The Empire Strikes Back: The Aussies Are Transforming London's Coffee Society

London / Go Eat
en by Henry Castiglione /  Henry Castiglione, 17. Feb 2010

Rumours have been slowly been drifting across the oceans that something is going on with food in Australia. For years I ignored them, Australia is so far away and the people so brash. What would they know about good food? Still these rumours persisted so I sent my little brother over and he came back with tales of fresh produce, incredible Vietnamese food and above all, extraordinary coffee. I couldn’t wait to go unfortunately I couldn’t afford the airfare. I was at a loss until I stumbled upon Lantana on Charlotte Place.


Inside Lantana

The coffee here made me do a Cary Grant-style double take. The girl behind the counter had suggested I have something called a Flat White. This is like a cross between a Latte and Macchiato. What hit me immediately was how fruity and chocolaty the drink tasted. What didn’t hit me was any of the bitterness or burnt watery taste that you get with high street offerings. So what are they doing so right? Owner Shelagh Ryan put it down to properly trained staff who take pride in their work.


Dedicated baristas at Flat White Photo: [177]

Making good coffee is not complicated but it is a process in which each step has to be done perfectly or you will not end up with that magical taste. This starts with very fresh beans from Monmouth Coffee Company in Covent Garden, good quality milk and goes on to making sure that your equipments is scrupulously clean.

You have to be an obsessive to make good coffee. Cameron McClure a New Zealander who runs two shops in Soho, Milk Bar and Flat White, said that it is a good occupation for someone with Attention Deficit Disorder.


A flat white from Flat White Photo: Lameen

In the Antipodes they don’t really have chain coffee shops so your drink will be made by one of these caffeine crazed-obsessives. Contrast this with the American-style coffee shops which dominate London staffed by students or itinerant workers where your Latte will taste like dirty dish water and your Espresso only palatable with a mountain of sugar.

Thanks heavens for Antipodeans and their restless need to travel. Shops either started by Antipodeans or by British people influenced by Melbourne and Wellington are springing up all over the capital. “London is an exciting place to be at the moment because people really are waking up to what coffee is meant to taste like.” Cameron enthused.

Published by
Henry Castiglione

A Taste Of The Underground

London / Go Eat
en by Henry Castiglione /  Henry Castiglione, 27. Jan 2010

I often feel sorry for visitors to London. Despite all the hype about London being a gastronomic paradise, it is still very easy to pay a lot of money for poor food. Some of the best food I have had has been cooked by friends, family and of course by my mother. Bad food in restaurants, good food in private homes – hmmmm there might be something here. In the past year a number of 'underground restaurants' have opened across London in which you can eat in private houses. These veer between haute cuisine at haute cuisine prices, Savoy Truffle Supperclub in Blackheath; an arty amalgamation of food, art and cabaret, Pale Blue Door, in where else but avant garde Dalston, or simple food at The Underground Restaurant in Kilburn, beautifully done by foodblogger Ms. Marmite Lover.

At her Victorian house, Ms. Marmite Lover offers a 5 course set menu for £25, you can bring your own wine and her surly Goth daughter will open it for £5 and throw in some eye-rolling if you are really lucky. I was a bit wary of this place because: a) it doesn’t contain any meat, only fish and vegetables b) our hostess’s background is as a rock photographer and her catering experience comes from cooking at an anarchist vegan restaurant and at G8 protestors camp!  From my limited experience of lefties and vegans, I have found that tasty food ranks low down their list of priorities. Reader, I had to swallow my prejudices. This was proper cooking. The highlight being a goat’s cheese soufflé with asparagus and hazelnut oil. We also had perfectly cooked piece of monkfish wrapped in banana leaves with coconut and lemongrass and for pudding a passionfruit pavalova.

It’s great social occasion as everyone sits together so it is hard not to make new friends. On a busy night it can get noisy so if you want some romantic privacy then there is always the shed (really).  I would compare it to being at a really good dinner party but without having people ask you what you do for a living or boring you about property prices. For added spice the whole thing may not even be legal hence why she trades under a nomme de plume and her exact location is top secret. You will only find out the address when you book a table or cookery course through wegottickets.com. She does not want the council to look too closely into what goes on behind her front door.

The best places underground restaurants get booked up far in advance so do some research before you arrive. Some other places that have been recommended to me include: Salad Club, The Bruncheon Club and Eat With Your Eyes. Aspiring cooks are opening their doors the whole time so look on Google, Facebook or best of all ask a Londoner.

Now if only I could persuade my Mother to open up the Castiglione mansion then we could make some real money. I can just see my dear old Dad as the maitre d’hotel in his ill-fitting dinner jacket leering at the girls and making inappropriate jokes, actually on second thoughts maybe I should be front of house.

Published by
Henry Castiglione

Reading Books, Drinking Beers And Rolling Stones

London / Go See
en by Henry Castiglione /  Henry Castiglione, 20. Jan 2010


Shoreditch House Literary Salon

I love reading and I like drinking but have found it hard to combine the two. After about half a bottle of wine my eyesight wanders and I get the urge to whisper facetious comments to my friends. Help is at hand thanks to London’s burgeoning literary salon scene.

If your image of book events is shaped by the image of an author droning on self-importantly to a crowd of geriatrics then think again; today’s book events are convivial and often quite rowdy.

Published by
Henry Castiglione

London's Retro Dance Explosion

London / Go Night
en by Henry Castiglione /  Henry Castiglione, 19. Nov 2009


'Oh My God I Miss You' Photo: Barry Newman

I was having my haircut by my barber, Kiri, at his shop in Kensal Rise, North West London. He asked me whether it was true that people in the East wear double-breasted suits and have moustaches and generally act like it’s the 1950s. I told him that it was not only true but they had special nights where they could do this in the company of like-minded people and dance to records from the era and pretend that the modern world of health and safety, mobile phones and alcopops never happened.


'Oh My God I Miss You' Photo: Barry Newman

The epicentre of this retro dance revival is the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. There are nights for everyone as long as you like your music pre-1970s. I tipped up on a Friday night for 'Oh My God I Miss You' and it was crammed with immaculately coiffed girls in vintage polka dot dresses jiving to New Orleans Jazz and music from the Jungle Book. And these people really can dance. I looked rather out of place in my chinos and Lacoste sweater bopping self-consciously (though I did look bloody stylish.)


Kiki Kaboom Photo: Spencer Cartwright

The flipside to all this putting on of old clothes is the explosion in taking them off and dancing provocatively. I met up with the winner of Best Newcomer at the London Burlesque Festival, Kiki Kaboom, at the Albion on Redchurch Street. She had the Irish stew, I had the Kedgeree. Kiki mentioned how trends that start in music go on to take in other forms such as fashion, dance and film. People are not just content with listening to 50s rock n’ roll, they want to be in Happy Days. All this retro stuff requires time and effort, you can’t just get an outfit from H&M. See it is a reaction to the slovenliness of modern Britain.

For those of you who think Burlesque is just glorified stripping, Kiki pointed out a crucial difference: the audience at these nights are predominately female. Women like it because it celebrates the female form rather than promoting an unhealthy ideal of femininity. Kiki sees it as empowering and said how she was so much happier with her body since starting burlesque. Having seen her in action, I can only agree


'Oh My God I Miss You' Photo: Barry Newman

You would expect these nights to be promoted by handbill or organ grinder but as with so much these days, the internet is the place to look. Check out the links below or you can use spoonfed to find crazy retro dance in your area even, I have heard, in Kensal Rise.

links:

Bethnal Green Working Men’s club
Hula Boogie
Madame JoJo's
Light jive

Go further:

Let's dance #1: Moving and shaking with Cairo's own
Let's dance #2: Swinging New York: Fancy a shag?
Let's dance #3: Dancing dawn the Spree
Let's dance #4: So you think you can dance(hall)
Let's dance #5: Dancing 'til dawn on the booze cruise

Published by
Henry Castiglione

The Best Indian Restaurants In Central London

London / Go Eat
en by Henry Castiglione /  Henry Castiglione, 13. Nov 2009


Photo: Ewan-M

England is famous for its Indian restaurants. In many parts of the country they are the only places where you can get an edible meal. Most London guides send lovers of Indian food to the peripheries: to Brick Lane (terrible food), to Green Street (it’s a slum) or to Southall (it’s not even in London.)

This is not necessary. There is superb, cheap Indian food to be had within zone 1. Fitzrovia – the area between Oxford Street and the Euston Road is teeming with delicious eateries but first you must go to Drummond Street.

Published by
Henry Castiglione
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