A Toned Down Automatic Leon In Leeds Station
Leon have opened a new outlet in Leeds station.
It’s toned-down with an automatic order facility.
Leon Has Smart-Looking Glasses For Gluten-Free Beer
I had lunch in Leon at Ludgate Circus.
It was only a chicken burger and fries, but I did have an Estrella Damm Daura.
It even came with a smart-looking Glass.
Top Class Service With A Smile
I only went into this busy Leon on Tottenham Court Road for a hot chocolate and a gluten-free cake.
As it takes a minute to make a hot chocolate, the young lady at the counter, suggested I sit down and she’d bring it over.
Which she did with a smile.
Rescued By Timpsons
Putting my boots back to go to the Football at around five, one of the laces gave up the ghost.
Timpsons? Surely, they could help.
But I would have to hurry, as it shut at six o’clock. I suppose the good peoiple of Manchester have to get up early to work in the satanic mills, so shops close early.
I eventually found a Timpsons in the Arndale Centre and for a few pounds, I got some new laces.
As the price included fitting, that must be three cheers for Timpsons!
As I left the Arndale Centre, many shops were closing.
Could the decline in High Street sales be partly because opening hours no longer fit the times, when the public now want to shop?
I regularly shop for everyday needs in the evening, if the television is rubbish and will go out for a snack supper to say a Leon or Carluccio’s and then perhaps pop-in to a Marks and Spencer to get food for a few days or perhaps some clothes from Eastfield. Usually shops in Inner London close at nine or ten.
My local M & S foodhall in Dalston, which is shutting at ten tonight, is just two bus stops away.
Perhaps, more people need to live in City Centres to revive them?
Big Companies And Contactless Ticketing
I use contactless ticketing a lot and have never had a problem that has cost me any money or even inconvenience.
I also check my credit card statement regularly to make sure everything is as it should be.
But what annoys me is that you use your card in some multiple outlets and the information on your statement, isn’t that precise.
I know Leon; the natural fast-food chain aren’t that big, but every transaction from them is precise and identifiable.
Some big companies could follow Leon’s example.
A Plaintiff Plea On Wake Up To Money
I regularly listen to Wake Up to Money on BBC Radio 5 Live.
One morning, they were talking to Kentucky Fried Chicken about their new vegan burgers. As a coeliac, I say Yuck! to that!
Somebody else texted the program and said something like.
I’m a coeliac, how about more gluten-free food.
In fact it was a bad week for me as a coeliac last week.
- I found Beyond Bread had closed on Upper Street.
- Le Petite Bretagne closed in Dalston.
- I spent about twenty minutes looking for a coffee and a gluten-free cake in Liverpool Street.
All this passion for vegan and vegetarian food, is marginalising those like me, who have to avoid gluten.
I’ve still got a couple of cafes in Dalston, where this is possible and I could always go to M & S and take a cake home.
But I refuse to buy an expensive coffee maker.
After Liverpool Street, I ended up in Leon in Moorgate.
Note the excellent gluten-free cake and the posh cup and saucer.
Note, that because of my stroke, I like a proper china cup or mug
I tend to avoid American-owned chains like Costa and Starbucks, as some American gluten-free practices are suspect to say the least. I used to like Cadbury’s Bournville chocolate, but now I believe it uses addictive wheat-derived glucose, I wouldn’t dare touch it.
As I said finding good cafes and restaurants that do gluten free well is becoming more difficult.
- Carluccio’s is creaking and many that I used regularly like Glasgow, Islington, Liverpool and Westfield have closed.
- Pattiserie Valerie is struggling and has closed a lot of outlets.
- Jamie’s Italian has gone bust.
- If I go a bit upmarket, there is Bill’s and Cote, but they are not ideal for a fast pit-stop.
As last week, I suspect that most coeliacs hope that Leon or others following their relaxed, quirky and customer and diet-friendly model, prosper.
Freedoming
These days many pensioners like me, get free public transport in their local area.
Londoners like me, get a Freedom Pass, which gives free buses, Underground, Overground, trams and trains, within the M25.
I will often get up, look at the BBC London News, the weather and other sources. I may then decide to go to Canary Wharf, Richmond ir wherever to have a walk, see an exhibition or whatever.
London is an amazing cornucopia of delights, which is a sentiment echoed by others who live close to our other great cities.
Free public transport enables this lifestyle.
I think the various cafe and restaurant chains can tap into this lifestyle, as often one of the reason to go to a place is to have a good meal or a drinki.
If like me, you like particular chains, I believe that their web sites could be an important part in planning how to waste a few hours.
Suppose, their web site had the following features.
- A simple list of all their cafes and restaurant, with st most a short description like “Close to Pierhead”
- The ability to sign up to a simple e-mail alert of new openings and closures. Note the word simple!
I believe that if I got a message saying a chain had opened in say Kingston, it might prompt me to go and have a walk and perhaps lunch, with a friend I haven’t seen for years.
Note.
- Lists are much better than maps, if you don’t know the area.
- Companies are relying too much on apps, which are OK for finding places near where you are, but are useless, if you are using the cafe or restaurant, as the resewn to go or the starting point for an explore.
- I believe Carluccio’s troubles started, when they abandoned their list on their web site. I told them so in strong terms.
Patteriserie Valerie has an excellent list.
Is Leon The Only Fast-Food Restaurant, Where You Get Personal Service?
When I ordered my full English pot in Leon a few minutes ago, they were temporarily out. So the assistant told me to sit down and he brought it to me a couple of minutes later.
This regularly happens in Leon and it’s one of the reasons I go!
Leon Goes Posh!
I took this picture in the Leon Restaurant on Moorgate yesterday, where I often go for breakfast.
I’m not a lover of plastic cups and in that restaurant, I can have a big mug of tea with my gluten-free full English in a pot!
As you can see, those who don’t like plastic cups or mugs sized for builders, can now have their beverage in a real cup and with a posh saucer.
My First Fast Food Burger In Twenty Years
As a coeliac, I do eat burgers, but only from the upmarket chains and proper restaurants, who say everything is gluten free.
I also trust McDonalds chips, which with an orange juice make a stomach filler.
Today I got an e-mail, which said that Leon now do gluten-free buns with their burgers.
The char-grilled chicken burger was very nice.
I certainly didn’t have any adverse reaction.
