Francesca's Flowers

FRANCESCA'S FLOWERS AT PADDINGTON HAS PERMANENTLY CLOSED.

Francesca’s Flowers is an enchanting flower shop café that inhabits the top floor of a gorgeous white Queenslander cottage on Paddington’s Latrobe Tce.

Don’t be fooled by the name, for while Francesca’s Flowersmay look and sound like a florist shop, there’s a world of surprises inside.

Each of the cottage rooms are decked out for a different purpose, with the first room to the left of the entrance a kind of tea room with divine fresh baked cakes under glass bell jars and an espresso machine at the counter and a wooden dining table with fresh flowers and tiny pots of tea leaves for guests to sit around and sample.

Amongst the extensive range of teas you’ll find Japanese cherry, French Earl Grey, China Gunpowder, Cream Black, Taiwan Ooling and Chai Vanilla while the coffee served here is from Natural Bean and other drinks include Irish hot chocolate, juices, or boutique soft drinks.

Delicious food served at Francesca’s Flowers are the baked treats, including some of the best home-made cake you’ve ever tasted and while it varies daily there’s generally always something chocolate/gluten free.

Moving on, the central room of the cottage is festooned with fresh blooms in pots and vases with some of the most stunning bouquets to be found in Brisbane, along with a small range of cute gifts (candles, chocolates, hand sewn stuffed toys and retro style aprons) while from there a front verandah is set up for morning or afternoon tea and a read of a good book.

Out back is a room that is a mother’s group’s dream and can be booked in its entirety for the purpose, with a central communal table and a fantastic kids cubby house in a converted walk-in robe that is packed with stuffed toys, games, puzzles and books and contains a little table and chairs with colouring pencils and paper.

In a café scene that’s largely given over to the gritty, the industrial and the vintage, Francesca’s is a charming old world contrast with its shiny polished floors, creamy white VJs and fretwork and the scent of fresh flowers and candles. And being fully air-conditioned it makes a cool retreat from a shopping trek and the perfect place to take a mum.