisian pavement in the sunshine but, I could have sat at the long wooden table in the middle that seemed to be for sharing or....adorably, (I think) I could have perched at a stool keeping watch on the chefs.

Photo of interior of Spoke with bike on the wall

As soon as I was seated I was brought a small jug of water and a glass. I'm always predisposed to liking places where I don't have to ask for water to be brought (though...hmmm..I suppose there could be an argument for saying that bringing out water to those that don't want it is rather wasteful). It seemed as though you could just go and refill your water jug at the sink below as necessary which I think is a nice touch (of course).

Photo of glasses and drinking water tap at Spoke

I started out with a lovely coffee - highly recommended - and a read of my book.

Then I had French Toast with fruits and crème fraiche (eeek...I think it was crème fraiche but, it was a couple of weeks ago now). Anyway, the fruit and crème fraiche were the perfect accompaniment to the French Toast as they kept the whole dish from being too heavy.

Photo of French Toast and fruit at Spoke

And then I just didn't want to leave, not least because my foot was throbbing like a muthafunker, so I ordered a fresh beetroot, apple and ginger juice which was absolutely delicious. And...I LOVED the straw. Simple things please me.

Photo of beetroot juice with candystripe staw

And then....I bought a slice of carrot cake to take the The Spoke experience home with me. Tut. I meant to have it much later whilst writing up my morning and drinking a lovely cuppa. I'd also intended to share it with whichever child was at home and fancied some but....., I ate it all, gobbled it all up, almost as soon as I got through the door! I opened up the box to just take a photo, and then I decided that the photo would look better with a bit of cake on a fork and then...I thought..., I may as well eat that little piece now. And then, I had to have another piece and another until before I knew it, the whole piece was gone. Oh dear. But, Boy, was it good!

Apart from a bike mounted on a wall (which reminded me of home) and a lone cyclist, I couldn't see the cycling connection - I had thought that it might have been along the lines of look mum no hands where there's a bicycle workshop. But, the website says that The Spoke is bike friendly and I suppose there are probably a lot of places that wouldn't appreciate lots of lycra clad men (and women) hanging about all day.

The breakfast/brunch menu was good with a mix of granola type stuff and proper fry ups and it seems as though they're quite proud of their burgers. They're clearly serving up good quality fresh food and the service is warm and friendly and, most importantly, very good. I'll definitely go back, maybe even for a cheeky little solo brunch tomorrow. They had an impressive range of booze and, again, the website says that they're going to offer "expertly crafted cocktails" and..., we all know that I'm a sucker for a good cocktail.

The Spoke - http://www.thespokelondon.com/

710 Holloway Road, N19 3NH

From the Archives: The Spoke - brunching alone on the Holloway Road