A beloved London institution brings an all-day bakery café to the heart of Bloomsbury.
St John is expanding its London footprint with a new café in Bloomsbury. The latest opening sits beside the London Review Bookshop and begins service on Wednesday, 1 October. True to the group’s roots, the St John Café offers an all-day menu centred on St John Bakery classics, served with precise simplicity that has defined the brand since 1994.
On the counter, expect the bakery’s greatest hits. There will be sourdough loaves with that familiar crackle, laminated croissants fresh from the oven, and the Eccles cakes that loyalists plan their mornings around. Lunch is designed for easy drop-ins and lingering afternoons alike, with savoury tarts and generous doorstop sandwiches. The cellar will feature a selection of St. John wines, available by the glass and bottle.
The café will open daily from 8am to 6.30pm, aligning with the London Review Bookshop’s hours. On event evenings, the team will keep the lights on later, switching the pace to wines, house cocktails and neat plates that suit an after-hours browse or pre-theatre pit stop.
The move is a natural evolution for a group that helped redefine British dining. St John began life in 1994 in a former smokehouse by Smithfield Market. Co-founder Fergus Henderson’s nose-to-tail philosophy has shaped kitchens across the country, while the flagship’s MICHELIN star remains a quiet marker of standards that never slip. Today, the family spans restaurants, bakeries and a wine label, so a Bloomsbury café feels like the next logical chapter.
“In my 14 years with the London Review of Books, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such unanimous delight across the magazine and bookshop teams. Bringing this idea to life with St John has been a genuine meeting of minds, and I’m thrilled to offer our bookshop community something so rich in both flavour and spirit,” said Reneé Doegar, publisher of the London Review of Books.
GO: Visit www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk for more information.