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The slickest of fashion cafes has arrived in central London with the London flagship store of Aimé Leon Dore bringing a Greek-inspired coffee and pastry shop in-tow with one of New York City’s hottest menswear brands.
The immaculately designed walnut and marble room opened on the corner of Soho’s Broadwick and Poland Streets on Friday 3 June.
While the hip streetwear adjacent brand has earned enormous transatlantic popularity through inspired photoshoots and collaborations with the likes of New Balance and the New York Yankees, the London cafe is pitching itself a little more for the grown-up hypemen, with an aesthetic that leans into Tuscan and Parisian cafe-chic, which itself has always had a place in west London. The Broadwick Street terrace, with its fine view of the flagship Veggie Pret, will surely be a hit this summer.
As for the food and drink, Café Leon Dore will keep it simple: “a curated menu inspired by Greek culture... features the freddo espresso and freddo cappuccino, two frothy iced espresso drinks, as well as an assortment of greek pastries and grocery items.” Coffee comes from the Greek supplier Loumidis.
Hot Dinners reports that the cafe offers pastries such as kourabiedes (almond), melomakarona (honey and walnut) and kulourakia (butter) as well as croissants, and dry goods like honey, chocolate wafers, and chamomile tea.
The brand was founded in 2014 by the designer Teddy Santis. The NYC flagship carries the original Café Leon Dore. According to the Business of Fashion, in January 2022, LVMH Luxury Ventures took a minority stake in Aimé Leon Dore for an undisclosed sum.
To mark the London launch and a fresh New Balance “Made in UK” collaboration, the brand linked up with Arsenal and England star Bukayo Saka.
More soon from the frontier of fashion and f&b.