Details
KEW ROAD
Nos 76-84 (Even)
Matthiae's Cafe and Bakery
Former baker's shop and bakery, with cafe, function room and accommodation on upper floors. Five late C19 terraced houses heavily remodelled in the late 1930s, which is where the special interest lies and particularly in the building's Art Deco facade. Five-bay, three-storey rendered façade with slate roof. Nos 82 and 84 comprise the shop frontage, No 80 the central entrance, No 78 the catering department frontage and No 76 a trade entrance and display window. Nos 78 and 80 appear to have been completely rebuilt, with a raised flat roof. The detailing of the façade is Art Deco in style, in a deep blue, white and silver colour scheme.
EXTERIOR: The shop front has a central entrance, with etched glazing in a fan design. The two large plate glass windows either side have angled corners in to the lobby, with polished granite stall risers and chrome edging. A blind spans the length of the shop front. The stepped fascia is of white Vitrolite with a blue top border, and the name of the café in blue serif capitals, colours not usually associated with Vitrolite. Running between the fascia and the shop windows, is a projecting 3-part glazed panel. Each section has a leaded 'sunburst' design in blue, clear and frosted glass, with serif lettering in the centre painted in white and silver on a blue background under glass, reading 'Pastry cooks' to the left, 'Maids of Honour' (a speciality puff pastry of the shop) centre, and 'Confectioners' to the right. The windows above are twelve-pane metal framed leaded casements, with a fluted band between each first and second floor window. A clock reading 'Matthiae's Bakery' is fixed between the windows at second floor level.
The entrance to the café and function room on the upper floors resembles that of a small cinema. The double doors with fluted wooden surround, flanked by a single door either side (that to the right leading to the former catering department), and fanlight running above, are deeply recessed. A canopy projects from the front wall which would have incorporated lighting to illuminate the large sign beneath, which reads 'Matthaie's Café' in sans-serif projecting silver capitals on a blue background. The sign may be a 1950s addition. On the side of the canopy is written 'Weddings', left, and 'Banquets', right, in the same style as described for the lettering above the shop windows. The edges of the canopy are trimmed in chrome fluting, which extends down the frontage to become pillars marking the outer edges of the entrance.
The large plate glass window to the right of the central entrance has a projecting glass panel with a sunburst design, reading 'Catering Department', again in the painted style described above. The window also has chrome edging, a blind above and a polished granite stall riser. Internally, there are mirrors at either end of the window recess, and wood back boards with drawers below. The windows above are wood framed five light mullion and transoms, with top opening leaded yellow glass transoms, with a fluted band between each first and second floor window. No 76 has been less altered since the C19. It has two entrances with modern doors to the left and a plate glass window to the right with chrome edging, polished granite stall riser and blind set between ground and first floor level. The two windows above are four-pane timber sashes.
INTERIOR: The shop has a cream and blue tiled floor, and a glass panelled ceiling with wooden framing. A mirrored wooden pillar stands in the centre of the room. The central entrance hall has wood and glazed doors leading to the shop and former catering department, edged in mirrored glass. There is a shallow three tiered cornice, and to the rear, a blue and plain glass mirror consisting of several panels. The stairs are of cream and blue terrazzo.
Extending to the rear from the shop and the former catering department, are a number of service rooms of varying sizes, some retaining their tiled floors and ceramic wall tiles, but where the interest diminishes. The stairs of the C19 house remain in No 84. The largest space is the former bakery to the rear of the shop, which retains some original fixtures and fittings, including an oven.
The large room at the front on the first floor which served as the café retains its wood panelling with inset mirrored glass panels, ceramic and glass ceiling lights, curved cornice and folding wood part-glazed doors which open in to a smaller adjoining room, which is panelled in the same fashion and houses a dumb waiter and wooden staircase to the second floor. Former living quarters occupied rooms over the shop. Again, there are a number of service rooms to the rear, which lead up from the bakery.
The large room at the front on the second floor served as a function room, and retains its curved cornice, peach glass mirrors, folding wood part-glazed doors which again open in to a smaller adjoining room. A room to in the rear of the former living quarters retains a late C19/early C20 fireplace.
Only the ground floor of No 76 forms part of the former bakery and cafe, the upper floors are in separate use and the interest is lesser here.
HISTORY: The site originally consisted of five mid to late C19 terraced houses, others of which survive to the south-west. The house next to the Blue Anchor Public House (No 84) is thought to have been a baker's shop in the 1890s named 'Faulkner's Bakery'. Nos 82 and 84 were bought in 1920 by two brothers from the Matthiae family, and opened as a bakers. The shop underwent substantial expansion and remodelling in the late 1930s, with the acquisition of Nos 78 and 80, which were probably completely rebuilt, and possibly the ground floor of No 76. A café was installed on the first floor of Nos 78, 80, and 82, and a function room on the second. The family lived above the shop on the first and second floors of 84. At the same time the bakery appears to have been extended at the rear. The Art Deco frontage and interior fittings are likely to date from this time. Further expansion is thought to have happened in the 1950s. During its lifetime, Matthiae's served the area as a café, bakery and venue for receptions, as well as delivering to smaller cafes and catering for functions offsite. Other ventures included specialising in wedding cakes and producing real and artificial foods for the film and TV industry. The business closed in 2001 when the owner, the son of the original founder, retired.
SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: Matthiae's Café and Bakery is a rare example of a surviving Art Deco shop frontage, made more interesting by the survival of its largely intact associated shop, café, function room and entrance foyer, although it is the frontage which is of principal interest.
SOURCES: Clayton, A., London's Coffee Houses: A stimulating story, Historical Publications (2003)
Maddox, A., Classic Cafes, Black Dog Publishing Limited (2003)
Morrison, K. A., English Shops and Shopping: An Architectural History, Yale University Press (2003)
