One thing I will certainly miss when I leave London is the incredible choice of street food from all over the world, particularly in the markets around Camden and Brick Lane.
There’s a choice of Ethiopian, Brazillian, Peruvian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Burmese, Mexican, French, Greek, Moroccan, South African, Jamaican, Sri Lankan, Indian and just about anything else you can imagine.
Here’s a few snapshots of the vendors and food on offer around Brick Lane to get your mouth watering:
Listen to a Londoner is a weekly interview with a Londoner – someone who lives in this city, born here or elsewhere. If you’re up for being interviewed, email littlelondonobservationist@hotmail.co.uk.
Natalie Lester
Natalie has a BA in English, BSc in geography and MA in publishing; She loves English literature and her outlet is writing. Her favourite gelato is found in London at Gelato Mia in Notting Hill (dark chocolate and Biscotto). She loves the theatre and when she was younger, wanted to be Christine in Phantom.
LLO: How long have you been in London, where did you come from originally and what brought you here?
NL: I’ve been in London for a little more than a year – I just finished my MA in publishing at UCL…turned in my dissertation in September so here’s hoping for the best! I grew up in Idaho (in the US) and during my undergrad I did a study abroad in London. Ever since I have been planning to come back. In my opinion everyone should live in London for at least a little bit!
LLO: What’s your favourite way to pass a Saturday afternoon in London?
NL: Nothing beats the markets in London on a Saturday. I live right next to Regent’s Canal (Little Venice) and you can easily walk along the canal to Camden Market. If you go early enough then usually you are the only one along the canal and you get to breathe in the crisp air all by yourself. On my way to Camden I sometimes take a detour into Regent’s Park with my book… but I always make sure I get to Camden for my favourite treat in London – Chocolate covered strawberries and pineapple on a banana leaf!
LLO: Where is your favourite place to pick up an American treat if you’re craving something from home?
NL: One time I was in desperate need of some Root Beer and happened to be in the Leicester Square area so I had to pop into Ed’s Diner and pay a ridiculous price for a can of some A&W…it was worth it!
LLO: Which part of London are you most familiar with and what’s the best part about it?
NL: Well, I live on Edgware Road, which is pretty central London, so probably that area and then the Regent’s Canal area I was talking about earlier. London is great for its diversity and there is no better place to see this than Edgware Road with its plethora of Middle Eastern restaurants. And while the rest of London seems to close ridiculously early, you can venture onto Edgware at midnight and it still has the liveliness of midday.
LLO: If I told you I would be in London for one night only and wanted to get off the tourist trail, where would you send me to eat and drink?
NL: Ok, maybe this is still a bit touristy, but you can’t beat their chicken and leek pie at Doggetts Pub. It is right on the southbank by Blackfriar’s Bridge and if you want a nice meal you can go up top to the restaurant and sit by the window and watch London light up at night.
LLO: What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced as an expat in London?
NL: Maybe this is a lame challenge to have, but I miss my clothes dryer every day! Jeans just don’t fit the same here with nothing to dry them back into shape. Like I said, lame, but other than that…oh, and trying to find a frozen turkey at Thanksgiving (an adventure that ended with my flatmate and I carrying a frozen turkey in our arms for 45 minutes on our walk back from Camden). Other than those two things I have very few complaints about London.
LLO: Tell us about a favourite London memory that could only have happened in London.
NL: Keeping on the Thanksgiving theme, last year my flatmate and I were hosting a Thanksgiving party for a lot of people and we had purchased two turkeys. Somehow we forgot that this wasn’t America and not only did we not have room for them in our fridge, but we didn’t have two ovens. On Thanksgiving day we rang up some friends that lived about 15 minutes away to ask if we could borrow their oven. We ended up carrying the pre-cooked (but stuffed and seasoned) bird down the road and stuffed it into their oven which was even smaller than ours. Four hours later I picked up the bird—who was now full of juices and twice as heavy—and proceeded to walk down the very busy Edgware Road with a 20lb bird and turkey juice sloshing all over me everytime I placed a foot down! Surprisingly, after all that poor turkey had been through, and my arms shaking for about 20 minutes afterwards, Thanksgiving dinner never tasted so good!
LLO: Favourite London discovery?
NL: My favourite place in all of London is one I discovered with my fiancé. He is a Londoner and loves to walk on the southbank by the London Eye at night when the trees have their blue lights. While we were sitting, gazing up at the Eye through a sea of blue, we noticed that there was a break in the hedge and on the opposite side of the trees was a park…with swings. Now, it isn’t like this playground is exactly hidden, but it is further back from the main southbank walkway and I had never noticed it before. We quickly climbed over the rest of the hedge and snuck into the playground to swing (my all-time favourite past-time). In front is a large tree, and when you swing at night you catch glimpses of the London Eye lights through the trees and it looks like the London sky is full of stars that you can almost touch. I think it is one of the most magical places in London.
LLO: What would you suggest if I asked you to plan a creative, off-the-wall or otherwise unique date in London?
NL: Saturday morning head down to Borough Market, bring your appetite! Spend the first little bit just wandering around the stalls and take advantage of the free samples. Then, just about midday choose something that either a) you can’t possibly resist or b) something that is really strange and you have never tried before. Don’t eat it yet, but walk to Shakespeare’s Globe and wait in line for the groundlings so that you are the first ones in. While you are waiting break open lunch and enjoy! When they open the gates make sure that you get front and centre and you can lean up against the stage! Enjoy!
LLO: If you move back to America in the future, what five things will you miss most about London?
NL: Where do I start, once you have lived in London it becomes a part of you and I think there will always be something that I miss. But, if I had to choose 5, I would have to say 1) waking up on a crisp Autumn morning, getting a Chocolate Milano at Café Nero and crunching through the leaves in Hyde Park; 2) Big Ben at night…it just looks so magical and everytime I see it at night I think that Peter Pan will come land on the hands of the clock at any moment; 3) Amazing fish and chips the the hole-in-the-wall chippies (they are always the best); 4) Christmas time in London, from the Harrod’s Christmas Parade to the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park; 5) Low-tide on the Thames on the southbank skipping rocks.
Thanks Natalie!
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So it’s a bit crowded on a Saturday morning, but last weekend when we went browsing through the Borough Market, the smells were enticing enough that we stayed to fill up bags with goodies and drool over what we could have for lunch if we were still hungry or what we would have bought if we lived nearby and weren’t planning to be out for the rest of the day. There’s some oddities and exotic choices and the standby fresh veggies and chicken to choose from. I’d recommend the grilled cheese sandwiches and some cheese tasting. There’s lunch in all the free samples! Here’s a splash of photos….
Listen to a Londoner is a weekly interview with a Londoner – someone who lives in this city, born here or elsewhere. If you’re up for being interviewed, email littlelondonobservationist@hotmail.co.uk.
Mary Higgs, 30
Mary lives in Battersea. She’s an interior designer by day and a London dating guru by night. She set up the Great Date Guide to help give Londoners inspiration and advice on where to go for a great date in this fantastic city.
LLO: Tell us about the Great Date Guide.
MH: I had the idea for the Great Date Guide a few years ago, when it started its life as a homemade book for my older brother. He had recently found himself new to London and single (after ending a 7-year relationship) and with an unenviable yet unavoidable lack of dating know-how. As it turned out, he wasn’t alone. I realised that I had so many friends in their late twenties who had hit the “make or break” stage in their relationships and had opted for “break”. This meant that their last “first date” was about seven years ago and often at university – a distant memory from a distant city!
Fed up with my brother’s constant emails at lunchtime on a Friday asking where he should take his date that evening, I decided to take action. I put together a book of eighty dates for him, written in the format of a travel guide. Each date was given a number based on its stage in the dating game (1 for a first date, 2 for early days etc.), and also a symbol to tell him what type of date it was – a heart for romance, a wine glass for drinks… you get the picture!
Anyway, he (and all his friends) absolutely loved the book and I kept an idea, in the back of my mind, that I’d like to do more with it. A few years later I decided it was the right time to do something with the idea and here it is – a website designed to take the hassle out of dating for busy Londoners who need a bit of inspiration. Single, married or somewhere in between, we should all be dating. Whether it’s cocktails in a ritzy bar, a romantic dinner for two or just a leisurely stroll through one of London’s fabulous parks, it’s our belief that dating should be a firm fixture in everyone’s weekly schedule.
LLO: Would you consider London a romantic city?
MH: Absolutely! Although, I believe that any city can be romantic if you approach it with the right attitude. It’s less about the city – more about how you interact with it. That is one of the reasons we started the website, to help people find the great dating spots in London that might otherwise have passed them by. I do think London is special though, and full of quirky romantic places.
LLO: Where’s the best place for a date in your postcode?
MH: For a first date, I think my local pub, the Lighthouse in Battersea, is pretty perfect! There’s a great garden for the summer and a roaring fire in the winter. The atmosphere is seriously relaxed so you can start off with a glass of wine, and if the date is going well you can settle in and order food. If the date is going really well you can finish off with a romantic stroll around Battersea Park and then reward yourself with a cheeky kiss on Albert Bridge – definitely the most romantic bridge in London!
LLO: Tell us about the best date you’ve ever had in London.
MH: I’m in the lucky position of having had lots of wonderful dates in London with my boyfriend. It’s hard to pick a favourite but I think I’d have to say when we took a day trip to Greenwich. Taking the boat down the river, you’re really reminded what a fantastic city London is. Then in Greenwich there is so much to do: fascinating museums, beautiful art, colourful markets, romantic walks with spectacular views, not to mention standing on the line where time officially starts! We finished off the date with a delicious meal at the Rivington Grill and then a very tipsy boat ride home in the dark, mesmerised by the lights of London and the romance of it all. It was a perfect day.
LLO: Any great date disasters you’re willing to share?
MH: Hmmm, I had a pretty bad first date once when my date wanted to take me out for dinner, but it turned out he hadn’t booked anywhere. Every restaurant that we tried was fully booked until an hour later and we ended up going to Pizza Express – not exactly the height of romance! Then to top it off we went to a nearby pub after dinner to bump into a bunch of his male friends who were having a pretty boozy night and thought the fact that he was on a first date was cause for relentless “banter”. Anyway, it wasn’t too bad as we went on more dates and are still friends now!
LLO: Can you recommend a cozy, quiet, candlelit restaurant for us?
MH: Of course! Plenty to choose from… We love Julie’s in Holland Park as it’s full of romantic little nooks and crannies, making it the perfect place for dinner. Clos Maggiore is another favourite – you’ll be hard pushed to find somewhere more romantic, with it’s indoor courtyard complete with roaring fire, fairy lights and blossom laden trees (all year round)!
LLO: Best place for a first date in London?
MH: Again, there are so many options (we’ve got a section about this on the site)! Also, it sounds obvious, but you really have to think about who you’re going on a date with. If they’re an art lover then the top floor bar at the National Portrait Gallery would be perfect, but more of a foodie would like Moro in Exmouth Market, oh, and a music buff would like 606 Jazz Club in Chelsea!!
LLO: What about a date of people who have been in a relationship for a long time and want to do something completely out of the ordinary to help rekindle the passion?
MH: Lots of options here but if you lead a busy stressful life and have forgotten what it felt like to fall in love, then a spontaneous candlelit supper picnic in one of London’s parks will do the trick (summer or winter). It involves a bit of effort and that’s what makes it so special – you’re saying you can do more than just pick up the bill. However, if you do want to go to a restaurant then Dans Le Noir would be perfect. From the moment you enter you are blind-folded so all your senses are heightened and you can focus on each other with no distractions.
LLO: It’s summertime and London is full of rooftop terraces just waiting to be filled with cocktail drinkers. Can you recommend the best place to wine or dine above the treetops?
MH: We’ve actually got a list of our top 10 roof terraces on the website – we couldn’t pick a favourite! For the best view in town it probably has to be Vista at the Trafalgar, where, as the name suggests you can see the whole of Trafalgar Square and beyond. You do have to queue which is a pain but it’s worth it for the incredible view. If you’re in the City then Coq D’argent is a must with it’s roof terrace and garden and the kind of quality food you expect from the D&D group.
LLO: What’s your favourite unique London discovery?
MH: I discovered the Chelsea Physic Garden recently. Like so many places in london I’d walked passed the entrance for years and never gone in! The gardens themselves are a complete oasis from the traffic on the Embankment and the bustle of the Kings Road. In the summer you can eat in the garden: either bring your own food and a picnic rug or tuck into the seriously delicious food on offer in the cafe. But, as you’ll have guessed from the rest of this interview I’m not very good at picking favourites!
Thanks Mary!
Get some great ideas from Mary and team at www.thegreatdateguide.com. They’re also on Facebook www.facebook.com/greatdateguide and tweet at @greatdateguide.
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Berny is here from sunny Oz, selling her nostalgic jewellery in London shops and the market in Stoke Newington. Scouring charity shops for dusty books, she’s created a unique product by taking pieces of well known stories like Alice in Wonderland and turning them into earrings and brooches.
She’s taken a bit of time to share some photos of her work, tell us the story of how it all started and about the latest range of jewellery to look out for soon. Check out her website for more: www.folksy.com/shops/Skettie
“A baby deer was born. Oh my, there was so much excitement that day! Bambi necklace.”
LLO: How and when did you come up with the idea to make recycled jewellery from the pages of abandoned books?
BF: Before I moved to the UK I found an old 1960’s children’s annual on a dusty shelf in a charity store in Melbourne. It was missing its cover and several pages but had the most beautiful illustrations and graphics inside and it seemed a terrible waste to just leave it sitting there lonely and abandoned on the shelf. I thought that it was destined for greater things and a measly 20 cents later it was mine. A few months later, when I moved to England, some of the pages managed to make the cut to be included in my excessively overstuffed suitcase.
“Quotation brooches 1, 2 and 3”
LLO: You have a bachelor degree in Landscape Architecture. Why the switch to making jewellery?
BF: When I moved over from Australia last May I was planning on looking for work as a Landscape Architect but in an unfortunate coincidence I managed to time my move perfectly with the height of the recession so by the time I arrived there wasn’t a great deal of work around. To keep myself occupied I decided to make something to sell at a local art market and since I had left my sewing machine back home in Oz, jewellery was the next thing that came to mind. Nine months later I’m still doing it and really loving every aspect of the work.
“Birds fly over the rainbow; Why then, oh why can’t I? – Selection of bird necklaces and brooches.”
LLO: Your shop on Etsy.com is called Skettie. What does that mean and where did the name come from?
BF: ‘Skettie’ was my nickname as a young kid and it seemed appropriate as my designs are bright, colourful and playful and some of them even come from books or images which I enjoyed as a kid.
“Cigarette card range.”
LLO: Would you consider working with other similar materials like magazines, for example?
BF: I started out making most of my pieces from the children’s annual I found back in Melbourne but since then I have found interesting materials in all shapes and sizes, including maps, magazines and even sheets of music. Most recently I found a stack of old cigarette collector cards with some great quirky images ranging from butterflies and birds to some extravagantly costumed figures which I have made into a range of earrings. I love the idea of taking something that has been damaged and neglected, whatever it may be, and transforming into an object that people can value and appreciate once more.
“Earrings created from Birds of England calender.”
“Where in the world – map earring range”
LLO: What books have you most recently recycled to make your jewellery?
BF: I found a Judy Annual from the 1970’s in a charity shop in London which had a bit of water damage, but I have made a really fun range of quotation brooches from it. More recently I found a calendar with illustrations of English birds which have been made into a range of brooches and earrings.
“Floral cameo brooch”
LLO: Which shops are the best for finding suitable books?
BF: There is a really brilliant second hand book store in Notting hill which has thousands and thousands of books and magazines. It has a huge basement too where everything is about 10p and I have found some great things down there. I love trawling through charity shops and flea markets to find interesting items; you never know what you will dig up. I even get people donating books to me that they have found and think might work. Another designer at a market brought me an old cookbook she had at home which had the most beautiful blue and white sketches of the architecture of Oxford. And a buyer from one of the shops where I sell my designs gave me two children’s books she had found at home which she was going to throw out.
“Floral earrings and brooch set.”
“Text cameo brooch”
LLO: Which creation are you most proud of so far and why?
BF: At the moment I am working on a range of architecturally themed earrings which I quite fancy! The details in the church towers and the windows and doorways resemble wonderfully intricate lacework. I’m also working on a new range of designs inspired by cameo brooches which are due to hit the shelves soon.
“A selection of the architectural range.”
LLO: Which piece of jewellery has been the best selling since you started your business?
BF: My earrings have been the best selling piece so far and come in two sizes. I had a range made from an old London tube map that proved very popular but quickly sold out and I have been on the hunt for another vintage tube map ever since. I don’t know that there is a particular ‘best selling design’ though as every single pair are unique, nearly all of them are one off images and its hard to know what individual people will like. I love that people get a real giggle out of a lot of the designs as they look through them all. Quite often they might recognise and reminisce over a design from a magazine or book they read as a child or will find a particular design that relates to a personal joke they have with a friend.
“Range of new cameo brooches”
LLO: Where can we find your jewellery in London?
BF: You can find my jewellery in ‘Beyond the Valley’, just off Carnaby Street in Soho and in ‘Of Cabbages and Kings’. I also try to do as many markets as I can; some on the horizon include the monthly ‘Of Cabbages and Kings’ markets in Stoke Newington.
“Selection of large earring range”
“Selection of small earring range”
LLO: Favourite London-based artists?
BF: There are some really talented designers whose work I’ve seen through markets I have done. I love Miso Funky’s ‘In case of emergency breakdance’ framed pictures and London Clay Birds is a favourite for her beautifully simple bird sculptures; I have two but want the whole flock!
“Where in the world – butterfly brooch”
Thanks Berny!
See more of Berny’s work here: www.ofcabbages.co.uk or here: www.beyondthevalley.com
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