Located very much at The Other End of Ecclesall Road (heading south beyond Hunter's Bar roundabout), Somewhere Else is a suburban coffee house that looks and thinks like it could be in the city centre.
Somewhere Else's existence – which is a fairly recent thing, having opened in summer 2014 – was brought to our attention by a friend who lives in the Banner Cross area. The lack of fanfare about its opening perhaps explains why the place is often quiet, but that's something that could and should soon change.
The family-run shop serves brilliant coffee from the well-respected North Star roastery in Leeds, and a wide selection of teas from Sheffield-based Birdhouse Tea Co. There's a simple but strong lunch menu, as well as a changing array of home-baked cakes, brownies, milkshakes, and all manner of other treats.
Spread across two floors, the place is decorated in a carefully eclectic manner, but thankfully not one that screams "jumble sale". Clean tiles, old fashioned furniture and an assortment of artworks (including photography exhibitions) go together surprisingly well, and are all united by the strong graphic motif of the "Grafters", which feature on almost everything in the shop. These strange little creatures seem to stand for not taking oneself too seriously, which is often what you want from a place in which to enjoy a coffee. There's also a hidden seating area out the back: a small, walled terrace back garden that makes for a change from the roadside tables and chairs of many other coffee shops.
Somewhere Else is well aware that it is apart from the city centre hum, but that is perhaps what makes it most worth the walk. And on the way, you can call in on Sharrow Vale Road, with its independent shops like The Front Parlour, as well as the leafy Endcliffe Park and nearby Books on the Park.
- Words by
- Lucy Holt
- Images by
- Gemma Thorpe
