About Town

Welcome to Islington: Camden Passage   

Camden Passage has ranked alongside Portobello, Kensington Church Street and Spitalfields  since the 1950s as one of London’s leading antique locations,  and now the area has added also many new shops, restaurants, cafes and market stalls.

If you like something original you can certainly find it here: fashionable contemporary clothing, modern designer jewellery, Japanese art prints, together with specialist antique, silver ware, vintage clothing and retro shops which provide the backdrop for market stalls selling affordable collectables, vintage clothes and objets d’art that find their way into antique shops and homes all over the world.

Not to forget the various restaurant, café  where you can pause in between shopping and wondering around.

Camden Passage has four separate market areas - Annie's Antique & Vintage Market, Camden Passage Market, Charlton Place Market and Pierrepont Arcade Market. The market areas and market stalls each have different areas of expertise, so take your time to look around.

Recommended this week:

Food and drinks

The Elk in the Woods , bustling restaurant right in the middle of Camden Passage, offering freshly cooked seasonal food in a rustic style with plenty of modern European twists.

The Camden Head

The Camden Head, traditional pub in a Grade II listed building  and a nice beer garden where you can enjoy the sunshine and watching people go by whilst enjoying a nice pint.

The Camden Head is also London's only FREE professional comedy club, 7 nights a week with regular TV headliners (TimeOut)

Pistachio & Pickle Dairy, best of british and international artisan cheeses, pickles and breads

Shopping

Decandent Vintage , women's fashion from 1950s to 1980s with a lot of designers like Dior, Chanel and Ives-Saint Laurent.

Paul.A.Young, amazing artisanal chocolates at forefront of British chocolate scene, truly yummy.

About Town

Welcome to Islington: Exmouth Market, London EC1


Exmouth Market is a classic story of urban gentrification: a one time run-down area whose old warehouses and factories were colonised by publishing, design and architecture firms in the 1990s, now one of London’s most desirable streets, situated nearby the Sadler's Wells theatre, with a trendy vibe, as demonstrated by the variety of stylish independent businesses in the highly pedestrianised street, including some of the city’s most appealing restaurants and places to drink, too many for me to mention.

Which restaurant or bar you try will depend greatly on your personal taste and inclination on the day; whatever it is, you will be spoilt for choice and you can always come back and try something else next time. My recommendations are below.




Recommendations this week:

Food and drinks
Sweet Boulangerie & Patisserie brings the flavors of France to London in its fabulous sweet and savoury creations, Love, love, love...
La Ferme, french restaurant and delicatessen which offers a wide selection of the finest produces from France. Truly yummy rest.
Exmouth Arms, traditional pub (and cocktails).


Theatre
Paco Peña Flamenco Dance Company — Patrias. Legendary flamenco guitarist Paco Peña brings new work to Sadler’s Wells, exploring through music and song the emotional, physical and cultural impact of the Spanish Civil War on his country’s history. Last show tonigth.

Shopping
Botanique , a lovely artisan store and flower shop

Borough Wines offering handpicked wide range of wines and a diverse selection of local and international craft beers and boutique spirits

About Town Re-post

Welcome to Islington  

 Welcome to Islington, the first in a series of blogs about my lovely borough with a bit of history thrown in, things to do and my recommendations for the week.

Islington lies to the north of the city centre and is the second smallest London borough although very densely populated. It started as an overcrowded London suburb transformed into a neighbourhood of high-class status, home to the vibrant Upper Street, Camden Passage and Chapel Market and the residential areas around Angel tube station.
Islington is home to approx 200,000 people, a vibrant and lively part of the world and benefits from a wealth of restaurants, clubs, fringe theatres and community events: buildings that began as inns and defunct social houses have since been re-emerged as fashionable gastropubs, wine bars, and boutiques all very well serviced by many bus lines and nearby tube stations.



Some interesting facts:

• The escalator at Angel station is the longest of all London stations, at 60m, with a vertical rise of 27.5m.
• Tony Blair, Colin Firth, George Orwell, Lily Allen and Boris Johnson have all lived in Islington.
• The licensees for the board game Monopoly used to meet for tea in the Lyon’s Corner House in Islington. That’s why The Angel, Islington has a spot in the game.
• Islington was the first London borough to receive fresh water via an aqueduct running from Hertfordshire to the New River Head reservoir. This is now the path of the New River Walk.
• Many suffragettes, including Emmeline Pankhurst and Emily Wilding Davison, spent time in jail at Holloway prison
• The Camden Passage antiques market has been supplying Londoners with collectibles and bric-a-brac for over 50 years, and is always busy with bargain hunters at weekends.
• The Islington Farmers’ Market, London’s oldest such market has some 30 stalls every Sunday on Chapel Market, selling a variety of fresh produce, local delicacies and organic foods. 

 

Recommended this week:
Food and drinks
Fredricks - family run restaurant since 1969, has a lovely conservatory and garden at the back, perfect to enjoy the nice weather and the delicious food.


Amorino Ice Cream Shop, 110 Upper St - delicious artisanal ice-cream. My favourite flavour - pistacchio.

The Bar with No Name, 69 Colebrooke Row, N1 8AA, has shed its previous mysterious reputation and is now packed out every night with people dying to sample the expertly crafted cocktails

Art
The Experience of Colour Astrazione Oggetiva - exhibition exploring a little-known movement in Italian painting, with colour as the focal point of the artistic practice, exploring its optical and perceptual effects. NOW CLOSED :-(
Imagine Islington - an exhibition or art inspired bu objects from Islington Museum

Theatre
Ugly Lovely by Ffion James, fringe theatre at its best, showing at the Old Red Lion in St John's Street.

 

About Town

Welcome to Islington: Upper Street 

Pic from bbc.co.uk

Islington is not just for the champagne socialists, whichever way you lean, it offers something for your weekend:
Welcome to Upper Street.



Upper Street is Islington's high street. There is an abundance of restaurants and bars, many fashionable shops, pubs, and theatres.

The hilltop village of Islington originally consisted of two streets in addition to the High Street: Upper Street and Lower Street, which diverged from the High Street at Islington Green and both date back to at least the 12th century.Henry VIII hunted duck in the ponds off Upper Street, while Walter Raleigh lived in Upper Street and owned a pub in Lower Street, since renamed Essex Road.

Pic from hospitalityandcateringnews.com

St. Mary's Church, Islington, was rebuilt in 1754 and dominates the Islington skyline and is still in full use today.
The Little Angel Theatre is a children's puppet theatre in a former Temperance hall, behind the church.
Directly opposite St. Mary's Church is the King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970, the first pub theatre in the UK, located in the back room behind the bar at the King's Head pub.

In the 18th century Upper Street started to be redeveloped from an agricultural to a residential area and it became later notorious (late ninetheen century) for its night-time entertainments. In 1870, Charles Dickens described the area as "amongst the noisiest and most disagreeable thoroughfares in London."

How things have changed; if I say so myself, Upper Street is now a vibrant cafe culture/art scene/entertainment island to rival the West End (did I say I love Islington?).

You must come and visit, what are you waiting for?

Recommended this week:
Food and drinks
Practically every other door in Upper Street is either a pub, a restaurant or some kind of eatery, a mix of well know chain-brands and smaller independents, too many to mention; there is certainly something for all tastes and price brackets.
A couple of gems worth mentioning for me:
Casa Manolo , a tiny bit of Spain in the heart of Islington, offering eating-in as well authentic products for sale ( jamon iberico, Yum :-p ).

Udderliscious Ice Cream, an independent ice-cream parlour toward the Highbury end of Upper Street, making utterly deliciously scrumptious ice cream; they often experiment and they even do flavour requests ( yes, that's right). You have to try it.




Entertainment

Pic from www.list.co.uk

Screen on the Green, love love love this "experience" cinema, offering a mix of independent, foreign language, culture, classics and the latest blockbusters movies (and you can drink a nice glass of red whilst enjoying the movie too, priceless). Star Trek Beyond is showing now.

The Kings Head with Noel Cowards and Friends live in Las Vegas (31st July) and Festival46.

The Little Angel Theatre , 3 Little Pigs currently on.

Shopping
Twentytwentyone , new and vintage meet in this design store beloved by architects, designers and other trendies (or people who want to be trendy). Quality, beautifully-designed homeware is carefully sourced and advice on investing in classic retro furniture available.
Little Paris, for the lovers of French home deco, Little Paris offers a time trip through an eclectic range of vintage and unique furniture, curiosities, contemporary fashion and home accessories directly sourced from France. The shop is constantly restocked, so it is worth popping in regurlalry.

In the Kitchen


Indulgence for the weekend:
White Chocolate & Baileys Cheesecake

I have been invited to a dinner party tonight (sound posh I knooow) and we all need to bring a dish - Panic - I need to think fast .

I remember a friend mine John once telling me that, when he goes into a new place/party/meets new people, he always brings a signature dish that people remember him for and then love him forever (so he said).
I remember he made a White Chocolate & Baileys Cheesecake which he brought to a barbecue we went to.
It is true, people still remember the cake (less him) but the cake Yes.

Ok I can try this: I got the recipe and I can follow instructions.
I have no idea who first invented this cheesecake, if he/she is a famous chef or not or anonymous; I just know it tastes D-I-V-I-N-E, (makes 8 good portions):

For the buiscuit base:

1 packet 250gr plain digestives

2/5th of a standard block of butter

Melt the butter and mix with biscuits in a food processor, evenly distribute the mix onto a removable base cake tin(any cake tin will do but its easier to get the cheesecake out this way) and chill in the fridge whilst you make the topping.

For the topping:

400 grms Philadelphia, 2 standard supermarket packets   

200 grms good,full fat greek yogurt

200 grms cream,double or single

200 grms sugar

200 grms melted white chocolate

100 ml   Baileys

Melt the white chocolate after all ingredients have been put into a mixing bowl,add the melted chocolate and whisk until smooth,have a taste at this point. Spoon the topping onto the biscuit base and chill until firm,normally no more than a few hours due to the chocolate cooling down.

Note to self: cake for party not gouter.

About Town - Repost

Pic from www.jasonbournemovie.com

Weekend at the movies: Jason Bourne 

Jason Bourne is back, reuniting Damon and Greengrass once again in this thriller with a modern edge that casts its antihero in a post-Snowden world of surveillance and social media. 

The new movie combines fist-fighting with cyber-stalking in a ruthless fashion through a contemporary landscape, packed with heated exchanges about the pay-off between personal privacy and public order.

We find Bourne on the Greek-Macedonian border, where he flattens a fighter in a stripped-to-the-waist sequence (he now makes an off-the-grid living as a bare-knuckle fighter- nice view) but it’s clear from the start that he is heading somehow somewhere for a “tipping point”. 

Meanwhile in Reykjavík, Julia Stiles is back as Nicky Parsons, accessing classified files that lend a dynastic edge to Bourne’s ongoing identity crisis, in the process inadvertently putting him back on the CIA’s radar. And here we go again....

Pic from indiatoday.intoday.in

A chase scene through an anti-austerity riot in Athens and we are right in the middle of this growing state of emergency, aided by an insistently relentless score. It’s an orchestrated sequence with the burning glow of street fires, water cannons and motorbikes shooting across the screen. 

This movie piles up the air miles with the narrative jumping from Langley, Virginia, home to the CIA, to Rome, to Berlin, to London, where Paddington becomes the setting for another high-octane showdown. Ad then it’s on to Las Vegas... 

Meanwhile, Assange-style hackers promise to dump huge caches of sensitive information on line and sci-fi-inflected scenes, in which the CIA accesses conversations and computers via mobile phones.

Pic from www.channel24.co.za

This is a world of full spectrum surveillance where the lines between protection and terror are blurred. 

At times the film’s contemporary edge works against its crowd-pleasing power; when news stories are as terrifying as they have been recently, how much do we want our entertainment to remind us of the horrifying headlines? 

Damon injects a much needed air of humanity. His speech may be sparse, but his body is expressively talkative, conveying violence and even tragedy in surprisingly precise fashion. Damon proves that he can keep an onside while keeping his lip buttoned. 

The reviews of the film have been rather tepid, to put it mildly. For me it is nice to have Matt Damon back following the forgettable Bourne Legacy episode starring Jeremy Renner.

Definitely one to see, I like my Bourne.

In the Kitchen

Indulgence for the weekend:
Heavenly Cake with Nutella

I admit I am not Mary Berry or Nigella Lawson and my baking skills are a minimal but I do subscribe to both women's philosophy that life is too short not to use a "packet" to cook sometime.

This recipe is my adaptation from the Devil's Food (packet courtesy of Betty Crockery) but I can guarantee that people will love you forever after they have tried it: it is a bribery cake so keep it up your sleeve for those moments when you really need it or you feel like spoiling yourself.

Ingredients:

1 Devil's Food Cake Mix Packet
1 medium egg
Vegetable oil

Follow the instructions on the packet to the letter (easy peasy- better if you use two separate tins for baking, or whatever they are called, so it is ready to assemble rather than having to cut the cake in two) up to the point of the filling and topping where you will need:

1 400 gr Nutella Jar
2 250 gr Mascarpone tubs

It would be better to bake the cake the night before so it has cooled down by the time you proceed with the filling and decorating so to speak.

And for this all you will need to do is mix in a bowl the Nutella with a tub of mascarpone at the time. I tend to prepare and spread bit by bit so I can make it more " nutellsih" or more "creamish" depending on how I feel.
After you have spread the mix in one half of the cake, top it with the other half and then proceed to cover the top and all around with some more of the delicious mix.

If you are feeling really cheffy and want to show you can scatter, artistically mind, chopped toasted hazelnuts on top of the cake to echo the hazelnut base in the Nutella (and it looks good).

I am no pastry chef but this dessert will win over anybody and you will be asked for it over and over and over....

Be aware, if you are doing it just for yourself you will have a Miranda -Sex in the City moment.... Guaranteed.

Bits and bobs

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman  

Pic from www.thebookblog.co.uk

This book was originally published in 1995, and teaches you everything you want to know about emotional intelligence, though the book doesn't show you how to improve your EQ.

Goleman, a psychologist and former science writer for The New York Times, explains how the rational and emotional work together shape intelligence, using information from neuroscience and psychology of the brain, and why IQ is not the sole predictor of success. 

Goleman shows how the brain can succumb to an emotional hijacking, using data from studies based on brain imaging technologies, and summarises much of the best psychological work of the previous few decades (the importance of learned optimism, the theory of multiple intelligences, the role of innate temperamental differences, and the importance of emotional intelligence in marriage, management, and medicine). 

Even though one can learn a lot from Goleman's work, the overriding theme seems to me to be that nurturing (rather than aptitude) is more likely to produce exceptional humans; bad nurturing creates people problems.

Part One looks at what happens in the brain at the molecular level under all sorts of emotional experiences. 
Parts Two through Five focuses on feelings, personality, upbringing, aptitude, and treatment citing several studies to show that today's children are most decidedly a product of how they were treated.

Goleman believes we can cultivate emotional intelligence, and improve not only the I.Q.'s but the general life performances of children who suffer because of unbalanced emphasis on the intellectual at the expense of the affective dimension of personality. 
In his final section, he offers a plan for schooling to restore our badly neglected "emotional literacy", proposing greater attention to classes in "social development," "life skills" and "social and emotional learning".

This book is considered a classic in its genre and, whatever one agrees or not with his theories, is one that should be read at least once or twice for reference.

About Town

Pic from www.inetours.com

Feast your eyes, feed your mind and soul:
Late evening at the National Portrait Gallery, 
Trafalgar Square, London

Euro 2016 is in full swing and football is besieging our screens everywhere, but one cannot live of sport alone.

For an alternative evening every Thursday and Friday until 21.00 you can enjoy drawing classes, talks and discussions, live music, DJs, films and performance at the National Portrait Gallery beside some amazing art and exhibitions.
There is also a pop-up Late Shift Bar in the Main Hall open until 20.30 (Thursdays and Fridays) which is the perfect place to unwind before or after exploring the Gallery (2 for 1 drinks when you present your exhibition ticket).

Pic from www.npg.org.uk

Tonight is the turn of artist Robin-Lee Hall to host the popular weekly drawing session in the Gallery.

The class is suitable for everyone from complete beginners to accomplished artists. All materials are provided, there is no need to bring anything with you unless you want to work in your own sketchbook or on an iPad so you can go straight from work (or from shopping).

Pic from www.visitlondon.com

Pic from www.telegraph.co.uk

There is also live music with the Georgia Lewis Trio performing well-worn ballads with a little twist whilst project artist Simon Terrill introduces his practice and his work on the display.

You can feast your eyes, feed our mind and soul and have a few drinks: perfect! :-)

Bits and bobs

Contesting: the Name it & Claim it Game and the SPEC technique by Helen Hadsell

The book is old and there are many things that don't apply today, but there is still value in the majority of it. Helene was a good woman and she had great information. She was explicit on her winnings but if you travel further in the book, you will find the gems. 

Although the title leads you to believe that this book is only about winning contests (and there is certainly lots of contest-winning information), the contents of the book can be applied to any situation. 

"Attitude is everything".

She started her winning streak after reading the book by Norman V Peale "The Power of Positive Thinking" which she applied immediately  to achieve a more comfortable life for herself and her family.

But if you don't fancy reading the book and just want to go straight to the nitty gritty of it and how did she manage to win every contest she ever entered then go straight to her SPEC technique, which means:

Select it
Project it
Expect it
Collect it

 Try it and see if it works for you.
Lottery tonight??? ;-)

Bits and bobs

Money: Master the Game: the 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom   

Pic from books.google.com

Tony Robbins is a master at studying and then modelling successful behaviour ; this book is financially modelling in practice and the outcome of his relentless pursue to understand how the most brilliant financial minds navigate and succeed through every economic condition. It includes interviews with Paul Tudor Jones, Charles R. Schwab, Carl Icahn, T. Boone Pickens, Ray Dalio, John C. Bogle, David F. Swensen, Mary Callahan Erdoes, Kyle Bass, Marc Faber, Sir John Templeton, and Warren Buffett.

Tony Robbins walks readers of every income level through the steps to become financially free by creating a lifetime income plan. This book delivers information and essential practices for getting your financial house in order, albeit with strong US bias. It also offer helpful investing tips that most people who invest have known for years now:

·     - fees eat away most investment profits

·     - over 90% of professional stock pickers under-perform the broad markets

·     - earn more, spend less and automate the investing process.

Quick summary of the 7 Steps ( it is actually a fun book to read, not heavy like many other financial books):

Step 1: Make the Most Important Financial Decision of Your Life.

In essence, decide to become an investor (not just a consumer). This means automating a specific percentage of your income that goes toward your "Freedom Fund" (i.e., your ideal retirement nest egg, which you calculate based on your desired financial outcome).

Step 2: Become the Insider: Know the Rules Before You Get in the Game.

Here, you shake off the nine most common myths about fees, actively vs. passively managing funds, real costs of specific investments,etc..to help minimise your risk of losing money and over-paying fees, and create tax-advantaged investment strategies.

Step 3: Make the Game Winnable.

This is when you calculate exactly the amount of money you will need for your financial freedom.To make these calculations super simple, Robbins provides a companion mobile app. You also look at your spending habits and how you can speed up your plan to achieve financial freedom faster-from limiting your daily impulse purchases to reducing your taxes, earning more, relocating, and improving your lifestyle. There are lots of ideas here on how to achieve your desired financial outcomes faster.

Step 4: Make the Most Important Investment Decision of Your Life. \This is about asset allocation, rebalancing, and cost averaging.

One interesting idea is to not just have "Risk/Growth" vs. "Security/Conservative" but to also include a "Dream" bucket.

Step 5: Create a Lifetime Income Plan.

This is about understanding the returns you are currently getting on your investments compared with other portfolios and recommended asset allocations. These are the secrets of the ultra-wealthy.

Step 6: Invest Like the .001 Percent.

This is where you learn that the worst environment is your greatest opportunity: to buy when everyone else is selling in a panic, and to sell when the markets are going crazy in the positive direction.

Step 7: Just Do It, Enjoy It, and Share It!

This is about investing and psychology. We can choose to see the world as scarce or abundant. We can see the world filled with problems or opportunities. Daily priming and the appreciation of what you already have will ensure you focus on the outcomes you truly want, as opposed to worrying about what you don't have and not taking action because of fear and other negative emotions that are holding you back.

If financial freedom is important to you, then you have no choice but reading this book.