Archive for the ‘London’ Category
November 12, 2018
Finsbury Park can feel a bit bleak after a few days research in Paris so it was a happy thing that I was invited to dinner by friends to a new (to me) restaurant to get over the post-trip blues.
Thai Granary (or Granary Thai) is a tardis like room. We headed up to the mezzanine inside, which is cosy and looks out on a bijou one table terrasse.
The room was not as busy as it could be on a Friday night in SG, which is a shame as the cooking was first class. A starter of spring rolls (we hadn’t specified but they’d guessed correctly that we were carnivores) crispy and meaty. And I was fortunate to get in on some summer roll action from across the table – they were even better, really fresh and aromatic.
My main was a spicy chef’s special (wish I could remember the name), and I mean spicy, and there was plenty of it. The rice alongside had a good helping of bean shoots (yum) and despite predictions to the contrary I demolished pretty much the whole lot. Helped by a couple of good, cold beers.
At 25 quid a head this was as good value as you’ll get in these parts for this quality. I’ll look forward to another Friday night outing with les Travis soon.
8/10
#Food #London
To see where else I’ve eaten go to the GoogleMap
51.570248
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Tags:Food, London, Restaurant, Review, stroud green, Thai
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November 3, 2018
Monday 12th November 2018
‘Motor Sport Through a Lense, and the establishment of a Heritage visitor attraction at Silverstone’ with Professor Jean Williams
It’s a real pleasure to be one of the convenors for the British Society of Sports History sponsored Sport & Leisure History seminar series at the Insitute of Historical Research. And this term we have a diverse range of speakers and subjects to pique the interest of the historically inclined.
Our fourth seminar of the term will be given by Prof Jean Williams from the University of Wolverhampton. She’ll be talking to us about motorsport and using the rich archive at Silverstone racetrack to explore the history of British motor racing in the twentieth century.
As usual there’ll be a feast of images – I was particularly taken with the Martin Parr-esque depiction of tea in the preview that Jean was able to give me. While there will be discussion of the big beasts of Formula 1, such as James Hunt …
–
… Jean will also be opening up the history of women in motorsport.
Whether you’re a petrolhead or historically curious do come along to what promises to be an excellent talk.
This is only the one of a number of series of stimulating talks to be held at the IHR in the S&L series, scroll down for the details of future seminars or go to the IHR’s website. The talks take place in the Past and Present Room on the second floor – doors open from 17:15 and the seminar to start promptly at 17:30. I hope to see you there.
51.521410
-0.130240
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Tags:British history, BSSH, history, IHR, Institute of HIstorical Research, Jean Williams, Motorsport, Sport History
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October 29, 2018
Where does one go when one’s just staggered out of Jean Cocteau’s Orphée wondering ‘What the f*** was going in that thing?’ French I guess, to keep the vibe going. Not too far either if it’s the coldest day of the year and you’ve got a stinking manflu. So we went to Bon Vivant, which has replaced a perfectly good Italian on the corner of Marchmont Street, something I’d slightly held against it when walking past previously.
But rarely does London stay still and BV does a good job of imitating a standard French bistrot. A pungently good French soup worked wonders as a starter. Despite being in the grip of la grippe mâle. I could taste the garlic and got a good fishy slap around the chops to boot. The Viognier fared less well against such a blast of flavour, I should have picked a red. Good bread kept us going while we waited for the next round.
For main a confit duck leg was good without being to slaver for and came with death by spuds (one of The Fall’s B-sides compilations) but not by vegetables. Some frizzy lettuce made like tumbleweed across the plate before I pronged it and scoffed it. A sticky red wine sauce was excellent, as was the service.
The room was empty when we arrived at 6 on a Sunday but it soon started to fill up with mostly visitors to these shores. The music was all over the place, starting Europoppy and then moving onto to something more soporific. Except for the volume which always stayed just the wrong side of discreet. I could have done with some Georges Delerue, or indeed to keep with the Orpheé theme, some Georges Auric. And what the pre-pubescent boy at the next table made of the rather lascivious décor in the ‘powder room’ I’ve no idea but it wasn’t to my taste. The food, on the other hand, was. Next time I’ll order me own légumes.
7/10
#Food #London
To see where else I’ve eaten go to the GoogleMap
51.525522
-0.125578
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Tags:bloomsbury, Food, French, London, Restaurant, russell square
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October 23, 2018
Membership of the Crouch End Players entails a gruelling amount of pre- and post-show entertainment that only the strongest constitutions are apt to survive. But it does have the upside of getting to try out the ever-changing restaurant scene in N8. The Victoria Stakes, however, is a stalwart at the foot of Muswell Hill yet curiously I’d never eaten there before.
The room is gastropubby without choring on about it (we dined in the downstairs bar, I think (though I’m not certain) that it’s more formal upstairs). They had a new menu and the staff were eager to know how we liked it. I liked it a lot – solid bistrot style dishes with plenty of options for veggies and vegans.
I was a hungered man and went for the onglet steak. This came cooked, sliced and seasoned to perfection (and I mean perfection, i.e. high end restaurant quality) with lashings of crunchy chips and a satisfyingly hefty lump of watercress on the side. House red didn’t spoil the effect and the only downside was that the bream across the way had plenty of fish but not enough accompaniments.
Service was cheerful and efficient, making the VS a good option if you’re seeing any future CEP productions at the Moravian Hall.
8/10
#Food #London
To see where else I’ve eaten go to the GoogleMap
51.587350
-0.134123
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Tags:Crouch End, Food, Gastropub, London, Pub, Victoria Stakes
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October 18, 2018
Monday 29th October 2018
‘American Tourists in Britain in the 1950s: Archetypes, Prejudices and Realities with Dr John Law
It’s a real pleasure to be one of the convenors for the British Society of Sports History sponsored Sport & Leisure History seminar series at the Insitute of Historical Research. And this term we have a diverse range of speakers and subjects to pique the interest of the historically inclined.
Our third seminar of the term will be given by a Dr John Law from the University of Westminster. He’ll be talking to us on a subject drawn from his forthcoming book on Americans visiting or living in Britain in the 1950s and their (sometimes horrified) reactions to what they found there.
As you can see from the cartoon above that I found on John’s website the American tourist in London often cut a distinctive dash in the urban scene. The paper promises further rich visuals as well as material drawn from archival sources and interviews with US survivors of 50s Britain, its weather, its food, and its hotel rooms.
This is only the one of a number of series of stimulating talks to be held at the IHR in the S&L series, scroll down for the details of future seminars or go to the IHR’s website. The talks take place in the Past and Present Room on the second floor – doors open from 17:15 and the seminar to start promptly at 17:30. I hope to see you there.
51.521410
-0.130240
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Tags:1950s, American history, bloomsbury, British history, BSSH, history, IHR, Institute of HIstorical Research, John Law
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October 14, 2018
Having been to the extraordinarily good Mantegna-Bellini (I’d say it’s a must see) the previous Friday we returned to the NG for the Courtauld Impressionists. This too is an impressive show. If you haven’t been to either the Courtauld or the National Gallery before. If you have there is literally nothing new to see save for a fancy book created by Mr C to show off his impeccable taste. Since we have a membership for the NG we didn’t have to pay for the tickets (although in a way we kind of had as part of the membership).
There’s a questionable morality around making people (i.e. the British public) pay for something they already own and can usually see for free. Don’t get me wrong, there’s an upside to the sectioning off of these masterpieces behind a pay-wall. Seurat’s Bathers can be revelled in in all its glory without the usual accompaniment of tedious selfie takers and listless tourists getting in the way.
Bringing the two collections together also allows for excellent juxtaposing of works in fresh ways. I was especially struck by two Daumier illustrations of episodes from Don Quixote, especially as the Courtauld’s picture is usually rather inaccessibly hung high up above a chimney breast. But the fact that major paintings like ‘Bathers’ (and many others) are not available to the public throughout the year sticks in the craw somewhat.
So I consoled myself with pizza. Rosso Pomodoro I haven’t been to for some time. They pride themselves on being a Neapolitan outfit and so it was satisfying to get a round of fried stuff to share up front. According to my son Naples is the Glasgow of the south, a place where they’d deep fry their own offspring if they could sell them through a hole in the wall.
The calamari was excellent – squid rings and octopus childers in a fluffy batter. Less enjoyable (though very tasty) was the seaweed croquette. This was more croquette than seaweed. Delicious and fluffy but definitely bringing to mind the potential implications to my arteries of eating so much fatty food.
It was a good job I was hungry as the quattro stagioni that followed was a generous chunk of pizza that overflowed with high quality toppings, especially in the cheese department. The dough is fermented for 24 hours and this tells in the finished product – it’s not often that I want to eat every last portion of a pizza crust but on this occasion I did. Even if ultimately I didn’t manage it; it was with regret that I had to call an end to my struggle.
The service was very good throughout and in seats with a view of the misguided fools queueing to get into Dishoom we were in an admirable place to people watch the parade of human traffic through Covent Garden of a Friday night. It’s worth giving RP a go if you want a change from PExpress.
8/10
#Food #London
To see where else I’ve eaten go to the GoogleMap
51.513029
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Tags:covent garden, Food, Italian, London, National Gallery, Pizza, Rosso Pomodoro
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October 7, 2018
Monday 15th October 2018
‘Sarah Meyer, An Englishwoman in Japan: Judo as Propaganda in the 1930s’ with Amanda Callan-Spenn
It’s a real pleasure to be one of the convenors for the British Society of Sports History sponsored Sport & Leisure History seminar series at the Insitute of Historical Research. And this term we have a diverse range of speakers and subjects to pique the interest of the historically inclined.
Our second seminar of the term will be given by a post-graduate researcher from the University of Wolverhampton, Amanda Callan-Spenn. Her subject, Sarah Meyer, is a woman whose career reads like the plot of a Booker-shortlisted novel.
But don’t just take my word for it, come along to the seminar on Monday 15th October to find out how Meyer became one of the pioneering figures in the globalisation of martial arts between the wars.
This is only the one of a number of series of stimulating talks to be held at the IHR in the S&L series, scroll down for the details of future seminars or go to the IHR’s website. The talks take place in the Past and Present Room on the second floor – doors open from 17:15 and the seminar to start promptly at 17:30. I hope to see you there.
51.521410
-0.130240
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Tags:Amanda Callan-Spenn, bloomsbury, BSSH, history, IHR, Institute of HIstorical Research, Japan, Judo, Sarah Meyer, Sport, Sport History
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September 23, 2018
Seminar #1
Round Table on South African cricket with Raf Nicholson and Richard Parry
It’s a real pleasure to be one of the convenors for the British Society of Sports History sponsored Sport & Leisure History seminar series at the Insitute of Historical Research. And this term we have a diverse range of speakers and subjects, kicking off on Monday 1st October with a round table discussion about the hidden histories of South African cricket. Each of the speakers’ material is based on a chapter from a forthcoming publication, Cricket and Society in South Africa, 1910-1971, to be published by Palgrave in autumn 2018.
Our first seminar features two speakers. Raf Nicholson will talk about international women’s cricket during the apartheid era while Richard Parry will discuss cricket among indigenous mineworkers on the Rand. And I’ll be acting as chair in my capacity both as co-convenor of the seminar and a contributor to the book with a chapter on the first South African men’s cricket captain, Percy Sherwell. Do come along to listen to our guests and to join in the debate about the role of sport in the development of South African society in the twentieth century.
This is only the beginning of a series of stimulating talks to be held at the IHR, scroll down for the details of future seminars or go to the IHR’s website. The talks take place in the Past and Present Room on the second floor – doors open from 17:15 and the seminar to start promptly at 17:30. I hope to see you there.
51.521410
-0.130240
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Tags:bloomsbury, BSSH, cricket, history, IHR, Institute of HIstorical Research, South Africa, Sport, Sport History
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September 17, 2018
Eight hours of straight cricket is apt to make a man or woman hungry so it was with a ravenous appetite that I sought sustenance in Crouch End on Saturday night. And what’s this? The empty block where the unmissed North African place used to be has been filled by Here Crouch End (who comes up with these names?) which looked classy from the outside; and it turns out from the inside too.* We were welcomed by a charming front of house team who explained what they were up to and how we could get it.
As with Goods Office the offer is tapas so this made for an interesting head to head. Here (really?) is aiming for a higher standard of cooking (so it’s really a bit invidious to make the comparison as they’re trying to find different niches in the market) and this is reflected in the price. Eighteen quid for a sharing plate is not cheap but then when that dish is a superb smoked duck salad it’s hard to begrudge it. I wanted it all for myself.
Not all the dishes are that expensive – the padron peppers were reasonably priced, more numerous and better prepared than those at GOffice. And there’s a much more extensive selection of stuff, from staples like polenta chips or calamari (I liked the batter on the squid, others at our table were less happy) to more unusual fare like the duck. The management philosophy is all about locally sourced, quality products and it really does show in the excellence of the food on offer. And the wine was good too.
This was a second welcome find in the local area within a week and while Here is a little too steep to become a regular outing it is a place I can heartily recommend to ethically conscious north London foodies (I believe there are a few around).
8/10
#Food #London #N8
*We were there for its final night. In order to get coffee my friend Trav went to Tesco and brought some for them to brew up.
To see where else I’ve eaten go to the GoogleMap
51.580373
-0.124225
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Tags:Crouch End, Food, Here, London, Restaurant, Tapas
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September 14, 2018
A welcome addition to the local restaurant scene is Goods Office which nicely fills in the gap between Stroud Green and Crouch End. It replaces, after many years, a previous eatery called the Triangle and as you might guess occupies a triangle-shaped room. This doesn’t make it the easiest space to wrangle table-wise and to be honest I’m not sure the present set up of rows of tables quite works. But it looks to me that they’re still in the teething stage and no doubt a few furnishings will appear too to dampen the rather rattly accoustic.
But what about the food? It’s tapas so we went for a few options each from veg, fish, meat and sides. The stars of the show were a cured mackerel (top quality fish) and beef croquettes. The calamari were also excellent but could have done with a bit of aïoli or similar alongside. Padrone peppers were decent but too few. The rash splurge on a second bottle of wine for the party took the spend above 20 quid a head which is about standard for this side of the tracks of north London.
The service was excellent, really friendly and I hope this place goes from strength to strength – if only because it’ll save me walking that bit further when I want to go somewhere other than Harringay High Street.
7/10
#food #London
To see where else I’ve eaten go to the GoogleMap
51.573601
-0.112468
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