Jeremy Challender and Gwilym Davies's Leather Lane training cafe in Clerkenwell London, opened 2009, runs a focused filter program and weekday-only opening.
Tip: Open Mon-Fri only; closed weekends. Davies took the World Barista Champion title in 2009 with a Prufrock cup.
Address: 23-25 Leather Lane, London EC1N 7TE
Peter Dore-Smith's Australian-style coffee bar on Great Titchfield Street in Fitzrovia London, opened 2009, runs Square Mile beans and a serious daytime food menu.
Signature drink: Square Mile filter coffee
Tip: The two-floor Eastcastle Street sibling around the corner is the quieter remote-work bet.
The TY (Timberyard) Seven Dials cafe in central London, opened 2011 on Upper St Martin's Lane, runs a third-wave coffee menu and an all-day kitchen above Seven Dials.
Signature drink: Filter coffee
Tip: Upstairs has plug sockets and quieter tables for laptop work; downstairs is the espresso-bar half.
Tap Coffee's Rathbone Place espresso bar in Fitzrovia London, opened 2011, runs a serious filter and espresso menu using Has Bean and other small-batch UK roasters.
Signature drink: Flat white
Tip: The standing counter at the front is the fastest morning queue. Closes at 17:00 weekdays and 16:00 weekends.
Caravan's flagship cafe inside the Granary Building in King's Cross London, opened 2012, runs an in-house coffee roastery and an all-day eclectic Antipodean menu.
Signature drink: Caravan blend espresso
Tip: Plug sockets along the canal-side window seats. Brunch runs to 16:00; dinner from 17:30 on weekdays.
Bill Granger's Australian breakfast room on Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill London, opened 2011, runs ricotta hotcakes and an all-day brunch menu with serious flat white.
Signature drink: Workshop coffee
Tip: No bookings. The 09:00 queue runs 30 minutes on Saturdays; weekday breakfast walks in by 08:00.
The 1890s Victorian public toilet beneath Foley Street in Fitzrovia London, converted in 2013 into a basement coffee bar serving single-origin espresso and weekday brunch.
Signature drink: Single-origin espresso
Tip: The urinals are the bar counter; the cubicles are dining banquettes. The Clerkenwell branch on Great Eastern Street has more workspace.
