Caffe Ritazza

Caffe Ritazza seem to have the monopoly on strategically placed cafes for travellers. No train station, airport or bus stop seems to be without one these days, yet I never catch them on the high street.
Not that I’m complaining as the coffee is very good. The only thing that irritates me is their reluctance to give you a china cup — I only want a to go paper cup when I’m actually GO-​ing, otherwise it makes me feel unsettled to sit nursing a paper cup. But that’s petty complaint. The sandwiches are tasty, fresh and broadly mediterranean. Of course they’re not cheap but airport cafes never are so it’s not exactly breaking the mould.
It’s a nice stop off if you’re waiting to pick someone up but otherwise I would proceed to gate where there’s a wider selection of cafes with slightly more relaxed and comfortable seating options.

Well I ‘m stuck at Bristol Airport for the day, like so many others, and so it’s likely that I’ll be able to sample every business on the concourse before I’m allowed to check in. I’m a reasonably frequent flyer, and so I’m pretty familiar with what’s on offer. (I off-​set my carbon footprint by not having, or intending to have, children — a recent Guardian Weekend feature calculated the carbon cost of having a baby in terms of equivalent numbers of flights… I can’t remember the exact figure, but I recall it was very high. I’m sure that the carbon cost of disposable nappies must equate to at least a thousand round the world trips alone!)
The best coffee at Bristol Airport has to be from Caffe Ritazza, or is it because the guy that makes it, Zewengel Gozu, always makes it and serves it with an incredibly winning smile? Zewengel has worked at Ritazza for more than three years, which is no small achievement seeing as he probably has to get up to go to work in the middle of the night on weekdays as well as weekends.
Ritazza doesn’t do Paninis and so I ended up ordering the ham and cheese, flat bread, and had it toasted, all much of a muchness it was difficult to tell the difference. This was the only savoury breakfast item available… all the muffins, baguettes etc had sausage, bacon and scrambled egg in them… ugh! My only other option would have been a chocolate muffin or flapjack.
According to the signs, Ritazza has a long-​standing love affair with coffee, and has outlets in more than thirty countries. All of their Head Baristas are trained in Milan (which makes you wonder why they don’t jump ship whilst they’re there, instead of allowing themselves to be sent back home).
All the airport staff get their coffees at Ritazza, which is always a good sign! There’s constantly a long queue of in and outgoing passengers as well. It’s brisk business as usual it Ritazza today.