by | July 31, 2012

Tramshed: a load of cock-and-bull

I like to believe that if I wasn’t married-with-smalls but instead simply dating Him and working 9-5, we would live on Rivington Street, Shoreditch.  We’d have a desperately cool little studio flat, a short commute to our start-up jobs and spend Saturday afternoons drinking cocktails at LoungeLover and checking out new stock at Start London.

But seeing as none of the above is reality, He and I needed to journey to Shoreditch on Saturday night to meet friends at Mark Hix’s seventh and newest restaurant venture, Tramshed. Choosing our dinner guests had been solely based around a love of meat as, if you haven’t yet heard, this joint (excuse the pun) is simple in its offering:  chicken and steak.  No silly sauces, no foreign-sounding spices and certainly no patronising vegetarian option.  We were there for business, serious meat-eating business.

Hix’s Tramshed with Hirst’s centre piece

And already I feel like I’m making Tramshed sound like a characterless concept restaurant.  And it truly isn’t.  As you enter this Grade II-listed warehouse-like building, you are struck by its stunning cool and rather handsome interior.  Designed by British architect Vincent Harris and built in 1905 to generate electricity for trams, it immediately feels like a real destination.  And then you notice (you actually can’t miss) the amazing piece of Brit Art by Hix’s chum, Damian Hirst.  Entitled ‘Cock and Bull’, it is a vitrine of a cow with a chicken on its back and is showcased in the centre of the restaurant.

I am a big fan of little choice.  Pouring over a menu, I find, just causes confusion and it’s always more fun to get on with catching up over a glass of something.  There are three starters and at £8 per head, you get the lot.  Oversized Yorkshire puddings with whipped chicken livers, smoked salmon with fennel and an odd-looking Armenian salad.  A little spoilt by my mother’s moist versions perfected over the years for my Northern father, I found these Yorkshire puds to be a little dry.  But our waitress revealed that they were cooked in batches of 60, so that explains that. Everything else was delicious but I was simply impatient for the main event.

roast Woolley Park Farm free-range chicken, claws intact

Our team decision to order both the Roast Woolley Park Farm free-range chicken (£25 2-3 to share) and a 500g Glenarm sirloin steak (£40) was a great one.  We feasted.  The chips were cooked in chicken fat.  How good do you reckon they tasted?  All of the meat was extraordinarily good.

Desert was totally unnecessary.  However, we ordered the chocolate fondue, with cherries and marshmallows (£5.75). I think we might have felt more deserving of it had we been either cold or hungry. But I do have to admit it was pretty delicious too.

As we walked back to the car, girlfriend and I were accosted by a 20-something in a toga.  Would we like to come to a toga party on the next corner?  Dating, childless me would have been there in a shot.  Real me motored home, full and happy.

 

Tramshed 32 Rivington Street EC2 020 7749 0478

(meal for 2 with drinks & service – around £80)

 

 

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by | July 30, 2012

my sound trip @lushkingsroad

stressful juggling

So many of us are now officially addicted to the internet. According to a study I read early this year, the brain of an internet addict looks like that of an alcoholic or drug addict.  Apparently, an incoming email or text gives us the equivalent of a ‘fix’.  It’s pretty terrifying and, of course, utterly draining so … when I was offered The Lush Sound Bath which was promising to take me to a deeply peaceful, meditative state of relaxation, I didn’t put up too much of a fight.

I think I was also feeling slightly overwhelmed by a non-balanced work/life seesaw and it was the mental clarity on offer which really appealed to me.  Often it is hard to see the wood from the trees and focus on a job-in-hand when we are constantly multi-tasking and rushing around like headless chickens.

So today I walked into the Lush shop on the King’s Road, only to be greeted by that over-powering Lush signature smell.  I felt a little concerned that not only would I never achieve a sense of calm but actually I might leave with even worse head-spin.

cosy kitchen at Lush Spa

However, I should not have been concerned. Elvira, my therapist, was calmness personified and led me downstairs to a cosy, rustic farmhouse kitchen, beneath the shop.  Before we began the treatment, she handed me a curious ‘present’ of a wooden box.  Inside, amid the dry ice, was an Alice in Wonderland vial of liquid labeled ‘drink me’ and a magic mushroom made of raw cacao and coconut.  Elvira explained that these would enable me to listen better and would guide me to my meditative state.

Alice in Wonderland-esque magic mushroom and vial

Lying down fully clothed, my sound trip began.  I forgot about the slight hangover I have from the Hippodrome the night before, my work deadlines and the race against time I would be up against to pick up the Smalls once this is all over.  And I drift.  I am vaguely aware of the hot and cold stone facial massage (to relax my muscles),  tuning forks (to clear my mind), the burning of ear candles (to stimulate  circulation and kick-start my body’s cleansing) and an intensive head massage. In the background I can hear hypnotic folk music combined with bird singing and Tibetan singing bowls.  The whole experience is bonkers but wonderfully so.

Six hours later and I most definitely feel calm and cleansed.  Infinitely more relaxing than massage or facial I have ever had, this regressive experience has rendered me focused and balanced.  And now my aim is to check my email less often.

The Lush Spa Sound Bath  1 hr £65

 

 

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by | July 28, 2012

Day One: Olympics 2012 kicks off with a splash

En famille, we set off bright and early for Stratford.  The Jubliee Line was buzzing with flags, tickets and iphones at the ready. A beaming London, still reeling from the surreal yet truly wonderful Danny Boyle extravaganza last night, was full of anticipation for Day One of Olympics 2012.

Michael Phelps (PA)

We saw Michael Phelps only just scrape through the 400 metres individual medley (Joe Roebuck unfortunately didn’t make it).

Scottish Hannah Miley won her heat of the women’s equivalent race to progress through to tonight’s final.

And the Queen herself even made a fleeting appearance to the rather warm Aquatic Centre.

Hannah Miley (Reuters)

And, after a quick lunch at Wahaca, we dipped into Stratford’s Westfield before taking the new Javelin back home.  Yes, Britain’s most technologically-advanced train costing £258million with a top speed of 140mph transported us back to Kings Cross St Pancras in just 6 minutes.

Now, who isn’t proud to be a Londoner?

 

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by | July 26, 2012

The Hippodrome Casino: the Ex opens the door that never shuts

It was the London-loving girl in me making me giddy with excitement last night.  After 30 months of rebuild and a mere £40m renovation, I was to visit the recently reopened 112- year-old Hippodrome in Leicester Square.   It’s hard to believe that so much talent, from Charlie Chaplin and Judy Garland to Stevie Wonder, has performed in this impressive London landmark over the last century.

 

The renovated Hippodrome Casino

As is often the case with early-door access, it is not what you know but who you know that opens doors.  And the entrance to this five floor mecca, which will host London’s first casino, cabaret, dining and drinking establishment, has been opened for me by the Ex.  Having cut his teeth on The Chicago Rib Shack, Tiger Tiger and Salsa!, the Ex is now a rather important Director of European Operations for The ONE Group, the team responsible for all the hospitality at the Hippodrome.   With limited pleading and begging (never a good move with an ex), He and I were joined by our Never-aging Northerners for an evening of food and flutter.

 

having a flutter after our food

It is hard to believe that when this grade II listed building first opened in 1900, you would find polar bears and sea lions swimming in a 100,000 gallon tank as part of a circus act.  The main casino now sits in this atrium and, 24 hours a day, anyone (over the age of 21) can walk in off the street to gamble.

 

We ate at the Heliot Restaurant which, complete with Tom Dixon lighting in its rather swish lounge and bar, I am sure will attract the glamorous set.  Inspired by a famous lion tamer, Claire Heliot, who regularly performed at the venue in the early 19th Century, the restaurant is on the first floor and so gives diners a great view of the spinning roulettes below.    Reaching for the cocktail menu, I read that the Hippodrome pays serious homage to the quintessentially British G&T, so I felt compelled to try Jimmy’s London Thing (Tanqueray, elderflower cordial with cranberry juice & soda £8.50) and almost didn’t need another.

 

As the menu at Heliot is extensive, we were keen to try as many of the dishes as possible. To start, we dipped into vine tomato gazpacho (£8), tuna tataki with Asian apple and herb salad (£8.50) and the chilli salt squid (£8.80).  The soup was unfortunately mid-defrost but the tuna and squid were both delicious.  I opted for the herb salted roast chicken with sage and apricot stuffing (£32 to share) for my main course.  It wasn’t dreadful but it certainly was not overwhelming either.  However, the sides dishes, sautéed spinach and cauliflower gratin (both £4), were absolutely delicious.  And when we asked our waiter to surprise us for desert, there was little Summer Pudding and Clotted Cream (£6.50) and Chocolate Mousse and Brownie (£7.50) left on our clean plates.

 

tuna tataki at the Heliot Restaurant

To walk off our dinner, the very helpful PR took us on a tour of the 90,000 sq ft playground for grown-ups.  Complete with its 180-seat Matcham Room theatre, cigar terrace, five bars, restaurant, private dinning rooms and three floors of gaming, it is fair to say that the Hippodrome is mind-blowingly impressive.  The food isn’t quite spot on yet (but it’s early days) and I have mixed views on such accessible gambling, but I’m pretty sure this time the iconic entertainment destination will come out on top.

 

Hippodrome, Leicester Square WC2  020 7769 8844

 

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