A Fat Purple Fig

4F is probably one of the most unexpected surprises I have ever encountered. After winding through a maze of alleyways behind Q and thinking how great it was that we were doing something that we could NEVER have worked out ourselves, he stopped here, at 4F. This photo was taken after we left…I really didn’t know it was anything worth photographing beforehand:

At first, it looked like the resting place of a huge, vintage printing press. But, then, I noticed the art on the wall, and the bench seats…

And the music (pay no attention to Randall…he specialised in filling comfortable silences):

As I climbed the first set of stairs, the first thing I saw was the La Marzocco coffee machine, followed closely by the spirit bottles on the wall behind the counter. A cafe? A bar? What was this place?

A wonder, that’s what. Four floors (4F) of concrete, brick, art and industrial design. Here is the third floor:

And, finally, the fourth, complete with a projector playing sport onto the wall, a cluster of cacti, and pallet racking tables, topped with original packaging design templates:

The drinks for our tour group. I had a “B.S. Latte” (in the black mug, for Ban San market, and definitely not bullshit), one of the house specialties. It was sweet in an unexpected way. No prizes for guessing who had the espresso:

Everyone but us. We were both busy getting far too many photos of the place. Already spectacular in so many ways, 4F was still further elevated by the presence of Q. It will be a hard one to top.