Milk Beach is the latest cafe to open in Queen’s Park, London, offering expertly sourced coffee from around the world. The venue's natural wine bar will be launching this Thursday, 13 September, offering organic wines from independent winemakers, in an open studio space.
The new concept serves an all-day brunch menu of Australian-inspired dishes, carefully curated by Head Chef, Chris Munnings (Duck & Waffle Local), who is overseeing the kitchen.
Highlights include Coddled eggs in a jar with cream and sweet potato purée, sea salt and chives, served with sourdough soldiers; Granny Elly’s banana bread with espresso cream cheese; and Poke Bowl, with tuna tamari, brown rice, pineapple chilli salsa, wakame seaweed, avocado, crispy shallots, spring onion and sesame seeds. Little Bread Pedlar pastries are also served throughout the day.
Evening menus are composed of globally inspired sharing plates, skillfully paired to the wine list. Developed by Munnings, with guidance from Chef Consultant George Tomlin (P. Franco), the concise offering runs from House-made taramasalata on sourdough toast; to Shaoxing poached bass, ginger and coriander; and Burrata with figs, pine nuts and parsley. Quality is of utmost importance, with Neals Yard supplying all dairy and cheese and Rushtons providing vegetables.
At the heart of Milk Beach is coffee, which owners Elliot Milne and Matthew Robley-Siemonsma bring their collective experience to, ensuring flavour comes first, with the aim to go beyond surface level appreciation for the drink. Robley-Siemonsma’s approach is technical and he intends to serve only one type of coffee bean, roasted in multiple ways and changing seasonally. The roastery at Tate Britain is used for Milk Beach’s coffee, as it’s state-of-the-art production creates a consistent quality drink.
The approach to wine is the same as the coffee. Focused on smaller independent winemakers, all the wines are organic and natural, with most served by the glass, and available to purchase at Milk Beach to enjoy at home. Highlights include the orange wine; Momento Mori ‘Staring At The Sun’ (2017) from Australia, TWR Pinot Noir (2015) hailing from Malborough, New Zealand and TWR Toru (2017), which is made from a blend of three grapes, which grow together in a single vineyard.