From The Ritz to The Dorchester, accomplished chef David Lake has cooked for the rich and famous in some of the country’s most swanky hotels.
Now, discerning diners are sampling his undisputed passion for quality food from the booths of a humble eatery in a sleepy residential street – in the unlikely locale of Coatbridge.
Call it a café, a deli, a bistro or a restaurant, David concedes that the moniker that best defines his first foodie venture with wife and silent partner Maggie “all gets a bit blurred.”
Yet, the man whose CV reads like an almanac of the British culinary scene holds true the same values at Café Twenty Eight in Coatbridge today as he did when in the bustling kitchens of Michelin-rated restaurants, including The Ritz, The Dorchester, Four Seasons at the Inn on the Park, Hollington House, New Hall Hotel and Horsted Place Hotel.
David has been head chef in multiple exclusive five-star deluxe establishments and, at each of them, was awarded 3AA Rosettes for the quality of his food.
He may have gone from heading up a 23-strong team of elite chefs at The Dorchester Hotel, where he was premier sous chef in the late ‘90s, to today managing four members of staff in the North Lanarkshire premises that, for generations, housed The Dunbeth Dairy.
But the new-found pace into which he has settled at Twenty Eight pleases hard-working David – and astute businessman who has, throughout his career, met and exceeded financial expectations as a member of food development firms’ senior executive teams.
Three years ago, David - who was among no fewer than 120 chefs in The Dorchester's kitchens at Christmastime - decided to turn the heat down a notch and take control of his own destiny by becoming his own boss.
“We knew we were going to buy a business,” explained David, whose most recent job was relief sous chef at MacKintosh At The Willows, where he helped its new head chef to settle in.
“My wife, who is from Kirkintilloch, found this place and I came along and had a look. It needed a bit of love. But it was in quite a nice, affluent area and I thought it could do well. So, we made the leap.”
One of the qualities of the space that David found most alluring is that it's been a shop in the heart of the community for some 80 years. And to many locals who hold it dear, it will always be known affectionately as The Dunbeth Dairy.
One might presume that becoming acquainted for the first time with the peculiar oddity that is the Lorne square sausage would have been a baptism of fire for someone of David’s enviable professional pedigree.
On the contrary. The chef has become so familiar with the Lanarkshire staple that he can talk with authority about how its colour can be a dead giveaway that inferior meat and a high fat content is lurking within.
At Café Twenty Eight on Dunbeth Avenue, you can take a seat and tuck into a superior quality slice of the square stuff, wedged into a morning roll, for a mere £3.20. And, for only £1 extra, you can make it a double decker.
But, while using great, locally-sourced ingredients whenever possible, the breakfast repertoire of David and his chef, Lloyd Toban – whether that be dine-in or takeaway – extends beyond the modest hot, filled roll.
“We’re not just your local roll ‘n’ sausage place,” insists David, who opened the cafe’s doors shortly before lockdown was imposed. “We’re a bit more than that. We're not the cheapest, and we're not the most expensive, either. Either way, 99.9 per cent of people pay, and pay happily.”
Try a bowl of ‘oat cuisine’ in the form of Scottish porridge, topped with fruit compote and honey. The French toast with an extra topping is ‘je ne sais quoi,’ and the Café Twenty Eight soft, perfectly poached eggs, which sit on a fluffy, grilled muffin topped with smashed avocado, Scottish smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce, are hard to beat.
Smoked salmon’s on the sandwich menu too, served with cream cheese, lemon and chive on wedges of artisan white or brown tin loaf delivered daily from Soja’s bakehouse in Bellshill.
And with David on the verge of investing in his own out-the-back, bespoke smokery, his Scottish smoked salmon sandwich offering is a posh 'piece' that’s about to leap into new, unchartered waters in the taste stakes.
What he serves currently, he insists, is good. But only by giving Scottish salmon and pork belly the home-smoked treatment he achieved while senior sous chef at East Essex’s Victorian country house, Horsted Place Hotel, will he reach the flavour and consistency standards to which he aspires.
The Big Dishes offering on Café Twenty Eight’s menu is peppered with moreish home-cooked delights, including beef hash – slow cooked brisket with onion, savoy cabbage and potato rosti, topped with a free range fried egg. There’s always a dish of the day, posted each morning on Facebook, which can range from confit duck leg to a crisp, fresh prawn salad.
Café Twenty Eight has even made its own creative mark on the humble sausage roll with its signature deep-filled pork haggis and black pudding variation.
Another firm favourite at the café is its classic, tiered afternoon tea, featuring a selection of finger sandwiches and artisan cakes. Served with homemade jam and clotted cream, its plain and fruit scones, which recently notched up an admirable score of 9/10 in a Sunday newspaper’s ‘scone spy’ column, are another star attraction.
David and his team pride themselves on sourcing their ingredients locally, with fish from John Vallance Seafood Specialist on Blochairn Road, Glasgow, to quality meats from S. Collins and Son of Muirhead – the butcher that supplies cuts that are roasted with love and served within the café with all the trimmings each Sunday.
Because all dishes at Café Twenty Eight – which, including outdoor seating, can accommodate 32 covers – are homemade from scratch, staff encourage diners to make a reservation at all times.
Last week, its Spanish day event, which saw guests bringing their own bottles and tucking into Manchego cheese, Iberico ham, seafood paella with mussels, prawn and calamari, and Seville orange and almond cake, was fully booked.
“We are passionate about service and attention to detail, and we’re passionate about everyone being greeted,” said David, who set up home with his family in Gartcosh.
“We will go round every table and make sure everybody is happy. This is a customer-led business and we will make up dishes for people there and then.”
Although extremely proud of the glowing comments posted by his customers on social media, David says of his venture: “This is never going to be about chasing accolades.
“It is all about customer feedback. I am a typical old-school chef. I will take 50 positive customers’ comments, and remember the one that was not as good as I’d hoped it was going to be. I love engaging with the customers. I’m shocking at remembering names, but I remember all the faces.”
And if the plaudits that are heaped on his establishment’s quality food and warm, attentive service are anything to go by, Café Twenty Eight and David Lake are names that will be remembered on the Lanarkshire foodie scene for a long time to come.
Whichever way the cookie crumbles, Coatbridge's number came up when Café Twenty Eight arrived in town.
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