In Los Angeles, there is a Jewish cafe/restaurant called Canters which is a staple in old Hollywood. It’s full of screenwriters in big white trainers and khaki shorts writing C-list scripts about zombies (there’s a huge market for zombie films in LA). It’s bright and full of booths and the staff are older than most [...]

It may be way down south, miles from anywhere but the Balham Bowling Club is the best pub ever. It’s pouring with rain and I had to cut an epic breakfast at Little Georgia with Morgs short as the night before I had the stupid idea that Sunday lunch at the B.B.C was a good [...]

This was the first so-called ‘gastro pub’ in London started by one of the Eyre brothers. That is the main reason I like it. It looks much the same as all other gastro pubs but being one large room with the bar along one wall and lacking any nooks and crannies it somewhat lacks an [...]

A Chelsea institution and a perfect place for celebrity spotting. Every walk of life comes here from supermodels to actors to tourists, to rich locals and down and outs. It’s a pretty standard London cafe, a bit dowdy but charming as it hasn’t changed since the sixties with the usual stodgy caff food. A few [...]

A night out with Drage is one of my favourite ways to spend an evening. He’s the perfect male, just effeminate enough to not only cite but tell the difference between good jeans and lesbian jeans, yet you wouldn’t catch him standing in front of a mirror, feet turned slightly inwards pulling at the corners [...]

Up to a point I would have to say this was one of my favourite restaurants for the sheer comedy value alone. The place is absurd. It’s Austrian for a start and I think that explains a lot*. For starters it’s down in the basement accessed by a doorway and some steep stairs, you’d totally [...]

This place is ridiculous but it’s been here forever which shows it’s not a gimmick, they’re serious. Every inch of the wall space is adorned with framed picture after framed picture of Princess Diana. For no obvious reason the proprietors of Cafe Diana are such huge fans of HRH as to dedicate their business to [...]

Unless you live there or have a particular fondness for pound shops and general tat then it’s unlikely you will find yourself on Walthamstow High Street. However if you do feel like a trip out east or you just wake up there then Rio Café and Ricco’s opposite are the places to go. A friend [...]

The best thing about this place is the fact that you would never know it was here unless you knew it was here. Part of a school and hidden behind a tall brick wall, you have to ring a buzzer to get in (the buzzer list includes the likes of….. who are also located in [...]

“Do you want that on a baguette or Ukrainian rye bread?”
“Why rye today I think”
“And how do you like your coffee?”
“Black as a moonless night”
“That’s pretty black”
With walls lined with a collection of honey’s, marmalades and chutney’s as well as various novelty gifts this really is a small village shop from a long gone age. [...]