Tic Toc Café

Just opened in what used to be the End Of The Lanes cafe, Tic Toc’s owners Andrew van Ginneken and Ben Adamo describe their cafe’s style as “Amsterdam with a Brighton twist”.

Designed by the team behind boutique hotel Snooze in Kemp Town – “They don’t accept many commissions but they loved our ideas” – Tic Toc is a quirky, charming mish-mash of battered leather sofas, old clocks, shop signage letters and peculiar knick-knacks.

The seating has been arranged to be rearranged (“We want people to come in and make themselves at home,” says Ben) and bookshelves groan with novels waiting to be read over a coffee.

People are free to take them away, too, as long as they donate another book in exchange.

Despite the name, the clock theme is only a loose one.

“We’d originally planned to have clocks all over the walls, but we decided that was a bit much!” says Andrew.

The pair met as students and bonded over a love of music.

Andrew is promotions manager at Marine Parade music venue Audio, while Ben is a guitarist in Brighton band Transformer.

After putting on various club nights over the years, the idea of opening a cafe kept together coming up.

“We always used to come to the End Of The Lanes cafe with our friends, so when it came on to the market, it seemed ideal.

It’s in a great location and is the right sort of size.”

Andrew was born in France to a Dutch father, while Ben is Belgian, so the continental theme that runs throughout is an authentic one.

“We wanted it to look like those cafes you see in Amsterdam’s arty Jordaan district,” says Ben.

“Then the further you get inside, the more Brighton it becomes.”

Open sandwiches, at £4.95, are a speciality, with fillings including salami, gruyere cheese and mustard, chicken, grilled peppers and olive tapenade and new addition, The Innocent – cream cheese, radish shavings and celery salt.

A selection of pastries, cakes and quiches are made by a local supplier.

There is a range of teas and coffees, mostly fair trade, and a charity loyalty card scheme that allows regulars to help buy goats for Kenyan farmers.

Customers can also try Belgian treat Choc- O-Lait, where a hot glass of milk is served with a stick of Belgian chocolate, to be dipped or melted to taste.

The cafe has already been signed up as an acoustic music venue for the May Brighton Fringe Festival, though there are not, as yet, plans to put music on at any other time.

“Obviously we’re ambitious, but we want to make sure the cafe works first,” says Andrew.

Judging by the steady flow of customers, they are well on track to achieve that.

Sample the menu

Plain croissant – £1.40
Ham and cheese filled croissant – £2.70
Pain au chocolat – £1.50
Cheese on chunky toast – £2
Oat and raisin cookie – £1.25
Ginger Biscuits – £1.25
Flapjacks – £2
Double choc Brownies – £2
Millionaire shortbread - £2
Cupcakes – £2
Quiche Lorraine – £2.75
Broccoli and blue cheese art – £2.75
Goats cheese and red onion tart – £2.75

Open 7.30am-6.30pm Mon to Fri, 10am-6pm Sat, 10am-4pm Sun