Quick intro

Pret A Manger is an English coffee-and-sandwich shop who are famed equally for their comestibles, beverages and Sixties-style stainless steel.

Instant facts

The sandwiches, wraps and baguettes are all hand-made and are almost invariably of high standard. The coffee is slightly easier on the tongue than most, and Pret invented the idea of the Smoothie, a drink made only of pure fruit juices.

On the coffee

The most important part! Well honestly, it's your choice as to whether you prefer Pret coffee to Starbucks - you just have to try the stuff. The coffee is an Arabaca mix that is specially made for Pret and even the double-Espressos are not at all harsh. If you wish to start drinking coffee, try Pret. The coffee can be tailored to almost any order, whether you want it twice as strong or twice as weak, made with milk or water, or any number of a million permutations. The coffee is also a very smooth blend, and so yours truly (as a student coffee-drinking freak) prefers it whenever cash-flow allows.

The Smoothie

These drinks are PURE FRUIT JUICE! Try 'em if at all possible, they're refreshing, although pretty pricey and don't last long. Pret no longer call them Smoothies by the way, as other companies made (cheaper) drinks which contained fruit flavouring with milk and other such abominations, and to ensure that Pret drinks are not confused with these, they have been renamed.

Other drinks

Any other drinks that are sold here (bottled water, cans) tend to be expensive and it's better to buy them elsewhere. But if you're not going to drink the coffee, what do you expect!

More in-depth

Founded in 1986 by Julian Metcalfe in a basement in London Victoria, Pret A Manger, (or "Ready To Eat" for the uneducated manyheaded) is probably the best example of the new coffee/sandwich bars that have sprung up throughout England. A worthy rival to the American invasion by stealth of Starbucks, Pret is starting to turn the tide as its first US store was opened in New York in Summer 2000.

When you walk into a Pret, you will see a wall-full of sandwiches, wraps and baguettes, along with various drinks and other snacks at (it must be said) rather high prices. However, the cost is well-justified. Behind the counter is a kitchen, where all sandwiches, wraps and baguettes are made from fresh, by a team dedicated to extraordinarily high standards, both in terms of hygiene and quality.

One bad point - Pret say they give away all unsold sandwiches to the homeless at the end of the day. This used to be true at Bluewater (it may still be true elsewhere), until the management found that people would abuse the system, waiting until the shop was about to shut before demanding sandwiches, so now they all get thrown into the rubbish.

The stickers (for Mycroft!)

Right, to explain the little coloured stickers on the baguettes, sandwiches etc. They all have silly little mottos on them. The colours are irrelevent; the type of sticker is merely determined by the type of the sandwich. However on the baguettes you will notice a row of little red lines, against one of which the sticker is placed. These lines each denote a different hour, from 7.00am (far left) to whatever the time is on the far right. To find out when the baguette was made, just count along from 7.00am to where the sticker is. Good eh? Oh, and if it's more than three hours old, don't eat it unless you have to. More than five hours? Don't even touch it!

Me

Who am I to know this, you may ask. Well, I worked at the flagship Pret store at Bluewater shopping centre (that's in Kent for you Northeners, and England for you foreigners :p) during my summer holiday before I went to university.

Working for Pret

If you apply, you will almost certainly get an interview, as Pret always seem to be a little short-staffed. The interview is only a friendly chat with the store manager, who tells you that he/she does not decide whether or not you get the job. What happens is, you go in for the day (paid), and work with all members of the staff. At the end of the session, the members (secretly) vote, and if enough of them like you then you get the job. This is one of the best things about Pret, as you will be working with people who like you and are naturally likeable.

You will be assigned a trainer who will train you in the various arts of working at Pret. My trainer, Vanessa, who now works at Windsor Pret, was very pleasant and patient. I was also lucky enough to get extra training on coffee by Uyiosa (SORRY if I didn't spell it correctly mate!) - pronounced Yosa, rhymes with toaster - who still works at Bluewater. This man is an absolute master at coffee. If you are served by him, think yourself lucky for the privelage!

If they tell you they will pay £5.00 an hour, watch out! They do not mean this. What happens is that they will pay £4.50 an hour until you pass the Team Member Star exam, something that I was not told and resented enough to have a rather large exchange of letters with Mr Metcalfe about (thank you Dad for helping me with this!) until they stumped up the deficit. If they tell you £5.00 an hour, be sure to clarify that you will get this money from the moment you start working there, even on the trial day.

But enough of dull financial talk! Above all, go there, sample the gorgeous food, drink a heroic amount of coffee, and be on a high for a week!