Busman's Holiday
February-March
We travel North America, at long last putting faces to names and visiting our long-term suppliers and partners. We have a lovely time in Canada, appreciating the "Wet Spots" and kinky Toronto. We have fun in New York, and are inspired enought to write our own CCK NY Guide. In San Francisco, we are offered new premises for CCK on the evening of our arrival (we politely decline, figuring London needs us more). Verve coffee roasters in Santa Cruz give us a roastery tour and our first demo of syphon coffee-making (two years before it arrives in London). Travelling around California, we visit Cleis Press in SF, spend a lovely afternoon with Olivia, an iconic pin-up artist, watching a naughty version of the Cadbury bunny emerge under her paintbrush in her Malibu studio. (It is later deemed "too saucy" to be used as a new chocolate icon.) JP Stockroom in LA knock us off our feet with their hospitality, and a 2am factory tour where we learn all about their toys and leather goods (and have an unforgettable Saturday night!).