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It seems that Glasgow is leading Britain in the move to a cafe culture. I spotted this article in The Herald whilst sitting in Bean Scene, Creswell Lane, Glasgow this evening. It’s a headline that comes around every now and then, especially when politicians are talking about pub related disorder. But there’s a strong element of truth in this headline, and it’s great to see it doing so well.

We’d all been couped up inside working all day, and were getting a little stir crazy. A pub didn’t appeal, so we headed straight in to the west end of Glasgow to sample some of the growing cafe culture scene there. Frances’ brother Paul has been a fan of these places for a while now, but this was my first trip out to one. A large number of cafes stay open late, and offer a various mix of comfy chairs, live music and a decent cup of coffee. No rowdy, smoky pubs.

As the article says, Glasgow certainly seems to be ahead of the curve. Try doing this in London: Most cafes shut around 6pm, and leave the social venue scene to pubs. And as that’s all that’s on offer, most people stick to them. It was remarkably enjoyable to sit in a nice atmosphere, with not a jot of alcohol to be seen, and talk away for a couple of hours.

We’re still some way away from the laid back European cafe scene. Outside seating is purely a sport for the brave here in Glasgow. But it’s going from strength to strength, with a huge variety of coffee and tea shops around the west end.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 9th, 2004 at 11:12 pm and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.