A Girl in Walthamstow

Wood Street Indoor Market

2012-02-16T08:37:00.000-08:00

This Saturday saw the re-launching of Wood Street's indoor market. I had walked past the market entrance several times in the past without even really noticing it, but it has now been completely reinvigorated with the addition of 21 new shops. The place was a bustle of activity on re-maunch day, and it was great to see so many of the local residents out in force to support this new venture.

One of the new shops that caught my eye was the Significant Seams Hub where I put my name down for some 'waiting for baby' sewing classes where pregnant women can get together and sew a special toy or item for the new baby. We munched on yummy mango and passionfruit cakes from Plumbun, and I loved the funky T-shirt designs on display at Carbon 28 (definitely going to buy Jon a couple of cool presents from there!).

You can find Wood Street Market at 98-100 Wood Street, and it is currently open from 10-am - 5.30pm, Monday -Wednesday and Friday-Saturday. You can find a map and a full list of the market traders on the Wood Street Indoor Market website.

Daisy's Cafe - Hoe Street

2012-01-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

Daisy's cafe is one of a few bright oases scattered among the pizza and fried chicken shops that make up the otherwise uninviting stretch of Hoe Street that leads from the Lloyd park end of town up to the station (Le Delice and L'hirondelle being a couple of the others). The cafe has an ever-changing selection of quirky decorations, toys and jewellery for sale which are scattered around the walls and give the place a really interesting vibe. The staff are really lovely, friendly and laid back. I normally pop in at lunchtimes for a tea and panini, and often end up bringing home a slice of one of the excellent homemade cakes from the main counter. Definitely worth a visit!

You can find Daisy's cafe at 176 Hoe Street

Goats cheese + chargrilled vegetable panini (with optional Worcester sauce flavour crisps!)

**UPDATE 7th Feb 2012**

Daisy's cafe appears to be up for sale! A for sale sign appeared outside at the weekend.....lets hope they can find a buyer and keep the place going.

The Castle, Walthamstow

2011-12-30T08:30:00.000-08:00

Aberdeen Angus burger at the Castle

It's that quiet strange time of year between Christmas and New year's Eve. Luckily I don't have to go back to work until January 3rd so I am free to spend a few relaxing days at home eating up all the leftover chocolates and playing computer games before the reality of the new year kicks in. What better time to treat ourselves to a leisurely long afternoon pub lunch in Walthamstow? More local pubs are starting to offer food options now, with regular food nights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at the Rose and Crown plus roast dinners every Sunday from 1-3pm. I've also been told that the Nag's Head is starting to serve up small plates from a bar snack menu in the evenings.

We decided to head for the Castle, just set back from the main village high street on Grosvenor Rise. They have rebranded themselves as 'Walthamstow's first gastropub', and offer up a tempting looking menu of classic main courses, light bites and the popular roast dinner on a Sunday. We went for the delicious homemade Abberdeen Angus burger, which came with coleslaw and a neat stack of huge chunky chips, priced at around £10. It's definately a child-friendly place, in fact you might find yourself fighting through the buggies to get to the bar on a Sunday afternoon.

You can find opening hours and a sample menu for the Castle gastropub on their website here: www.thecastlegastropub.co.uk

New Blog: Baby Steps in Walthamstow

2011-12-06T01:55:00.001-08:00

As you may know, I am currently 5 months pregnant, expecting the new arrival around April 9th 2012. I imagine that life in 2012 will be very different for me, and I'm really looking forward to my 10 months off work to discover all the fun daytime baby friendly activities that E17 has to offer. I'm sure that my non-parent friends don't really want to read endless posts about pregnancy yoga or where to find the perfect pushchair, so I have decided to launch a sister blog, BabySteps in Walthamstow, for all my baby-related thoughts. Click the link below or the BabySteps tab near the top of the page for my pregnancy diary and updates on how I am getting on preparing for the springtime pitter-patter of tiny feet! I will also continue to keep this blog for all the other cool non-baby related stuff going on in E17!

Baby Steps in Walthamstow

London Prepares Series - Handball cup

2011-11-30T01:26:00.001-08:00

Handball action!

It's an exciting time for East London as preparations for the London 2012 Olympics get into full swing. The shiny new Westfield shopping centre is already open and already packed full to the brim with frantic shoppers seven days a week. High-rise apartment blocks are springing up all over Stratford, and the new transport links are starting to take shape. As for the Olympic park itself, the progress on the various sporting arenas has been obvious every time I drive down the A12, and construction seems to be remarkably on schedule according to the official reports! The main stadium was completed on time and under budget in March, with work on the other arenas being finished throughout the year. Throughout the winter and next spring, the arenas are being opened up for various test events as part of the London Prepares series, and as a resident of Waltham forest, we were lucky enough to get 4 free tickets for the Handball cup which took place this weekend! Now I don't know too much about handball as it isn't a massively popular sport here in the UK, in fact in 2007 we barely had a national team and had to recruit a load of athletes from other sports and send them on an intensive handball training programme in Denmark. The scheme seems to have been successful as both the GB men's and women's teams have earned the right to compete in London 2012. (We are offered places automatically as the host nation, but can be prevented from taking part if the teams are not competitive enough). I have tickets to the Olympic men's handball quarter-final next year, so now seemed like as good a time as any to figure out what the sport was all about, and a good excuse to get inside the Olympic park for the first time.

The Olympic handball arena

As well as testing out the handball arena, the London prepares series is being used to train some of the many thousands of staff that will be needed next year. When we arrived on Saturday, we had to go through airport-style security screening, where our bags were scanned and we had to empty our pocket contents into little plastic bags. The staff were all very chirpy and happy, and hopefully these test runs will help them iron out any issues before they have to deal with the massive crowds flooding in next summer. We walked past the aquatics centre and over the huge sweeping bridge past the impressive main stadium towards the handball arena. Even the normally green dingy canals had been totally cleaned out and looked sparklingly clear. The park itself is still a bit of a building site for now, but as soon as the grass and plants are in I can imagine it being quite something. The handball arena is one of the smaller looking venues, a compact black cube of a building with a capacity of around 7,000. Inside, brightly multicoloured seats are packed in over two floors, ensuring everyone is close to the action. The handball floor can be easily taken up to allow the floor to be used for other sports like badminton or basketball.
We were there to watch the two semi-final games of the women's handball cup, featuring Angola v Poland and Austria v China. Team GB sadly hadn't made it to the semi-finals, missing out only by goal difference from the earlier group qualifying stage. For my first experience of handball, the games were really exciting! Loads of end-to-end fast paced action, plenty of goals, and we even had a handy little leaflet to explain the rules (kind of a cross between basketball and 5-a-side football!). I don't even remember who won the competition - for me the day was much more about getting a taste of the Olympic experience, and I cant wait for next year!
Tickets are still available for other London Prepares events on the Ticketmaster website here: London Prepares series tickets. I managed to get myself some more tickets for February to watch Tom Daly in action at the diving World cup!

Alex and Salim's E17 Supper club

2011-11-15T08:39:00.000-08:00

Jon enjoying his sparkler!

I've mentioned before on this blog how I discovered the secret world of London supperclubs and have been working my way round some of the most recommended hidden gems over the last couple of years. There is a thriving underground foodie scene springing up all over East London, with Love Leluu and The Secret Ingredient among my favourite local supperclub venues. So it was surely only a matter of time before our own trendy little corner of East London got in on the act. A couple of months ago I started to hear on the grapevine (twitter!) about a brand new E17-based supperclub, and I knew I would have to go along and check it out for myself.

Last Friday evening, Jon and I went along to Alex and Salim's house in Walthamstow. We were greeted at the door with some lovely masala popcorn beautifully wrapped up in big green leaves, and several glasses of refreshing Mojito's from the fridge (non-alcoholic for me due to my ever-expanding baby bump!). Around 20 of us came along for dinner that night and we all sat around one long table in the living room, chatting away and greedily munching our way through the plentiful food that kept arriving from the kitchen. One favourite dish for me was mutton sagwalla, tender slow cooked chunks of meat in a vivid green spinach sauce. Another dish I really enjoyed was moong dal, I love eating all kinds of dal dishes but have absolutely no idea how to recreate them at home and get everything tasting so creamy and delicious! Luckily, Salim also runs cooking classes so I can always go along one day to learn all the secrets. After we were completely stuffed with our selection of main courses, we managed to find a little more room to squeeze in some chocolate cake before finishing off the night with some sparklers to add to the festive Diwali celebration theme.

We all had a great time chatting to and mixing with the other like-minded E17'ers, so why not pop along one night and give it a try?

Alex and Salim currently run the supperclub on the first Friday of the month, check out their website for more details:http://pardes.posterous.com/ They also offer cooking classes and can deliver a weeks worth of home-cooked suppers to your home (which Jon and I tried out a few weeks ago when we didn't feel like cooking - much healthier than your average takeaway and tastier too!).
Also, check out Sonia's review on her blog here:

Sushi competition at Tsuru

2011-09-07T08:55:00.000-07:00

The final five contestants

I've mentioned before my search for a new regular good-value sushi joint in London after my previous favourite, Zipangu on Little Newport Street, closed down a few years ago. Recently my favourite place to go has been Tsuru, originally with one branch near London Bridge but now expanded to open new branches at Mansion House and Bishopsgate. Tsuru is a hugely popular lunch spot for city workers, with its sleek wooden benches and beautiful sustainably sourced sushi on offer. As an out-of-town worker, I always visit in the evenings, where the lunchtime fridges are pushed back and the lights dimmed for a much more relaxed evening menu including hot dishes such as the gorgeous katsu curry.

Recently, Tsuru held a competition to find a new idea for a sushi roll to add to their menu. Inspired by their katsu curry main dish, I suggested a chicken katsu roll, with a chicken and red pepper filling and a tempura flake coating to give the sushi roll a bit of added crunch. Jon decided to enter too, and went for a more korean-inspired recipe of slow cooked pulled pork with pak choi and ginger filling, and a black sesame seed coating. We thought nothing more of our entries until a few weeks ago when we were delighted to hear that both of our recipes had been chosen for the final! We were invited along to Tsuru Mansion House for the somewhat daunting task of making our recipes for the restaurant owners and other judges to see who would make it onto the menu.

The finalists assemble our creations

The evening was really good fun, with the guys at Tsuru having gone to a lot of effort to make sure all our different ingredients were sourced and ready, including some amazing pulled pork for Jon's recipe from Pittcue. One of the chef's demonstrated how to roll our sushi, before we nervously presented our creations to the judges and waited for the results whilst we tucked into our lovingly-made dishes. In the ended, the judges decided on two joint winning recipes, one of which was Jon's slow cooked pork dish! His recipe will be on the menu to buy at Tsuru for a month starting from now, and whoever sells the most sushi rolls will win a magnum of Bollinger and the honour of a permanent place on the menu

My crispy chicken katsu rolls!

You can find Tsuru at London Bridge, Bishopsgate or Mansion house, and online here. Please give the slow-cooked pork a try! Thanks to Emma and all at Tsuru for a great night.

ferdiesfoodlab

2011-08-20T05:25:00.000-07:00

I've been a fan of London supperclubs for a couple of years now, with my favourite one from the past year being the excellent Fernandez and Leluu in Hackney. Uyen (from leluu.com ) still runs the supper clubs and Vietnamese cookery courses from her flat as I previously mentioned here . Simon, the other half of what was Fernandez and Leluu, is about to launch his own dining venture, ferdiesfoodlab, from next Saturday. Jon and I were lucky enough to be invited along for the soft launch night last weekend for an evening of foodie fun.

About 30 intrepid food lovers from across London congregated at Toynbee hall in Aldgate, a beautiful historic building with a spacious main hall set out with a long banquet table. We were served 6 courses, all beautifully presented on large serving platters to be shared with the people around you which made for a great informal and sociable atmosphere which got the whole table talking to each other. One highlight for me was a course of King Crab and samphire, the huge crab legs looking particularly impressive as a table centrepiece. Another fantastic dish was huge slow-roasted shoulders of lamb served in antique copper pans, we were practically fighting each other to carve off the chunks of tender meat and perfectly crispy roast potatoes.

All-in-all a great night out for food lovers looking for something a bit different to your usual Saturday night restaurant meal.

You can find out more information and dates for the upcoming ferdiesfoodlab nights here.

Liquorice marinated beef fillet

Seville zebras and chocolate olive ganache

Walthamstow Short Film Club

2011-07-31T05:35:00.000-07:00

Over the past week, I had spotted several posters around town and the village advertising a short film night at the Rose and Crown, so Jon and I went along on Friday night to check it out. These events have been running on the last Friday of the month since March and are held in the red room at the back of the pub.

On Friday we saw about eight or nine short films, covering a huge variety of styles from horror to comedy, with a couple of heartwarming and thought provoking documentaries thrown into the mix too. At the end of the night we voted for our favourite film, with this months winner being 'Billie' by Ana Pinheiro, the tale of an eccentric and charismatic Big Issue seller who told the story of her life on the streets and how she managed to turn her life around. You can see a clip of the film here. At only £3.50 each with sweets or popcorn thrown in, I would definitely recommend going along to the next film evening at the end of August.

Walthamstow short film club runs on the last Friday of the month at 7.30pm. You can find more details on their Facebook page here.

Walthamstow Farmers' Market

2011-07-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

Walthamstow Farmers' Market

Every Walthamstow resident is familiar with Walthamstow market, the long bustling street full of 'paaand-a-bowl' fruit and veg stalls which sprawls all the way from Walthamstow Central station down to St James' Street, making it apparently one of the longest street markets in Europe. Every Sunday since September 2007, the high street has also been home to a rather smaller but in my opinion more enticing selection of stalls that makes up the farmers' market. Every week, a group of farmers and producers come to show and sell their wares, everything from wild game, vegetables, organic meat, cakes, pastries and fresh herbs. Here are a few of my favourite stalls:

Seriously Italian: A fantastic selection of homemade pestos, gnocchi and other Italian dishes. Seriouslyitalian.com

Lincolnshire poacher cheese: Their signature poacher cheese is wonderful, as well as their fresh butter and raw milk. The also do gift boxes around Christmas time - a perfect present for that cheese lover in your family lincolnshirepoachercheese.com/

Radwinter Wild Game: Ideal for picking up those neglected British favourites such as rabbit, venison, pigeon and partridge. Today I picked up some Venison+mushroom sausages plus a pack of pheasant legs from these guys -can't wait to get cooking! Radwinterwildgame.com

You can find the Farmers' market every Sunday from 10am-2pm in the square outside Walthamstow library, and more information on the full range of producers here: London Farmers' Markets - Walthamstow

Lunch at Sketch

2011-07-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Beef carpaccio

I like to think of myself as a foodie, I love trying all kinds of exotic foods, discovering new flavours and unusual ingredients. Sadly I don't have an unlimited food budget so I normally have to limit myself to the more affordable end of the London restaurant price scale, however, it is definitely good to push the boat out every now and then! So I didn't take much convincing to use my recent birthday as the perfect excuse to book a day off work and try out some Michelin star dining. We went to Sketch, on Conduit street, a quirky and unpretentious place with a fantastic reputation for fine food. On arrival, we were given a quick tour around the various rooms including the impressive gallery room, described by our host as a 'video art installation dining experience', but what I can only describe as a huge, all-white room filled with white sofas and tables, with a giant psychedelic pacman-style video running all around the upper walls of the room. We were then led upstairs where the doors were opened to the magnificent Lecture room, run by head chef Pierre Gagnaire. The decor was at all times modern and unusual, a fascinating mixture of antique furniture and modern abstract art. The service was incredible, but unaccustomed as I am to fine dining, I did feel slightly ridiculous when I returned from the bathroom to find my napkin re-folded into an origami sculpture and a waiter rushing over to help tuck my chair in under me. The bathrooms by the way were equally crazy, a darkened chamber full of floor-to-ceiling mirrors and crystalline spider webs.

Sea trout and shrimps with samphire

Now I must move onto the food!. We went for the gourmet lunch menu, which presented each person with four starters, a main course, two desserts, 1/2 bottle of wine and coffee for the very reasonable price of £48 a head. Everything was exquisitely presented, with the utmost care and attention to detail showing through in every dish. The photos here really don't do the food justice as I tried to hastily snap away without anyone noticing. My sea trout main course was amazing, a wonderful balance of the sweet fish with the salty samphire and the bitter Guiness jelly cubes. We left feeling full to the brim and very happy with the world.

Thoughts on turning 30

2011-07-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today is a very special day for me. Today is my 30th birthday. For the last couple of years I have been slightly apprehensive about this moment, about leaving my twenties and my 'youth' behind, but as the fateful day grew closer I started to reflect on everything that I had experienced and acheived in the last ten years and began to feel a lot more at ease with the whole situation. I think if you can fill your life with as many happy and interesting experiences as possible then you don't need to fear the passing of time, just look back and think of all the good memories that you have created and the connections that you have made.

So here, in no particular order (apart from number 1!) are my top 20 memorable moments from my 20's.

1) Marrying the man of my dreams after five wonderful years together.
2) Buying our first flat together in Walthamstow.

3) Watching the sunrise over the Masaii Mara from a hot air balloon, peering down at a herd of giraffes galloping elegantly across the plain and a solitary lioness crouched drinking water from a stream.

4) Bathing in the plunge pool at the foot of Angel Falls, Venezuela, feeling the spray from the breathtaking kilometre-high cascade behind us.

5) Graduating with a first class honours degree in chemistry, the culmination of four years hard work and a lot of fun times.

6) Being offered my first proper job after graduation (The company where I still work!)

7) Watching mountain gorillas in Rwanda, scrambling up the side of a volcano to emerge onto a clearing where we watched in awe the majestic male silverback chewing on bamboo shoots while the baby gorillas swung on vines and tumbled in fluffy piles down the hill.

8) Spending four weekends at Barretstown, a beautiful and magical castle in Ireland, where children with terminal ilnesses and their families come for a weekend of theraputic recreation. Each time I have been there as a volunteer child carer has been a humbling, moving and heartwarming experience which I will never forget.
9) The spectacular view of Mount Fuji from our onsen spa on honeymoon in Japan.

10) Moving to London for the first time in 2004 and realising that I could never go back to live in some sleepy town or village.

11) Starting my own blog and discovering that people are interested in what I have to say!

12) Discovering a love for food and gastronomy, trying sushi for the first time, finding new restaurants, visiting secret supper clubs.
13) Buying my first car at the age of 22, a J-reg Ford Fiesta which I loved dearly but broke down on numerous occasions, most notably when the tyre blew out when I was driving up the M11 at 70mph.....and a few months later was broken into for someone to steal the radio.
14) Running a 10K with Paula Radcliffe. OK, so it was a charity run and Paula 'jogged' round in 40 minutes, but I still got to chat to her for a few seconds before she strode off into the distance. For me the real acheivement was getting my normally rather unfit self to the stage where I could happily run 10K without stopping (or dying).
15) Riding camels into the sand dunes of Morocco and spending the night under the stars.
16) Getting our cat Milo. When Jon and I went to the cat rescue centre and saw the fat grumpy cat in the back room that no-one else wanted we knew we had to take him home. Two years on he is a tiny bit less fat and still pretty grumpy.
17) Hiring a car and driving down highway 101 from San Francisco.

18) Staying best friends with Gemma + Kirsten throughout the whole decade and knowing that your best friends really will always be there for you!
19) Walking along a deserted beach in Thailand, riding elphants, rafting on bamboo rafts, learning how to make proper Thai green curry.
20) Spending the night in a buddhist temple at the top of a mountain near Kyoto, watching geishas rush along the ancient streets.

Yep, its been a pretty good 10 years, I wonder what surprises the next 10 will have in store!

Vietnamese cookery class with Leluu

2011-07-04T13:55:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of years, as part of my mission to seek out new and interesting dining experiences, I have been going to supper clubs in London. This is basically where someone opens up their home and transforms it into a mini restaurant for the night, and in exchange for a donation you are thrown together with other like-minded intrepid diners to enjoy a meal in a complete strangers living room. You get to hear about these places mainly by word of mouth, the best places flourishing though their good reputation and ending up over-subscribed every night.

Beef Pho

The first supper club that I went to, back in late 2009 was Fernandez and Leluu in Hackney, shortly after they first started running. The food was fantastic, with the two chefs showcasing the best of their Vietnamese and Spanish heritages. I have tried several other supper clubs since, but always kept coming back to F&L every few months for the reliably excellent food. Uyen, the Vietnamese half of the pairing has gone solo now and still runs the supper clubs from her flat, along with numerous other projects such as a Vietnamese cookery class, that I persuaded Jon to try out with me yesterday.

Summer Rolls

We spent the afternoon in Uyen's kitchen preparing and eating some of my favourite dishes such as Beef Pho, Bo La Lot (spicy beef in Betel leaves) and braised pork belly in cider and coconut juice. We learnt the proper way to balance all the elements of our dishes, and how to wrap the perfect summer roll. We also took a trip to the nearby Vietnamese supermarket, where I was able to stock up on all the essentials to recreate the dishes at home. It was a great afternoon, lots of fun and I definitely feel confident enough now to cook Vietnamese food for my next set of unsuspecting friends who come to visit! You can find out more about the cookery class and the supper club here: Love Leluu

Lloyd park redevelopment

2011-06-27T04:44:00.000-07:00

Fences knocked down around the moat

When I first moved to Walthamstow, some five years ago now, one of the major persuading factors to choose my current Warner flat was the view. From my lounge windows I look out over Lloyd park, an expansive oasis of green and calm in an otherwise hectic town. Every time I make my way to or from the station (during daylight hours anyway) I wander through the park generally finding something to make me smile, whether it is families enjoying a sunny picnic, kids splashing through the muddy puddles or overly competitive friends taking their tennis game all too seriously. I love discovering the first set of ducklings paddling around the moat in the springtime, and have to count them each time I walk past to make sure they are all still there and not been snapped up by some crafty fox or enterprising cat from Winns Terrace.

I have known for some time that the park was due to be redeveloped, after the Friends of Lloyd park group secured a substantial lottery funding a few years ago. All the central area around the current changing room gallery will be totally rebuilt, with major changes to the skate park, tennis courts and play areas. In the last week or two, work has finally begun in earnest, with metal fences appearing all around the park. The work is set to continue well into next year, with most of the park closed off apart from access pathways and some of the Aveling field area. I don't think the local residents have quite got used to the idea that most of the park is closed as most of the security fences had been knocked over at the weekend, with people going about their normal business and making themselves at home in supposedly fenced-off areas. I will definately miss my leisurely strolls around the moat for the rest of the summer, but the plans sound very exciting and I can't wait for the re-opening of the new and improved park!

Full details of the redevelopment can be found on the Friends of Lloyd Park website here.

And finally, one of my favourite images of Lloyd park, hastily captured on my phone as I battled through a minor blizzard earlier this year:

Kimchi sliders - Korean fusion food at the Rose and Crown

2011-06-17T01:50:00.000-07:00

Slider order form

I'm a huge fan of south-east asian food, so when I saw that the Rose and Crown had a new Korean fusion food night starting up called 'Kimchi Sliders', I knew I would have to go and check it out. I had never heard of sliders before, but these were a type of korean street food, all kinds of hot fillings barbecued and served in bread buns.

Kimchi sliders is a new venture from Danny and Sarah at StreetFoodie.com, a couple who lived in Korea for 2 years and brought back their passion for food with them to share with us lucky Walthamstow'ers. We placed our food order on a cute little form which we handed in at the bar, everything on the menu looked yummy but I went for pulled pork with ginger coleslaw, and kimchi and bacon. The lovely Sarah brought us our sliders soon afterwards, and I have to say they were delicious! The slow cooked pulled pork was amazingly tender with zingy homemade ginger coleslaw. Also the kimchi in the bacon slider was great, very authentic tasting which I was impressed by as making kimchi at home seems a rather complicated process involving fermenting jars of spicy cabbage!

The street foodie guys are hoping to make a regular appearance at the rose and Crown on Thursday evenings from 6-10pm so make sure to pop in and check them out.

Our sliders and cute burger-shaped sweets

Girlfriends - Rose and Crown

2011-06-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

The Rose and Crown on Hoe street ranks pretty highly among my favourite places in Walthamstow, now flourishing as a well established theatre pub. Their comedy nights have recently started to attract some bigger names, such as Richard Herring who will be appearing in July for a preview of his new Edinburgh Fringe show. The theatre-group-in-residence, All Star Productions, can also be relied upon to put on a great performance and I try and make it along to as many of their shows as possible.

On Friday, we went along to see the new musical offering, 'Girlfriends', originally a 1986 musical by Howard Goodall, following the lives of a group of female Airforce base workers during World War II. In this version we saw the story focus on two best friends involved in a love triangle with an RAF pilot 'Guy', in a mostly lighthearted show which also touched on the heartbreak of waving goodbye to someone each night, never knowing if they would return safely or not. of The highlights for me were a masterful performance by Aaron Clingham on the piano and great all-round performances from the cast in creating a set of believable and engaging characters The lyrics, whilst cheesy, were deliberately so and laugh-out-loud funny at times.

You can read more about the theatre company All Star Productions and book tickets for their shows here: www.allstarproductions.co.uk Girlfriends is on until 1st July 2011.

Walthamstow Book Club - 'The lost Books of the Odyssey'

2011-06-01T04:56:00.000-07:00

As a child, i loved to read. My parents tell me stories of how I started reading at a very young age, at just under 3 years old I read my first 'book' called The Village with Three Corners (does anyone else remember these little books? The adventures of Roger Red Hat and the others, Billy Blue Hat was it?). I remember arriving at Infants school and having to read the books meant for older children, as all the ones on offer seemed like baby books to me. I remember the summer reading challenges at Braintree library, where you would go in and have to answer questions about the book to earn your reading badge. As an older child I discovered the sci-fi section and proceeded to read everything on offer, devouring contemporary works and the classics, working through the Hitchhikers guide series and the classic Asimov and Jules Verne tales.

As I moved into adulthood however, these simple pleasures drifted away from me as I found myself too concerned with studying for university exams or my social life to be able to devote the same amount of time to reading as I once did. A couple of years ago I thought that I would try and reignite this long-forgotten interest and I decided to join a local book club, which i have been going to ever since. We are a group of walthamstow book enthusiasts, from all kinds of backgrounds, brought together by our shared interest in reading. Over the couple of years that I have been going, I have seen many people come and go, along with a core of more regular members, and I have somehow ended up taking more of a leading role in organising our meetings. Each time we meet we will discuss the last book, then people will suggest their ideas for the next book to read, and we try to reach a democratic decision. One of the best things about the group is that we all have rather different tastes, which means I end up reading books that I would never have chosen myself, and often discover a few gems along the way! Which brings me neatly to the subject of this months book.

This month we are reading 'The lost Books of the Odyssey' by Zachary Mason. It appears to be a modern take on the classic Homer tale, retold from different characters perspectives and bringing new light to the old stories. I've never fully read the original 'Odyssey', but I hopefully know enough of the stories to get by. I'm looking forward to starting the book, I downloaded it last week only to turn on my Kindle and discover that the screen was quite badly broken! It looks as though someone has stood on it and fragmented the LCD screen, but the kindle has just been sat nicely on my bedside table in it's protective case. Thankfully AmazonUK have been great and have sent a new Kindle out in the post so I should be back up and running soon!

This months book

Le Delice

2011-05-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

I often hear Walthamstow described as an up-and-coming area, and having lived here for five years now, am starting to see some evidence to support that assertion. The village is already arguably the centrepoint of the Walthamstow revolution, with its series of wonderfully middle-class shops and restaurants ( I mean, even the Spar has an in house Sicilian pizza chef!), but the effect is slowly beginning to spread outwards towards the more run down areas. Hoe street has always been a particularly low point of the area for me, with its endless sequence of fried chicken shops, off licences and a suspicious looking 24hr sauna with frosted windows.
It was with some excitement then, that on my usual walk to the station one day I noticed the old Copycats printing shop on the corner of Jewel Road had been taken over. A sign appeared above the front door in ornate lettering bearing the words: 'Le Delice'. 'A new Deli!' I thought to myself 'Or a patisserie! And just around the corner from my house!' From then, each time I walked to the station I would look with anticipation at the whitewashed windows hoping for some sign that the refurbishment was progressing and that the place might be ready to open. And I waited. After one year had passed I assumed the plans had fallen through, and I abandoned my thoughts of lazy Sunday mornings reading the newspapers whilst enjoying a croissant after a leisurely walk through the park. It was not until earlier this year, just when I had given up all hope on the place, that I started to suddenly see some signs of life. The paper screens had been taken down to reveal a lovely little cafe with deli counter, and then finally in April, Le Delice opened.
Walking through the doors the first time on opening day, I was surprised to see how spacious the place is. Floor to ceiling windows all along one side give a wonderful light feeling to the place, which extends all the way down into a snug and cosy Moroccan inspired room at the back. For food you can choose from a range of tasty sandwich fillings, served on normal bread/paninis or the delightful homemade savoury pancakes (see photo) which I would highly recommend. The freshly made crepes are also excellent, but I have yet to work my way any further down the food menu! You can also enjoy a selection of enticing looking cakes from the front counter, and an ice cream bar. The staff have all been very friendly each time I have been in, especially the owner, who seemed delighted with the reception he was getting from the local community. All in all, Le Delice is another very welcome additon to Walthamstow and a great step in the right direction for the neighbourhood.

Here are the contact details for Le Delice:

Save our cinema! Walthamstow EMD cinema protest

2011-05-19T04:02:00.000-07:00

Last night marked an important milestone in the long-running quest to bring back Walthamstows beloved and neglected EMD cinema, as Waltham forest council met to decide whether or not to reject the UKCG's planning application to turn this historic venue into a church.

Shortly before 7pm the crowds started to gather on the steps of Walthamstow town hall, on one side local residents with placards and banners, and on the other side an equally large group of church supporters who were arriving in bus loads from other parts of east and north London. When the doors to the Assembly hall opened at around 7.15, the majority of the church supporters were able to rush inside, followed by as many cinema supporters as we could fit, leaving several hundred more cinema supporters including myself stuck outside!

And so began the agonising wait while the council meeting was called into session. Through twitter, facebook and texts we were kept informed of every detail of the proceedings inside. We glimpsed a photo of the Assembly hall interior, one side entirely full of UCKG supporters wearing matching neon yellow jackets. We were recounted tales from the pro-church speakers, describing how their lives had been turned around by the UKCG, we heard the rapturous applause and cheering from within when pastor Paul declared 'This cinema is OURS!'

Some enterprising individuals discovered an open window at the side of the hall, and we rushed round en masse, redoubling our efforts, chanting out our rallying cry 'Save our cinema!' as friends inside tweeted and texted encouragement: 'keep going! we can hear you singing!' I think it was around this point that we discovered that the social club bar was open, which only helped fuel our enthusiasm further. We heard statements from several councillors, who said that they had not heard a single word of support for the church from the many thousands of local residents that they represent.

At 9.15 we heard that proceedings were beginning to draw to a close, and we rushed back round to the assembly hall entrance, excitement spreading through the crowd as we waited for the crucial decision from the seven councillors. 'We've got the first 4 votes!' someone shouted, 'We just need one more to win!', as everyone stood frantically refreshing their phone screens for the latest update. And then: 'We've done it!'. A huge cheer erupted from the crowd as we heard how the councillors had unanimously voted to reject the UCKG's planning permission. Our supporters from the inside streamed back out to join the celebration as our chants (somewhat optimistically, I admit) turned into 'We saved our cinema!'.

So, what next? There is still a long way to go before we see a cinema open in Walthamstow, but last night really felt like a turning point. It was truly heartwarming to see so much community spirit on show last night with people of all ages coming out to support our cause. Here are a couple of clips to give you a flavour of the fantastic atmosphere.

The moment we heard the result:

More celebrations as people emerge from the hall! Now the crowd starts chanting 'We saved our cinema!'

To read the full story of the Walthamstow EMD cinema and find out more about how you can support the cause go to: http://www.mcguffin.org.uk/

Hoxton Salon Qype event

2011-05-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to be invited along to Hoxton Salon in Shoreditch last night with about 12 or so other reviewers and bloggers for an evening of pampering organised by my favourite review site, Qype. The owner Paula and the staff were all so lovely and friendly and made us feel incredibly welcome.
First I went for a mini manicure where I was treated to a file, hand massage and polish in a rather funky mink colour whilst enjoying a girlie gossip with the lovely beauticians.
Next I went along for a styling session where my normally rather straight and boring hair was transformed into gorgeous voluminous curls in only 10 minutes or so - something I would never have managed to achieve for myself at home!
The hair and nails are still looking fab today - I can't believe how many nice comments and compliments I have had today from my coworkers. I would definitely like to come back some time for a cut or maybe try out the waxing that I am hearing so many good things about.
Thanks again to Paula, Sarah and everyone for organising a great evening!

Check out some more photos on the Qype does London blog here: http://london.blog.qype.com/2011/05/13/qype-event-hoxton-salons-pampering-event/

Mondragone, Orford Road, Walthamstow

2011-05-08T09:38:00.001-07:00

It was a real loss to Walthamstow village when Mondragone closed it's doors a few months ago. The pizzas were always great, not to mention the fact that it was the only place you could get a table on a Friday or Saturday night without booking.

So when it re-opened recently , under new management I believe, I had to go along and see if anything had changed. The menu appears pretty much the same as I remember,
with slightly cheaper prices -most pizzas are aorund £1 cheaper than previously. Apart from that, it felt like a welcome return for an old favourite, with attentive service and familiar tasting pizzas.

Two pizzas and two small glasses of wine came to £21 in total, so a great place for a quick inexpensive meal.

In praise of Eat 17

2011-05-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

Being something of a food enthusiast, I have always felt lucky to have so many great restaurants and cafes within walking distance of my home here in E17. Orford Road in Walthamstow village in particular has several such eateries clustered together along a short stretch of the village high street. When I ask my fellow Walthamstow'ers to name their favourite local restaurant, the most common reply I get back is 'Trattoria La Ruga' which is undoubtedly deserving of it's high reputation. In recent months however, I have found myself repeatedly returning to 'Eat 17', just across the road, which is rapidly establishing itself at the number one spot in my own personal estimations.

The past few years have been a rather turbulent time for this particular establishment; since I have been resident here I have seen it transform from Thai place to Waffle kitchen, then incorporating the East London sausage company in an adjoining deli, and finally into it's present incarnation where it hopefully seems to have stabilised. The present format seems to work well; the old deli next door has been opened up and converted into a beautiful bar area where customers can come for drinks or to wait for a table to become free. This modification has given so much more light and space to the restaurant and really changed the whole atmosphere and ambience of the place.

But the one thing that keeps me coming back here time and time again is the food! Every meal I've had here has been superbly cooked not to mention great value for money. I love all the quirky presentation details: the handcut chips come served in a mini chip-fryer basket (see photo), the bread rolls individually baked in little metal pots, starters elegantly arranged on black slates or wooden boards. The staff also have always been immaculately well presented, polite and knowledgeable. So, my advice, go to Eat 17 and enjoy! Just make sure to book a day in advance!

Eat 17 is located at 28-30 Orford Road, Walthamstow E17 9NJ

You can check them out here: www.eat17.co.uk

Royal / Cat wedding festivities at the Nag's Head Walthamstow

2011-04-30T05:59:00.000-07:00

A few more photos of the fun at The Nag's Head:

Royal Wedding celebrations in Walthamstow

2011-04-30T01:13:00.000-07:00

Friday 29th April 2011 was a historic day for British people as we celebrated the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. I must admit having been a bit cynical in the run-up to the wedding, but watching the happy couple yesterday exchanging their vows amid all the patriotic pomp and pageantry of Westminster Abbey I found myself feeling quite emotional! As I was only a couple of weeks old when Charles and Diana got married in 1981 this was the first time that I'd really seen such a big royal celebration.

After the ceremony I decided to venture out to see how other E17'ers were enjoying their day-off in the April sunshine. First up was the Rose and Crown on Hoe street, who had closed off the side street next to the pub for a street party. They had gone for a family-friendly feel, with a barbecue, cupcakes and bunting decorating.

Later on we headed down to the Nag's Head who had been advertising a Cat's Wedding reception as their contribution to the wedding-themed festivities. The cat-loving owners had gone all out, and we saw photos of the happy feline couple, complete with veil for the bride and even a little dog for a best man wearing a tuxedo! The atmosphere in the evening was truly memorable, the pub overflowing with happy revellers crammed into every available space and spilling out onto Orford Road. We enjoyed some more cupcakes (this was not a good day for healthy food choices!) and sampled a couple of beers on offer at the Real Ale festival in the garden. By the time we left the wedding disco party was in full swing with plenty of impressive dance moves on show!

All in all it was a great day for the community, lets hope we can do something similar for the Queens Jubilee next year!

Lloyd park at Easter

2011-04-24T05:10:00.000-07:00

What a difference a couple of weeks make! Just two weeks ago my usual walk through Lloyd park into town, I was wrapped up in my winter coat, watching the occasional hardy dog walker or jogger make their way across the muddy field. But not so today! Spring has definitely arrived, bringing with it waves of picnicking families, kite flying, and kids enjoying the new natural playground made from recycled fallen trees. Let's hope it lasts.

Location:Brettenham Rd,Walthamstow,United Kingdom

Windmill, 18 High Street Walthamstow

2010-05-04T05:38:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night Robin, Jon and I went along to Windmill, the Portuguese Tapas restaurant in Walthamstow. The restaurant is 10minutes walk down the far end of the high street from Walthamstow central station, tucked away in a rather unassuming location alongside the Poundlands and Lidls that make up our rather dingy and dismal town centre. I always seem to visit on a Saturday night, where you have the added pungent bonus of navigating past all the street sweepers cleaning up the remains of cabbage and rotten fruit from the day's market. But I think it is well worth the trek! The phrase 'hidden gem' may be slightly overused but I can't think of a place more deserving of the title.

The menu is delightful - a mouthwatering selection of tapas style dishes all coming in at around £4-5 each. They are all bursting with rich flavour so two or three dishes each is more than enough! It is very hard to choose what to try, but after visiting 7 or 8 times now I have tried most things on the menu so I would pick out the following as my favourites:

Clams in hot and sour sauce - A generous portion of clams in a delicious spicy yet acidic sauce with red peppers and capers.

Grilled Chorizo - a whole chorizo sausage served on a terracotta griddle over a pool of flaming alcohol, a real show piece to impress the table!

Lamb cutlets - I often find lamb too fatty to be palatable, but here they serve perfectly lean lamb steaks on the bone in a rosemary and herb rub.

Feijoada - Chinks of melting slow-cooked pork in a rich tomato sauce with beans.

Custard tart for dessert - so good!

Two dishes each and dessert came to £12 each. We brought our own bottle of wine which is charged at £2 for corkage which helps to keep the price down, or often in the summer I have seen jugs of sangria on offer which are extremely drinkable and refreshing.

Windmil contact details: http://www.windmill-tapas.com/

Benchmarks at The Rose and Crown

2010-04-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

The Rose and Crown on Hoe street is probably my favourite pub in Walthamstow. First of all its only a short walk from my house through the park. Secondly the new owners have put a lot of effort in to refurbish and rebrand the place as a theatre-pub. Tucked away up a tight staircase is a room above the main bar, which they can use for live music, plays or art exhibitions. We went last year to see the excellent musical 'Nine' by All Star Productions. They also have a monthly open mic stand up comedy night called 'Glee 17' which is surprisingly good although some of the performers look absolutely terrified and I can't help but feel sorry for them.

So last night there was a new play showing, 'Benchmarks' by Whats In a Name Productions. We went along with our new neighbours to check it out. The room was packed so we could only get standing tickets at the back which was a slight pain, but I was delighted to see the pub doing so well and hope that it will convince them to keep putting on shows like this and supporting local small theatre companies. The play itself centred around a park bench paced in centre stage, and told the story of six people whose lives unfolded in front of us as they met around this bench during the course of a day. We had the park keeper worried about keeping his job, a jogger trying to set up her own bistro, a middle aged lady whose marriage was falling apart, a teenage mum, a bag lady and the property developer wondering if he should buy the park to build on. I think the cast did a great job of keeping everyone engaged and I hope they will be back with another show soon!

La Duree macarons

2010-04-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

I was introduced to this exquisite Parisian bakery by a French friend. Their speciality is the macaron (not to be confused with the English style coconut macaroon) which comes in a dazzling assortment of colours and flavours. Each little bite-size macaron is perfectly crispy on the outside with a squidgy sticky centre. Their outlet in Harrods and their tiny gilded cafe in Burlington Arcade are well worth a visit. at £7 per 100g, I may be developing an expensive habit!

Spring is here

2010-04-16T03:04:00.000-07:00

So this weekend it finally felt like spring had arrived in Walthamstow. The daffodils that I had planted with the Friends of Lloyd park on a freezing muddy day in November were in full bloom, dazzling yellow in the sunshine. On saturday Kirsten came down for a girlie day out in London. She is looking beautiful and radiant at 5months pregnant. First off we hit Harrods - I hadn't been for a couple of years and we spent a while wandering around the chaotic yet amazing food halls before our usual trip around the designer shoe section. I bought a bag of macarons from LaDuree and we headed over to Hyde Park with Dominique to sit by the serpentine and soak up the sun. Just a couple of short weeks previously I had been the only person in sight by the boat house, but not today - people were flocking in from all directions and the greass was full of groups sitting around. The rest of our day was equally fab - cupcakes in Covent Garden, then a trip to selfridges for Kirsten to buy the Dior flip-flops she had been admiring in Harrods earlier. Watching the new Twilight DVD back at mine in the evening rounded off the day quite nicely!

Steve Hatt's fishmongers - Islington

2010-03-17T06:09:00.000-07:00

One of my absolute favourite japanese dishes has to be salmon and tuna sashimi. It's so simple - just thick slices of fresh raw fish served with wasabi and soy dipping sauce. It's all about sourcing the right ingredients - you must use only the very freshest fish. Whilst travelling around Japan last year, I was fortunate enough to sample tuna sashimi at what I believe is its finest, at a restaurant next to the main fish market in Kanazawa. The tuna there had come straight off the boats and into the restaurants in a matter of hours and had such a wonderful melt in the mouth consistency - not to mention huge portion sizes and a cheap pricetag! In London however, we are not so fortunate and sashimi is often one of the most expensive dishes on the menu. I have dabbled with making my own sushi rolls and nigiri before, but always stuck with cooked or smoked fish as I don't really trust eating raw fish from my supermarket or local fishmongers in Walthamstow.

Recently I had the pleasure of eating at Fernandez and Leluu's supper club in Hackney (more on them in a later post!) and one of the dishes they served was their own unique take on Fish and Chips - salmon sashimi served with wasabi mayonaise and double cooked chips. I learnt that they get all of their fish from Steve Hatt's fishmongers in Islington - so I decided I had to pay them a visit. I came across the shop after about a ten minute walk from Angel station down the Essex road. In the window was an impressive display of all types of fish and seafood, including my Holy Grail - Sushi grade Tuna and Salmon! I picked up a large salmon fillet and large tuna steak for £8.50, plenty for two very generous portions of sashimi. We had it for dinner that evening served with rice, miso soup, wasabi and agedashi tofu. A perfect homemade japanese meal! I will definately be back to Steve Hatt's maybe to try some monkfish tails or clams next time

You can find Steve Hatt's shop at 88-90 Essex Road Islington, London N1 8LUTel: 020 7226 3963. Opening hours are Mon - Sat: 7am -5pm

Camellias tea shop - Carnaby street

2010-03-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered Camellia's tea shop while wandering around Carnaby street on a chilly March afternoon. Tucked away on the top floor of Kingly court, this beautiful little shop is surrounded by quirky boutiques and vintage clothes shops. Inside there are a few tables and chairs where you can sit and enjoy tea and homemade cakes. The walls are lined with rows upon rows of bags filled with exotic looking tea leaves and flowers, which gives the whole shop an amazing perfumed scent. Unfortunately they wouldn't let me take any photos which is a real shame. I've been getting more and more into tea lately, and have been on a bit of a quest to fine some good quality ones after having been served some amazing jasmine tea at a Chinese restaurant recently. I decided to buy a bag of Jasmine pearls - where jasmine flowers and white tea leaves are individually hand-rolled together into delicate little pearls. They unravel when you infuse them, releasing their fragrant Jasmine flavour. This is a high-quality tea from the Fuji province of Japan and comes with quite a hefty price tag - £21.50 for 100g! But a little goes a long way so you should only need a small bag. I've been hearing a lot about the health benefits of white tea recently - apparently they have the highest concentration of antioxidants out of any variety of tea. White tea is made by harvesting only the youngest buds of the tea plant, and then gently steaming them, so they are subject to very little processing which helps to retain all their nutrients. Camellias have a good selection of white teas, including some blended with rose buds or apricots. I chose the Orange Fusion, white tea leaves mixes with sweet orange peel. At £4.25 it doesn't hurt the pocket as much as the jasmine pearls so I might pick up a different flavour next time I visit. I think I will take this one to work for my relaxing afternoon break time!

http://www.camelliaworldteas.com/

Review - Tenshi Sushi Bar, Islington

2010-03-13T09:44:00.000-08:00

Ever since my favourite sushi restaurant - Zipangu in Leicester square - closed down last year I have been on a mission to find a suitable replacement. Zipangu had that perfect combination of great location, good food and cheap prices that kept me going back whenever I was in the area, and I was devastated when I walked past one day to see that it had been taken over. However, this has given me the perfect excuse to try out loads of new Japanese restaurants! I remember discovering Japanese food for the first time when I moved to London, and it has been a bit of an obsession of mine ever since, so much so that we chose to spend two weeks travelling around Japan for our honeymoon last year.

I had heard that a new 'cheap and cheerful' sushi restaurant had just opened in Islington, and decided I had to give it a try. Tenshi is located on Upper street, near to Angel tube station, or a ten-minute walk from Highbury and Islington. It was a Thursday night and the restaurant was pleasantly busy, with room for about ten diners downstairs and another twenty or so in the upstairs seating area. The delightfully friendly japanese waitresses all chorused out 'Helloo!!' when we walked in - definately a warm welcome! We ordered Chicken yakitori, edamame and crunchy tuna rolls for starters, then Jon had the sashimi set main course while I had the tempura Udon. I have never had crunchy tuna rolls before but I have to say they were fantastic - they are basically a tuna sushi roll that is fried until the outside layer of rice pops and takes on a rice krispie texture. My Tempura udon was also excellent with two huge and perfectly tender king prawns on a bowl of noodles and tempura vegetables. Jon was a little dissapointed with his sashimi set, for £9.50 he got three rather small peices of tuna and another three of salmon. All in all with two beers the bill came to £33.

The verdict - A very friendly little restaurant. we will definately be back but for now the search for my favourite japanese restaurant continues!

Chocolate and Champagne afternoon at the Hilton

2010-03-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

On Sunday afternoon Jon and I headed to the Hilton on Park Lane for an afternoon of well-deserved pampering and relaxing. Firstly, we were led downstairs to the Purity Spa and into a candlelit room for an aromatherapy massage. Next we headed back up to the Podium restaurant for our afternoon tea. The first course to come out was a platter of open sandwiches washed down with a glass of Pommery champagne. Then came a three-tiered platter of scones with cream and jam, beautiful mini cupcakes, and a selection of luxurious chocolates served on a chocolate plate! A great way to spend a chilly spring afternoon.