A Cena’s Panino Bar – update … and a little bit more

Some mornings, the quiet and comfortable sophistication of A Cena‘s Panino Bar is particularly perfect for coffee. Armed with my i - the Independent‘s wonderful concise newspaper at a bargain 20p – I settled down at one of their tables and waited for Bart to bring me one of his excellent cappuccinos.

Then, head chef Nicola, who I’d said hello to on my way in, came with a little tasting glass of her Nutella ice cream for me to try. She is justifiably proud of this delicious, creamy, sweet but not too sweet, confection that she’s recently created. What a lovely morning treat!

I’m going to have to go back soon. Bart was unpacking some wonderful looking panettones and told me the chocolate version was the best panettone he’d ever had. I always buy panettone classico – which contains raisins and candied fruit – for Christmas breakfast, but I think I should definitely try the chocolate version out … I can see I’ll be heading along to the Panino Bar a few times for tastings with my morning coffee to help me decide which one to buy!

… and a little bit more …

After I’d posted this earlier, A Cena tweeted that they couldn’t resist opening the chocolate panetonne … that it was brilliant … and invited me to pop in to try some. Well, how could I refuse? As Bart unwrapped it and cut me a slice, I could see immediately this was a very special panetonne. It smelled wonderful, the colour was rich, it was perfectly moist and chocolate was oozing temptingly from it. So, I settled myself down at the A Cena bar and Bart insisted on pouring me a little glass of vin santo to go with it. Gosh, what a fabulous day of spoiling I’ve had at the Panino Bar  - ice cream at morning coffee and vin santo and chocolate panetonne at teatime!

It really was one of the most amazing panetonnes I’ve ever had … and I’ve had a few! So I just had to buy one to take home with me for Christmas. If you like panetonne too, I suggest you hotfoot it down to A Cena and buy one before word spreads and they run out. And I’m wondering if I should try the classico version now … Can you have too much panetonne? I don’t think so.

For more on the Panino Bar, see my previous post.