Wee here, now!
The loo review! a review of Auckland cafe toilets. stringent criteria applied to rate the excretory potential of places otherwise rated on coffee, food and design. Wee here, now, provides an 'back room' guide to auckland's cafe scene. it's limited to places I know and go, but it's entirely scientific and unbiased in any way...
Friday 30 September 2011
Habana Outpost, Brooklyn
Moreover, they are potentially award-winning! On a recent visit I was happily surprised to discover that they were a finalist in something I never knew existed: the America's Best Restroom award. Of course there's a best restroom competition in the US!
All I can say is, go check 'em out!
Friday 27 May 2011
Can toilet paper reflect something about a nation?
Does toilet paper reveal national identity or values?
exhibit 1: hotel
I have been pondering this question over the days I have been in Deutschland, as I’ve been struck by the very different quality of their loo paper. From the moment of my arrival using the toilets at Frankfurt airport, through various hotel (see exhibits 1-2), public* (exhibits 3, 8), train (exhibit 4), restaurant/cafe (exhibits 5-6) and university (exhibit 7) toilets I have been steadfastly surveying in the characteristics and quality of the ‘cloth’, true scientist that I am, to determine if my initial observations hold strong. And they seem to.
My first thought, days ago in Frankfurt airport, was that it was harder than what I am used to. And I’m not one of those ‘buy the really soft/fluffy loo roll’ types of gal. Oh no, it’s recycled and relatively minimalist for me, all the time. So my ‘hard/soft’ loo roll bar is pretty high. But I think it is ‘harder’ here. Whether the paper is thin (as in exhibit 7) or thick (as in exhibit 2), it has a texture that’s, well, hard is the best word I can find to describe it (this may not be the best word, but the best word I can find. I tried to blow my nose on it once. Ow, my poor old schnozz, I might as well have used newspaper. I won’t be doing that again!
exhibit 3: public loo
exhibit 4: train
Saturday 23 April 2011
little hero
As it's part of a shop, the cafe fits in a space not fully designed for the purpose; the loo is similarly slightly awkwardly located: head out the side door into the yard (summer seating), down the back (beware rain!) and back into the building.... A single loo, not disabled, is fitted into a tight space without natural light... It's clean and tidy, but doesn't aim to be more than a loo is. It's not a loo you want to sit and ponder the meaning of life on.
The handbasin offers the biggest surprise in the space, being green and of plastic... The hand soap is nice, a good domestic product (I'd be disappointed with anything else, though, since this is an organic store!). The loo roll itself is commercial, though the hand drying products are paper towels. Phew!
This loo fits firmly within the functional category, a place to visit if necessary; it does not provide a reason to visit the cafe itself.
teed st larder
Well, in fact they have two - and relatively unusually for Auckland cafes, these are sex-segregated... no dirty boy germs in the girls' loo; no dirty girl germs in the boys' loo! So I can't speak for the men's, but the women's is good. Although it lacks natural light, it is spacious with a maidenhair fern evoking the great outdoors. It's aesthetically austere, all white walls with no art, but it works as an overall aesthetic alongside the 'beer crate' design that flows through from the cafe.
The amenities: a large if plain mirror, domestic loo roll, non-commercial soap, paper towels for the hands; incense sticks.... The one flaw, from an aesthetic experiential point of view, is that the space also houses the baby-changing table, which disrupts the clean lines and minimalist design of the space. Otherwise, it's not bad at all, a nice accompaniment to a nice cafe.
Saturday 16 April 2011
the little cake kitchen
The little cake kitchen is another delightful bakery with just enough tables in its handkerchief-sized space to count as a cafe (though beware they don't have a permit for real coffee cups; there's no space for the necessary steriliser, apparently) and the all-important loo...
There's no two ways about it, this loo is all about functionality! You have the sense of being an interloper into a space not quite intended for you, if you venture here. Staff clothing and various other accoutrements vie for space with essential loo features. It's tiny and grimy; no fancy art or mirrors here... But there's something almost pure and honest that I like about it, even thought on my aesthetic criteria is lacks a certain something (well, to be a honest, a certain everything). That said, there is beauty to be seen, if you look for it.
And it does have natural light - of sorts. It does have domestic loo roll. It does have paper hand towels. It's otherwise small and cramped, and there's certainly no way a wheelchair could enter or exit... The basin is nice, an old domestic style, but it has two taps, dishing either cold or far-too-scalding-hot-for-me (but probably good if you're a bakery worker!) water. The soap's disguised in what looks more like a food-syrup dispenser, so I'm judging it pretty middle of the road.
So it's not exactly a top loo, not a reason to visit the little cake kitchen, but I perversely like it all the same. Thinking about why this is, since it really stretches the bounds, I think it's because they haven't made some half-arsed attempt to disguise the brute reality that this is a functional space one should enter and exit as quickly as possible, and get back to making (or eating) that damn fine ginger loaf!
Sunday 10 April 2011
Little and Friday
Little and Friday has one loo, and what I particularly like about it is that it is accessed through the kitchen. This gives a curious (ok, nosy!) person like myself a perfect opportunity to pretend that my natural walking pace is about 1/2 a km per hour, and spend those precious micro-seconds checking it out! But once one can dawdle legitimately no longer, it's outside (beware if it's raining) and then inside again into the one (not-disabled) toilet...
Plain and colourful, it makes the most of what it is - a longish narrow space. The floor's red, the wooden-beer-crate bin bright yellow, the walls white. There's some natural light (yay), a retro mirror above the loo, and an all-important message written blackboard-styles above the mirror... Now I'm not that fussed about 'men put the toilet seat down' in my own personal space (though I recognise the arguments for it!), but in unisex publicly-shared loos like this, it's really only polite - as the owners have to astutely observed (and since they ask so nicely, how could you object) - just as it's only polite to leave it as clean and tidy as you found it.
The loo offers commercial loo roll (but not a rough and hard version thereof), nice domestic hand soap, and best of all, paper towels for hand drying. Hoorah. The sink, narrow with two taps, only offered me cold water despite my best attempts at turning the hot one on. On a hot summer's day, that didn't bother. It might in winter. Which makes me wonder if it'll turn into a little room of icy coldness on a winter's morning...
This loo comes across as an excellent example of the 'functional' style of loo, working with limited options, but adding that little extra that makes me smile. I'll be back!
Monday 4 April 2011
Grouchos
It's not perfect! There's no natural light, which always disappoints (how does that plant stay looking so healthy? perhaps they rotate it? perhaps it's fake? I didn't check!). The soap is a commercial product (but it is of the foam variety, so this sin is forgiven). However, want to dry your hands, and you're in luck - paper towels are provided. Hoorah for that.
As a disabled facility (nice and spacious!), the loo room proper features a small basin (one tap, adjustable heat!); but don't be tempted - go straight to the superior washing experience provided by the big rectangular basin in the anteloo. Again, a single, adjustable tap, and a big mirror to inspect your post-loo demeanor.
All in all, a very good loo experience; not one to fantasise about moving in to, but one that definitely invites a momentary dawdle...