Fluro Food

Saw these eye popping popadams being cooked in the market yesterday. As each little pink disk was dropped into bubbling fat it would burst into these lurid crispy snacks.

Wild in the West - Outsider Tart

West London. The very words strike fear into the heart of us East Londoners. Talk to anyone in our neck of the woods, and the same words come into play. 'Yummy Mummies', 'Yuppies','Sloanes''...It's a world away from the fiercely individualistic, artsy crowd that reside in the east of the city.

But is this reputation well earned? Or are we all just a bunch of inverted snobs? In an attempt to broaden our horizons , we decided that we would take a trip into the heart of the beast. Yes - without prejudice, we would discover the joys of Chiswick.

At first, things didn't look good. It seemed like the residents of Chiswick like nothing more than to sit in their Fired Earth tiled kitchens, sipping tea from Emma Bridgewater mugs, while deciding which Farrow and Ball colour they should paint the nursery for little Chloe. So far, so conventional.

But then, just as we were about to accept that there was nothing more interesting to see than a Cath Kidston apron; like manna from heaven, we came across 'Outsider Tart'.

Outsider is right. There's nothing typical at all about this bakery.

Run by David and David, two expat New Yorkers, Outsider Tart is the fusion of highly delicious baked goods and highly unusual naive art. If you've ever fancied eating a muffin while admiring a family of 4 foot tall bunnies (constructed completely out of bottle tops) - here's the place.

Plenty of museums and galleries serve tea and cakes - but this is the first tearoom we've been to that actually is a gallery. Hobo art sits next to brownies, automatic drawings compliment the carrot cake. It's a thoroughly quirky and individual experience.

Chiswick may not be brimming with crazy characters and creative flourishes, but places like Outsider Tart make the west a little bit wilder - and long may outsiders like these thrive.

Dutch Design Week : Goodpoint Jam

Hilbert Tjalkens and Vera Teunen created a pixalised wall image of an open mouth shouting 'think what you eat'



As you approach the wall, it becomes clear that this is a shelf and it is filled with 1500 jars of home made jam, compote and soup. Each Jars contents are a delicate shade of peach,orange, yellow, brown or cream and carefully placed to build up this picture. The pairs objective with this wall is to create a starting point for a discussion about what we eat. Each jar is sold with instructions to preserve your own food, so th jar can be used again.

To buy your jar or a piece of the wall itself

Pop Up Noodles

Things seem to be popping up more and more nowadays, don't they? we've only just got used to the concept of the 'pop up shop' and now it seems that 'pop up restaurants' are all the rage.

We're looking forward to the day that someone actually designs a restaurant where all the tables and chairs fold away and the rest of the fittings are telescopic, taking the 'pop up' concept to its logical conclusion.

Even though that hasn't happened yet, one of the most interesting things about pop ups is that the temporary nature of the structures can bring out some very inspiring design solutions.

Take 'noodles' on Dean Street for example. It isn't quite open yet, and is only sticking around for a couple of months, but design wise it definitely looks promising, in a 'chic wood shed' sort of way.

We love the light bulb installation and the use of wooden typography is particularly intriguing. Let's hope that when it becomes a permanent space, as a branch of Rosa's Cafe, it retains some of its current DIY charm.

'noodles' will be opening soon at 48 Dean St, W1, until Christmas

If...

If Edward Hopper was alive today, and lived in Stepney (I know it's a stretch, but just work with me here). Would 'Nighthawks' have been painted in a place like this?

The Cavell Cafe - London E1

The Nordic Bakery - Do The 'Continental'

Whenever I hop across the channel and visit our friends on The Continent, I'm always struck by one thing. Whether it's Amsterdam or Antwerp, Berlin or Barcelona - there never seems to be a shortage of charming, stylish cafés to enjoy. Sophisticated little spaces that allow you to sip a coffee, relax with a newspaper and watch the world go by.

Then I come back to London.

I'm not exactly sure why it's so hard to find a pleasant place for a coffee in Central London. Is it because the rents are so high that independent coffee shops cannot survive? Is it the power of the Starbucks/Costa/Nero mafia that suffocates smaller businesses? Or is it the fact that English social life is so centred on pub culture that coffee shops can't compete? Whatever the reason, finding a civilised spot for a decent cuppa is a tall order in the West End.

Which is why The Nordic Bakery is such a great discovery. The moment that you enter the space in Soho's Golden Square you are immediately struck by something quite delicious.

It's not the excellent design of the café, with its beautiful contrast of dark blue walls and scandinavian inspired woodwork. It's not the fact that instead of a soundtrack of 'lite' tunes, all you can hear is the pleasant hum of polite conversation taking place. It's not the simple and effective graphic design or the delicious looking products on display.

It's the smell. Every day, The Nordic Bakery makes batches of the most scrumptious (and sweet smelling) cinnamon buns. The whole space is filled with the scent of baking and sugar and cinnamon. It's perfectly gorgeous, and mouth-watering.

With its calm atmosphere, beautiful design and all-round deliciousness, The Nordic Bakery is a perfect place to  escape the madness of Soho and enjoy a little continental café style.

Nordic Bakery - 14 Golden Square, London, W1

Saloni Di Mobile - Richard Ginori

This will be the last of my 'Milano' posts but it's worth the wait! It was my most enjoyable event at the fair and a lot of other people felt the same way ! I've borrowed the description from the cool hunting blog as I couldn't have put it better my self.

The esteemed porcelain manufacturer Richard Ginori, an Italian company with roots dating back to 1735, mounted the most remarkable and talked about installation in the Zona Tortona this year. Conceived by the MIlanese designer Paola Navone, she set the awe-inspiring installation within the Tortona's loftiest warehouse space, a massive volume bathed in resplendent natural light by the soaring skylights overhead.

The sweeping installation, which marries life-size images of the Ginori factory with meticulously-styled vignettes, manages to convey a deep reverence for the company without coming across conceited. At the far end of the warehouse space, Otto design, the team responsible for set up, installed a towering mosaic of hand-painted Ginori plates that suggests a cathedral's stained glass windows.

The final stroke of genius was transforming the latter half of the warehouse space into an ad-hoc cafe. The frenzy of the Tortona district faded away as we lingered amongst a grouping of lacquered dining tables (each with its own monumental Ginori centerpiece) to nibble on some biscuits, cheese and prosciutto—if this is the Ginori lifestyle, we're ready to live it.

Barn in the USA

I always admire people with a strong personal aesthetic. Whether someone loves 60's mod style or classical simplicity - if they truly get it right, it's always a pleasure to behold.

Of all my friends, I think that Christopher Griffith has the most all-encompassing visual point of view. As a photographer he has a very specific 'eye' - his work pares down everything he shoots to the most powerful graphic, textural shapes - almost to a point of abstraction. This sensibility can be seen in every part of his life. He dresses almost exclusively in black, white and grey. He decorates his home in monochromatic tones, using simple punchy shapes and surface texture to add interest. Everything he surrounds himself with looks like something out of a signature "Christopher Griffith" photograph.

Tempering the hard edges of Christopher's style is his girlfriend's equally refined vision. Rebecca O'Donnell is an amazingly talented art director, whose taste is similarly minimal - but whose love of modernism and simplicity helps to 'warm up' their shared spaces and add a slightly softer, more human touch. She's also a fabulous cook, who manages to even make her food look as beautiful as it tastes (that's the mark of a true art director, isn't it? When even the pies look like something out of a photoshoot)

So, when I was invited to visit their newly built barn in Upstate New York - I pretty much knew what to expect. Graphic lines, beautiful furniture, great food - blah blah blah. Even so, I was extremely impressed.

The space itself is incredible, with insanely high ceilings and the largest living room I think I've ever seen. The vertical and horizontal lines of the exposed beams serve to emphasise the scale of the place, and add the prerequisite graphic touch. Decoration is minimal, but specific - filled with pieces that manage to be both rugged and romantic at the same time.

Most importantly, the way that the barn utilises the natural light is extraordinary. The living rooms four huge windows allow the light to flood in from dawn to dusk, while every corner of the space is softly lit by additional windows. And the light that they benefit from is breathtaking. As you can see from this post's opening picture, the evening light is positively cinematic in its beauty.

As a demonstration of Christopher and Bec's particular aesthetics - the barn is a triumph. A brilliantly realised statement about who they are and what they find beautiful. One of the most inspiring spaces I've been into in many years.

See what I mean about the light? Crazy!

Roebling Tea Room and the Brooklyn Hipster Aesthetic

For the next few weeks, The Curious Eye becomes The Wandering Eye. One of us is in India and the other is in New York – which should provide some extreme cultural contrasts. We're looking forward to everything from ethnic simplicity to urbane sophistication, with lots of strange and wonderful sights in between.

So, our first stop in New York City is Roebling Tea Room in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Williamsburg has a very particular style of its own - it's notorious as being the home of the hipster massive in NYC. An area filled with precocious, media-savvy twentysomethings who spend their disposable wealth on tattoos, vintage clothing, and hi-tech gear. For these kids, it's all about being cool, riding the earliest waves of trends and dropping anything that becomes too mainstream.

Never get into a conversation about music with a Williamsburg hipster. You may think that you're cutting edge with your Santogold and Vampire Weekend references, but trust me, however much Nu Folk you have on your ipod, they wil look at you as if you’re the uncool uncle at a New Jersey wedding. They will then give you a speech about how they’re really into Cymbals Eat Guitars and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (yes – these are real bands). My advice is to call their bluff and ask them what they think about the underrated genius of Serge Gainsbourg (or Laura Nyro, or John Barry). That’ll shut ‘em up.

However, fun as it is to pour scorn on the hipsters, there's no denying that they have style. And it's a very particular look that has sprung up here. A combination of industrial modernism, rugged Americana and quirky vintage. Nowhere exemplifies the Williamsburg look better than Roebling Tea Room.

This is the formula: Take an old industrial building and clean it up. Remove any actual dirt, but retain distressed details to give plenty of character,Use additional industrial design, (tiling, light fittings) to emphasise the origins of the space.

 

Add offbeat vintage finds  - ideally ones that reference huntin' or fishin' (most W-burg joints have some form of taxidermy adding ambiance – here, we have a slightly elevated use of a hunting motif).

Finally, provide a menu of fashionable food combinations, preferably a riff on traditional American comfort food – so, if life hands you lemons, make ginger mint lemonade.

The look may be formulaic – but that doesn’t stop it from being entirely pleasing. Roebling Tea Room is highly recommended as a perfect introduction to the Brooklyn hipster aesthetic. 

Roebling Tea Room, 143 Roebling St, Brooklyn 11211

Spring Is Just Around The Corner...

So, until the daffodils actually blossom, we're going to be enjoying the amazing colour combinations found in these Easter eggs from Fortnum & Mason. The intense pastels on a rich dark brown are quite delicious.

Sunday Breakfast II - Eggs With Sage At Leila's

I'm ashamed to admit that I've only just discovered 'Leila's Shop' in Shoreditch. Considering it's been open for six years, I'm not quite sure how I missed it - because it is a very nice spot indeed. An excellent place for a bite after a Sunday morning jaunt to Brick Lane. 

There's a very personal sense to the shop - you get the feeling that every decision has been made by someone who values quality and simplicity above all, and the level of the produce is exceptional.  It's hard to leave without making a spontaneous artichoke purchase.

Leila opened it as a part of her catering business. Before too long, she installed a coffee machine, and a few tables. Then she started to serve some simple dishes. Now she's planning to expand into the next door premises and make the present space a larger café - excitingly the new shop will be a 'cold room' - a fully refrigerated space. I hope she provides hats and scarfs for her customers - I'm thinking a few bits of hand-knit Aran would set off the aesthetic nicely.

Speaking of which - the space is very pleasing to the eye. Ercol Chairs, simple wooden tables, and an open kitchen full of very nice vintage pots and pans. It's spartan, but not cold - and very photogenic.

Leila's Shop, 17 Calvert Avenue, London E2 7JP

Sunday Breakfast

Scrambled Eggs

Home-Made Sunflower Bread

Vintage French Plate

January Sun