Minute-taking with Maté at Kooks

October 7th 

Writing is a funny thing. It is a very solitary occupation, but in my experience it tends to flourish most when you surround yourself with other writers. You can feed off their ideas, their excitement, and become energized by their creative impetus. Every time I have been for breakfast with a fellow writer, I have come away with fresh enthusiasm for the act of writing, and my breakfast with Maté was no different.

At the time, Maté was my colleague. He had not been at the company for long and was fresh from the final stages of his creative writing Ph.D., which was all done bar the final viva. He had also had a story published, a wonderful post-apocalyptic survival tale entitled In The Panther’s Wake. As a result, we had a lot to chat about on top of other shared interests such as music and football.

Unfortunately for me and the rest of the Medical News Today office, Maté had been offered another role, teaching English in the north of Italy. For someone who had recently come to the end of one particular journey, this presented an exciting opportunity - one that could not realistically be turned down. And so, in his final week working at the MNT office, we ventured out for a farewell breakfast.

Since moving out to Italy with his precious guitar and writing notebooks, he has been having a great time. As should be expected, he has been eating lots of pizza and pasta. He has also finished the sequel to his first book, Through the Panther’s Storm, which has just recently been published and is available to purchase.

I am looking forward to reading it as the first book was a real delight. Set in a bleak future world where mankind has torn itself apart, the story follows two young brothers forced to survive alone after their family home is destroyed. They are driven by a dream and a desire to navigate wastelands and hostility to reach the sea and freedom, all the while aided by the mysterious figure of a panther.

The book creates the same haunting dread that permeates works such as The Road and The Last of Us, and yet offers a glimpse of hope and humanity that other works in this setting sometimes neglect. Ugly brutality is everywhere, but it can be defeated. This brutal world is also a real joy to travel through, and I am eager to dive once more into its richness. I am hungry for more, and the fast that I have been undergoing since completing the first book needs to be broken.

And so, the breakfast…

Kooks Vegetarian Breakfast

Falafel, halloumi, poached eggs, roasted vine tomatoes, mushrooms, hommus, guacamole on sourdough

Veggie breakfast - £9.50

Although the name Kooks should be musically associated with David Bowie, it has a stronger link for me with the band who took their name from one of his songs. I’ve never really been a fan of the Kooks, and so the name of the cafe automatically had negative connotations. I think it has also taken the place of Temptation Café, which I rather enjoyed when I visited it in the past. As a result, the breakfast was immediately at a disadvantage. What could it do to overcome this handicap?

Quite a lot, it turned out. The vegetarian breakfast was packed with a range of flavours and textures that made the meal an adventure. Smooth, crunchy, juicy, hot, cool, firm - all were present, and were often provided in different ways to how you would expect a breakfast to offer them.

Author, visionary, dreamweaver.

The falafel gave the wholesome crunch that a hash brown often would. The hummus and guacamole lent the smooth moisture that baked beans bring to the party. These options also felt slightly more healthful than the traditional breakfast components, and this was emphasized by the addition of rocket salad.

The rocket’s pepperiness meshed well with the mushrooms, buttery and subtly seasoned. Vibrant and intoxicating juiciness flowed from the tomatoes, but this taste explosion was nothing compared with the eggs, which were poached to perfection.

There were some areas that could perhaps have been slightly more tasty. The guacamole was fresh but standard. The halloumi and sourdough, while cooked well, did not offer anything beyond what one would normally expect from them. As these are usually wonderful components, however, there was little to really complain about.

The breakfast was so enjoyable that I actually forgot that no beans were included. Although it did not adhere to my breakfast canon, it was hearty enough to disguise this omission.

My only major hang-up with this was the price: £9.50 is a bit steep for any breakfast. Although the flavours were top quality, I’m after something truly exceptional if I’m spending almost a tenner. Perhaps some additional baked beans would have sealed the deal. Nonetheless, I ate a fine meal.

I have seen Maté once since he left for Italy; he popped back to the U.K. around the end of the year and found time to play an open mic gig with his friend Carl. Together, they are known as Bears At The Gate, and they make very smooth grooves. They had been working on some recordings, and hopefully these will see the light of day later this year. Hopefully he will return and visit again soon. Hopefully I will eat several more breakfasts of the quality of that offered by Kooks.

Function: Hearty enough to disguise the lack of beans - 4/5

Adherence to canon: No

Taste: Some high-quality pieces with the odd standard - 4/5

Value: Very tasty but pretty pricy - 3/5

Presentation: Great range of colours but presumption on positioning - 4/5

Venue: Pleasant venue with very attentive service - 4/5

Overall: Expensive, but largely worth it - 4/5

Jawing with John about a cooked Brexit at Verano Lounge

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away

Looking back, many months after eating this breakfast with John, I see now that it has come to represent everything that has passed since. We were at the Verano Lounge on Western Road. During our walk there and while we were waiting for our food, much talk was on the matter of the referendum on the EU. Would Brexit come to pass?

I know John through one of my oldest friends, Steve, as the two of them lived together while at university. I had first met John many years ago when I had gone to visit Steve, and I have since met up with him most times he has visited Steve now that he lives in Brighton. I think he has forgiven me for the time I wore his suit jacket to and from a game of squash, although I am not entirely certain.

John comes from the town of Devizes in Wiltshire. It is a Conservative-leaning town whose MP was previously the Rail Minister (and once said that she “often ashamed” to hold that position).

John has his finger on the pulse and is ardent follower of what is going on in the area - particularly the matters that divide the local community. He keeps his ear to the ground with the help of “The Devizes Issue,” a Facebook group where people air their views on the town.

Here, it would seem that tensions around immigrants and Muslims in particular were high. He described how in one discussion where fears around a mosque were compared to people’s acceptance of various restaurants and eateries run by Muslims. A striking reply from one individual to this was that “a chicken korma won’t cut my hand off.”

Although he follows such talk, he is not that kind of gent himself. This contrast is paralleled in a strange way by the fact that he has long been vegetarian but still loves pike fishing, using salmon as bait no less. His record pike was 20 lbs. At least, it was at the time. Many things have changed since we last spoke.

His experience of public sentiment surrounding the referendum was the polar opposite of my own. I didn’t think it would ever come pass while John was far less certain. I maintained this believe right up until I headed to bed, maybe around 1am, with news that Farage had conceded defeat filtering through. Everything was going to be fine when I got up for breakfast…

And so, the breakfast:

Verano veggie breakfast

Courgette and sweetcorn fritter, fried egg, toast, hash browns, tomato, wood-roasted pepper, mushrooms, and beans

Verano Veggie Breakfast - £6.95

It’s kind of funny that this blog has gotten stuck with this event. Perhaps it is significant that the Verano Lounge has since closed down. Its windows are boarded, the door well-locked. There’s nothing left to suggest that this was once a large, airy place where you could always get a seat at a table and a cooked breakfast. Nothing but memories, anyway. 

I remember having a decent breakfast here. I was mostly curious about how closely the breakfast would mirror that served at another venue in the same chain, the Al Campo lounge. The courgette and sweetcorn fritter was certainly different, offering a complete textural change in the form of something akin to a pancake. 

Overall, the food was well-prepared. Both the tomato and the hash had great textures; the former was warm and strong while the latter had a wonderful oniony crispiness. These paled in comparison to the pepper, however. This wood-roasted charmer had a real spiciness to it and a strong essence that was enriched with a vinegary tang. 

If John was in Germany, he wouldn't be able to throw it back.

Other rich flavours were provided by the beans and the mushrooms. The dish was not as vivid across the board, unfortunately. The toast was ordinary. The egg could have been runnier, offering a stewed, subsided yolk when put upon. 

As the venue has now closed down, my review of the meal is inconsequential. A visit to the Al Campo lounge or the Modelo lounge in Hove will probably provide a very similar experience to the one I had with John, likely minus the trepidation of a huge, impending political event. 

I don’t pretend to be an expert on political matters. I do know that racist attacks have increased since the referendum. It’s been especially crazy to hear of them down here in Brighton - a place that voted solidly for the Remain camp and a place that never allowed me to imagine that Brexit would occur. Just weeks after the decision, I was chatting to a guy in a pub who described first-hand how he had been the victim of such racism. I wonder how the chicken korma fan in The Devizes Issue has been carrying themselves. 

I also know a bundle of people who voted for Brexit and some who considered doing so for a long time. I would describe all of these people as lovely individuals who wouldn’t hesitate to denounce any ignorant act of hatred.

It’s a complex matter. Breakfast is usually a simple matter. We had a nice time chatting about Game of Thrones. John did make one political prediction, and that was that the Wall would tumble at the end of the last series. Thankfully, this did not come to pass. 

At least the people of Westeros don’t have to worry about White Walkers marauding around the world just yet… 

Overall: The past is a foreign country that we are no longer in a union with.