2003 is the 50th anniversary of the first Soho espresso bar The Moka. Opened at 29 Frith St by Gina Lollabrigida, it became the model for many classic Formica cafes to come.

Ten years later, the 1950s cafe scene had reforged 1960s London as the world's hippest city - a ferment of music, fashion, film, photography, scandal and avant-gardism.

To mark this, Classic Cafes, the first ever full study of the vintage British working man's Formica caff, is published by Black Dog Publishing in October 2003.

Classic Cafes commemorates the faded, yet somehow vivid, attractions of these forlorn environments, documenting an institution perilously close to vanishing without trace or acclaim. Often dismissed as 'greasy spoons', classic cafes are actually little gems of British vernacular high street design.

In an era of retro-kitsch, inert 'theme' brasseries and fast-breeder US coffee-chains, they hark back to a European dynamism that added colour to Britain's post war social and commercial scene.

Here, the last remaining enclaves are reviewed, revealed and reappraised. Part sentimental journey, psychogeographic incursion and alternative architectural gazetteer, the first half of Classic Cafes presents a shadow social history showing how London's cultural ascendancy in the 1960s began life in the classic Formica cafes of the 1950s. The latter part goes in search of the archetypal classic cafe, culminating in a gazetteer that takes in many left intact as of 2003.

Based on the hugely acclaimed website www.classiccafes.co.uk, the book features extensive contemporary large format architectural photos by Phil Nicholls (Melody Maker, Blitz, Vogue, Uncut, Sunday Times, The Independent...) and many never-before-seen archive pictures.

Plus, comprehensive research sources covering related books, journals, magazines, films, websites and much else...

Acclaim for ClassicCafes.co.uk

'Brilliant' The Sunday Times
'Excellent' The Guardian
'Essential.' Internet Magazine
'Too good to be true' Space
'A total must' LBC/News Direct
'Marvellous' Bob Stanley (Saint Etienne)
'A wonderfully evocative site.' The Independent
'Extremely poignant' Peter York
'[Not just] a set of recommendations... it's a whole aesthetic!' Time Out Guides

Classic Cafes is now available through Amazon.co.uk. For more details click here.