1882

Thought it was about time I commented on a coffee shop that's opened up near my office. Caffe Vergnano 1882. It's actually been there over a year now, but has kind of achieved critical mass with my colleagues, who all universally love it.
And with good cause - it's fabulous. A wee bit expensive, ok, but such a great experience. Bottom line: the coffee is so good, lovingly produced by extremely professional and discreet baristas on an amazing machine, and then presented beautifully:

It's a great place to come and chat, think about stuff, sidestep a little. I've had a little look at their website too, and it does all the good stuff that a decent brand should do nowadays, which basically is total focus on the core thing that they do well, and a great customer experience.

Only question in my mind is: why 1882 in the name? It might be something simple like the first cafe they opened, but it might be something more significant going back into European history with the coffee shops in Paris pre the French Revolution, the barricades.... but then the date is a lot later than all that... The Franco-Prussian War was in 1870-71.. Oh, I don't know. Does anyone else??