cafe

Erewhon, the trendy L.A. health food chain and retailer, announced Monday that it will become a permanent fixture at Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s David Geffen Galleries after operating there as a pop-up since April. The cafe will join the new building’s yet-to-be announced restaurant, which is already holding private events including a recent unveiling of an Ed Ruscha-designed poster for Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s new film, “Digger.”

To celebrate its new status, Erewhon announced a LACMA smoothie created to resemble Alexander Calder’s fountain sculpture, “Three Quintains (Hello Girls),” which sits directly next to the cafe on the museum’s ground floor. The drink is made from pineapple, mango, strawberry, mandarin and lion’s mane (of course). It will be joined by limited edition merch, including a sweatshirt and a tote.

LACMA’s new Peter Zumthor-designed building opened to the public in April and was greeted with equal parts praise and controversy. Erewhon, which launched as a pop-up about a week later also elicited excitement and some griping, with critics saying the space would be better served by a less expensive option. (Erewhon is known for its high prices, with a typical smoothie costing $13 to $22.)

“We’re absolutely thrilled that Erewhon at LACMA is becoming a permanent fixture of the museum experience,” Michael Govan, LACMA’s president and chief executive, said in a news release. “Erewhon stands as a true family-owned local icon — one that champions creativity and well being while fiercely dedicating itself to its communities.”

The cafe will be open to non-ticketed guests, and is surrounded by a number of pieces of outdoor public art.

A bloke moaned that his full English breakfast at a cafe in Benidorm, which was under five pounds, was too expensive, and it led to a brutal response from the owner

The family behind a British-owned restaurant in Benidorm have hit back at a customer’s damning one-star review — after being floored by the price of his full English breakfast.

The Corner Bar is a favourite for both expats and holidaymakers looking for a taste of home but one customer, Peter Jones, recently shared his disapproval. He wrote: “Careful of the OAP discounts, especially at breakfast (€5.50). You can get a full English breakfast elsewhere for €4.50 (£3.86) or less.”

However, Ashley, who runs the cafe, shared the review online, before telling Peter to “have a day off” because she was “not having that” about the cost.

Defending her business in a Facebook post, she wrote: “I’m sure Peter is “fishing” here…surely he’s got to be…and I’m gonna be honest…he’s caught me. I mean. You can maybe not like our food. Not like our service. Not like us… maybe all 3, and honestly, I don’t mind, we try our best, every day, and that’s all you can do…

“But to give us a 1 Star Review on our prices…to suggest to the public you need to be careful of our prices. Nah, not having that. The breakfast in question…a No4 (pictured below).

“That’s 1 English Bacon, 1 Irish Sausage, 1 Black Pudding, 1 Fried Egg, 1 Roberts Bread Toast, Heinz Beans, Fresh Mushrooms & Tinned Tomatoes…and it’s €5.50.

“Cooked Fresh to Order by the Owner or the same 2 British Cooks who have been on The Corner for years…And apparently you need to be careful of our prices! Have a day off, Peter!”

The post soon took off and led to hundreds of comments from loyal customers who also defended the prices. One man, who has had the €5.50 (approx £4.70) full English before, wrote: “You cannot beat a No 4 at the Corner for value.”

Another person added: “Peter needs to give his head a shake! He wants €4.50 then bye bye mate! It will certainly not be as good.”

One person sarcastically said “wow a whole €1 less” before Ashley wrote another post in the comments thanking everyone for the support.

She said: “Cheers Everyone. Some lovely comments. We know we’re well supported and it’s massively appreciated. Just sometimes them review sites after a hard days work can be hard to read. We’re a small family business, currently have 5 WORKING members of staff plus us. We do our best. Thankfully, clearly the majority appreciate what we do.”

The Corner Bar has received 585 reviews on TripAdvisor with an average score of 4.2 out of five. They’ve also had 1,170 reviews on Google with an average score of 4.5 out of five.

And after the viral post, Michelle Baker, who has lived in Benidorm for more than 40 years, also shared it to her Benidormforever Facebook page. She said: “LOVE that Ashley from The Corner Bar Benidorm called this chap out… there’s just no pleasing some people!”