SouthLondonDaddy wrote:Ever heard of Trio Cafe on Bellenden road?
https://goo.gl/maps/9wUW9jEWVLv
Bellenden road is between East Dulwich and Peckham; residential, a couple of primary schools and expensive organic butcher nearby, popular with families, etc. – in many ways similar to many areas in Nappy Valley.

Trio Café was open for, I believe, less than 2 years, probably from early 2015 till mid 2016 or so. The architects who designed it still have pictures on their website: http://www.mwarchitects.co.uk/?p=1825

It was meant to be a child-friendly café with a nice play area and toys. I don’t know 100% why it closed, if it went bust or what, but I, like many, suspect too much of the clientele was, in fact, mums who paid for a single espresso then stayed the whole afternoon keeping their children playing there.

I think it’s not straightforward to find the balance between making a place child-friendly, but not so much so that families pay £2 and spend the whole morning or afternoon there!

You’ll probably find some old discussions on the East Dulwich Forum.
Btw, a pizzeria replaced Trio, but it lasted less than a year, and has now been replaced by another pizzeria. Not sure why the first pizzeria didn’t last as it seemed to be always full.

Alchemy wrote:Keep us posted how you're getting on!

jjls412 wrote:Agree re serving meat, I'd like to see that on the menu or at least fish (fingers).

My child has multiple allergies so accommodating those would be great. Gluten and dairy free fish fingers, baked beans, gluten free chips etc

Please have lots of high chairs ideally the ikea ones WITH TRAYS.

And a kitchen that serves children's food from 1030/11 (not 12) makes a huge difference when children are still on two naps.

Good luck!

dudette wrote:All sounds great - I'd have loved something like this when my kids were little. I found making kids tea so boring and always thought it would be great to take them to a place where they can have a good healthy tea. I would try and limit the number of menu items and do specials each day so people are encouraged to keep coming back as their kids will get different food each time. Also although I probably reluctantly have to agree about the meat, try and get as many vegetables into your food as possible so it's super heathy.

Also think really carefully about your location. You're going to need somewhere with a LOT of young kids - which is why Nappy Valley would be ideal. It doesn't have to be on a main high street though - if it's good enough people will go which is why Flotsam and Jetsam is always packed even though it's off a side street.

Also make sure you get great staff. Crumpet went down hill because their staff were a bit surly and lazy. The place was dirty and the food got worse and worse. Again Florsam and Jetsam has lovely friendly staff - it's definitely worth a visit to see what they do right.

Good luck - sounds a great idea!