My friend’s brother, who is the proud owner of delightful Muffin the Maltese, had mentioned this fabulous American style coffee and cake stop on the Chiswick High Road at Christmas so we were mighty excited about going to visit.
As we arrived around 1130am on a Sunday morning we had stop to chat to Elvis (possibly a Border Terrier? Sorry – I didn’t get a chance to check in the social melee) and his three people companions who all swooned and took pictures of Alfie (he’s starting to get used to the “pupparizi!”)
Whilst there are tables and chairs outside, dogs are welcome inside too! It’s a relatively small space – dominated by a grand sit-up bar with Paul Smithesque colour stripes over which David (one of the co-owners) presides. In front is an amazing array of baked confections and behind are shelves stocked with all manner of American goodies – from cereals, to peanut butter, tea (Teapigs!) to BBQ sauces.
I don’t know how many times we had to be told the names and ingredients of all the different cakes in front of us – I guess with that many temptations in front of you, your brain stops normal processing. There were bars, cakes, Whoopie pies, cheese cakes, cup cakes, bunts – and the flavours were recited like poetry – peanut butter, orange poppy seed, double chocolate, cinnamon, lemon, red velvet, molasses and plum. There were some fabulous names too – BlackOut Cake and MileHigh Bar. Anyway, we settled for an extremely chocolaty brownie, a truly indulgent peanut butter iced brownie and a slice of lighter than light proper New York style cheesecake.
The coffee, as you would expect, was better than good. Our cakes were served on small square metal trays which we passed around as we sampled each other’s choices. While we enjoyed our coffee and cakes, we admired the paintings of the owners’ dogs and we were asked whether our dogs were allowed some doggy treats (you’ll notice on their web site that there is a special section on dog treats in the “barkery”) – of course!
We watched a series of visitors come into the store to admire the range of goods, have a chat to David and some of the locals and make their choices. There was a steady stream of young folk too – a couple of little princesses came in with determined looks and left bearing their prizes in little brown boxes which they carried in front of them triumphantly like treasure as their dads trailed behind.
The portion sizes were huge – and we simply couldn’t finish our cakes so we each took home some pieces in little boxes and bags. A little slice of New York in Chiswick – and dog friendly too. Are we happy? Oh yes we are!
http://www.outsidertart.com/barkery/
You can also catch the Outsider Tart team at the Real Food areas on the South Bank. And they even have a Cook Book and a take out/delivery service.
