LoveEast.49

ISSUE 49 

Headway East London 

The Big Lunch 

Mark Anthony 

LADA 

Stef's Brownies 

And lots of other stuff 

Spring needs to stand 

up to winter and kick 

it in the snowballs 

- Unknown 

Your East London - What's on - Food - People

Big days and 

little days 

We can help 

make them perfect 

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2 LOVEEAST

Welcome to your local magazine 

Dear neighbour 

Is spring actually here or are we going to get 

another Beast from the East? Whatever the 

weather, there's loads to read in this edition. 

I'm honoured to showcase Headway East London, 

a charity based in Hackney supporting those living 

with the effects of serious brain injuries. Headway 

and their members are absolutely incredible. 

Singer/songwriter and Shoreditch Radio DJ Mark 

Anthony does a Q&A with us and we also find out 

about Stoke Newington resident Kerris Ohlsson 

who has been hosting The Big Lunch for ten 

years. 

Although it's been around for 20 years, the 

Live Art Development Agency (LADA) was a 

new discovery for me and it was great to find 

out about what this Bethnal Green-based arts 

organisation does. 

Instagram always provides me with eye candy 

and discovering Stef's Brownies is no exception. 

We also review a new book by Michelle Mason of 

Columbia Road's Mason & Painter. 

Our regular contributors never disappoint: The 

Gentle Author on saving the Whitechapel Bell 

Foundry, Bell from Bow on kids and festivals, 

Roger Love gives 14 fitness tips and Sean Gubbins 

talks about Hackney's Almshouses. Vinarius tells 

us about Italy's Marche region and in the food 

department we have a great recipe from Diana 

Warrings and a review of SoBe at Well Street 

Kitchen. Don't forget the Kids & What's on pages 

for lots of cool stuff to do and see in your East 

London. 

Cheers, 

Kaz 

karen@chomp.me.uk 

07590 609 557 

@LoveEastMag 

@loveeastmag 

loveeast.london 

I N S I D E 

East life 

4 

10 

Community 

16 

Art 

14 

18 

Book review 

17 

Regular features 

13 Bell from Bow 

20 The Gentle Author 

24 What to do with the kids 

27 Wine guide 

28 Eating in - and out 

30 WalkHackney 

31 Roger Love 

32 What's on 

Introducing Headway East 

London 

We do a LoveEast Q&A 

with singer/songwriter and DJ 

Mark Anthony 

10 years of the Eden Project's 

'The Big Lunch' in Stoke 

Newington 

LADA celebrates its 20th 

anniversary 

Stef's Brownies shares the art 

of fondant 

A guide to styling using 

botanicals and reclaimed 

objects 

LoveEast is a proud member of the East End Traders Guild 

Cover image by Cecilia - follow her on Insta: @Mileendmoments 

To advertise in LoveEast Magazine, please call 07590 609 557 or email karen@chomp.me.uk for further information. PLEASE NOTE: booking deadline 

for the June/July edition is 1 st May. LoveEast Magazine is produced and published by Chomp Creative Limited. Chomp Creative Limited cannot be held 

responsible for any errors or omissions, nor endorse companies, products or services that appear in this magazine. © LoveEast Magazine 2019, all rights 

reserved. No reproduction can be made without permission. Be kind to the planet; please recycle. 

LOVEEAST APRIL - MAY 2019 3

East life 

In the blink of an eye… 

I first came across Headway East London on twitter; they had posted something about an 

art exhibition that caught my eye, and, always curious about all things East London, I had 

a look at their feed. I soon discovered that the charity has been around for twenty years, 

supporting those living with the effects of serious brain injuries. I was struck by the way 

they wrote about their members and events on social media - it felt real, rather than a 280 

character press release. It also felt positive rather than scary, and, let’s face it, we all tend to 

shy away from these sorts of things, as though if we learn more it might happen to us. I felt 

compelled to learn more. 

In January, Headway had a fundraiser at the 

Pembury Arms in Hackney – a games night hosted 

by Five Points Brewery - Headway being one 

of their two chosen charities for 2018 (a great 

thing for local businesses to do). While there, I 

came across Headway’s magazine, Matter, which 

is produced by its members. It’s a beautiful 

publication – a voice for the stories of brain injury 

survivors; raw, real, incredibly touching and so 

honest. As I read it on the bus home, I laughed 

and cried in equal measure, and what really spoke 

to me was the fact that these people allowed 

themselves to be so vulnerable, sharing their reallife 

experiences of what has to be one of the most 

devastating events anyone can imagine. 

Headway was already on my radar but that 

sealed the deal, so I met up with Laura, the 

communications manager, in early February for a 

chat and to see Headway for myself. The first thing 

that struck me as I walked through the door was 

the atmosphere; positive, upbeat and incredibly 

friendly. It really felt like a social club, which is 

essentially what it is for Headway members. 

The Headway members are amazing – each and 

every one an absolute hero. Try and imagine for a 

moment what it means to experience something 

like this – one day you’re going about your 

business, living life, and suddenly all that’s wiped 

away – literally in the blink of an eye, and not by 

your choice. And the thing is, it can happen to 

any of us at any time - a stroke, a car accident, 

the fickle finger of fate – whatever. It changes 

everything and the struggle to find and rebuild 

your identity afterwards is arduous and often 

lonely. The stories in Matter are full of integrity, 

4 LOVEEAST 

honesty and love; they give an understanding and 

insight into what it’s like to lose yourself and find 

yourself again. 

As we talked through what to focus on for the feature 

it occurred to me that rather than give you facts 

and figures and a PR blurb, it made sense to share a 

member's story from the magazine. It was difficult to 

choose just one, but Mike Hoyle's story encapsulated 

his experience, and echoed the experiences of other 

members. So here you have it on the following pages, 

reproduced from Mike's original layout in Matter. 

TO FIND OUT MORE 

Headway East London 

Timber Wharf 

238-240 Kingsland Road 

London, E2 8AX 

020 7749 7790 

info@headwayeastlondon.org 

headwayeastlondon.org 

@HeadwayELondon 

@Headwayeastlondon 

HOW YOU CAN HELP 

Donate, bcome a Friend, fundraise or volunteer: 

headwayeastlondon.org/support-us/ 

Visit their online shop: 

headwayeastlondon.org/support-us/#shop 

Buy Matter – it’s a beautiful publication and a great 

way to learn more and support the charity: 

mattermag.org 

Photo collage by and © Mike Hoyle

East life 

A L B A T R O S S 

THE WORLD BEYOND 

WORDS & IMAGES BY MIKE HOYLE 

MY HEAD 

How can you recognise yourself in a life defined by events outside of 

your control? Using a collage of quotations and autobiography, Mike 

makes an essay in self-understanding, and reflects on photography 

as a way of reaching across the gap between our interior lives and 

the world we share. 

“Do not ask me who I am and do not ask me to remain the 

same.” – Michel Foucault 

On examination he presented as a young man: casually dressed and 

wearing tinted glasses. He was carrying a video-camera and tripod. 

His behaviour was somewhat inappropriate and he was rather jocular 

in his manner. 

This is about what happens in everyone that can’t be 

written down. This is about what moves in everyone. 

Several times during the interview he asked if he could video 

me, which was declined. He said that this was because he likes 

videotaping new people he meets, and enjoys looking at the 

videos again. He appeared mildly anxious. 

I was living quite happily, without a story to tell or anything 

to worry about, except the usual teenage identity-angst. 


East life 

Clearly his history is very complicated and he is not able to give a detailed outline of his past. A 

more detailed letter or neuro-psychometry report would have been helpful. Nevertheless I shall 

relate the history of the patient as he has given it to me today. 

He is originally from ------. He has little recollection of the accident that he had when he 

was 18 years old. He says he has lost all memory of six months from around that time. 

It was a bright sunny day in the hills, or so I am told. I had photographed the 

wedding of a local farmer and was collecting the developed colour pictures from 

a laboratory in a nearby town. 

His father, who was the doctor for the area, attended him at the scene. 

Witnesses reported that I had zoomed past them on my motorbike towards a 

blind bend on which two cattle-trucks were overtaking. 

He was unable to give a clear history as to what has happened to him since his accident up to the 

present day. 

I became conscious of my father wiping my bottom. This was my first spark of 

awareness after the accident in 1983. It seemed strange that an adult should have 

this intimate relationship with his parents. After a brain injury, you are sometimes 

treated like a child. In a way, you have the body of a child. 

From accounts of friends who had visited me in hospital in ------, my journey 

in this helpless state gradually formed into a story. My language was uncensored: 

I swore at everybody and told them what I thought. My mother was shocked. 

I broke a chair over my brother during an argument. These incidents alter the 

narrative in your head. What were you like? Were you an animal? 

My impression is that this man suffers from cognitive impairment and personality change, most 

likely related to frontal lobe dysfunction as a result of his head injury. 

Unlike in the films, recovery from an accident is a painfully slow process. There 

is no eureka moment when you suddenly become normal, get out of bed 

and continue with your interrupted life. Like Alice’s fall down the rabbit-hole, 

recovering awareness is surreal, slow and alarming; and even now, life seems like 

just one accident after another. What had happened to my cognition? What had 

happened to my balance and sense of place in a room? 

"Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went 

down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next." – Lewis Carroll, Alice’s 

Adventures in Wonderland 

The process of recovery involves a collision of the private and the personal: being 

observed, studied, catalogued and assessed in your most intimate habits. I had 

read that it is better to be philosophical about life, so I read a lot of philosophy: 

6 LOVEEAST

East life 

Photo collage by and © Mike Hoyle 


East life 

"Discourse is not the majestically unfolding manifestation of a thinking, knowing, speaking 

subject, but, on the contrary, a totality, in which the dispersion of the subject and his 

discontinuity with himself may be determined." – Michel Foucault, The Archaeology of 

Knowledge 

At some point after I left the hospital, I was advised to come to London by a 

chain-smoking, bored (or cool) woman at a ‘spectro-photography’ workshop in my 

nearest city. I managed to get into a London university, where I learned the theory 

behind the power of the photographic image. This was my rehabilitation back into 

the world of the arts. Photographs anchored my identity: through them, I was able 

to create a story of my past life. I was introduced to philosophers who wrote on 

the psychic subject; the history of the treatment of mental illness; truth, reason, 

and knowledge. 

The idea of eliminating all personal elements of knowledge would, in effect, aim at the 

destruction of all knowledge – Michael Polyani 

At some point it was suggested that I should live on disability benefits for the 

rest of my life. I was ashamed. I had come to London to educate myself and find 

meaningful employment, only to be told I was too damaged to make a meaningful 

contribution to society: a useless unproductive albatross around the neck of every 

working person in Britain, trying to compete against the rest of the world in the 

‘new global economy’. 

I still have perseveration, or the persistence of a single thought, making 

me repeat the same thing, with a loss of what the medical jargon calls ‘flexible 

thinking’. When your disability is cognitive, it is hard to separate your problems 

from madness or insanity, and in popular culture, madness is used as a metaphor 

for otherness. There is a certain stigma attached to mental impairment which is 

not connected with more ‘heroic’ disabilities, first in line to be made bionic with 

their state-of-the-art articulated limbs. 

After the death of my old self on the northern roads, I have been given a 

second chance at life: reborn, in a disabled body, with a troubled memory and an 

anxious mind. This second chance is about rewriting my own history, 

What do you do when you cannot compete, in a world which is all about 

competition? You have to view life philosophically. The past is dead, but not 

gone. Try to live in the present moment, if only you are fast enough – unimpaired 

enough– to recognise it for what it is, and not just what you think it might be. 

Catch it; capture it; as a photographer tries to do – with the old Quaker maxim 

ringing through your ears: “Not for oneself, but for everyone.” 

8 LOVEEAST 

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L o n D o n E X P ERT I S E . L o CA L LOVEEAST K n oWAPRIL LED- MAY g E2019 9

Culture 

LoveEast catches 

up with singer/ 

songwriter and DJ 

Mark Anthony 

Originally from Finsbury Park, Mark 

Anthony grew up on the border 

of Stoke Newington and fell in 

love with music from an early age. 

With a passion for Hip Hop and 

Rap, he and his mates could often 

be found hanging out and writing 

raps, eventually forming The Meds 

Collective. We find out what it's like to 

live the dream. 

Images courtesy of Mark Anthony 

You began your music career with rapper Hi 

Breed and singer Paul Lee, and eventually 

formed The Meds Collective, and released two 

albums and, from what I understand, enjoyed a 

spell of relentless touring; all in quite a short span 

of time. Tell us a bit about that experience. 

It was a great experience and a really great learning 

curve. For about five years, all we did was write, 

record, rehearse and perform music. The creative 

process of being in The Meds Collective was fun, 

inspiring, unpredictable and, on the whole, really 

good fun. But we also worked very hard too, often 

with very little sleep, but all in all, the good times 

outweighed any of the times when we felt either 

tired or run down. At the time, I just considered 

myself very lucky to be doing what I loved best, 

with my closest friends. 

Best bit about gigging and touring? 

The gigging and touring was always our favourite 

part of being in The Meds Collective, as we got to 

constantly visit new places and meet new people. 

It was just like being on a boys holiday a lot of the 

time. 

And the worst? 

The lack of sleep and hangovers. 

Your album Reckless Caution was released a 

couple of years after the The Meds Collective called 

it a day; what was it like to become a solo artist 

rather than a member of a band? 

It was definitely odd at first, because whilst I was in 

the group, I was able to blend into the background 

quite a bit, which I was more comfortable with; as 

I never considered myself to be a lead singer or a 

frontman. 

So, after my solo album was released, doing all of 

the promotion for it as a solo artist, as opposed 

to being in a music group, was extremely nerve 

wracking for me, to the point of uncomfortable at 

first. 

Even though your music is firmly rooted in Rap 

and Hip Hop, a lot of the songs on Reckless 

Caution - Thank You in particular - bring to mind 

70’s soul music; bands like The Temptations, The 

Spinners, The O’Jays, etc. Would you consider that 

era a significant influence on your music? 

10 LOVEEAST

Culture 

100% yes! I have always been a huge fan of music 

groups including The Temptations, The Stylistics, 

The Delfonics and The Floaters; so music of that 

genre has always had a big influence on my 

songwriting. The beat for the song Night Cruising 

from my album Reckless Caution, was influenced by 

the song, Keep On Lovin' Me, by The Whispers. 

You also collaborate with other musicians - most 

recently featuring as the lead vocalist on the 

track Lonely City, on James Myhill's album Crooked 

Electric Cottage, and on the title track 

from m0p3’s Nursery Crime, both released late last 

year. Tell us a bit about that process. 

Well I’m always recording music and some of that 

is either as a solo project, or in collaboration with 

other artists. In both of the cases you mentioned 

above, it was basically the producers who came 

with the music ideas and just gave me free reign to 

write and record some lyrics over their instrumental 

tracks. 

I’m lucky enough to now have my own recording 

studio away from London (Studio 35 in 

Hertfordshire), so the work rate tends to be a lot 

quicker nowadays than it may have been in the past. 

You currently host The Evening Session radio show 

on Shoreditch Radio. How did that come about? 

A few years ago, the owner of Shoreditch Radio, 

Delroy Philogene, was looking for DJs and 

presenters to fill some slots on the radio station, so 

we ended up having a meeting at the Shoreditch 

Radio studios and I was offered a slot. Simple as 

that, really. 

I’ve been 

presenting The 

Evening Session 

for over four 

years now and I 

absolutely love 

doing the show. 

I’ve also been 

lucky enough 

to interview 

a number of 

musicians on 

the show, from bands such as The Specials, Blur, 

Madness, The Brand New Heavies and UB40 to 

name a few; so I’ve been very lucky. 

Which experience would you say is the highlight of 

your career so far? 

Whilst touring the Reckless Caution album, I was 

lucky enough to tour with The Gorillaz on part 

of their world tour, which was a truly amazing 

experience. It was amazing meeting people like 

Pauline Black (The Selector), De La Soul, Noel 

Gallagher, Jehnny Beth (The Savages) and the 

American singer Kali Uchis. Releasing the Reckless 

Caution album was also a highlight in itself. 

What’s next for you? 

Well, I’m always recording new music, so whether 

the music ends up being released in the form of 

either an album or an EP, remains to be seen; but 

I’m sure it will come out in some form at some point. 


@mark_aofficial 

@markanthonymusicuk 

@markanthonymusic1 

LISTEN 

soundcloud.com/mark-anthony-music 

mixcloud.com/markanthonymusic 

Catch Mark's show on Shoreditch Radio Mondays 9 - 10pm 

WATCH 

youtube.com/markanthonymusicuk 


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12 LOVEEAST

Bell from Bow 

Taking a kid to a festival? You are braver than me 

It’s spring and thoughts are already turning to summer, and which festivals my motley crew of friends will be 

attending. I’m invited, but seriously? Festivals? With a kid? Pah. Don’t make me laugh. You’ll never see the 9pm 

band on the main stage because you’ll be in a sweaty tent playing white noise to your kids to ease them to sleep 

whilst the ravers on bad pills in the tent next door come down from their high. You’ll start drinking early, because 

y’know, you’re at a festival, and the hangover will kick in before the day is out. Then you’ll have to deal with kids high 

on glitter face paint and candyfloss, whilst also battling dehydration, a pounding headache and the steady thud of 

the dance tent. Your phone will run out of battery so you can’t watch emergency CBBC. You can't text your husband 

to bring some loo roll back from the bogs for snotty noses because you gave your baby wipes to a girl who fell in a 

puddle. And you can't access the festival app to find the kid zone. 

You’ve earmarked money to pay the school fine for taking Sammy out. Fine or no fine, I'm pretty sure that the 

Rainbow Play tent is going to do more for their creative energy than maths and spelling in an overly-warm classroom. 

On top of this, you need to feed the kids and whilst the food at festivals has gone from dire to dreamy in a few 

short years, you know you don’t get change back from a tenner per head. Despite your brilliantly packed Fjallraven 

backpack, you’ll lose your sun cream / sunglasses / flower crown / phone charger and have to pay way over the odds 

to replace them. I don’t have teenagers but I can only imagine the day starts with you handing over cash, and ends 

with you worrying about why they are back late. 

Camping is a horror, because the kids go to bed late because it’s so exciting, and wake up early, because it’s light, hot 

and sweaty. If you hit Glasto in a rainy year, they will wake early because the tent has leaked, and then get tearful 

when they fall in a puddle. If you’ve packed the McLaren, you’d better hope you can dig it out of the mud when the 

inevitable happens (although in a sunny year, a pram is an excellent booze transporter, as is a Trunki). 

There will be a glorious window, when the sun hits that sweet point in the sky, your kids wave their hands to Ed 

Sheeran (come on, you aren’t cool enough for Stormzy now) and you feel like you’ve nailed it. Cool parent 101. Enjoy 

this, because this is what you’ll remember. But be aware that the long walk back on the aforementioned sugar-high 

will lead to a tantrum, you’ll be going to sleep with a toddler foot in your face and you’ll miss the Foo Fighters because 

you’ll have been in a queue for the loo with one of the kids. 

Despite my views on festivals, I’m excited for the return of In the Neighbourhood, a weekday programme of free 

activities, taking place between the two weekends of All Points East (the new Lovebox). Come down to Victoria Park 

for free outdoor cinema, live music, entertainment, theatre, arts, sports and wellbeing – and loads more. There’s also 

street food and pop-up bars to ensure the grownups are happy too. 

Kicking off on the second May bank holiday, and taking place across the May half term, In the Neighbourhood will be 

a fun destination for you and your family. 

ABOUT CELINE 

Mum from bow, gin addict, perma-knackered, fan of food, coffee 

and cheese. Follow Celine for more adventures in parenting: 

@bell_from_bow 

@bell_from_bow 

bellfrombow.com 


It's art baby, art! 

Live Art Development Agency (LADA) celebrates 

its 20 th anniversary 

The Live Art Development Agency (LADA) was 

established in 1999 by co-founders Lois Keidan and 

Catherine Ugwu, and is now recognised as one of the 

most vital and instrumental creative spaces in the UK. 

Based at Garrett House in Bethnal Green, it has an 

extensive library of performance art videos, resources 

and publications as well as a free, open access study 

room. LADA hosts a range of programmes, curatorial 

projects and residencies that support and nurture 

artists from diverse backgrounds, and at its heart is a 

desire to provide artists with the space and freedom 

to stimulate new processes and approaches in order 

to develop their practice. It creates conditions in which 

diversity, innovation and risk in contemporary culture 

can thrive. 

LADA - and live art itself - gives agency to artists who 

often don’t have a voice in more mainstream practices; 

it refuses to be defined by traditional categories of 

what people think of as art, instead challenging that 

very idea. 

Tiny Live Art (Development Agency) by Robert Daniels, 

featuring Martin O'Brien 

including emerging artists, and artists from culturally 

diverse backgrounds. 

LADA is marking its 20 th Anniversary this year and 

is celebrating with a series of initiatives throughout 

the year. The recent March launch of the publication, 

Agency, A Partial History of Live Art, and a series of 20 

limited edition artworks, Tiny Live Art (Development 

Agency) by Robert Daniels kicked off the celebrations. 

Future events include a radio series on Live Art 

histories and futures for Resonance FM; a box set of 

20 postcards representing key LADA projects and 

initiatives, and a series of free events at their home at 

The Garrett Centre – Live Art on the page, the stage 

and the screen. 

Images © and courtesy of LADA 

The Garrett Centre, Bethnal Green 

All aspects of LADA’s work are informed by issues 

of difference and diversity, and are grounded in a 

commitment to creating the conditions in which 

innovation, experimentation and risk can thrive, and 

to developing new forms of public engagement and 

new discourses around the nature, role and value of 

contemporary culture. 

LADA particularly supports the most challenging 

artists, practices and ideas of contemporary culture, 

14 LOVEEAST 


Live Art Development Agency 

The Garrett Centre 

117A Mansford Street, E2 6LX 

020 8985 2124 

info@thisisliveart.co.uk 

thisisliveart.co.uk 

@thisisliveart 

@thisisliveart

Business focus 

Re:Store refill shop in 

Hackney Downs Studios is now open! 

Image © and courtesy of @kitoates 

Re:Store is now open, offering customers a more 

conscious way to shop, with no single-use packaging in 

sight. The business was created to reduce unnecessary 

packaging and plastics in to order to positively impact 

the planet, whilst being accessible and affordable. 

Customers can bring their own containers to refill with 

store cupboard and household essentials. Our range 

of store cupboard essentials includes grains, pulses, 

rice, pasta, oats, nuts & seeds, herbs & spices, oil & 

vinegar, tea & coffee and confectionary such as The 

Vegan Candy Company pick ‘n’ mix and raw chocolate 

raisins. 

Household & cleaning products to refill include Fill Co 

laundry liquid and fabric conditioner, washing up liquid, 

multi-surface cleaner and liquid hand soap. 

We have teamed up with London-based producers to 

offer locally made brilliant products to our customers. 

One example of this is Kombucha on tap from 

Kompassion Kombucha who brew the product locally 

in Hackney Wick. Customers can buy a bottle to 

refill in store or bring their own bottle to refill with the 

two delicious flavours of Scotch Bonnet Chilli and 

Sarsaparilla Root. We also stock award-winning Kinda 

Co vegan cheese made in East London, and work 

with LeLe’s vegan cafe in Clapton and Ombra italian 

restaurant in Bethnal Green to offer some of their 

fresh products on a ‘special’ basis. 

You will find a range of sustainable bathroom & 

lifestyle products including Chilly’s water bottles, Self 

Care Co soy candles, rCup reusable coffee cups and 

Fit Pit natural deodorant. 

Re:Store can be found at vibrant & creative 

destination Hackney Downs Studios nestled between 

a yoga studio, cocktail bar, record shop and loom 

weaving workshop, as well as nearby popular cafes 

and pubs. 

Quote ‘LoveEast’ in store for a 10% discount 

until 31 st May. Subject to terms & conditions. 

Re:Store 

Hackney Downs Studios 

17 Amhurst Terrace, E8 2BT 

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instagram.com/restore.refill 

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LOVEEAST FEB - MARCH 2019 15

Community 

The Big Lunch: it's a community thing... 

Photos courtesy of and © The Eden Project 

One of our mantras at LoveEast is ‘It’s a community 

thing”. We live by this and fervently believe that 

the more we connect within our neighbourhoods – 

getting to know each other, supporting local traders, 

being involved in our schools and local organisations - 

the better life is for everyone. East London is certainly 

no stranger to a good old fashioned street party, of 

course, with its long history of neighbourhood gettogethers, 

but as life gets busier, street parties tend to 

become an item on the To Do list. The Eden Project 

wanted to change that, and created The Big Lunch in 

2009 – an annual event held up and down the country 

each June. Stoke Newington resident Kerris Ohlsson 

got involved early on and has been holding The Big 

Lunch on her street ever since. Here, she reflects on 

how her community has come together through the 

event. 

Kerris, a retired lawyer, has lived on the street for, 

as she says, “a very long time!” and has seen the 

neighbourhood change as people move in and out. 

“There are people living here who I never see through 

leading different lifestyles, or working different hours, 

16 LOVEEAST 

until Big Lunch day.” She describes The Big Lunch as 

providing a date in the calendar that everyone can 

reserve to meet, eat and share with their neighbours. 

Relationships have been forged through the planning 

and organizing of this annual event, and Kerris has 

also become close friends with the core group who 

come together each year to plan The Big Lunch. The 

group is a real mix of ages and backgrounds, and 

when they first got involved, they found they enjoyed 

meeting up in local cafes and bars for planning 

sessions just as much as they enjoyed the event itself 

- a great example of how a sense of community is 

developed. 

To Kerris, that sense of community feels like family. 

“Every time we see each other we have a little chat 

- we look out for each other,” she says. “It’s just what 

we do. If we see someone we don’t know as we’re 

walking along we smile and say hello; we try to bring 

people in. I say ‘we’ because that’s what it feels like, 

we’re all part of a community.” 

Last June, Kerris and her neighbours in Farleigh 

Road were joined by The Big Lunch ambassadors 

Ainsley Harriott and Jo Brand. Jo Brand said: “It’s so 

heartening to see events like this taking place. There’s 

such a mix of people just having a chat and a bite to 

eat. Everyone’s nattering about what’s going on in the 

neighbourhood and how they can help each other. 

This is what communities should be like. We’re all so 

busy these days that I think we’ve forgotten how to 

be good neighbours.” 

Ainsley Harriott added: “One of the great things 

about Farleigh Road is that they’ve been putting on 

this party for 10 years. They look forward to it, it’s the 

community that you bring out, the neighbourhood 

that starts to have that collective bond.” 

The Big Lunch 2019 takes place on the 1 st and 2 nd of 

June so get planning if you’d like to take part. 

ABOUT THE BIG LUNCH 

The Big Lunch is the UK's annual celebration for neighbours, an 

idea from the Eden Project, and takes place each year in June. 

For information on how you can hold a Big Lunch event visit: 

edenprojectcommunities.com/thebiglunchhomepage 

ABOUT THE EDEN PROJECT 

The Eden Project is an educational charity and social enterprise 

that creates gardens, exhibitions, art, events, experiences and 

projects that explore how people can work together and with 

nature towards a better future. Find out more on their website: 

edenprojectcommunities.com

Book Review 

A sneak peek at Michelle Mason's new book, 

Flower Market - botanical style at home 

Michelle Mason, designer and co-owner of Columbia Road’s vintage emporium Mason & Painter, is 

passionate about interior design and styling. Her interest in styling with flowers and plants is intrinsically 

linked to the market itself, and her new book was born out of a desire to share tips on styling and making 

the most of seasonal plants and flowers. 

If you are mad about flowers and plants and 

want to make the most of them, this book is for 

you. It begins with two sections on inspiration 

– one by season and one by colour, and moves 

on to describe how to create a look using simple 

objects such as ceramics, glass and metal, as well 

as reclaimed objects. The book is packed with 

handy tips and practical information on choosing 

houseplants, plant care, flower arranging, drying 

flowers etc. and is an excellent resource for 

beginners as well as seasoned flora-istas. 

Mason's styling is practical and resourceful and 

her ability to integrate unusual objects with floral 

or plant displays is nothing short of inspirational. A 

cricket ball, a few old books, even an old chopping 

board can bring a display alive. She is also keen to 

pass on the message that you can make the most 

of what you already have with a bit of thought and 

lateral thinking. 

Homes are as individual as the people who inhabit 

them, and it’s great to see so many examples of 

how one can enliven even the dullest of spaces. 

The book itself is beautifully 

designed and rich with images; 

it’s a book that will take pride of 

place rather than be hidden on a 

bookshelf, and readers will enjoy 

it and refer to it often. 

Photos courtesy of and © Michelle Mason 

Flower Market - botanical style 

at home is available from the 4th 

of April. 

GET THE BOOK 

Mason & Painter 

67 Columbia Road, E2 7RG 

@masonandpainter.co.uk 

@MasonAndPainter 



Stef's Brownies' extraordinary edible sculptures 

If art is something beautiful created with imagination and skill, these fondant 

wonders more than fit the bill. 

'Stef's Brownies' began when Stef's partner taught 

him how to make brownies in order to add to his juice 

bar winter menu. The brownies soon became a hit and 

Stef began to exlore other aspects of baking, namely 

cake decorating. 

Experimenting 

with premade, 

fondant 

decorations, Stef 

soon discovered 

the joys of 

creating beautiful 

and unusual 

cakes. 

Eventually, he 

was approached 

by a friend who 

wanted a cake 

for a charity 

event but with 

a caveat - all of 

the decorations 

had to be made 

by hand. Having 

never done this, 

it was a challenge 

to say the least, 

but one Stef 

embraced, thus 

beginning his 

journey into the art of fondant. 

Cake designs are copyrighted in order to protect each 

maker's brand, and bakers can be sued for breach of 

copywrite if they replicate another's design. They are 

able to interpret the design but there must be at least 

seven distinct differences in order to make it a new 

creation. So, if a client wants a themed cake (a Disney 

character for example), it has to be an interpretation 

rather than a replica. While Stef accepts specific 

commissions, his favourite projects are when the 

client gives him the freedom to let his imagination go 

wild. 

He also firmly believes that cakes should be as 

individual as the recipient, and he has an innate ability 

to listen to, and interpret what a client is after. That, 

combined with an imagination that knows no bounds, 

18 LOVEEAST 

means that the end result is always personal and 

thoughtful. 

One of his biggest and most ambitious projects 

early on was the Enchanted Forest cake, (shown 

on this page) 

commissioned for 

a 30th birthday 

celebration. Using 

new materials and 

methods, Stef 

wanted to push 

himelf out of his 

comfort zone, and 

that he did, with 

the result being 

an almost 20” 

high, four tier cake 

with a plethora 

of forest-like 

decorations. 

As Stef says, 

"When you’re 

entrusted with 

total freedom 

on the design 

of the cake the 

possibilities are 

endless. Flower 

wires were used 

for the first time, 

in addition to mini spotlights and hidden flickering 

fairy lights operated by remote control." 

Wait, what? Mini spotlights and fairy lights IN A 

CAKE?? 

Yes - you can have fairy lights in a cake; you can also 

have audio, and it's all operated with the flick of a 

switch. Check out Stef's website to see videos of how 

this all works.. 

In addition to the lights, playing with hues of colours, 

layering and height provided depth and dimension for 

the Enchanted Forest cake. Much attention was given 

to everything including the fold of leaves, the curve of 

the vines etc. 

Another ambitious project was a birthday cake where 

the client wanted something very specific - a lion and


Lion and Mini Cooper 'Safari' birthday cake 

Teapot cake, based on a popular kid’s story called The 

Tiger Who Came To Tea 

Images courtesy of and © Stef's Brownies 

3D Popcorn Cake for a movie themed birthday party 

Rocket themed birthday cake with removable rocket 

and talking cube reciting launch countdown 

her child's Mini Cooper toy car. As 

a means to blend the two objects 

together, Stef chose a 'Safari' 

theme and modelled the car from 

photos of the toy car. 

From a rocket themed cake with 

a talking cube that does the '10, 

9, 8...' countdown at the press of 

a button - with the rocket itself 

being constructed and attached 

in such a way that it could be 

removed to be kept as a souvenir, 

to a cake that literally looks 

like a box of pop corn, nothing 

appears to be impossible in Stef's 

confectionary world. 


stefsbrownies.co.uk 

@stefsbrownies 




The Gentle Author 

How you 

can Save the 

Whitechapel Bell 

Foundry 

20 LOVEEAST


In the East End, we are proud to have the Whitechapel 

Bell Foundry, the most famous bell foundry in the 

world. Dating from 1570, it is also Britain’s longest 

established business - although there is evidence that 

bells have been made in Whitechapel since 1363. 

This was where 

Big Ben was cast, 

also the Liberty 

Bell which became 

a focus for antislavery 

campaigners 

in America in the 

nineteenth century 

and, in our own time, 

the bell in the 9/11 

commemorative 

garden in 

Manhattan was cast 

in Whitechapel. 

It was a national 

tragedy in 2017 

when the building 

was sold, the staff 

lost their jobs and 

the equipment was 

auctioned off. In 

June that year, the 

foundry changed 

hands, sold first 

by bell founders 

Alan & Kathryn 

Hughes for £5.1 million to East End property 

developer Vince Goldstein who resold it on the 

same day to Raycliff Capital, the company of 

the American plutocrat Bippy Siegal, for £7.9 

million. Subsequently, Raycliff have acquired 

two additional sites at the rear of the bell 

foundry and plan to redevelop the entire 

location as an upmarket boutique hotel with 

the foundry itself becoming a restaurant. 

Now, the developers 

have submitted 

their application 

to Tower Hamlets 

council for a 

change of use from 

foundry to hotel 

and local residents 

get to have their 

say. Would you 

rather have the 

Whitechapel Bell 

Foundry converted 

into an upmarket 

hotel or would 

you rather it was a 

foundry, continuing 

a tradition of casting 

bells in Whitechapel 

that dates back to 

1363? 

A choice has to 

be made and 

Tower Hamlets 

council must 

establish which 

is the ‘optimum viable use’ – this is a term in 

planning law which means the ideal purpose for 

a building. Since the Whitechapel Bell Foundry 

was built as a foundry and worked as a foundry 

for centuries, it is self-evident that this is the 

optimum viable use, not a boutique hotel. 

United Kingdom Historic Building 

Preservation Trust (an independent charity 

under the founding patronage of His Royal 



22 LOVEEAST 

A choice has to be made 

and Tower Hamlets council 

must establish which is the 

‘optimum viable use’


Highness, The Prince of Wales) have announced 

a partnership with Factum Foundation (a 

global leader in the use of technology for 

the preservation of heritage and maker of 

sculptures for some of the world’s most famous 

artists). Together, they have the resources to 

save the Whitechapel Bell Foundry by buying 

the buildings off the developer at market value 

and re-open them as a foundry, re-equipped 

with up-to-date machinery, for the production 

of bells and art casting. 

Unfortunately, recognising that there is a viable 

alternative to their boutique hotel proposal, 

Raycliff Capital have appropriated the language 

of their rivals by claiming they are actually 

‘reinstating a foundry,’ meaning that bell 

polishing will happen in the lobby of their hotel 

sometimes. The reality is they are reducing 

the foundry use by nearly 90%. In spite of 

this attempt to muddy the waters, I think the 

difference between a boutique hotel and a bell 

foundry is quite obvious. 

You can help save the Whitechapel Bell Foundry 

as a living foundry for future generations by 

submitting an objection to the boutique hotel 

proposal to Tower Hamlets council. 

Please take a moment to write your letter of 

objection. The more objections we can lodge 

the better, so please spread the word to your 

family and friends. 

HOW TO OBJECT EFFECTIVELY 

Use your own words and add your own personal reasons for opposing the development. Any letters which simply 

duplicate the same wording will count only as one objection. 

1. Quote the application reference: PA/19/00008/A1 

2. Give your full name and postal address. You do not need to be a resident of Tower Hamlets or of the United 

Kingdom to register a comment but unless you give your postal address your objection will be discounted. 

3. Be sure to state clearly that you are OBJECTING to Raycliff Capital’s application. 

4. Point out the ‘OPTIMUM VIABLE USE’ for the Whitechapel Bell Foundry is as a foundry not a boutique hotel. 

5. Emphasise that you want it to continue as a foundry and there is a viable proposal to deliver this. 

6. Request the council refuse Raycliff Capital’s application for change of use from foundry to hotel. 

WHERE TO SEND YOUR OBJECTION 

You can write an email to: 

planningandbuilding@towerhamlets.gov.uk 

or 

you can send a letter to: 

Town Planning, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG 

The Gentle Author has a plethora of stories, history and images about life in Spitafields and writes a post every day. You can 

read them at spitalfieldslife.com. You can also follow @thegentleauthor on twitter. 

Images © and courtesy of Charlotte Dew, Curator & Consultant, Museums/Galleries 


Arts 'n Crafts 

Little Artists London offers an array of child-friendly 

workshops at CreatePlace, St Margarets House, 21 

Old Ford Road , Bethnal Green ,E2 9PL. Days, times & 

booking info: littleartistslondon.com/workshops 

The Makers Guild at The Yard - play, discover and 

make; Fridays during term time. the-yard.co.uk 

Turn discarded materials and items into fun and funky 

treasures in these monthly Crafty Kids Parties at 

Poplar Union Sat 2 Feb & Sat 2 March, 1:30-3pm; £5, 

ages 4-12. Info: poplarunion.com/event/crafty-kidspartywomen-of-the-world-inspired-puppet-making/ 

Music & Dance 

Tots Gigs monthly morning series of acoustic gigs for 

parents who want to see a great gig in the daytime 

and bring their babies in tow. Check website for dates 

& times: soundscreativeprojects.co.uk/whatson/ 

Children’s Creative Movement & Dance classes 

Saturdays at Chisenhale Dance Space. Times and ages: 

chisenhaledancespace.co.uk 

Reading & Writing 

A fun storytelling and toys session for under 5s, 

Tuesdays, 11am - noon in the children's library at 

Homerton Library. Come and listen to stories, music, 

play, participate in simple activities and meet other 

parents and children. Just turn up. Contact: Homerton 

Library on 020 8356 3000. 

Chatterbooks reading group for 8-12 year olds with 

quizzes, competitions and prizes. fourth Tuesday 

of the month, 4.30 - 5.30pm at Dalston CLR James 

Library. 

Creative writing for 7-14 yr olds, first Wednesday 

of the month, 4.30 - 5.30pm at Dalston CLR James 

Library. 

Splish Splash 

Find an indoor pool near you: swimming.org/ 

poolfinder/ Just put in your post code and voilà. 

Kids' Yoga 

East of Eden in Walthamstow offers Parent & toddler 

yoga classes on Mondays, 11 - 11.45am and Yoga 

for Kids aged 5 - 9 (term-time) Wednesdays 4:15 – 

5:00pm. Info: edeneast.co.uk/what-we-do/yoga/kids/ 

Parks & Recreation 

Check out Living with Warmth, a children's what's 

on guide for Hackney & Islington with a playground 

and child-friendly cafe and attractions map: 

livingwithwarmth.com/london 

Hackney Wick FC offers a variety of football 

opportunities for children of varying ages and 

abilities. Contact Bobby Kasanga for info: Niaman. 

hackneywickfc@gmail.com 

TryTime Rugby at Victoria Park for kids aged 2.5 - 7. 

Info: trytimekidsrugby.com/victoria-park 

Bow Creek Ecology Park - wildlife haven in the urban 

environment: visitleevalley.org.uk/en/content/cms/ 

nature/nature-reserve/bow-creek/ 

Clissold Park - paddling pool, fountains, tennis court 

and skate-park plus an aviary and animal enclosures, 

multi-use games area and dog-free play area: hackney. 

gov.uk/clissold-park 

24 LOVEEAST

Homerton Grove Adventure Playground - free, open 

access playground and youth service for children 6+. 

Under 6's welcome if supervised: hackneyplay.org/ 

homerton-grove/ 

Shakespeare Walk Adventure Playground - free, open 

access playground offering a wide range of indoor and 

outdoor activities. Under 6's welcome if supervised: 

wapa.org.uk/about.html 

Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park runs a variety of clubs 

and events including Bow Beasties Wildlife Club and 

the Forest School. Info: fothcp.org/kids 

The Tumbling Bay Playground in the north of the 

Olympic Park has rock pools, tree houses, wobbly 

bridge etc.: queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/the-park/ 

things-to-do 

Victoria Park is ready for Spring with all kinds of 

activities. Look for their PDF events guide for details, 

dates, times etc. on the Tower Hamlets website: 

towerhamlets.gov.uk 

Inclusive Adventure Playgrounds 

Designed for young people with disabilities/additional 

needs and supervised by trained, CRB checked staff, & 

offer a variety of activities for stimulating & inclusive play 

in a setting that supports the child's requirements and 

also gives support to their families. 

Hackney Adventure Playground, Clapton 

FB page: @KIDSAdventurePlayHackney 

Terence Brown Ark, Canning Town 

theaaazone.com/terence-brown-arc. 

htmlhackneywickfc@gmail.com 

Hello! We are Little Artists London. 

We plan and deliver fun and creative art 

parties too. Tell us a little bit about your 

event and request our party event package. 

t: 07882 396 557 

info@littleartistslondon.com 

@littleartistslondon 

www.littleartistslondon.com 

Be sure to check times/availability via the 

websites or contact details provided. 

TAKE A CLOSER LOOK 

FARADAY PREP SCHOOL 

WWW.FARADAYSCHOOL.CO.UK 


Lizzie Thorne Flowers 

East London Florist 

Beautiful and Bespoke 

flowers for your Wedding, 

Event or just a special 

occasion. 

lizziethorne.com | info@lizziethorne.com 

Fighting Fit Studio 

Personal Training | 1 to 1 studio | Free consultation 

TO BOOK: 

Michelle.PT 07805 612 127 

michellecrawford23@gmail.com 

www.michellept.wordpress.com 

Instagram: @fightingfitstudio 

SPRING OFFER: 

Ten PT sessions for the price of nine 

Fighting Fit Studio, 36 Gossamer Gardens, London E2 9FN 

26 LOVEEAST

The wine guide 

Italy’s hidden gem: Marche 

Italy is celebrated for its winemaking traditions, especially from famous regions 

such as Tuscany, Piedmont or Sicily but sometimes you can find incredible and 

unique products from unexpected places. Marche is one of them. 

Tucked away between the Apennine mountains and the Adriatic Sea, Le Marche is probably one of Italy’s least 

known regions. Historically, it was part of the Papal state while nowadays it is considered a gateway region 

between the northern and southern parts of the country. 

To give an idea of the full potential of the wines from Marche I am going to talk about two completely different 

products made from autochthonous (local to me and you) grape varieties: Verdicchio and Vernaccia di 

Serrapetrona. The first is more mainstream and well-known, while the other is incredibly rare and unique. 

Verdicchio is considered as 

one of the classic Italian white 

wine appellations, particularly 

famous during the 80s, when it 

was sold by big cooperatives in a 

very distinctive, green-coloured, 

fish-shaped bottle. Things have 

changed dramatically since then 

and it is now made in a much 

leaner style - recently rediscovered and appreciated for its dryness, 

mandarin fruit and nutty character. The name Verdicchio comes from the 

Italian word verde (green) for the characteristic green hue of its grapes. 

There are two zones of production: Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, which 

is situated along the coast, and the much smaller area of Verdicchio di 

Matelica, located further inland and with its vineyards at higher altitude, 

resulting in a lifted lemon acidity and minerality in its wine. 

Vernaccia di Serrapetrona is a 

sparkling red wine made only 

with Vernaccia Nera grapes 

from a very limited area (just 172 

acres of vineyards for the whole 

appellation) near the little village 

of Serrapetrona. The vinification of 

the wine follows an old and unique 

method of production (apparently 

first used in medieval times), which is both lengthy and sophisticated 

and involves sun-drying a portion of the grapes and going through three 

different fermentations. The final wine has really no comparison with any 

other product; something between a Super Lambrusco and a sparkling 

Valpolicella-Ripasso. It comes in two versions: secco (dry - although with 

some residual sugar) and dolce (sweet - a luscious style) and always with 

a nice, velvety texture, dry fruit and wild cherry aromas and a delicate 

bitterness on the finish. It’s a wine that takes you back in time and can be 

used as an aperitif or to accompany a dessert. It can be matched with all 

sorts of food and is ideal with cheeses, charcuterie and meat-based, spicy 

dishes. 

Vinarius directly and exclusively imports both wines from the producers 

and sells them retail at the shop and online. 

VISIT US 

536 Roman Road, Bow E3 5ES 

OPENING HOURS 

Mon & Tues: 12 - 7pm 

Wed - Fri: 12 - 11pm 

Sat: 11am - 11pm 

Sun: 11am - 10pm 

Food is served Wednesday to 

Sunday from 6:00 pm. 

We take reservations for private 

and corporate parties and wine 

tastings. 

GET IN TOUCH 

store@vinarius.london 

020 3302 0123 

SOCIAL MEDIA 

@VinariusLondon 

@vinarius_on_the_roman 

vinarius.london 

SHOP ONLINE 

With FREE delivery to E3, E6, 

E8, E9 postcodes only. Terms 

and conditions apply; please 

check our website for more 

information. 

Sponsored by Vinarius 


Photo courtesy of and © Diana Warrings 

Eating In 

Diana Warrings' Veggie Broth Pho 

This lovely veggie pho is bursting with flavours and is rather 

quick to prepare compared with a regular pho. I chose 

mushrooms as a plant based protein, but tofu works fine too or 

you could go for both if you like. Rice noodles or, for those of 

you who are carb-conscious, courgetti, complete this dish rather 

well. 

From a nutritional perspective you can expect a fair share of 

antioxidants from all the fresh ingredients. They are added 

towards the end, which means they keep more of their nutrients 

than their cooked counterparts. Served in a soothing and 

warming veggie broth, a true late Spring dish! If you like a bit of 

heat in your pho, you can add some fresh or dried chilli to your 

liking. 

Serves 2 - 3. 

Ingredients 

1 tbsp of coconut oil 

4 small cloves of garlic - finely chopped 

2 shallots sliced 

1 medium hot chili – pierced or cut in half for more heat (remove 

seeds to control the heat) 

2 stalks of lemon grass sliced 

2 - 3 inches of ginger - finely chopped 

Spice mix 

2 whole star anise 

1 cinnamon stick 

1 tsp of ground coriander 

1/2 tsp of ground fennel seeds 

1/2 tsp of dried ginger 

2-3 ground black pepper corns 

1/2 ground clove 

1 tsp of coconut sugar (or mix in 1 - 2 tsp of 

5 Chinese Spice) 

1 - 2 tbsp tamari sauce 

1.5 - 2 litres of organic vegetable stock 

1 - 2 tsp of lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste 

Garnish per person 

1 - 2 carrots - finely sliced or shredded 

3 - 4 dried (soaked) or fresh Shiitake mushrooms- per person 

1 Jerusalem artichoke finely sliced or shredded (add some 

lemon juice to keep its colour) 

1 - 2 spring onions - sliced 

1 cup of Cavolo Nero, savoy cabbage or kale (roughly chopped 

and blanched with boiling water) 

1 - 2 tbsp mung bean and alfafa sprouts 

1/4 fresh lime per person 

1 - 2 cup of rice noodles or courgetti (optional) 

Extra chilli - sliced (optional) 

A handful of fresh mint, coriander, Thai basil- roughly chopped 

Method 

1. First heat the oil in a large pot and gently fry the 

ginger and shallots at medium to low heat until 

golden brown, then add the garlic and spice mix and 

cook for a minute or two to enhance the flavour of 

the spices. Keep stirring in order to mix spices and 

other ingredients well. Careful not to burn the spices, 

take the pot off the hob if needed. Next add hot 

vegetable stock, lemongrass, star anise and cinnamon 

stick – cover with a lid and simmer at a low heat for 

45 minutes to 1 hour. 

2. Cook the noodles according to the packaging until 

‘al dente’, drain, rinse with cold water and set aside. 

If using dried mushrooms, it’s best to soak them in 

cold water for a few hours. Hot water speeds up the 

process. Adding the soaking water to the broth gives 

it some deeper flavours. 

3. Once the broth is ready, remove the whole spices by 

straining the broth through a sieve, return the clear 

broth to the pot, add tamari-sauce, lemon juice, salt 

and pepper to taste, simmer for another few minutes 

before serving. I like to keep the spices in the soup for 

further infusion, but this is optional. If you leave them 

in, pour the broth into the bowls through a sieve. 

4. In the meantime, prepare the garnish. Wash the 

vegetables. Peel and shred or thinly slice the carrots 

and Jerusalem artichokes (add some lemon juice). 

Slice the spring onions and roughly chop the Cavolo 

nero and then blanch. Roughly chop the herbs. 

For extra freshness it's best to prepare the vegetables a 

few minutes before serving. Serve the piping hot broth 

in a nice deep soup bowl with fresh vegetables, rice 

noodles, garnished with fresh herbs and bean sprouts. 

Add more tamari and chilli to taste. 

Enjoy! 

Diana Warrings is a Health & nutrition content producer, recipe developer & well-being cook. 

28 LOVEEAST 

irmagreen.com

Eating Out 

LoveEast tries out SoBe, the latest food 

residency at Well Street Kitchen. Vegans, 

you may want to look away now... 

Let's face it: supper clubs, pop-ups and restaurant 

residencies have long passed the 'trendy' mark and 

are now firmly a part of our culinary landscape. 

This is no bad thing: it gives up-and-coming chefs 

a chance to get their work known, and it provides 

opportunities for smaller eateries to share the load. 

Collaborations happen, businesses are launched 

and we all get to try out new food experiences. 

The newest kids on the block are SoBe (short 

for South Beach, as in Miami), which recently 

opened in the evenings at Well Street Kitchen. The 

brainchild of self-confessed burger addicts Tom 

and Alex, their 'Miami-inspired burger joint' recently 

launched at London Fields Brewery Taproom to 

rave reviews, and we can certainly see why. 

Four of us went to test drive SoBe in mid February 

and the verdict was a unanimous thumbs up. The 

food was delicious, the burgers and their fixings 

were generous - but also eatable (unlike many that 

are so big you can't get them into your mouth) and 

we thought the branding on the buns was a nice 

touch. We didn't try the vegan option but it must 

be good, judging by what we had. Alex was our 

host and could not have been friendlier or more 

helpful. 

The food 

SoBe has two types of burger on offer, as well as a 

chicken and a vegan dish, regular and sweet potato 

fries, and a slice of key lime pie to top it off. Three 

local beers and three cocktails are also on the menu 

and the price is spot on - there aren't many places 

in London that I can think of where you can get a 

really decent meal plus a drink for £20! 

We love the Well Street Kitchen anyway - who in 

the area doesn't? It's a cosy, friendly oasis, and a 

great place for brunch or a cuppa - so we're really 

happy to see them collaborating with SoBe; a 

definite win-win for everyone. 

SOBE @ WELL STREET KITCHEN 

@sobeburger 

OPENING HOURS 

Wed - Sun 17.30 - 22.30 

Also available on Deliveroo 

COST 

From £20pp for a full meal including a drink 

WELL STREET KITCHEN 

203 Well Street, Hackney, E9 6QU 

0208 533 6275 

info@wellstreetkitchen.com 

wellstreetkitchen 

OPENING HOURS 

Mon - Fri: 8am to 4pm (Kitchen closes at 3pm) 

Sat & Sun: 9.30am to 5pm (Kitchen closes at 4pm) 

LOVEEAST APRIL - MAY 2019 29 

Photos courtesy of and © SoBe

Walk Hackney 

Hackney's Almshouses 

Walk the length of today’s Hackney, from Stamford 

Hill to Shoreditch, and you can find evidence 

of some of the thirty three almshouses once 

established in the area. Founded in what was 

then countryside, they were instigated by wealthy 

individuals, for local poor, or by a City Livery 

Company for its 

elderly members, 

usually in groups 

of 6 to 12 women 

or men. Perhaps, 

because of its 

proximity to 

London, over 

half of these 

almshouses were 

in Shoreditch. 

Not all were 

Christian 

establishments. 

The Pacifico 

Almshouses, 

in south-east 

London Fields, 

were for elderly 

members of the 

Jewish Sephardic 

community. Still to 

be seen in Egerton 

Road, Stamford 

Hill, are the 

buildings of the Emanuel Almshouses, after they 

transferred from Whitechapel. 

These foundations were not just for the English. 

Mossbourne Academy Victoria Park now occupies 

the chateau-esque building which housed 40 male 

and 20 female French Huguenots. In 1688, London’s 

Dutch Church established a house for poor church 

members, towards today’s Liverpool Street station. 

In 1865, the almsfolk moved to Kent. 

As the fields around them transformed to bricks and 

mortar, most of the almshouses closed or moved. 

The buildings of some survive. The Ironmonger’s 

Company sold the Kingsland Road site of Sir Robert 

Geffrye’s foundation of 1712. Its inhabitants having 

moved to Kent, the buildings became a museum. 

The building which housed Robert Aske’s 1689 

foundation, established by the Haberdasher’s 

Company, is still to be seen in Hoxton, now 

apartments. The most recent to close were Bishop 

Wood’s at Clapton Pond, dating from 1669. Their 

sale realised funds to purchase another property 

to provide more 

accommodation. 

Others only 

left their 

names behind. 

Goldsmiths Row, 

south of Broadway 

Market, is named 

after Richard 

Morrell’s 1705 

foundation for 

the Goldsmiths’ 

Company. Retreat 

Place, west of Well 

Street, is named 

not for fleeing 

soldiers but for 

Robinson’s Retreat: 

almshouses 

endowed in 1812 by 

Samuel Robinson 

for twelve widows 

of non-conformist 

ministers. 

Five of Hackney’s almshouses survive. The oldest 

was established in 1666, at the behest of Dr William 

Spurstowe, in Sylvester Path opposite ‘The Old 

Ship’, for six women of ‘good life and conversation.’ 

The foundation has expanded and now occupies 

its fourth successive building, Spurstowe House, in 

Navarino Road. Its doors have opened to men, no 

doubt of good life, if not conversation. 

Photos courtesy of and © Sean Gubbins 

Looking for something to do one weekend? 

Intrigued to find out more about Hackney? 

Look up walkhackney.co.uk and pick a walk 

that takes your fancy. The next four are in this 

edition's What's On section. I look forward to 

welcoming you on one of my walks. 

30 LOVEEAST

Roger Love on Fitness 

14 ways to kick-start your spring fitness drive 

Hackney-based personal trainer Roger Love looks at some simple ways for 

you to start to improve your fitness. 

DO something even if it's not 

perfect. Mood follows action - and 

just getting started by hook or by 

crook is the answer. A few pressups, 

a brisk walk, or a run round the 

block all count. It doesn't have to be 

perfect to be a great start. 

DO a HIIT class at home. Great for 

trimming up and improving cardio 

fitness, a classic High Intensity 

Interval Training format is a Tabata, 

which is 20 seconds of hard work 

followed by 10 seconds of rest for 

eight rounds. Do it with jumping 

jacks, and then, as you feel stronger, 

burpees or mountain climbers. 

SET a goal that is audacious for 

you. If there is not chance of failure, 

it’s not a goal, it’s a check-list to be 

ticked off. 

TRY a class you have never tried 

before, whether indoor cycling, 

ballet-inspired barre, or a martial art. 

The big Hackney studios, such as 

London Fields Fitness Studio, The 

Refinery in Well Street, and Blok in 

Clapton, offer a huge variety. 

CHECK out The Petchy Academy's 

public Sports Club, near Hackney 

Downs. It offers super-affordable 

Zumba, Spin, pilates and much 

more. www.petcheyacademy.org. 

uk/TPA-Sports-Club 

BECOME a runner by using a 

Couch to 5k app or website, which 

starts you off with a mixture of 

running and walking. 

IF you are running already, sign up 

to the RunThrough Easter Victoria 

Park Race - there are 5k, 10k and 

half-marathon options - on Good 

Friday, April 19. www.runthrough. 

co.uk 

IF you are ready for a bigger 

running challenge, sign up for 

the Virgin Sport Hackney halfmarathon, 

which is on Sunday May 

19 and wave to your neighbours as 

you go past. www.letsdothis.com/e/ 

virgin-sport-hackney-20127 

GET walking. It is underestimated as 

a way to improve your fitness. Walk 

with purpose, start with 5k and 

build up to 10k. As well as getting fit, 

you get to see things and go places 

you might not otherwise. 

LOOK for a bigger walking 

challenge run by Ultra Challenge. 

You have probably left it too late to 

join May’s Richmond to Brighton 

walk - which I am doing - but there 

are plenty of other options… and 

there’s always next year. www. 

ultrachallenge.com/ 

BUY an alarm clock and ban your 

phone from the bedroom to help 

you get better sleep. 

PICK a meal - breakfast, lunch or 

dinner - and commit to improve it 

every day. 

MAKE overnight oats in the 

evening for breakfast the next day. 

Put rolled oats in jar, soak them 

in almond milk, and then build up 

layers with fruits, nuts, seeds and 

yoghurt. There are plenty of great 

recipe ideas online. You could 

start by looking at writers such as 

Madeleine Shaw, Joe Wicks, and 

Hackney's own Anna Jones. 

TRY yoga. It is great for joint issues, 

arthritis, repetitive strain injuries, 

back pain, digestion, anxiety and 

depression, as well as flexibility 

and strength. Yoga on the Lane in 

Dalston runs beginners classes five 

times a week and workshops to get 

you started. www.yogaonthelane. 

com/ However, there are plenty of 

other options. One thing we are not 

short of in East London is yoga. 

Roger Love Is a 

personal trainer based 

in Netil House E8. 

rogerlovept.com 

Photos courtesy of and © Roger Love 


What's on 

Record Store 

Day 2019 

Record Store Day 2019 takes 

place on Saturday 13 th April. 

Record Store Day is the one 

day of the year when over 200 

independent record shops all 

across the UK come together to 

celebrate their unique culture. 

Special vinyl releases are made 

exclusively for the day and many 

shops and cities host artist 

performances and events to mark 

the occasion. Thousands more 

shops celebrate the day around 

the globe in what’s become one 

of the biggest annual events on 

the music calendar. 

MORE INFO 

recordstoreday.co.uk/home/ 

LOCAL INDIE RECORD SHOPS 

Lion Coffee & Records 

118 Clapton Road, E5 0QR 

lioncoffeerecords.com 

Tome Recordss 

234 Graham Road,E8 1BP 

tomerecords.co.uk 

Stranger Than Paradise 

Mare Street Market, 117 Mare 

Street, E8 4RT 

strangerthanparadiserecords.com 

Love Vinyl 

5 Pearson Street, E2 8JD 

lovevinyl.london 

Matters Of Vinyl Importance 

163 Hoxton, N1 6PJ 

mattersofvinylimportance.com 

World Of Echo 

128 Columbia Road, E2 7RG 

https://worldofechomusic.com 

Flashback Records 

50 Essex Road, N1 8LR 

and 

131 Bethnal Green Rd, E2 7DG 

flashback.co.uk 

Rough Trade East 

Draywalk, 91 Brick Lane, E1 6QL 

roughtrade.com 

Clerkenwell Music 

27 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QL 

exmouth.london/brill/ 

April 

MON 1 APRIL 

Opera Up Close presents Mary, 

Queen of Scots at The Old Church, 

Stoke Newington Church St., 

N16 9ES, runs thru 13 th April, 

7:30pm, tkts £15 - £35. INFO: 

theoldchurch.org.uk/whats-on/ 

TUES 2 APRIL 

Queer Spaces: London at 

Whitechapel Gallery, 77-82 

Whitechapel High St., E1 7QX, 

runs thru 25 th Aug, FREE. 

INFO: whitechapelgallery.org/ 

exhibitions/queer-spaces-london- 

1980s-today/ 

THURS 4 APRIL 

Private view for Saturn featuring 

Alex Schady & Marc Hulson, 

6.30 - 9pm at Transition Two, 

Two, 110a Lauriston Rd, E9 7HA; 

runs thru 5 th May. INFO: info@ 

transitiongallery.co.uk 

FRI 5 APRIL 

Sounding Bethnal Green - Eastern 

Europe at St John on Bethnal 

Green, E2 9PA 1 st & 3 rd Fridays 

each month, 7-9pm INFO: 

grandunion.org.uk 

SAT 6 APRIL 

Hackney Downs History Walk - A 

Brook and an Island, 11am - 2pm, 

meet: Entrance to Hackney 

Downs Station, E8 1JE, £10 (£8 

conc.) INFO: walkhackney.co.uk/ 

hackney-downs-walk/ 

SUN 7 APRIL 

Absofab Vintage Retro Market 

upstairs at Leytonstone Social 

Club, Harvey Rd E11 3DA from 12- 

5pm; pre-1990s fashion, music, 

homestyling etc. Free. INFO: 

07956 221 710 

Yin yoga to live music every first 

Sunday of the month, 6 - 7pm at 

Sadhana, Dalston Works, Martel 

Place, E8 2FR, open to all levels. 

INFO: sadhana-wellbeing.com 

MON 8 APRIL 

Flesh and Bones: Life Drawing 

at Hackney Attic, upstairs at 

Hackney Picturehouse, 270 

Mare St., London E8 1HE, all 

abilities welcome, £ 15/session, 

all materials provided. INFO: 

picturehouses.com/cinema/ 

Hackney_Picturehouse/film/fleshand-bones-life-drawing-class 

Folk music by Sam Kelly & Ruth 

Notman, 7.30pm at Rich Mix, 35- 

47 Bethnal Green Rd, London E1 

6LA, £14. INFO: richmix.org.uk 

WED 10 APRIL 

Vinyasa Open Yoga, 8 - 9pm at 




Jennings Couch solo with 

Milena, Rosina, Keri & Donavon 

King at Loves Company, 

Imperial Hall, 104-122 City 

Rd, EC1V 2NR. INFO on FB: @ 

Lovescompanylondon 

FRI 12 APRIL 

Afrotech Fest at Rich Mix, 35-47 

Bethnal Green Rd, London E1 6LA, 

runs thru the 14th. INFO: richmix. 

org.uk 

SAT 13 APRIL 

Record Store Day - see sidebar 

TUES 16 APRIL 

Happy Days by Samuel Beckett at 

the Tower Theatre, 6 Northwold 

Rd, Stoke Newington, N16 

7HR, runs thru the 20th. INFO: 

towertheatre.org.uk 

LADA Screens: Katherine 

Araniello, a celebration 7pm at 

Live Art Development Agency, 

The Garrett Centre, 117A 

Mansford St. E2 6LX, FREE but 

need to book. INFO: thisisliveart. 

co.uk/whats-on 

Raising the Roof an all-star 

comedy night in aid of Refugees 

at Home at the Backyard Comedy 

Club, 231 Cambridge Heath 

Rd, Bethnal Green, E2 0EL, 

7.30pm, Tkts £10/£15. INFO: 

backyardcomedyclub.co.uk 

FRI 19 APRIL 

Good Friday 

Widown's Bun Ceremony 3pm 

at The Widow's Son, 75 Devons 

Rd, Mile End, E3 3PJ. INFO: 

widowsson.co.uk 

E15 Jazz Sessions at Stratford 

Circus featuring Robert Mitchell 

Project, Theatre Square, Stratford, 

E15 1BX. INFO: stratford-circus. 

com 

Sounding Bethnal Green - Eastern 

Europe at St John on Bethnal 

Green, E2 9PA 1st & 3rd Fridays 

each month, 7-9pm INFO: 

grandunion.org.uk 

SUN 21 APRIL 

Easter Sunday 

MON 22 APRIL 

Easter Monday & Earth Day 

THURS 25 APRIL 

Fighter at Stratford Circus Arts 

Centre, Theatre Square, London 

E15 1BX, runs thru the 27th, 

INFO: stratford-circus.com 

SAT 27 APRIL 

Heart of Hackney History Walk 

- Where Hackney Began, 11am- 

1.15pm, meet: Hackney Town Hall 

Steps, Mare St., E8 1EA, £10 (£8 

conc.) INFO: walkhackney.co.uk/ 

heart-of-hackney-walk-2/ 

Big Dig Day at Cranbrook 

Community Food Garden, 

Cranbrook Estate, Bethnal Green, 

11am - 3pm. INFO on FB: 

CranbrookCommunityFoodGarden 

Family Jazz Sessions at Stratford 

Circus, Theatre Square, Stratford, 


com 

German electropop band Lali 

Puna, 7.30pm at Rich Mix, 35-47 

Bethnal Green Rd, London E1 6LA, 

£11. INFO: richmix.org.uk 

SAT 30 APRIL 

LADA at 20: As Seen on TV at 

Live Art Development Agency, 

The Garrett Centre, 117A 

Mansford St. E2 6LX, FREE but 

need to book. INFO: thisisliveart. 

co.uk/whats-on 

32 LOVEEAST

What's on 

May 

WED 1 MAY 

Restored Almshouse Tour at the 

Geffrye Museum, 136 Kingsland 

Rd., E2 8EA, check website for 

times and additional dates. INFO: 

geffrye-museum.org.uk/whatson/ 

events-calendar/ 

THURS 2 MAY 

Gainsborough's Girls by Cecil 

Beaton at The Tower Theatre, 

16 Northwold Rd, N16 7HR, 

runs thru 11 th May. INFO: 

towertheatre.org.uk/index.htm 

FRI 3 MAY 

Devised specifically for audiences 

with profound and multiple 

learning disabilities (PMLD), 

The Isle of Brimsker at Stratford 

Circus Arts Centre,Theatre 

Square, Stratford, E15 1BX, runs 

thru the 4 th . INFO: stratfordcircus.com 

SAT 4 MAY 

Queens Yard Summer Festival 

across 20 venues in Hackney 

Wick, music, art, culture etc. INFO 

& TKTS: percolatemusic.co.uk/ 

queensyard/ 

The Assembly Market at 

Abney Hall, Stoke Newington 

Church Street, N16 0AS. INFO: 

theassemblymarket.com 

SUN 5 MAY 

The Assembly Market at 

Abney Hall, Stoke Newington 

Church Street, N16 0AS. INFO: 

theassemblymarket.com 

Queens Yard Summer Festival 

across 20 venues in Hackney 

Wick, music, art, culture etc. INFO 

& TKTS: percolatemusic.co.uk/ 

queensyard/ 

Yin yoga to live music every first 

Sunday of the month, 6 - 7pm at 




MON 6 MAY 

Bank Holiday 

WED 8 MAY 

Craft Week events with the 

Lettering Arts Trust at the Geffrye 

Museum Graveyard Garden, 136 

Kingsland Rd., E2 8EA, runs thru 

12 th May. INFO: geffrye-museum. 

org.uk/whatson/events-calendar/ 

FRI 7 MAY 


Circus featuring Robert Mitchell 

Project, Theatre Square, Stratford, 


com 

SAT 11 MAY 

Haggerston History Walk - Rural 

Shoreditch, meet: Entrance 

to Haggerston Station (East 

London Line), Lee Street, E8 4DY, 

11am-2pm, £10 (£8 conc.) INFO: 

walkhackney.co.uk/haggerstonwalk/ 

Yin Yoga, 4.30 - 5.30pm at 


Place, E8 2FR, Dalston, open to all 

levels. INFO: sadhana-wellbeing. 

com 

Cute Owl Festival, 7:30 - 11pm 

at The Old Church, Stoke 

Newington Church St., N16 9ES, 

Early Bird £5, Gen Adm £7. INFO: 

theoldchurch.org.uk/whats-on/ 

MON 13 MAY 

Digital Listening: The Future 

of Music in the Age of Digital 

Fragmentation 6 - 7pm at 

the Museum of London, 150 

London Wall, EC2Y 5HN, FREE. 

INFO: gresham.ac.uk/lecturesand-events/digital-listeningfragmentation 

FRI 17 MAY 


Circus featuring Shirley Smart 

Trio at Stratford Circus, Theatre 

Square, Stratford, E15 1BX. INFO: 

stratford-circus.com 

King Hedley II at Theatre Royal 

Stratford East, Gerry Raffles 

Square, Stratford, E15 1BN, runs 

thru 15 th June, tkts from £10. 

INFO: stratfordeast.com/whatson/all-shows/king-hedley-ii 

Sunday 19 May 2019 

Midcentury East furniture 

& interiors 10am – 4pm at 

Goldfinger's Haggerston School, 

Weymouth Terrace, E2 8LS, £10 

on the day £9 online advance. 

INFO: modernshows.com/shows/ 

WED 22 MAY 

A Thousand Splendid Suns at 

Hackney Empire, 291 Mare St., E8 

1EJ, runs thru 25 th May. INFO: 

hackneyempire.co.uk 

FRI 24 MAY 

All Points East Festival at Victoria 

Park, Victoria Park Rd, E9 7BT, 

runs thru 2 nd June. INFO: 

allpointseastfestival.com/#home 

SAT 25 MAY 

Upper Clapton History Walk - 

Hackney’s Riviera, meet: Abney 

Park Cemetery Gates, Stoke 

Newington High St, (bottom of 

Stamford Hill), N16 0LH, 11am- 

1.30pm, £10 (£8 conc.) INFO: 

walkhackney.co.uk/upper-claptonwalk-2/ 

SUN 26 MAY 

Monthly opening of Hackney's 

oldest building,St Augustine's 

Tower, behind 354 Mare 

Street, E8 1HR, 2pm, FREE. 

INFO: hhbt.org.uk and FB: @ 

StAugustinesTower 

MON 27 MAY 

Bank Holiday 

FRI 31 MAY 

London History Day 

Hackney Town Hall & Vaults Tour, 

5 - 6:30pm, Hackney Town Hall, 

Mare St., E8 1EA, FREE. INFO: 

eventbrite.co.uk/e/hackneytown-hall-tour-and-vaults-londonhistory-day-tickets-54850990790 

Writers' 

Workshops 

Newham Writers Workshop 

Review the work of fellow 

writers in a supportive workshop 

setting. Discuss your work, help 

to review the work of others, 

or just listen to what’s going 

on. Drop in sessions on the 2 nd 

Monday of every month. Open to 

all levels of writing. 

WHERE 

Stratford Advice Arcade 

107-109 The Grove 

Stratford E15 1HP 

WHEN 

Thursdays 7 - 9pm 

Drop ins: 2 nd Monday of the 

month, 2 - 4pm 

MEMBERSHIP 

Full: £35/year 

Assoc: £10/year 

MORE INFO: 

newhamwriters.wordpress.com 

The Hackney Writers' Group 

A free writers group that 

meets monthly in Dalston. 

For meetings, people bring 

a piece that they have been 

working on for others to give 

comment. They intermingle their 

own free work, with (if they 

feel so inclined) assignments or 

themes that they set. There is 

no obligation to read anything 

at a meeting, and you can just 

come along and listen, comment 

or have a chat about writing. Oh, 

and buy a drink or two to keep 

the pub happy. Open to all levels 

of writing. 

WHERE 

Upstairs at The Talbot 

109 Mortimer Road 

Dalston, N1 4JY 

WHEN 

First Thursday of the month 

7:00 - 9.:30pm 

MORE INFO 

Facebook: 

groups/791267780886644/ 


LoveEast is delighted to announce that we have 

formed a media partnership with ELR - We've 

got lots of plans in the works so stay tuned! 

ELR is your local, online radio station, run entirely by 

volunteers from the East London community covering 

eight boroughs and with a reach of up to three million 

listeners. 

www.eastlondonradio.org.uk 

Listen TO ELR on mixcloud: mixcloud.com/EastLondonRadio/ 

Follow ELR on twitter: @EastLondonRadio 

Like ELR on Facebook: @ELondonRadio 

Are you passionate about football? 

Do you have a desire to inspire children to love and develop their game? 

Do you want to build on and increase your coaching skills? 

The Atoms FC are recruiting Level 1 Coaches! 

We will also consider and support the right candidate in achieving 

their Level 1 badge. 

We are a grassroots development club based in Canning Town. Our core sessions run 

on Saturdays 10.30 - 12.30 at Hermit Road Park, along with occasional friendlies and 

tournaments. 

To apply please contact Eustace Bellevue on 07950 321 296 or ebelno1@yahoo.co.uk. 

www.theatomsfc.teamapp.com 

34 LOVEEAST

Hackney 

personal 

trainer 

Friendly & 

experienced 

Free trial session 

www.rogerlovept.com 

From butchers to bakers, galleries 

to garages, manufacturers to 

manicurists and coders to cafes, 

The East End Trades Guild is 

campaigning to make affordable 

working rents and rates a reality 

for all of east London’s diverse 

independent businesses. 

Find out more about our campaign 

and how you can join: 

eastendtradesguild.org.uk/ 

Your safety is 

our concern 

Specialising in alarms, CCTV, concertina grilles 

and safes, we are the most comprehensive 

lock-based service available 

Empire Security, 8-20 Well Street, E9 7PX 

020 8986 7921 


Halo Floors is a well-established flooring business based in 

East London. We supply, install and renovate wood floors. 

Specialists in restoring engineered floors. 

FREE QUOTES 

SAMPLE SERVICE 

SANDING 

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ALL WOOD FLOORS SUPPLIED 

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT 

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FOR ENQUIRIES OR A FREE QUOTATION CALL 

m:07957 580993 t:020 7503 1965 e:bobowen@halofloors.co.uk 

halo_floors 

halofloors

LoveEast.49

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