Neighbourhood news, features, and comment
While most hot food businesses have shut up shop due to the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown others are adapting and delivering a new service. One such business is Passyunk Avenue on Cleveland Street -- a Philadelphia-themed food, cheese steak, and dive bar named after a thoroughfare running diagonally through the dense network of downtown …
By Stephen Heath For those struggling for a glimmer of cheer in these grim times, I do recommend a brisk walk (or two) up to Shaheen Peerbhai's Miel Bakery on Warren Street. Unlike its now boarded up neighbour, our other favourite foodie haunt, the iconic Honey & Spice, it is still open and offering a limited …
Continue reading "Mouth-wateringly good, baked comfort food to take away on Warren Street"
A talk on Ottoman cuisine and an exhibition of photographs are on offer this month at the Turkish cultural centre in Maple Street. Priscilla Mary Işın, author of “Bountiful Empire: A History of Ottoman Cuisine”, will talk about the culinary culture of the Ottoman Empire as it changed and evolved over many centuries. Accompanying the …
Continue reading "History of Ottoman cuisine and photographic exhibition at Turkish cultural centre"
Rebecca Carrigan runs the BlueberryBlue catering and event company from Fitzrovia. Rebecca’s previous job was a film production manager, in the office that produced commercials, TV shows, feature films and the well known Comic Strip series from the 1980s to 1990s. After her daughter was born in 2008 Rebecca wanted a career that did not …
Continue reading "From ‘Take One!’ to bake one, Rebecca takes the biscuit"
The Mexican street-food chain Wahaca has temporarily closed both of its Fitzrovia restaurants following reports of a norovirus outbreak that has hit many of its outlets across London. The London Evening Standard reported that restaurants in Covent Garden, Oxford Circus, Soho, Canary Wharf and Westfield Shepherd’s Bush, are shut due to what are described as …
Continue reading "Wahaca shuts both its Fitzrovia restaurants after suspected norovirus outbreak"
A cafe owner who has fed customers in Fitzrovia for more than 30 years sold her last lunch on Friday 24 June and shut up shop for the last time. Slava, who took over the Cafe Rive Gauche in Warren Street 31 years ago, spoke with fondness about her time in the neighbourhood. "It's been a fantastic …
If you walk round Hanway Street at the moment, the medieval street is like a war zone. It’s difficult to pick your way around builders noise and disruption, writes Pete Whyatt. On this once quiet side street there is a treasure that you could easily walk past if you were not aware of its existence. …
Continue reading "Seasonal cuisine and a rare family welcome in London’s old Latin quarter"
Two out of the six Michelin starred restaurants in Fitzrovia failed to impress food hygiene inspectors who carried out checks in August and September this year and asked the proprietors to take immediate action to comply with legal requirements. Ollie Dabbous' self-named restaurant, which has been praised for its cuisine by the Evening Standard's Fay Maschler …
Continue reading "Michelin starred restaurants contravene food safety and hygiene regulations"
Just opened today in Fitzrovia is a new cafe serving reasonably-priced food with a Portuguese influence. Jaoquim Ramos previously ran a cafe in Tottenham Court Road but has now taken over the Bay Leaf Cafe around the corner in Tottenham Street. "I came to London when I was 18 and worked in a variety of places, …
Continue reading "A flavour of Portugal comes to Tottenham Street"
Seven days of food and booze events centred on Charlotte Street is to be served up beginning Monday 29 June, organised by The Fitzrovia Partnership Business Improvement District. This is the second year running the Fitzrovia BID is holding an event under the banner of "Feast@Fitzrovia" in its attempt to re-brand the neighbourhood as "London's Food & Drink Quarter". Last year's effort …
Continue reading "A week of gluttony beckons in the streets of Fitzrovia"
The Newman Arms, on the corner of Rathbone Street and Newman Passage, has a fascinating history, and it is just entering a new and exciting chapter. It became a pub in 1860 after previous stints as a candle-makers, an ironmongers, a picture-framers and a brothel. In recent years an image of an old-fashioned prostitute was …
Continue reading "A taste of Cornwall comes to famous Rathbone Street pub"
Just recently popped-up and will move on to bigger premises in a few months, Ceru is a eastern Mediterranean streetfood restaurant serving seasonal dishes and a variety of drinks. In a small and intimate space on a street corner it offers a short menu of meat, fish, seafood and vegetarian plates. We turned up unannounced on Monday evening in search …
Continue reading "A small taste of the Levant on Rathbone Place"
Newly opened on Goodge Street is Fraq's Lobster Shack which offers a Maine-inspired seafood experience with a touch of Brooklyn style. The restaurant opened this week at a location where a number of eateries have come and gone over the last few years in Fitzrovia's crowded food market. The name Fraq comes from the Fraquelli family who are also connected with Metropolitan …
When Herman Ze German's hoarding first went up in Charlotte Street I was impatient for them to hurry up and open. I love the Old Compton Street branch -- much used by local Soho workers and revellers for their speedy, no-nonsense, reasonably-priced offerings of German sausage, schnitzel, chips and beer. If we have to have …
Continue reading "A proper German comes home to Charlottenstrasse"
Fitzrovia News will be taking a well-earned break for a few weeks, so you'll have to amuse yourselves. But we don't want to leave you totally helpless, so we've cobbled together some happenings for you to enjoy. Saturday 28 June: 10am to 5pm. Fitzrovia Festival. Exhibition, browse and buy bookstall, guided walk, information about the …
Continue reading "Summer 2014 events in and around Fitzrovia"
On Wednesday evening beneath the well-trodden pavement of Oxford Street the sounds of guitar and saxophone will be filling the void hidden from the day's shoppers. Guitarist Jim Mullen and saxophonist Sean Khan will be serving a up a heady cocktail of jazz funk and DJ Eon Irving will be keeping the dancefloor filled. Called the Phoenix …
The prestigious Michelin guide to restaurants and hotels has continued to recognise Fitzrovia restaurants and has also awarded new eateries. In its 2014 edition published this month nine Fitzrovia establishments are listed. However, food and restaurants arouse passions in the neighbourhood in many ways. Three restaurants -- Dabbous in Whitfield Street, Pied à Terre in …
Long-established Fitzrovia cafe Double J's has this week re-opened for business on the Euston Road. Having closed the shop on Charlotte Street at the end of last year it's been a long wait for the regular customers to again sit down for one of their famous breakfasts. But this time things are different says owner …
Food in history: forthcoming event at the IHR, University of London (11-13 July 2013) By Sara Pennell In 1660, the cook Robert May published recipes for one of the modish dishes of the day: the grand ‘sallet’ or salad. The Stuart ‘sallet’ was a spectacle, with its carefully arrayed mixture of fresh and preserved elements, and imported commodities (anchovies, ‘Virginia Potato’, almonds) alongside …
Continue reading "Academic appetite for an historical analysis of food"
By Ann Goodburn Fitzrovia News editors and contributors have been enjoying this newly opened Afghan restaurant in Goodge Street. We received a warm and friendly welcome and lovely service. I loved the Karachi Lamb: baby lamb on the bone cooked with tomato, garlic and green chili herb -- melts in the mouth. The nan bread is soft …
