Not So Far East Guide

I thought it was about time I updated my guide to London that I give to mates passing through town. Thought it was about time I did a specialised East London update (after all I spend far to much time in).

Galleries
Maureen Paley, Laura Bartlett and Herald St - the trio on Herald St
Chisenhale Gallery, 64 Chisenhale Rd, E3
SPACE, 129-131 Mare St, E8
Cell Project Space, 258 Cambridge Heath Rd, E8
Also: Seventeen Gallery, French Riviera, Welcome to Corfu, Kate MacGarry, Eighty1, Almanac

Coffee
Allpress, 58 Redchurch St, E2 - but ask for one shot as this tasty rocket fuel guarantees sleepless nights
Beagle, 397-200 Geffrye St, E8 - under the arch of Hoxton Station
Climpson & Sons, 67 Broadway Market, E8
Wiltons, 63 Wilton Way, E8

Food
Pizza East Shoreditch, 56 Shoreditch High St - esp for the salads and smalls
Voodoo Rays, 95 Kingsland High St, E8 - pizza slice spot in the belly of the Dalston beast
Lardo, 197 Richmond Rd, E8 - great Italian
Viet Grill, 58 Kingsland Rd, E2 - the best of the Vietnamese strip of Kingsland Road
Bistroteque, 23-27 Wadeson St, E2 - sit at the bar (v excited by their new spot coming to the Ace Hotel)

Drink
Spurstowe, 68 Greenwood Rd, E8
Ridley Road Market Bar, 49 Ridley Rd, E8
The Royal Oak, 73 Columbia Road, London E2
Floyds, 89 Shaklewell Lane, E8 - the food up and down, the cocktails always amazing

Shop
Donlon Books, Broadway Market, E8
Artwords, 69 Rivington St, E2 - for magazines
Camden Lock Books - despite name this is a secretly amazing bookshop in Old St station
APC, 15 Redchurch St, E2
Aime, 17 Redchurch St, E2 - French womenswear
Also: Start, Goodhood

Image Tobias Till print 'G - Gherkin' (2012)

Berlin Address Book 2013

I thought it was about time I updated my address books for the cities I frequent so often for friends et al.

As I'm off to Berlin at the end of the month it seemed a good place to begin

Food/ Drink
Nil , Oppelnerstr. 4, Kreuzberg
Cafe Fleury, Weinbergsweg 20, Mitte
Pappa e Ciccia, (Sunday brunch is incredible too) Schwedter Str 18, Prenzlauer Berg
Bar 3, Weydingerstraße 20, Mitte

Coffee
Lois, Linienstrasse 60, Mitte
Oliv, Munzstrasse 8, Mitte
Milchhalle (the Bircher Museli is so good), Auguststr 50, Mitte

Books and Publications
Motto Berlin, Skalitzer Str. 68, im Hinterhof, Kreuzberg
Do You Read Me?, Auguststr 28, Mitte 
Konig Books, Burgstrasse 27, Mitte

Galleries
Peres Projects (moving to new location)
Isabella Bortolozzi, Schoneberger Ufer 61
Hamburger Banhopf, Invalidenstraße 50-51
Also  Duve Berlin, Kraupa Tuskany, Club Midnight, Tanya Leighton, Guido Baudach, Spruth Magers  
www.indexberlin.de for openings and what shows are on

Image Michael Schmidt Unitled (from Stadtbilder), 1982/2009, Gelatin silver Print, 70,1 x 88,2 cm, 89,3 x 104,9 cm framed (Ed. of 5)

Maybe Its Because I'm a...

Whenever people come to London they ask me for recommendations and I realise the list I put up here years back needs some updating. So if you're in town for three days this is where I'd shove you:

Galleries
- Maureen Paley, 21 Herald Street, London E2
- SPACE Studios, 129—131 Mare St, London E8

- Ibid Projects, 35 Hoxton Square, London N1
- Seventeen Gallery, 17 Kingsland Rd, London E2
- Camden Arts Centre, Arkwright Rd, London NW3

- Whitecube Bermondsey (for the insane building if nothing else), 144-152 Bermondsey St, London SE1

Coffee

- Flat White, 17 Berwick St, London W1

- Wiltons, 61 Wilton Way, London E8 (where I do my occasional London Fields Radio show)

- Daquise, 20 Thurloe Street London SW7 (in afternoons only for apple strudel and a taste of 60s poland)

- Sensory Lab, 75 Wigmore St, London W1

Food
- Dean Street Townhouse, 69 Dean St, London W1 (art, amaretto sours)
- Polpo, 41 Beak St, London W1 (or Polpetto above the French House)
- Bar Bruno, 101 Wardour St, London W1
- St John (the bar area), 26 St John St, London EC1 and the bar at St John Hotel
- The Wolseley, 160 Piccadilly, London W1
- Pizza East, 56 Shoreditch High St, London E1
- Rochelle Canteen (lunch only mon-fri), Arnold Circus, London E2 (recommend booking 02077295677)

Drink
- The French House, 49 Dean St, London W1
- The Royal Oak, 73 Columbia Rd, London E2
- The Holly Bush, 22 Holly Mount, London NW3
- Cecconi's, 5a Burlington Gardens, London W1 (prosecco on tap at the bar)

Shop
- Compton News, 48 Old Compton Street, London W1
- Fopp for 3 quid DVDs and CDs, 1 Earlham Street, London WC2
- Music and Video Exchange shops (esp the Book one 14 Pembridge Road, and Soul and Dance, 42 Notting Hill Gate).
- Fenwicks, 63 New Bond St, London W1
- The Top Shop concession in Selfridges; APC and Acne on Dover St; The B Store on Kingly St for shoes; Fred Perry on Newburgh St etc

Tourist Stuff

Sir John Soane's Museum, 13 Lincoln Inn Fields, London WC1

Walk up Primrose Hill in general or swim in Hampstead Heath ponds in summer

London Books

JG Ballard 'High-Rise'

Graham Greene 'Ministry of Fear'

Anything by Iain Sinclair