Know what you stand for and stick to it!
While paying the bill for our lunch on Saturday at Towpath, a wonderful cafe situated on Regent’s Canal in east London, I overheard one of the owners firmly telling a waiter to “tell them no.”
A customer had asked for a bucket of water for their table. It was a very hot day and no doubt the diners wanted to be able to refresh themselves instead of waiting for their glasses to be topped up by their server.
“If we do it for one table then everybody will want one,” she explained to the waiter. Gesturing around the tiny bar behind the counter she added, “and we just don’t have enough. It’s okay to say no.”
I admire her approach, which feels counter to what good customer service looks like - but sticking to her values is one of the reasons Towpath is so popular. The cafe has been built on constraints. Its location - it shares the foot path with walkers, runners, pushchairs, cyclists - requires staff to be flexible. Its small space means tables are all outside and the kitchen is tiny. The cafe’s menu is simple and chalked up on a board; the vibe unfussy; the decor is unpretentious and charming; metal tables are adorned with a pretty bunch of wildflowers. There are no bookings. Instead you take your chances and queue.
The restaurant was founded in 2009 when Lori de Mori spotted a row of dilapidated metal-shuttered kiosks - each the size of a bus shelter - from her apartment on the other side of the canal. She and her co-founder Laura Jackson had been inspired by a hole-in-the-wall bar in Florence that served only wine and sandwiches. For the first year they cooked out of the kitchen in Lori’s apartment, ferrying the food orders over the bridge to the waiting diners on the other side.
Towpath is only open from March to November.
So, there are no reservations. No exceptions on customer requests. It’s closed for a few months every year. It all operates out of a tiny kitchen and bar. Customers sit outside. On a super hot Saturday in June you might have to wait one hour for a table. Obstacles for restaurateurs starting a business? No at all: Towpath’s quirks and constraints are part of their recipe for success.
As I left the canal, I thought what a wonderful case study in brand values - how the whole ethos feeds into everything they do, without apology. Staying strong in what you stand for acts as a guide for the founders, and as a signal to the customers: you know exactly what you’re going to get. I’m sure many businesses and brands could learn a lesson or two from Towpath about sticking to what you stand for.
