This week marks a turning point in my time at The Student, being just about to make the leap from writer to editor. As such, I wanted to take the opportunity to mention one final, favourite BookNook of mine.
Last semester, I received a lot of café recommendations from my fellow students. By no stretch did all of these end up in my column but I enjoyed hearing about people’s secret spots and was always glad to stumble across somewhere new. So much so that when I was introduced to someone who inadvertently let slip that he worked as a ‘Barista’, I immediately asked him whereabouts he worked – so enthusiastically that he still teases me about it on a regular basis. Anyway, to my very great surprise he named somewhere in Marchmont that I hadn’t already heard of.
Having moved down to Tollcross at the end of my second year, I had missed the new addition of The Century General Store. It lies opposite Sainsbury’s on the Marchmont Road and, if you’ve been walking past it everyday without visiting, let me tell you that you’re missing out on the yummiest coffee and hot chocolate in the vicinity.
If that isn’t an incentive, or the Florentines (my favourite of the treats on offer), there’s gluten free bread and cards (useful for the morning that you wake up realizing that you’d forgotten all about your Dad’s impending birthday/mothering Sunday), pencils and candles, storage jars and pot plants, plus a whole host of other delights to liven up even the dampest of student flats.
Aside from the fact that everything is sourced locally and both Stevie and James (who work there) are super friendly, my favourite part is the little Coffee Nook where I can huddle in the corner with a warm drink and do some people watching.
I really can’t recommend popping in for a pastry/coffee enough and, as an added incentive, I have been reliably informed that if you become enough of a regular they might even name a drink after you!