‘Walk through London as much as possible’ 🇬🇧

In 2009, before specialty coffee was much of a thing in London, Peter Dore-Smith and his wife, Rita, opened Kaffeine. Today Peter runs two Kaffeine locations in Fitzrovia, central London, to which he cycles 9 miles each morning. With more than two decades in London’s F&B industry, Peter’s Filter guide to London is a local’s look at dining and exploring through the parks and along the lanes above the tube.

*Peter Dore-Smith founded Kaffeine in Fitzrovia, central London, in 2009. Photos courtesy of Kaffeine*

Filter: What do you like to do for fun around London?

Oh this is easy. I always cycle to and from work every day, a total of 18 miles. My ride takes me past Olympic Park, along the canal, through Victoria Park, and then along the main streets through Shoreditch up through Clerkenwell and onto Oxford Street. I am not full-on racing bike with lycra type, but I have a hybrid bike.

But for fun I will get up early on a Sunday and cycle the same town and then all the way around Hyde Park and back again and I listen to banging uplifting trance and hard house rave music from my favourite club when I lived in London from ‘95 to ‘98. On a hot sunny morning it is truly majestic.

Filter: If a good friend came to visit, where would you be sure to take them?

Again this is easy and there is obviously SO much to do in London. But the Sky Garden is superb, be sure to book in advance. And getting a boat on the Thames is very cool, like the Uber boats so you can go all the way from Greenwich up the river to Battersea Power Station.

We would definitely go to Hawksmoor for dinner or Sunday roast, or to our local pub the Leytonstone Tavern or The Duke in Wanstead. Brick Lane on a sunny Sunday with Columbia Road Flower Market—there is a lot of London coffee history here. And speaking of coffee, I might go to Flat White in Berwick Street to say ‘this is where it all started.’

Filter: What do you do to escape the city?

I came back to London in 2005, this time with my wife, and we soon found these two books called Time Out Country Walks. Basically the books are full of approx. 200 walks each where you catch a train from London, get off at a station in the country, then do a walk through the countryside, through fields and down lanes with full instructions, stop at a country pub for lunch, and then end up back at the same station, or some other random station and return to London. An incredible day out and loads of fun.

Filter: What touristy things in London are worth the hype?

As above, the Sky Garden is truly the best especially at sunset, and the London Eye and Buckingham Palace, especially if you come in summer and it is open to the public. In 2005 I worked as a waiter at the Queens Summer Garden parties, then in 2012 as the owner of Kaffeine I was invited as a guest to a cocktail party in honour of the Queen before she went on a trip to Australia!

You really need to walk through London as much as possible to get the full perspective on everything as well and make sure you look up!

Filter: Where are your favorite hidden gems in London?

Well again you can leave London and do a country walk so I choose that first, but I would say Regent’s Park is the best, especially entering from the southeast end which is only 10 minutes walk from my two locations.

Another hidden gem is a museum called the Wallace Collection. It is in Marylebone and really is a beautiful building with amazing artwork.

Filter: What's another coffee shop around there that you really admire, and why?

There are two places if that is okay. I always recommend any coffee people to go to Flat White in Berwick Street. For me this was a huge inspiration when it opened in June 2005 and it was instrumental in making the Flat White the drink of choice first in London and then basically everywhere. It is a tiny, tiny store but the history of this place is incredible.

The other place to go to is Prufrock. Started by the 2009 World Barista Champion and now owned by Square Mile, it has transitioned since covid into a wonderful service-led café.

Filter: What makes London feel like home to you?

Well, I first arrived in 1995 after travelling through Europe for 3 months and straight away felt at home. London is where anything can happen, you can be who you want and express yourself how you feel you want to be and not be ridiculed. The 90s were the best so of course I had a good time and amazing memories and when I left due to my visa expiring in 1998 I thought that was it.

But back in Melbourne I met a beautiful girl and we got married and then she said, “Hey I can get an EU passport, shall we go live in London?” and I said yes straight away. We arrived in 2005 to see what might happen and are obviously still here today.

Filter: How did you end up in the London coffee scene?

I am from the outer suburbs of Melbourne and since age 15 have always wanted to work in hospitality. As above I came to London in 1995 at the age of 25, and then back home working in restaurants and teaching and training hospitality, then back to London in 2005. Inspired by Flat White and my lifelong dream of having my own hospitality business I opened Kaffeine on Great Titchfield in 2009 and then on Eastcastle Street in 2015. But I am not a specialist barista. I have never been able to make coffee to the standards that we see in my locations. For me it is all about hospitality.

Filter: What’s rewarding about leading Kaffeine?

By far the most rewarding is the people who work there and the success stories they have. I have a blog on the website called “Kaffeine 13 years of Legends” which highlights just some of the people who started at Kaffeine and their stories. It is truly remarkable. Also, especially the longer we keep operating, the more people say to me “Oh wow you have done so well” and “Your business is such a success.” This is also very nice but my analogy for this is like being a batsman in cricket. Basically I am still batting today and I need to continue until I am actually bowled out and fail, or my hope is I can retire not out with my team. Therefore, I celebrate the small milestones—like making 100 runs—but then the next moment you need to concentrate again or you might lose your wicket.

Filter: If you could move to any place in the world just for the coffee scene, where would you move, and what shop would be the biggest reason?

Oh well it has to be Melbourne and it would not be just a shop—it would be too many shops to mention.

Filter: Anything you’d like to add?

My wife—Rita. In 2004 she said “Let’s move to London.” Then she said “Stop talking about opening a coffee shop and just do it.” Then just before signing the lease in 2009, we found out we were having our first child and I said “I can stay in my secure job and we will be okay,” she said “No, you must still do this.” When she was 7 months pregnant and I came home crying after only 3 months of being open saying “I just can’t do this, it is too hard,” she said “Well you have to.”

She came up with the name Kaffeine, she helped design the logo, she helped design Eastcastle street, she does all the design work for the shop, she says ‘okay, see you’ when there is an emergency or for some reason I need to go to work on a day planned off. Yeah I hope you get the idea here...... She’s incredible.

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Kaffeine operates two cafes in Fitzrovia, central London.

Kaffeine - Great Titchfield

Kaffeine - Eastcastle Street

Food & Beverage

Cycling routes