Food and culture

Saturday's adventures took me to North London. We started on Exmouth Market, a small stretch of pedestrianised street in Clerkenwell which has a selection of wonderful food options as well as a few little gifts shops. Many of the shops have interesting names such as the bag shop called Bagman and Robin, or the barber shop called Barber Streisand. After a little forage in some of the shops (one of my favourites is the stationery shop called Marby and Elm), we headed to Shawarma for a slap up lunch.

They specialise in Middle Eastern cuisine and slow-cooked rotisserie meats and we opted for the lunch tasting menu which included the perfect combination of hummus and babaganoush to start (served with warm challah bread in a brown paper bag), followed by hearty pitas filled with our choice of meat and veg and accompanied by a scrumptious dish of fried potatoes with whipped feta. It all tasted so fresh and was beautifully presented.

The restaurant fits into a tiny space with a bar and open kitchen at the front - at first you don't even realise there is a whole back room, stuffed full of diners - and has been decorated with a  nod to the Middle East, with rugs on the wall, mixed with copper piping lamp fixings and a collection of old school chairs to sit on. Even the bathroom is inspired by the Middle East with pretty tiling and fretwork light fixtures along with the copper piping and sink fixtures.

After a very filling meal, we trotted up the road to Sadler's Wells to see a stunning performance by Acosta Danza, the Havana-based dance company founded by Carlos Acosta. The performance lasted for over two hours and showed a selection of pieces that ranged from Swedish-influenced youngsters dancing in a golden field of corn to the sensual movement of two fauns in a forest and then on to dance inspired by the music of the Rolling Stones. The dancers move effortlessly from street moves, to contemporary to ballet and it was a joy to watch.

The Acosta Danza will be touring the country in the new year.

Sunny Sunday

Last Sunday was a beautifully sunny late February day and the perfect day to head over to North London  for a spot of lunch followed by a trip to the fabulous Sadler's Wells theatre. We headed to Exmouth Market for a mooch around and a bite to eat and decided to head to Panzo for hearty Italian food.

It was almost warm enough to sit in the pretty garden out the back, but we decided to sit inside, surrounded by the abundance of indoor plants and under the sunny skylight.

We were brought a lovely appetiser of olives and freshly cooked crispy bread, followed by a hearty lasagne and an eggplant parmigiana.

We then walked the 5 minutes to Sadler's Wells theatre to see a Pina Bausch performance.

Pina is known for her raw and bizarre expressionist contemporary dance and in the decade since her death, her company Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch has only performed the work she created. Now, Norwegian choreographer Alan Lucien Oyen has taken on the challenge to create a new full length piece for the company called 'Bon Voyage, Bob', a meditation on death through suicide, disease and war and the emotions that come through that. Not the most uplifting of subjects, but beautifully presented in dance, text, music and sets, and often even wittily done.

As the audience took their seats, the dancers slowly gathered on stage, limbering up and stretching and chatting as if we were a fly on the wall, watching them limber up backstage before the performance started.

I compared it to a David Lynch film in its surreal quality and I loved the cinematographic quality of the lighting and costumes - women in 1940s tea dresses or silk ballgowns and the ever-changing, rotating set, lit with a sombre lighting.

You can see a small clip of the performance here.

Feeling festive

This time of year can have its ups and downs but I feel like I've made the most of it and done some fun things in and around London this festive season. On Saturday 22nd I met up with my good friend Faye, who I've known since college and we had a lovely time wandering around the South Bank and Covent Garden and taking in the atmosphere.

It was great not having an agenda so close to xmas, and when we felt like a drink we decided to try out a fab little cafe called Boki on Earlham street. It's steps away from Seven Dials which was beautifully lit up for the season and is an independent coffee shop at the front, with a fab little retro-style bar at the back.

We sampled a selection of cocktails in interesting combinations. They offered an array of unique coffee cocktails, but my favourites were the selection of house-infused gins.

I then headed off for a few hours of ceroc dancing at Shepherd Hall, a venue in St Thomas' Hospital that has stunning views over the river and Houses of Parliament.

On Sunday 23rd I headed over to North London with my friend Subashini. First we went to Exmouth Market for an early lunch in Coin Laundry, a laid back neighbourhood bar and restaurant.

After filling our bellies, we had a little wander round the independent shops on Exmouth Market. One of my favourites was a shop called Marby & Elm, a letterpress stationery and design shop where the majority of the products are actually made in the shop.

As a designer and maker myself, it was fab to see a small business working so well and to see the product actually being made in front of us. I loved the sense of humour infused into many of their products too. I bought the card below and am planning to use it as a prop for some of my product photos.

From Exmouth Market we trotted up the road to Sadler's Wells theatre to see Matthew Bourne's iconic Swan Lake production which took our breath away! Such a stunning performance.

To finish the evening off, we stopped off at Skylon on the South Bank to have a cocktail or two whilst looking out over the lights of London. Perfect!

Christmas day was spent with my family at my sister's house and it was a perfect day with lovely presents, scrumptious food and silly games at the end.

Happy New Year to one and all and here's to a wonderful 2019!