Penny Blood's Black Book - My Independent Guide to London » Doing Things

Aubin Cinema

Penny Blood — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:29:19 +0000

This is a really cute little cinema with big comfy chairs, just like how you might have a cinema in your house if you could and the lounge area is very stylish too. Be careful to get there early though as they have rammed in one row too many so the front row will make you go crossed eyed. They don’t have the usual yuck cinema food either, instead you can get honeycomb, wasabi peas and spiced ginger cookies and they have a really good drinks list, I love to take hot chocolate into the cinema.

www.aubincinema.com

Aubin Cinema, 64-66 Redchurch Street, London E2 7DP
0845 604 8486
Monday-Saturday 3pm-12am, Sunday 10am-11pm

Boxpark

Penny Blood — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:46:56 +0000

Boxpark is a pretty weird set up. Having taken over a disused space next to the fairly new Shoreditch station, it’s made up of a series of shipping containers. Pretty ingenious I think. That area used to be nothing and could have been turned into another glass skyscraper. The container units are all painted gloss black and house a whole bunch of shops, cafes and casual restaurants. It all varies considerably, there are a fair number of streetwear brands, alongside a Phaidon book shop, lingerie shop, worlds most hideous shoe shop and lots of different restaurants from Vietnamese to Mexican. It’s pretty useful, most of the businesses that are there are well known shops, nothing too left wing, it’s basically just a mall, but at least it’s a mall that looks good and doesn’t take over the size of a small country.

www.boxpark.co.uk

Boxpark, Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JE
0208 133 0182

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Dennis Severs’ House

Penny Blood — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:22:00 +0000

Let me start by saying that I generally hate museums. I find things in glass cases painfully dull. Whenever I visit a new city I’m honestly more inclined to check out the supermarkets. On a recent trip to Washington DC, from the wealth of museums on offer I only went to the Smithsonian to see Jerry Seinfeld’s trainers. However the kind of museum I love is the likes of the Dennis Severs’ House. Dennis Severs took on a Mary Celeste approach, designing the house to appear as if the family living there just ceased to exit one day leaving plates of half eaten food and unmade beds. Back in 1979 an eccentric American by the name of Dennis Severs bought a Georgian townhouse in the heart of Spitalfields. A former home of Huguenot silk weavers, he went about turning it into a sort of time capsule of a typical family home, each room in a different historic style, mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries. The house is bursting at the seams with amazing stuff including antique furniture and knick-knacks, a four poster bed adorned with gargoyles, old photographs and every day items. It has countless cosy but elegant rooms all lit by candle light and open fires and has a great atmosphere smelling like Christmas, it’s really Gothic and totally brilliant.

To read more about Spitalfields which I find to be the most fascinating area of London, check out this website http://spitalfieldslife.com/

Photo Credit James Brittain and Roelof Bakker

http://www.dennissevershouse.co.uk/

Dennis Sever’s House, 18 Folgate Street, London, E1 6BX
020 7247 4013
Every Sunday between 12-4pm last admission 3.15pm, £10 per person. No booking required
Monday following the first and third Sunday Between 12pm and 2pm last admission 1.15pm, price £7 No booking required.

Labour and Wait

Penny Blood — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:23:53 +0000

From enamel colanders and bread bins to horsehair brooms, linen dishtowels, stainless steel kettles and old-fashioned school notebooks, buying the most boring household items had never been so fun. Labour and Wait specialise in all things timeless, traditional and simple right down to the tin lampshades, buying a dustpan and brush has taken on a whole new slant, whatever you buy from here will probably outlive you. With shelves stacked with an art gallery aesthetic I find myself trying to think up reasons why I need to buy another ruled notebook or £18 tea jar? The only problem is, if you’re going to buy anything from here, really you have to buy everything from here as a £20 spatula isn’t going to have much impact on it’s own, you need to have your entire kitchen kitted out from here to get the same effect. For all it’s Englishness though, Labour and Wait import most of their stock from Japan. The Japanese recognised the charm of these quintessential old-fashioned everyday items so began to reproduce them, once again prevailing in style right down to a wooden doorstop.

www.labourandwait.co.uk

Labour and Wait, 85 Redchurch Street, London, E2 7DL
020 7729 6253
Monday Closed, Tuesday – Sunday 11am-6pm

Labour of Love

Notting Hill Bookshop

Penny Blood — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:31:42 +0000

I found the Notting Hill Bookshop whilst escaping the thundering rain and deciding to look for a travel guide for my upcoming trip to Amsterdam. I drive my friends mad by buying one of each guide and insisting on keeping the books in perfect condition, so no bending of the spine, meaning the book can only be opened at a 45 degree angle and when not being used must be kept in a plastic bag at all times. This is for the sole purpose of being able to take them back to the shop and get my money back*. I don’t like having things around that I won’t use again, it also means I don’t need to be too selective with which books I buy. Whilst waiting to pay the American in front is asking “Is this the bookshop from the movie Notting Hill?” (it is), I wonder how many times they get asked that, that would drive me mad. It’s a cute little shop if you were looking for a travel guide or a book by Bill Bryson, as travel books and travel guides are all they sell. Beware of travel bores though as a couple of rich white kids perusing books on South East Asia are boring each other with their gap year stories, each waiting for the other to finish so they can tell their own far more impressive story.

*Another great tip I have is buying one of those single hole punches which you can use at cafes that have loyalty cards, where you get your 10th coffee for free. Some use fancier punches with rabbit or monkey shapes but you can get these off the internet. I’m not telling you which cafes or where to get the punches though, you will have to figure that out for yourself.

The Notting Hill Bookshop, 13-15 Blenheim Crescent, London, W11 2EE
020 7229 5260
Monday – Saturday 10am-6pm Sundays 12pm-5pm

Tate Modern

Penny Blood — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:56:26 +0000

I’ve never been keen on Museums or Art galleries. I find that when paintings, furniture or artefacts of any kind are out of their intended habitat, they just become boring objects of which countless replicas have been made, so who cares if it’s really really old. The kind of ‘museums’ I love however are Buckingham Palace, The Dennis Severs Museum, The Houses of Parliament and Versailles to name a few where everything is more or less left as it was. I think a Leonardo da Vinci looks spectacular when it’s on a brocaded wall and surrounded by gilt furniture, but when hung on a white wall, to me lacks any personality. The same goes for Jackson Pollack and Monet. I love their work but I wish to see it set up in the kind of surroundings where it may have been created or on the wall of someone who might have bought it at the time. That being said I don’t go to the Tate Modern for the art, I like the bookshop. I also love the Turbine hall, it’s just a shame they fill it with some rubbish the likes of Rachel Whiteread dreamt up. Tate Modern is a converted power station and the ground floor / entrance reaches floor to ceiling several stories high which renders it unbelievably impressive. The brilliant bookshop has every art book conceivable (more or less) and a vast range of magazines and there’s a good restaurant on the top floor, which although it’s quite expensive has an amazing view of London.

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/

Bankside, London SE1 9TG
020 7887 8888
Entry is free except for major exhibitions
Sunday – Thursday 10am–6pm Friday – Saturday 10am-10pm
Last admission into exhibitions 5.15pm (Friday and Saturday 9.15pm)

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Cyber Candy

Penny Blood — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 11:39:42 +0000

I’ve just been on a trip to America and I promised a friend I would pick up some of her favourite sweets and peanut butter however I couldn’t be bothered to carry it all the way home so figured I’d just go to Cyber Candy the Holy Grail of sugar in every colour, shape and form. It’s the place to come for your Lucky Charms, Junior Mints, Root Beer, Cream Soda, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies and all manner of good things where the packaging will expire before the contents do. It’s the home to Japanese and American confectionery galore and the brightest most obscene packaging ever. It’s all imported no doubt at quite a cost which is heavily reflected in the price tag and be warned that it does appear to be a major hang out for groups of kids on a school trip.

http://www.cybercandy.co.uk

Cyber Candy, 3 Garrick Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9BF
0845 838 0958
Sunday – Friday 11am-8pm Saturdays 10.30am to 8pm

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Book Mongers

Penny Blood — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:32:27 +0000

I found Book Mongers totally by accident when I was looking for Brixton Village. Brixton has many great places, give it time and no doubt it will be what Shoreditch has become, although I think it has a few years in it yet. Book Mongers is the sort of place that anyone who has a passion for books will instantly love. It has a good selection of new and old books all arranged into categories, film, sci-fi, poets, literature, travel, male American writers, female American writers, they are very specific! The shelves are piled high and tight and stacked up on the floor, there just isn’t enough space for all their stock. It’s just a book geeks dream with a little sofa at the back to browse before you buy with every conceivable space covered in pictures or stuffed with books on every subject.

Book Mongers, 439 Coldharbour Lane, London, SW9 8LN
0207 738 4225
Monday – Saturday 10.30am – 6.30pm

Blitz

Penny Blood — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 08:35:18 +0000

Blitz feels like a little piece of New York City. I couldn’t tell you what it was exactly that makes me say this, perhaps it’s the sophistication and service? Excellent service! super friendly, American style, the store assistants look like an extras from a Russ Meyer film, where do they find these people? Best described as a ‘vintage department store’, a one stop shop for all things vintage with a huge collection of clothes, both men’s and women’s, alongside furniture and random bits and pieces, laid out and displayed so beautifully all the while screaming at me “You can’t afford any of this!” (which pretty much sums up New York for me anyway). Blitz is spacious and totally void of the ever-fashionable clutter, nothing appears to be ever so slightly out of place. Everything is immaculately organised, displayed according to type, dresses over there, jackets over here. There is a great little bookshop and café too. Now I often find a great café, one that looks good and feels good but the coffee sucks, but I would have to say that on this occasion the coffee was perfect, only the very best know how to deal with Soya milk. On a weekend forget getting a peaceful cup of coffee around Spitalfields and Brick Lane as I can assure you everywhere will be rammed but Blitz is a little off the beaten path so fortunately hasn’t totally been discovered yet, that won’t last long though.

www.blitzlondon.co.uk

Blitz, 55-59 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JP
0207 377 0730
Monday – Wednesday, Sunday 11.00am – 7.00pm Thursday – Saturday 11.00am – 8.00pm

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Paper Dress

Penny Blood — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:25:06 +0000

The times when I seem to find the best places are when I’m killing time waiting for Rafael. This time we’re going to see a band. I rarely if ever go and see bands. My days of that are long gone unless I know someone in the band. These days I prefer to sit and maybe have a pizza. On this occasion the band are playing at Shoreditch House which is A-ok with me as this means I can take handfuls of sweets from the sweetie jars. Grown men take handfuls of sweets from the sweetie jars. No one looks down on it, it’s probably why most people are members. So the principle of ready made clothes – and by that I mean clothes that come in different sizes to fit anyone that they appeal to – is all very well but it does mean that you have to sacrifice any originality whatsoever. So what you could do is buy second hand clothes and get them altered. Even better if there is an in house tailor, would you agree? And what if there was a cafe too serving tea in bone china with creamy cakes. Paper Dress has it all and it’s where I most consistently find great things for example complete one off pieces Anita Pallenberg might have worn and it’s by the far the prettiest secondhand shop I know.

http://paperdressvintage.co.uk/

Paper Dress Vintage, 114–116 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3AH
020 7729 4100
Monday – Friday 9.30–7.30 Saturday 11.00–19.00 Sunday 12.00–18.00

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