You know when you finally find what you’ve been looking for, it helps you realise what you’ve been missing? At a recent brunch in Stoneybatter, I have this style of revelation in relation to a cup of coffee. I have one sip of my flat white (€2.80) and I’m up like a shot to the coffee bar to tell Brian Birdy of Full Circle Roasters how much I love his coffee.
Full Circle Roasters is in charge of the coffee bar at Cotto, a pizza joint in Stoneybatter run by Connor Higgins. You may know Higgins’ food from his other business, Oxmantown, just off Capel St in Dublin. At Cotto, which Higgins opened in late 2015, the lunchtime and evening menus focus largely on Neopolitan-style pizzas, and the crew rolls out a brunch menu on the weekends.
The brunch menu is concise but caters well for a crowd. We manage to get a table for six on a busy Sunday afternoon and soon our table is crowded with plates of a Black Pudding Sandwich topped with fried egg (€9) and little cast- iron pans of Mexican Baked Eggs (€11). A Lebanese Breakfast Plate (€11) causes a commotion when it arrives, thanks to the pops of pomegranate sprinkled over crumbly feta, and a boiled egg sitting next to homemade Jerusalem artichoke hummus.
I marvel at how the egg is still runny in my Mexican baked eggs, and love the texture of the beans, which are just on the verge of stepping over into re-fried territory. At the moment the accompanying tortilla is bought-in, as is the Lebanese flatbread. I would love to see their pizza oven being used for brunch breads, if it worked within the space. They’re hoping to do as much as possible themselves in Cotto, with plans to make their own ricotta and even rear their own piglets for charcuterie purposes.
The partnership of Full Circle Coffee and Cotto is a symbiotic relationship. Brian Birdy launched his own roasted coffee beans last year and having a space like Cotto to sell it from, whether by the cup or by the bag, is an amazing platform for a fledgling business. Higgins is equally lucky to have Birdy, a particularly chirpy and skilled barista.
When I buy a bag of beans from Birdy, he takes the time to tell me more about the beans while he scribbles notes on the back of the packet, so that I know how to make the perfect cup from these particular beans at home with my Aeropress. I’ve had similar conversations with Higgins about how he makes the relish for a sandwich, or how he bakes his madeleines at Oxmantown. They both have a gentle way of sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm for what they do, ready to give the time to pass that on to their customers. What’s so perfect about the flat white that Birdy makes me is what I love about Higgins’ food; it’s extremely well balanced and allows the core ingredients to shine in their best light. This is a good match, indeed.
