Ropes & Twines

With a nod to its Ropewalks neighbourhood, Ropes & Twines is a speciality coffee shop, wine bar and even art gallery (incorporating, as it does, The Lightbox photography exhibition space), offering snacky stomach-lining small plates alongside cakes to compliment your caffeine fix.

Opening on bustling Bold Street in June 2018, the ethos since the get-go has been “sourcing and serving the highest quality produce from all over the world”, and the super-slick look of the place backs this up. Wine wise, there is plenty, including wine jukebox facilities to let you try out some of the fancier high-end numbers on a by-the-glass basis, plus off-the-list bottles – chat to your server to find out more about what’s secretly stocked. Downstairs, in the cellar (aptly), wine tasting events are a regular feature – most recently, Greek viticulture was explored. Also downstairs, the kitchen busily tries and tests new recipes, from homemade butties to in-house bakes. Mere slices of humble bread are elevated – for sandwiches, think Italian mortadella with peppery rocket and charred roasted tomatoes on sourdough; for toasted sarnies, think smoked coppa trentina from the Alps melded with Spanish manchego. Mornings bring fresh pastries and homemade banana chocolate breakfast bars; afternoons, sweet treats come in the form of Bakewell slices and scones, lemon and poppy seed cake, and even vegan brownies, made with Ropes’ own in house bean-to-bar chocolate. Keep tabs on the socials to see what chef Remy rustles up next – anything from hand-decorated Easter eggs to limited-edition bon bons, flavours the likes of strawberry gel and Greek yoghurt ganache, macadamia praline and lemongrass ganache, and crispy pecan purée with cinnamon ganache.

All of this takes us full circle back to the coffee shop aspect of Ropes. Expect their beans to be meticulously curated, with the likes of Brooklyn’s Sey Coffee, apparently “ridiculously hard to get your hands on” and bringing a dynamic and complex brew to the table. ⁠

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