A striking new book giving a taste of fifty  exceptional cafes in Wales has been published.

Caffis Cymru by Lowri Haf Cooke will be launched on 9 July at Gŵyl Arall / Another Festival, Caernarfon and 16 July at Sesiwn Fawr, Dolgellau.

Across Wales there’s a wealth of cosy, cool and quirky cafes to suit everyone’s tastes. Behind every teapot and cafetière there’s a treasury of personal stories, anecdotes and snippets of local history.

Lowri Haf Cooke says “Welsh cafes in their various guises have been meeting points and great social hotspots for many years. From the 18th and 19th century coffee houses to the Victorian tea rooms,from the Bracchi cafes to the Milk bars (established in Colwyn Bay in 1933), they’ve all played an important part in Wales’s social history….”

“By the turn of the millenium, a number of local cafes were usurped by the high street giants. But there has been a new trend in recent years as we turn back to independent cafes, tearooms and artisan coffee. And as I discovered on my travels, there’s a new cross-pollination too – the caférestaurant-deli-bakery-bar.”

Lowri says, “Whichever café you enjoy visiting at the moment, you’re sure to discover a new favourite in this book, Caffis Cymru . This is a book for everyone, and at the end of the day you don’t need to spend a fortune to enjoy yourself in one of these cafes. So, reach for a cuppa, sit back, relax and arrange your own whistle-stop tour of cafes in Wales!”

Caffis Cymru will be available at your local bookshop for £6.99 or directly from the publisher Gomer Press on www.gomer.co.uk

Lowri Haf Cooke will be launching her new book at:

Gŵyl Arall / Another Festival, Caernarfon

Saturday, 9 July at 11.30am. Tickets: £4. For more information go to www.gwylarall.com

Sesiwn Fawr, Dolgellau

Saturday, 16 July at 4pm at T.H.Roberts Café. For more information go to www.sesiwnfawr.cymru

Bibliographical details

Caffis Cymru  by Lowri Haf Cooke

Photographs: Emyr Young

ISBN 9781785620690 Publisher: Gomer Press

paperback 152 pages £6.99