Balloons and A Great Expedition via Gingerline

Along the Victoria Line platforms at Finsbury Park tube station there are some marvellous colourful mosaics of balloons. These are probably historically incorrect for this location, but hey they are a nice distraction.
They tie up nicely with a night out I had last week at one of Gingerline's clandestine dining adventures; the current experience is A Grand Expedition being a Phileas Fogg -style balloon trip around the world.
I can't tell you where this was located because it's all a bit secret squirrel – you are told that the your night out will somewhere along the northern half of the Victoria Line but the specific location is not given until the afternoon, via text.
When you get there you enter the dining space to you find you are inside, completely surrounded by, the experience, as if you are part of a play. The 'stage' for this is well-throught-through and marvellously evocative. Performers act out scenes and deliver the food in character whilst all around there are animations, graphics, evocative sounds and music.
Many other guests had been to previous Gingerline events and were coming back for more.
Hmm... thinks... perhaps I could offer some non-specified themed guided walks...

Shopicide – memories of W. Burrows & Sons, a charming old fish shop in Acton

What is the word for destroying and 'modernising' something and replacing all that was historical, handmade and interesting with nothing of any style or class? I've decided on 'shopicide'.

In January 2009 I took these pics of the old fish & chip restaurant and fishmongers at the northern end of East Acton Lane near Savoy Circus (named after a cinema and a roundabout, both long gone).

As you can see, the shop frontage was lovely with a hand-painted sign by Brilliant Signs Ltd of W12 (Permenart) and the little panels in the windows had decorative glass panels and ventilation inserts. Along the bottom there were lovely hand-fired green tiles with five fish motifs at regular intervals. For some reason I only took photos of three of them:

The shop was clearly closed for business. Peering in through the window I could see the lovely old wooden seating was still intact. However, some kind of renovation was underway – there were paint pots on the counter which was covered in a cloth. I assumed they were merely doing a bit of decorating. 

I haven't visited the area since ten and so, last weekend when I was in the vicinity, I took a short detour to go and check out what has become of the place.
But, oh dear, what a disaster – everything shown above has gone. And I mean everything. I didn't get out of the car to take photos because it was just too much to take in. Instead, I googled it when I got home and these streetview screengrabs show that absolutely nothing is left of the old shop:

How is this allowed to happen? I have tried searching for other images of the old shop but the only pics I can find are my own – there must be some in an archive somewhere...?

Sad face.

Jane's Connect. What links these pics?

Here's a little quiz for Christmas, though unlike these cards it has got nothing to do with the time of year or Christmas at all.
All of the above are in central London and are linked in some way. Can you identify the link?

12 clues; some quickly identifiable, others a bit tougher (but you only get four clues on Only Connect).

The Black Cat Cabaret at Café De Paris

From the ridiculous to the sublime... 
After the torture that was The London Dungeon (see previous post!), I needed a lift, so hurrah for this fabulous show in a fabulous location.
Inspired by Montmatre's cabaret underworld, The Black Cat Cabaret is on every Friday at the Café De Paris. It's an engaging few hours of singing, dancing, feats of agility and strength, fire breathing and more. Proper cabaret entertainment. I loved it.

The gorgeous venue with its sweeping staircase and pillared gallery is modelled on the ballroom of the Titanic. It gives the feel of much older than it is but was actually opened in 1924. It reminds me of those supper clubs you see on old movies when people used to really dress up to go out and be entertained by crooners and showgirls. Enjoy the show whilst enjoying a meal on the ground (dance) floor or sipping drinks from the upper level.
And then, after the show has finished, the dining tables are cleared, the dance floor exposed and the place is totally transformed into a nightclub.
A really cool venue.
(My good reviews are always so much shorter than the bad ones!)

Update on the Holloway Pie & Eel Shop

As you know from an earlier post, I have been watching the reveal of this old sign for years.

A month or so ago the decorators arrived and started painting the woodwork black. But the lettering was left untouched.... what was happening?

Then, earlier this week, a friend told me that he'd noticed it had been completely blacked over (aargh!).

So I went to check for myself and I am glad to report that after speaking to the decorator in the picture above, the sign is safely hidden under boards. The shop itself is being tiled with off-white brick tiles and will be opening as a licensed pie shop. Brilliant!
I hope to be one of the first customers...

'Williams Homemade Pie & Eel Shop' sign is finally revealed again on Holloway Road

I have had my eye on this particular shop sign for years...
Though it's not Edwardian, gold leaf or 3D it's still hand-painted and well worth preserving as a reminder of a more recent age when pie and eel shops could be found all over London. Only a few of these establishments are still open these days.
A while back I reported that many old shop signs along the Holloway Road are being preserved as shopkeepers/owners are being encouraged to keep hold of any signage they might find when renovating. Sadly a couple of signs in the area that did make brief appearances (see here and here) did not stay visible for long and I hope they not have just been painted over, or filled in as happened to a relief sign in Finsbury Park.

A few years ago a clever protective etched perspex/glass sign (above left) was put across the 'Williams Homemade Pie & Eel Shop' sign such that during the day the modern sign was visible with lights and in the evening the old lettering could still be seen when the shop was closed. Very clever and similar to the sign at No. 109.
Last year all of this was covered up completely when two subsequent companies moved in and just pasted their company names straight over the top.
Then some of it became visible (above middle), and finally, last week (above right) I noticed that Miss Desire had finally peeled off her layers and revealed the red underneath. As you can see the clear protective plate has now also been removed.
I will keep an eye on it and see what transpires.

This parade in which Williams sits has always been of interest to me. It's one of the oldest stretches in Holloway Road and I used to be fascinated and amused how it colourful and multi-cultural these buildings had become over time.

Then in 2009 (middle pic above) the scaffolding went up and some idiot saw fit to sand blast the No.211-3. As you can see from the right hand image the bricks are now looking way too new, having had their outer coatings removed by heavy-handed cleaning, and dodgy patches of un-matched pointing can be seen between the courses. I think the faded colours looked OK as they were. This clean up job makes it look like a pastiche of buildings further up the street where the unpainted bricks on other buildings of this kind have taken on a nice dirty grey/brown over the years.
No.215 has also been tarted up and given a coat of magnolia paint. It looks marginally better than next door but I do miss that crazy Columbian blue and red, though for some reason the yellow at the top has been retained.
See here for comparisons of the old and new:

Food waste and fat waists

Recently I was at a market and happened to notice that by the end of the day a food stall selling 'artisan' pastries and cakes had barely sold half of its stock. OK, some of it could possibly be re-hashed into other products (their bread pudding made with croissants was yummy!), but the bulk of it would surely have to be binned.
It got me thinking about how the cost of the basic ingredients is, in many cases, minimal (cupcakes anyone?!) yet the retail prices have to factor in all the estimated wastage.
Food waste disgusts me. Here, in the UK and the western world, we are paying over the odds for simple items and throwing away good, edible, unsold or uneaten food. A lot of fruit and veg available in the UK is being imported from around the world, and a large percentage of that also ends up being thrown away as either unfit to sell or, once bought, it's mouldy/inedible in a day or two.
Include 'sell by' and 'use by' dates, and the whole thing gets really ugly. One big compost heap – though I bet no one's thought of that.
And, in contrast to all this, there are still people in the world without access to the basic ingredients needed to make simple meals. Go figure.
I put the TV on this morning for a bit of homogenised BBC News and it seems some genius has suggested that the world's food shortage could be blamed on obese people!
These lardy buckets do indeed eat too much, but this 'epidemic' of families of overweight waddlers seems to me to have begun at roughly the same time as MacDonald's started to offer supersize portions. Ditto kingsize Mars Bars, buckets of fizzy drink and crisp packets containing enough calories to feed a family of four. There were no obese people about when I was at school; just one fat boy in my class, though he did eat a lot of sweets.
Here's an interesting statistic... according to the BBC item, the US contains one third of the obese people on this planet yet the country only accounts for 6% of the world's population.
I wonder if we can also blame these American obese people for the strange weather we are having this year... perhaps them being concentrated in one place like this is causing the planet to go off-balance?
On the subject of food, and particularly fast food, if you haven't already seen it, watch the fascinating 'The Men Who Made Us Fat'. The first episode was last week – find it on BBC iPlayer. Fascinating and scary.

Cafes, cafés, caffs and other similar places to eat in London
Top: Archway, Oxford St, Holloway, Stoke Newington
Middle: Sloane Square, Islington, Holborn, Holloway
Bottom: Crouch End, Smithfield, Finsbury Park

City Showcase event in Soho this Sunday

This Sunday 27th May – Dean Street in Soho will be closed to traffic for a one day event with food, comedy, music and market stalls offering a wide range of fashion and eclectic items.
I will have a stall there myself flogging my wares opposite the Crown and Two Chairman pub at pitch 14, so, if you are out shopping in the homogenous mainstream of Oxford Street, please do nip into Soho and say hello.
The event is in aid of the Terrence Higgins Trust.
See here for more details.

The Dean Street area.

Top Hat is TipTopTaptastic

I went to see Top Hat at the Aldwych Theatre last night.
I am not normally a fan of musicals, by which I mean the Abba and Queen variety*. But being a sucker for the old black and white singing and dancing films, especially Busby Berkeley movies such as this corker, and anything with Fred and Ginger in it, saying yes to this show was a no brainer.
This new stage version of Top Hat is wonderful. That Tom fella off the TV who won Strictly is in it and he's rather good indeed. As is Summer Strallen who makes tap dancing, especially high kicks, look so easy and, boy, can she sing! They are supported by a great supporting cast. I loved every minute of it. It's all based on the simple old story of boy meets girl mixed with mistaken identity (aren't they all?!). A few extra numbers  that were not in the original have been cheekily added but hey, why not?!
Reduced seat prices are available here.
"Heaven, I'm in heaven..."
Now I feel the need to watch the original 1935 film of Top Hat again... here's a clip. Notice how it's mainly a simple continuous wide shot so you can see the dancing in full, which contrasts with all silly close-ups etc we get in films and on TV these days featuring unnecessary cuts to the audience. Also note the lovely soft film quality.
"I'm putting on my white tie..."
Nice.
No photos of the show, but here are some of my London hats:

Top: Hollen St, Chenies St, Goswell Rd, St James St

Middle: Ely Place, Hatton Gdn, Jermyn St, Shepherd Mkt
Bottom: Lambeth Walk, Prebend St, Wilkes St, St Martins Place.


*though I am always prepared to be proved wrong, so if anyone has any spare free tickets for any of the big 'modern' musicals, then please do get in touch ;-)

The Connaught is lovely

On the corner of Mount Row and Chandos Place, opposite where there used to be an 18th century workhouse, sits the wonderful Connaught Hotel.

I've never been the kind of person who has the money and inclination for prestigious expensive hotels, preferring low budget rooms with a good bed and shower (after all I will be out all day tramping the streets with my camera, meeting people and seeing the city, not lounging about in my room), but the Connaught could change my mind. Hmmmm, now all I need is the means.... If I did have money to burn I think I'd stay there a few times so that I could try out all the different types of rooms.

Most hotels are having to constantly revamp their suites to keep up with all the high tech nonsense we all seem to need these days yet, unlike other hotels I have visited, The Connaught has managed to achieve this without loss of style or elegance. In addition to this, the communal areas are wonderful; the staircases, carpets and floors, and the two little lifts, one dark purple and the other dark green... it's like stepping into a film set.

The ground floor is given over to some top quality bars and restaurants; and they are really good. I had some lovely canapés and martinis (and champagne too!) in the award-winning Connaught Bar but had no time to stay longer to sample the restaurant. If anyone wants to take me to Hélène Darroze at the Connaught any time, my response is 'yes please!'.

Oh, and there's spa in there somewhere. I wasn't interested in checking that out as I'm not really into spas, but I hear their Aman spa is good. What is with hotels and spas? Isn't the great big bath in the room enough?! I do like the idea of outdoor spas of old though; taking the waters and all that. I've never said or written 'spa' so many times. Spa spa spa.

Finally, situated on the pavement outside the main entrance to the hotel is the marvellous and bizarre Tadao Ando water installation, which I have yet to see in action. I have heard it looks great after dark when it's all lit up and the steam is in action.

Designer arts and crafts markets at Angel

This Saturday 12th sees the first of four designer craft markets leading up to Christmas.

Amelia Parker will be there along with plenty of other specialist stalls selling all sorts of hand-made goods. More info here.

See you there, at the Penton Street end of Chapel Market, Islington, N1.

The next dates are 26th November, 10th & 17th December.

Chapel Market pics:

Gaby's Deli under threat

To be honest I have been wondering, what with the sad demise of so many independent London establishments over the years, how Gaby's, one of my favourite cheap eat venues has managed to cling on.

For decades I have enjoyed going in there for meze plates large and small, salt beef sandwiches and kebabs (not all on the same plate!) washed down with good cheap wine, whilst looking at the celebrity photos and endorsements and favourable restaurant reviews pinned to the walls. Back in the '90s I often worked at a company who occupied the upstairs floors, so the sandwich run was quick and easy as well as tasty.

But I am sad to report that Gaby's Deli is under threat after Westminster Council has given consent for the site to be redeveloped.

The council has some bizarre idea that redevelopment "will improve the look and feel of the St Martin's Court area, and this will outweigh the loss of the existing retail units".

Aaargh! By this, I assume they mean, homogenise the area by bringing in Starbucks et al.

Why change such a curiously interesting little pocket of London? The little courts that join Charing Cross Road to St Martin's Lane are really special and are home to some wonderful little bespoke shops and restaurants. Tourists love London history; they don't want to come here and see the same bland high street shops they have at home or at Westfield.

Rent hikes mean we've already lost most of the old bookshops along nearby Charing Cross Road. And, just further north, a great swathe of the St Giles area has been raped by plastic high rise buildings that still have empty shop spaces on the ground floor. To evict well-used, well-loved, flourishing businesses like Gaby's makes no sense at all. This whitewash must stop.

Gaby's planned eviction date is 1st May 2012. Join the Facebook campaign here.

Here are some details and observations, all to be found a stone's throw from Gaby's:

Are you hot or cool?

This isn't about the UK's changing weather. Although it's true that this 'summer' has so far been very changeable; we have had rain, wind, hot, cold, humidity, damp... etc.

No, this post is about a question I have been asking friends:

Would you rather be described as 'hot' or 'cool'?

Discuss.

Top: Stoke Newington, Stroud Green, Hampstead, Bloomsbury

Bottom: Southwark, Battersea, Smithfield, Barnsbury

Primark threatens Hanway Street

I have just heard that Hanway Street, that handy cut-through from TottCtRd to Oxford Street, is under threat from a retail giant.

It seems Primark, the makers of mass-produced throw-away tat, sorry, clothes, are moving into the old Virgin Megastore and this narrow street at the back isn't wide enough for their delivery trucks. They have made proposals to Camden Council which will include widening the loading bays and altering the street to include designer boutiques. Mind you, it's been widened before (see below).

So Hanway Street, with its quirly mix of bars (mainly Spanish bars where I have spent many a late drunken night over the years), restaurants, record shops, offices and homes, may end up looking like Neal Street.

And I can clearly remember Neal Street when it had real shops in it... and Camden Passage... and Camden 's Chalk Farm Road... and Upper Street... and charing Cross Road... and... and...

No trimmings at Alfie's in Bermondsey

I had my Christmas dinner this year with friends at Alfie's, the restaurant on the ground floor of the Bermondsey Square Hotel.

Well I say Christmas dinner, but that's not what was put in front of me, even though it was Christmas Day and it was my main meal of the day.

Hmmm... so what went wrong?

At £35.00 for 3 courses plus drinks etc and a 'discretionary service charge of 12.5%' call me a fool, but I was expecting something reasonably good. But what I got was tiny and tasteless.

My terrine starter was nice but then the main course was placed in front of me. I waited for side dishes or something but nothing came – that was all I was going to get – a few bits of pan fried turkey on a bed of cabbage with 3 or 4 strands of carrot and some one inch cubes of potato, all drenched in an over-powering gravy, served in a pasta bowl, yes, a pasta bowl...!

Where were the parsnips? The cranberry sauce? The proper roasties? It certainly did not fulfill the description on the menu as being "with all the trimmings". I ate it in about 7 mouthfuls in less than 5 minutes (nutritionists say the main meal of the day should take approx 20 mins to eat).

Then the pudding arrived. It was an unattractive individual blob of a thing about 6cm in diameter and 3cm tall. I cut it half. It was squishy and one tiny mouthful confirmed that it was barely cooked and watery. I don't recall any brandy sauce coming with it.

It was too much to take. I was so disappointed. I complained and got my main course removed from the bill and agreed to a little sticky toffee pudding as a replacement for the wet blobby thing. It was OK but it wasn't very sticky.

Needless to say I shall not be going to eat at Alfie's again.

Here's another not so good review.

Oh, I almost forgot, the male and female signs on the toilet doors are horrible – they are bronze casts of a woman's bra and a pair of Y-fronts. Due to the colour of them and their crumpled-ness both items lead one to think that the hotel is promoting casual sex in the toilets or is renting the rooms by the hour!

Ah well... The streets in and around Bermondsey are littered with interesting gems... all of pics above are less than 10 mins walk from the restaurant.

Bar Boulud at The Mandarin Oriental

Earlier this week, thanks to Travel Onion, I went for a lunchtime treat in Knightsbridge with a few other London bloggers. I wasn't sure this was gonna be my kind of thing as when I started this blog I wanted to be specifically about things on the streets. But I am so glad I accepted the invitation as the place and the people were lovely.

I'd have been happy just wandering the hotel's corridors, lobbies and staircases as the inside of the building is beautiful – a lovely mix of old England with touches of the East – but we were also taken inside some of the rooms including the spa, the beautiful and ornate dining room that overlooks Hyde Park, the original entrance on the park side of the building, a standard room (did they say approx £800 a night depending on the season?!) and then to the Royal Suite which was stunning... if you are interested in the price for a night there, then multiply that last room rate by about twelve!! If anyone needs a roommate for a night, just get in touch. (Actually, does that sound a bit forward?!)

After our tour we were treated to lunch in Bar Boulud on the ground floor. The food was scrumdicious (my own word!); plates of charcuterie consisting of patés, hams and terrines, plus seafood platters and salads, followed by a main course, my choice being one of their fantastic hand-made burgers – the one I had had foie gras in it but is only available on Sundays and Mondays.

Oh, and we had four different wines, all of which were explained (what's the word I want here?) to us by the Head Sommelier. Excellent! In a nut shell, I'd love to eat there again, especially as I was impressed at the competitive prices. But I suspect it'll be hard to get a table there soon as the place is becoming very popular. Rightly so.

Oh, and if it's not enough the hotel having David Boulud, it seems Heston Blumenthal is opening a restaurant there soon too, though the hotel's site says Autumn 2010.

And the light fittings throughout the whole building are gorgeous.