Pear & custard bun @ Small Town Boy
2b Maryland St, Liverpool, L1 9DE
There’s a Raymond Carver short story called ‘A Small, Good Thing’ in which the worst thing that can happen to a parent, happens. In the wake of the tragedy a baker, who at first behaved unkindly and vindictively, offers comfort to the bereaved mother and father by way of warm bread. They talk intimately and share cinnamon rolls, fresh from the oven. At a time like this, the baker says, eating is a small, good thing.
Intimate is certainly is a word that could be used to describe Small Town Boy, a coffee shop opened recently in a Georgian cottage off Rodney Street. Snug is another.
Downstairs is a single counter (taken up mostly by a shiny La Marzocco espresso machine) and a tiny bar with, somewhat ambitiously, a couple of stools against it. Upstairs there’s seating for around twenty. Of an early afternoon this room is full of pairs — couples, colleagues, confidantes — sharing conversation and stainless steel plates of food.
Considering its compactness Small Town Boy’s menu has decent savoury offerings, including sandwiches made at big brother venue Free State Kitchen (which, if you’ve tried their Reuben, you’ll recognise as good news).
But it’s the pastries and, particularly, the buns that are so good here. The former by the Butterholic, whose pistachio croissants and Biscoff cubes have people queuing around the block at Lunko on Lark Lane. The latter are from solobread, of Birkenhead, who bake wonderful loaves and rolls with water-mill stoneground flour.
Their cardamom buns are excellent, however it’s the pear and custard that shouldn’t be missed. A rich, almost animal flavour from the custard, brown butter crumble, tart-sweet fruit and some sourness in the crumb of the long-fermented bread.
At Small Town Boy you can get a great cup of coffee — and before 9am if you want it (never a given in Liverpool). You’ll be asked how you are. You’ll be given time — and what space there is — to sit or lean.
You can tear a chunk from the bun you’ve just bought, use it to scoop up some custard and a wedge of soft pear. Whatever else is happening, this is happening. A small, good thing.
