The Perks

Leslie Williams praises the "charming staff and a rich, darkly acidic but refreshing cup of coffee" he enjoyed in Perk, a small chain of three coffee shops in the city run by Bobby Kerr. We asked Bobby how he does it.

'I picked up a lot of the ideas for Perk from both the States and Europe, and tried to combine the best of Europe with the best of the States, with a European influence for the coffee and a Stateside influence for the sandwich offer and the patisserie we serve, which is made for me by Denis Lumley.
'What we try to achieve is that you will always get the exact same standard and consistency in each branch (Grafton Street, Dawson Street and Baggot Street). We make our sandwiches, we roast our chickens, we make our soups, all of which is done in Sheriff Street, and at 7am each morning a truck takes the basic ingredients from Sheriff Street and then the sandwiches are finished in each individual branch.
'With the coffee, we worked with Patrick Bewley and developed a blend that is unique to us.
'The design of the shops was done with Kieran Flanagan, and again we wanted something distinctive.
'The basement in Laura Ashley on Grafton Street was the first shop and, whilst it was a slow start, they are rockin' in there now'.

email John and Sally | read other articles in this issue