Wharf Life May 23

+

Natural Fitness Food moves into the malls Page 10

May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

inside

former KPMG accountant Rhea Patel gears up to launch social fitness brand One Element at Thames Barrier Park

Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story Royal Arsenal Farmers’ Market The Watchouse Cafe Stratford Festivals Martin Gettings Imitate Modern White + Green AOP Awards Food Store Migrateful Tapa Vino Puzzles Efendi CFTE

set get that

celebrating the best of Canary Wharf, Docklands and the new east London people - events - treasure - property - nonsense

Image by Holly Cant – find more of her images at hollycant.com or via @hollycantphoto on Insta

2

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

read

fortnightly find

this issue’s Tiger Treasure

14 days later

plan your life from Jun 6-20 where?

Canada and Cabot Squares Canary Wharf

WATCH | Summer Screens Catch big sporting events such as the Fever Tree Tennis Championships, Royal Ascot, Wimbledon and the US Open. Or just gaze at them over lunch.

Jun 10-Sept 25, daily, free, canarywharf.com where?

Jubilee Park Canary Wharf

feast your eyes on these

There are probably no times in your life when a slightly doleful looking red elephant won’t cheer you up by wrapping his trunk comfortingly around you.

We suggest, if you do take him on, that you name him Roy as he appears to be crafted from some sort of giant corduroy.

Failing that, Alejandroy The Red will do.

Soft Toy, £7 Go to uk.flyingtiger.com

recipe a powerful

Migrateful Cookery Classes

STAGE | Lost From Sea! A pirate, an octopus and a mermaid appear to have lost their way and ended up rather far from home in Jubilee Park. Ideal for those aged two-eight.

Jun 8, noon-3pm, free, canarywharf.com where?

Canada Square Park Canary Wharf

DO | Father’s Day Drive-In Join A Line Art to create a cardboard car and park it in Canada Square to watch Despicable Me (noon) or Finding Nemo (1.45pm). First come, first served.

Jun 16, 11am-4pm, free, canarywharf.com

to do before Jun 6

Rebecca Ferguson returns to Boisdale Of Canary Wharf for one night only. The intimate gig takes place on May 30 with music from 9.15 as the singer teams up with the Boisdale Rhythm And Blues Band. Tickets from £45 boisdale.co.uk

Crossrail Place Roof Garden - June 11-12, £10-£20 depending on session

Canary Wharf is set to welcome what amounts to a pop-up cookery school for two days at Crossrail Place.

But this is culinary activity with a difference.

Migrateful is a cookery and language initiative that sees asylum seekers, refugees and migrants who are struggling to access employment in the UK brought on board as teachers, sharing the traditional food of their cultures with those attending.

The charity will be holding four sessions in the Roof Garden’s amphitheatre over the two days.

There will be an Iranian Lunch from 1pm-2pm and a Cuban Dinner from 6pm-8.30pm on Tuesday, June 11 and, for vegetarians or those interested in plant-based cookery, a Nigerian Lunch and Ethiopian Dinner at the same times on the following day. Participants learn to cook some dishes from scratch while others are demonstrated by the chef, who eats with the group afterwards.

Water will be provided and people are welcome to bring their own drinks to accompany the meal.

Containers should be brought to take home any leftovers.

Go to canarywharf.com

The proceeds from the sessions go to the work of Migrateful, assisting refugees, asylum seekers and migrants

06

10

Dry cleaner Efendi takes on plastic as it seeks to do its bit for the planet

Natural Fitness Food dishes up healthy meals in the malls

the joy of six Every fortnight Wharf Life covers six areas surrounding Canary Wharf to bring you the best of what’s going on beyond the estate From Page 42

get in touch

correct us

Editorial email stories@wharf-life.com call 07765 076 300

we want to hear from you

04

Martin Gettings prepares a vision of the Wharf’s future

need something fixed?

Just visit Momo Canteen – it’s lo-fi, quick and just the right amount of spicy momowich.com

Advertising email advertising@wharf-life.com call 07944 000 144

Our editorial team works hard to ensure all information printed in Wharf Life is truthful and accurate. Should you spot any errors that slip through the net or wish to raise any issues about the content of the publication, please get in touch and we will investigate.

want more? @wharflifelive

Go to wharf-life.com for more information

Email info@wharf-life.com

spot check somewhere to try

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

3

Canary Wharf

£11.70

on the radar

looking to the future We don’t yet know when, but Jubilee Place is set to get a branch of Crosstown Doughnuts in a unit adjacent to Wharf Kitchen. That means you can undo all the fine work you’ve done by eating at Paleo Supply without having to schlep very far crosstowndoughnuts.com

14

What we paid for this bowl of raw fish and more at Ahi Poke

dine

Ahi Poke - Wharf Kitchen

How CFTE is helping finance workers understand fintech

Boisdale Of Canary Wharf has rebooted its association with Jamaica’s Tourist Board, which is once again sponsoring the venue’s outdoor area. The One Love Jamaica Garden will be open until August 31 with rainforest looks and plenty of rum boisdale.co.uk

I’ve eaten at Ahi Poke a few times since it opened with Wharf Kitchen and the same thing has happened on every occasion. I’ve queued up, run the gauntlet of the ingredients and wound up baffled at the price.

I’m sure it’s all above board and straightforward – the fault is unquestionably mine – but faced with the barrage of options rapped out by the servers I go to pieces.

I discovered a love for the raw fish dish when Island Poke opened at Crossrail Place a few years back.

Ahi feels like that experience on speed. Large, small, black, brown, avocado, pineapple, salmon, tuna, edamame, corn, spring onions. And bythewaythat’s50pextraisthatok?

I’m sure if I just took my time I’d be able to make sense of it.

Frankly I’m just glad when I get to the till and it’s over. Quite how my bowl, dragged through a garden of ingredients, comes to £11.70 I’ll

A bowl of, well, ingredients from Ahi never know. My server gives nothing away, a secret calculation behind her eyes. Perhaps it’s the scoop of avocado.

The cost may be high and the pleasure guilty but I know I’ll keep coming back. Island is sweet and uncomplicated. Ahi just takes it to the next level, for a fee.

Go to ahipoke.co.uk Jon Massey

SPECIAL LUNCH OFFER A CHOICE OF PASTA, FILLED PASTA, PIZZA OR PANINI WITH A SOFT DRINK FOR 9.99 WITH A PINT OF FOSTERS OR 125ml HOUSE WINE 12.99

At Capeesh we do things differently. We are one of the finest restaurants in Canary Wharf and we serve fresh and authentic Italian food. The freshest ingredients go into every dish in our Italian restaurant to compliment the exquisite setting in which our establishment is situated. Unwind in our adjoining Lounge in absolute luxury with friends and family; the perfect spot for drinks to finish the working day.

If all that wasn’t enough, Capeesh boasts a unique Sky Bar in Canary Wharf (one of the highest bars in London) to take you amongst the dizzying heights of Canary Wharf’s towering skyscrapers with panoramic views of London. This is 21st century Italian dining done right in incomparable and inimitable style in

WWW.CAPEESH.CO.UK 020 7538 1111 - events@capeesh.co.uk instagram/facebook @capeeshlondon

Address: 4 Pan Peninsula Square, Isle of Dogs, London E14 9HN - Right besides South Quay DLR Station

4

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

doing the deals

hit the Wharf’s malls and restaurants for less

free

10

Roughly the number of years the human race has left to address climate change

getting greener

by Martin Gettings

Free is our favourite price, especially for yoga. Evveervital is running classes at 8.15am on Wednesdays and 11am on Saturdays in Jubilee Place media@evveervital.com

46

future looking to the

Rhea Patel offers free workouts as One Element gets going

3for2 We love writing and stationery so the fact Ryman in Cabot Place is offering three for two on all pens has got us a little worked up. Offer available until June 5 ryman.co.uk

Canary Wharf Group is preparing to release its latest Sustainability Report detailing the estate’s progress

W

Help your loved ones to help you kiddrapinet.co.uk/understandinganlpa

You can’t control what the future holds, but you can control who makes decisions on your behalf.

Download our FREE guide to MAKING A LASTING POWER OF ATTORNEY (LPA) Book a consultation with Gemma Hughes today on 020 7205 2896 or email ghughes@kiddrapinet.co.uk

e launch our latest Canary Wharf Group Sustainability Report on May 28. So what I hear you cry?

I don’t normally shout about things we’re going to do, but rather try to broadcast past successes as a way to inspire future activity.

Hopefully our report will do just that. It’s certainly packed with lots of facts and figures and case studies of the great stuff we have done in the last year.

The report sets out how we try to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, but more importantly it outlines our vision for the future.

And that’s why I’m shouting about it. Science tells us that we have about 10 years to take meaningful action, to address the big issues like climate change and environmental degradation.

Our report sets out what we aim to do across a range of sustainability areas relevant to the Canary Wharf estate, to contribute to addressing these big global challenges.

Because we realise that for every million coffee cups we recycle, or every billion pounds we spend in the local business community, for every mega project that we get FSC Certified, or BREEAM Outstanding rated, or even the fact that we have been zero waste to landfill since 2009, there are thousands of developers and businesses and places out there that are doing none of this. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be doing the right thing.

The brilliant thing about the future is that it hasn’t happened yet and it’s a future that we can all do something about.

This means we can influence it.

Imagine that. By thinking about our choices and taking action today, we can have a massive impact on what happens next.

And that is what we are trying to do at Canary Wharf, but we can’t do it alone.

Our report will be available online at canarywharf.com from May 28 and we will be holding an event in our malls for World Environment Day on Wednesday, June 5.

We really want everyone to get involved and work with us to make sustainability real.

Please drop me a line via sustainability@canarywharf.com and we’ll try to help.

Martin Gettings is group head of sustainability at Canary Wharf Group Go to canarywharf.com or breakingtheplastichabit.co.uk

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

5

Canary Wharf

“

The brilliant thing about the future is that it hasn’t happened yet and it’s a future we can do something about Martin Gettings, Canary Wharf Group

Image by Victor Huang

NOW OPEN!

27 Coldharbour, Coldharb r our, rb ourr, r London, London E14 9NS

BOOK THE BEST OUTDOOR SPACE IN CANARY WHARF FOR YOUR SUMMER PARTY NOW

www. w thegundockl w. k ands.com kl www.thegundocklands.com gun.events@fullers.co.uk gun.eve v nts ve t @f ts @fu fulll ers r .co.uk rs 0207 519 0075 7 75

6

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

Canary Wharf

35

Cost in pence of Efendi’s plastic hanger deposit scheme to encourage reuse

How Ali Shakir and his wife Janan are working to minimise the impact of their business on the environment

green from clean to

how Efendi Dry Cleaners intends to get rid of plastic from its business

Image by Matt Grayson – find his work at graysonphotos.co.uk or @mattgrayson_photo on Insta

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

7

NOW OPEN CANADA PLACE IN FRONT OF WAITROSE

NATURALFITNESSFOOD.COM

THI705-340x268mm NFF Ad.indd 1

17/05/2019 14:03

8

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

by Jon Massey

£2

Cost of an eco-friendly garment bag at Efendi Dry Cleaners in Jubilee Place, replaced free if damaged

J

anan and Ali Shakir are on a mission. The husband and wife team run Efendi Dry Cleaners, which has a branch on the mezzanine level of Jubilee Place near Cafe Brera in Canary Wharf. And they’ve set about tackling their business’ environmental impact at every level.

“First we carried out a survey – we really wanted to know what our customers wanted,” said Janan. “Their opinion is important to us and we found eight out of 10 wanted us to get rid of single-use plastic. That’s a whopping 80%.”

In response, Efendi started offering eco-friendly garment bags for £2, which it is happy to replace, if damaged, at no extra cost. Customers are also welcome to bring in their own covers with their clothes. Its a strategy that benefits both the environment and the business.

“As the packaging goes, we’re asking our customers to use the garment covers, rather than have us put their clothes in polythene,” said Ali. “Polythene can be recycled, but it’s expensive and hardly anybody does it, so if we can encourage people to use alternatives, that means we can re-use the covers rather than seeing them just going off to landfill.

“We sell the garment covers to our customers at £2 each. They cost us a little bit more than that, but what we gain from it is, if the customer continues to use them, we reduce our packaging costs and it should just about break even.

“Economically it works out for us and, more importantly, there’s no waste – nothing’s going into landfill, so everyone there is a winner.”

While Efendi still offers the polythene option at present the business is intending to remove it altogether.

“We think we might make it compulsory that we won’t be putting things into polythene bags

by September, which might be a bit ambitious,” said Ali. “Either you’ll buy a garment cover from us at cost, and relatively cheaply I might add, or you can bring in your own.

“Obviously we don’t want to alienate any of our customers – we still have a business to run – so we will have a series of paper bags to fold the clothes into.

“That’s how things were done back in the 1960s not because of the environment but because it was cheaper.”

The couple haven’t stopped at polythene bags. Having caught the sustainability bug, they’ve also looked at other ways to make their

Image by Matt Grayson – find his work at graysonphotos.co.uk or @mattgrayson_photo on Insta

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

9

Canary Wharf

Left, Ali holds one of the store’s reusable garment covers. Inset, one of the firm’s plastic hangers operation more environmentally friendly.

“We have been trying to make positive switches for a good few years now and, after Canary Wharf Group introduced the targets they wanted to meet, I believe we were one of the first businesses to step up to the mark,” said Janan.

“We researched what happens to wire hangers thinking that they could actually be recycled.

“It was shocking to learn that, due to the galvanising process which stops them rusting and corroding, they can’t. That was a damning discovery for us.

“So we went back to the drawing board because we simply weren’t happy with that so we decided to hire out hangers instead.”

Ali added: “The hangers we now use are plastic but they’re quite durable, so we feel we can get at least 30 or 40 uses out of each one.

“That’s much better than a wire hanger that can’t be recycled, simply because of the cost of recycling a wire hanger.

“The plastic hangers we give out to customers are compulsory but it’s only a cost of 35p and that’s a one-off payment that acts as a deposit. When a customer brings that hanger back, whether for trousers or a jacket, we exchange it for another one and they won’t have to pay for it again. In that way we’re replacing wire with a reusable, sustainable alternative” This constant encouragement to reinforce good behaviour is paying dividends.

Janan said: “It’s six months since we introduced these measures and 90% of the plastic hangers are coming back. That’s in contrast to 50% of the wire ones we gave out.

“And 90% of our customers are now using our garment bags, which we renew for free if they tear. Some customers bring their own covers from home.

“One of our customers who works in Germany and Canary Wharf was simply ecstatic with what we’re offering.

“She told us that in Germany it’s standard practice to give poor quality plastic hangers that ruin the shape of her clothes and they

“

It makes sense all round. If every single business and every single person is doing something, things can only get better Ali Shakir, Efendi Dry Cleaners

don’t take them back. She basically ends up with lots of hangers in her wardrobe, which eventually end up in the bin.

“That she has somewhere that takes her hangers back, knowing they will be reused, was a big plus for her.”

Beyond hanging and covering, Efendi also uses processes that minimise the environmental impact of the cleaning.

Ali said: “We’re use a system called wet-cleaning, rather than solvent cleaning, which is an alternative method of cleaning.

“Basically, with garments that were historically dry-clean only, we’re able to use water, which has got to be better for the environment.

“As it starts to become more popular, the manufacturers manufacture garments that can be cleaned easily by the wet-cleaning process.”

Ali said the move towards being more eco-friendly had also made sense from a business perspective.

“If you can clean the garment and package it well in a sustainable manner, then there’s not much more to it than that, is there?”

Efendi Dry Cleaners he said. “We used to get through just under two boxes of plastic bags a week, because customers in Canary Wharf are commuters, and they need a bag to take their clothes home in. But now these garment covers do away with that.

“You can fold them over so they act as a carrier bag – it’s two birds with one stone.

“We can see in our accounts how the plastic bags have gone down and how many customers are bringing in their own garment covers. It’s a reduction. We’re just a small business among all these other companies, so if they do the same kind of things, then you would see an ama ing difference across the board. It makes sense all round. I think all businesses are looking into how they can be more environmentally friendly and ecologically conscious.

“I genuinely believe that in the four or five months we’ve been doing it, we have reduced that waste by at least 60%, if not more.

“If every single business and every single individual person is doing something, things can only get better.”

Go to efendi.co.uk or call 020 7516 9000 for more information

SUITS DRY CLEANED FOR £9.99

Efendi Dry Cleaners offers a loyalty scheme meaning that regular customers can get more than 40% off its regular prices.

Buy the firm’s Gold credit package for £229.99 and get access to exclusive rates including £9.99 for a suit or £1.99 for a shirt. There’s no time limit on when credit can be used. Ask about the offer in store.

10

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

Canary Wharf

3

Years Natural Fitness Food has been open at Third Space, feeding hungry gym-goers

Image by Holly Cant – find more of her images at hollycant.com or via @hollycantphoto on Insta

grab and go

what Natural Fitness Food offers Wharfers – slim gym bunnies and desk soldiers alike

by Jon Massey

N

atural Fitness Food is taking its first steps outside the nests of Third Space and into the malls of Canary Wharf. The business has placed a slick marble and wood unit where Protein Haus once stood, outside Waitrose in Canada lace Mall.

And on its shelves, well lit and framed in tasteful grey, sit trays of food – ready for Wharfers to grab and go. Breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Sorted. This is no ret, though.

Dishes are sorted by the goals of its customers and its made to order shakes offer such a plethora of choice it would be many months before the range could be exhausted, assuming one ordered a different combo every day.

This is the vision of Natural Fitness Food general manager Henry Dunmore. Having run his own grab and go food brand – LunchBox ABC – he was approached by Third Space in 0 to create a food offering for its members.

“The reason I started my business was that I was basically tired of doing food prep,” said Henry.

“What I was making was exciting for the first day and even for the second – when the food was still fresh. It was still tasty. But by the third day I was getting a bit bored with eating the same thing.

“It’s all in the fridge – you work through it and, by Wednesday, you’ve ust cooked maybe 0 chicken breasts or a whole side of salmon. By Thursday you’ve maybe saved a bit of money.”

His solution to the monotony was LunchBox ABC, selling healthy meals in Soho. His food attracted the interest of Third Space clients and staff at its nearby branch and, hobbled by limited kitchen time, he saw an opportunity.

“The guys from Third Space who were buying it said: ‘We love what you’re doing and we’d love you to do it in-house’,” said Henry.

“At the time I was a small sole-trader and it was exactly what I wanted to do, with investors I really liked. It was an opportunity to do exactly what I wanted to do with the business, in terms of

“

The conversation had always been about taking the business outside the gym space Henry Dunmore, Natural Fitness Food

rolling out the offering we wanted and building our own kitchen.

“So we went into Soho, which was our first site, and then to Tower Bridge, which we revamped for anuary 0 , and then came to Canary Wharf in uly 0 . It was the biggest Third Space, and Natural Fitness Food’s biggest site.

“The conversation had always been about taking the business outside the gym space. It was always in our business plan and everyone was behind it. I’d always believed that would work well – we were just waiting for the right site. We have a particular product for a particular market and therefore we don’t work everywhere and I’m O with that.”

That ambition has now been fulfilled in the shape of Natural Fitness Food’s first standalone operation, opened on May 3.

Henry said “I got a call asking would I be interested in the location and I said Absolutely’.

“It’s an ama ing venue, a brilliant site. The footfall’s fantastic, and being in Canary Wharf has been incredible for the last three years since we opened.

Continued on Page 12

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

11

I KNOW A LITTLE PLACE T H E P E A R S O N R O O M I S T H E H I D D E N G E M YO U ’ V E B E E N LO O K I N G F O R. W H E T H E R I T ’ S A B U S I N E S S M E E T I N G , CATC H I N G U P W I T H F R I E N D S, O R B O O K I N G A N E V E N T, W E H AV E A VA R I E T Y O F S PAC E S TO C R E AT E S O M E T H I N G S P E C I A L .

020 7970 0920 I N FO @TH E PE AR S O N RO O M .C O.U K 2 ND FLOOR, 16 - 19 CANARY SQ UARE C A N A R Y W H A R F, L O N D O N , E 1 4 5 E R O P P O S I T E T H I R D S PA C E TH E PE AR S O N RO O M .C O.U K

THI705-340x268mm TRP Ad.indd 1

17/05/2019 13:42

12

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

Henry Dunmore says it feels fantastic to see Natural Fitness Food open in Canary Wharf

5

Categories of food currently available at the Canada Place Mall branch

continued from Page 10 “It was always one of those sites we looked at and thought that, for Natural Fitness Food, the site would be incredible.”

What can Wharfers expect from this latest addition to the malls?

Something designed to help them achieve their goals without a fuss.

“My goal for the business has always been to make healthy eating easy and convenient,” said Henry. “I’m into my food – I always have been, even as a kid.

We’re proving eating healthily doesn’t have to be boring.

“I worked at a catering company after university, meeting chefs, and, for people to continue eating healthily, it has to taste good.

“There’s nothing about eating well that says the food has to taste bland. And we pre-pack it – we’ve built the business around being quick and convenient.

“The whole idea within Third Space was people come in here, go to the gym or do their spin class, get showered, pick up lunch and get back to their desk within an hour. With some of the queues at Canary Wharf in the malls, you’re not going to be able to do that, let alone go to the gym. So our idea is: ‘Make things convenient for people, make the food tasty and they’ll come back’.

“Eating healthily has become more on-trend, since I started my business in 2013 and Natural Fitness Food in 2016 – 10 years ago this business wouldn’t have worked. People were still much more Marks And Spencer’s sandwich, but nowadays people want healthier choices.

“The menu’s different every day, and I’m sure that will evolve over time. For the gym market, you’ve always got people coming in.

“For the mall we might offer something a bit more rigid.

We may even move towards a completely fixed menu. But at the moment, it changes on a daily basis and our food will always be made fresh everyday. There are some elements which are fixed, and that’s something we’ve moved to over the last 12 months. If you looked at the business 18 months ago, everything changed everyday.

“But we found even with members who were coming on a Monday or a Friday, with something like our chicken satay, they’d want it whenever they visited.

“It’s our best seller. We put it on the menu maybe a year ago, and its the only dish that hasn’t come off since, and I don’t plan to take it off any time soon. We’d have lots of members and customers in the mall who would be unhappy about it.

“

We categorise the meals essentially on what people want to eat and they are very lifestyle orientated, so it’s to make picking their food and their meal easier Henry Dunmore, Natural Fitness Food

Natural Fitness Food prepares all its meals at a central kitchen in Battersea daily, including all salads, marinades and sauces

Images by Holly Cant – find more of her images at hollycant.com or via @hollycantphoto on Insta

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

13

Canary Wharf

taste test satay chicken, £5.95 I confess, as time is tight, I grab a tray straight off the rack and tuck in without being absolutely certain whether I’ve selected a Clean or Lean meal.

Whether the extra consonant is present is a bit of a moot point really. I’m not the kind of person who worries too much about “We categorise the meals essentially on what people want to eat and they are very lifestyle orientated, so it’s to make picking their food and their meal easier.

“For Clean, our approach is very simple, very easy – three or four ingredients, sauces optional, so you’ve got your roast or grilled chicken, your celery, your rice, your salad, but if you don’t want your rice, we’ve got your roast broccoli instead. They are simple, tasty dishes.

“Lean is your lower carb option basically – protein and your fats, your vegetables. We try and provide a wide range of flavours and again the sauces are optional.

“We try to use low-fat yoghurt rather than olive oil to reduce the calories further – so that’s your lean option – salads, slaws and roast veg, which we marinade in something nice and delicious.

“Muscle-gain is for people who want a slightly larger meal, bigger portions, a lot of chicken, a lot of steak. I always admire the people who go for it and have an additional pot of protein – it’s our biggest portion, so you get more protein anyway, more salad, carbohydrates and sauce as well.

“Performance is in the middle between lean and muscle-gain. It has the protein element and some of the lower-carb salads, but it also has some carbohydrates in there, because some people prefer to eat them rather than just vegetables.

“I much prefer to be fuelled on carbs rather than on fat, for example. It’s a mid-sized dish, that will see you through lunch to the middle of the afternoon.”

Natural Fitness Food also offers a vegan range. While geared to cater for individuals who are regular gym-goers, Henry said the selection should find a wider audience in the malls.

“You don’t have to be training to en oy natural fitness food, but it is for people who are conscious about what they’re eating and what they’re putting into their bodies,” he said. “We don’t use any refined sugar – we have natural sugars in the vegetables and honey, which we use in dishes or dressings, but we’re not adding sugars. We’re very careful about the ingredients we use. Natural for me means fresh ingredients grown

what I’m eating provided it looks relatively healthy. That said, I’m a convert to Natural Fitness Food. So often, pre-packed chicken dishes have the tang of bacteria in the flesh.

Not so here. The meat is tender and juicy. Everything else is green and crunchy. It all comes

together brilliantly with the peanut sauce. My photographer, who’s fasting, looks on enviously as well she might.

At these prices, this is a serious contender for best pre-packed lunch on the Wharf. A simple, uncomplicated winner.

Jon Massey

Dry cleaning isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.

At Efendi we believe the more you use our services, the less you ought to pay

A protein shake in production out of the ground or grown on the ground. I always want us to cook everything. We could buy in our chicken cooked, but I wouldn’t want to eat that, so why would anyone else?

“We know our butcher – he’s actually a family friend – and it’s the same with our fruit and vegetable supplier, they’re a small family business. It is really important for me that we make everything including our marinades and sauces.”

One element of the business that is completely customisable, in contrast to the ready-to-go meals, is the protein shakes.

“We have nine bases and it’s ‘build-your-own’,” said Henry.

“You pick one, select your protein – we’ve got both vegan and whey, which we make ourselves.

“Then we have food flavours such as vanilla or coconut, and then you add the liquid. You can have it with water – I like mine a bit thicker, so I have milk – we have semi-skimmed cow’s, oat, almond, coconut and coconut water. You pick your liquid and then any add-ons – peanut butter or almond butter, for example.

“You can have an extra fruit base if you want. You can ask for a thick shake and then we’ll add banana and ice, and that’s all included. It’s completely customised – it’s not often we make two the same – and we’ll happily recommend which options go well together.”

Natural Fitness Food should certainly shake up the Wharf.

Go to naturalfitnessfood.com

Purchase our GOLD credit package for only £229.99 and get access to exclusive prices for all of our services. That’s 23 suits or 115 shirts cleaned and pressed There’s no time limit on when you use your credit and we’ll give you two eco-friendly garment bags free of charge as we work to reduce plastic in the industry terms and conditions apply

let us reward your

loyalty suits £9.99 shirts £1.99 cleaned & pressed, get access to these prices with our GOLD package

Find Efendi Dry Cleaners on the mezzanine level of Canary Wharf’s Jubilee Place, by Cafe Brera call 020 7516 9000 email info@efendi.co.uk visit efendi.co.uk or scan below

find us in Jubilee Place we care for fashion

14

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

co-founder Tram Anh Nguyen tells us all about the Centre For Finance, Technology And Entrepreneurship

by Jon Massey

A

re your references, like the headline on this spread, all of a certain age?

Perhaps the songs and TV shows you love date from the 1990s and you’re only comfortable with the idea of banking in-branch.

Maybe you work in finance and are baffled by the rise of technology in a world you thought you understood.

Now it’s all machine learning, AI, blockchain, crypto currency, challenger banks and tokens. You want to know about these things but don’t know where to start.

Tram Anh Nguyen believes she can help. She co-founded the Centre For Finance, Technology And Entrepreneurship (CFTE) two years ago, having spotted an educational niche – teaching those working in more traditional finance

Tram Anh wants knowledge to empower finance professionals so they can drive tech forward

companies and banks about fintech.

“The reality is that not a lot of people in the financial world understand technology, including my colleague and myself, who were educated in traditional finance a long time back,” said Tram Anh who worked as a trader in New York before moving into capital markets and then wealth management with UBS in London.

“I quit banking and quickly realised the world of finance was changing. I had this big ‘click’ moment about doing something when I was at the Singapore Fintech Festival.

“There were 12,000 people there, so I thought there must be something I was missing “I thought it was all about technology, not about finance, and it was wrong to say that.

“I was listening to the chief of MAS – the Monetary Authority Of Singapore – saying on stage that the world

Improve your customer experience with the conversational platform named the 2019 Product Leader in AI-Enhanced Customer Self-Service

www.creativevirtual.com | info@creativevirtual.com @creativevirtual | 020 7719 8332

that’s damn

FIN CFTE

of finance was changing, totally transforming, and those who didn’t equip themselves with digital skills would not see opportunities.

“If you really want to be part of the change, you need to start re-educating yourself, learning, learning and re-learning – that is the mission of CFTE.” Tram Anh who co-founded the business with Huy Nguyen Trieu, an associate fellow at the Said Business School at Oxford University, initially looked at traditional forms of education.

“But then we realised that instead of doing it with 100 people, why don’t we do it online?” said Tram Anh. “We wanted to help lots of people to learn – I was thinking of my colleagues in finance, in London, New York, Paris and in Asia but also thinking of people in India, Malaysia and Vietnam, because I travel all around the world.”

Today, CFTE is based at Level39 in Canary Wharf, has a community of 40,000 learners across the globe and offers a range of services. Its flagship entry-level offering is an eight-hour online programme entitled The Fintech Foundation Course.

“The programme is very structured, where people can work at their own pace first,” said Tram Anh. “It contains lots of academic knowledge – we travel all around the world to find the best experts to talk on our programme and deliver information in a way people can really learn from.

“They engage with it and finish. We have a very strong completion rate for our foundation course.”

Specifically, a quartet of experts from Said Business

“

The Wharf is at the heart of London’s financial district. We could not dream of a better place to bring people together Tram Anh Nguyen, CFTE

School lead the course with insight from the CEOs of 16 fintech firms as well as other innovators and investors.

For those looking for more detail in the area of artificial intelligence, CFTE also offers an AI In Finance course split into 18 modules taking about 15-20 hours to complete.

It aims to give participants a thorough knowledge and understanding of AI and its applications in the finance sector.

“The Fintech Foundation Course costs £299 – so it’s affordable,” said Tram Anh. “We wanted to make sure that a lot of people can learn.

We offer the introductory programme alongside our AI In Finance course for £499.”

CFTE aims to be about more than simply watching content and completing tests on a screen.

“I am very proud of the UK, because all kinds of banking are born here,” said Tram Anh. “The world is coming to the Wharf to learn in terms of fintech. Bringing people together is what this is all about. We’re already a community of 40,000 learners with offices in London and Singapore. Building that is super important to us so we run regular events. We work with a lot of banks on the Wharf and we would love

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

15

Technology

something extra Tram Anh also believes CFTE will help people in developing countries gain knowledge to help them compete

Beyond the basics CFTE also offers its Extrapreneurship programme – eight weeks designed to foster the right mindset to succeed in business. It costs £999.

“It is not that simple to get that mindset of being an entrepreneur,” said Tram Anh. “The programme is really about helping finance professionals to get that mindset.

“I was on the trading floor, but I did not have the opportunity to test my skills.

“The world of technology is moving very fast, so the idea is that learning is good, but applying is better.

“Being an entrepreneur is about working outside your comfort zone – it’s very challenging. You have to dedicate a lot of your time outside

of your job and learn to work with a lot of people you have never worked with before.

“It is a misconception to say automation and technology will make people lose their jobs – I hear that all the time.

“The world of finance is a bigger one and it offers unique opportunities for those with the right skills and an entrepreneurial mindset.”

Lime’s lunch deal

exclusive business set lunch menu weekdays

£8.95 traditional curry served with a side, naan bread and rice Mon-Fri

some like it

Community spirit: CFTE hosts regular events for its alumni and learners at Level39 in Canary Wharf to have more join us to learn with us, build the ecosystem and be part of the community.

“The future looks like a large community. We have local chapters and we have alumni who are now starting to meet together, to share their knowledge.

“We have groups in Singapore, Hong ong and aris and we want to give people opportunities for something new. The world of finance should allow people to build and have opportunities.

“Hopefully, in the next fiveto- 0 years, thanks to CFTE and the global community, we will have some amazing stories. I hope the people we educate will go out and bring others into the world of finance.”

CFTE is working towards getting its courses accredited in the U with recognition from overseas institutions already in the bag. Tram Anh said she and her colleagues constantly worked to ensure

the content of the courses was up-to-date and relevant in the fast-moving world of finance.

As for the offline side, a schedule of events at Canary Wharf is already planned with the next – titled Bank X – set to be held of June 6 at 6pm and featuring Citi head of banks research onit hose.

“Canary Wharf is ama ing,” said Tram Anh. “We spent a long time thinking where our first fintech campus should be and we were very lucky it is at Level39. I love that Canary Wharf has transformed so much. When I first came in 003, much of what we have now did not exist.

“Being on the Wharf is being at the heart of London’s financial district. We could not dream of a better place to bring people together – it is very exciting, an ama ing journey we want everyone to be part of.”

Go to cfte.education for more information

make your booking online at limerestaurant.co.uk

scan this One Manilla Street Regatta Point, Isle Of Dogs London, E14 8JZ

B A R & R E S TA U R A N T

020 7515 4500

16

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

Canary Wharf

there’s still time to catch the AOP Awards 2019 exhibition at One Canada Square, but make it quick

250

Images on show as part of the exhibition of finalists and student winners in Canary Wharf

Detail from Dean Northcott’s Floating Max celebrating the short-lived British summer with an image of an 11-year-old at play as the sun sets in Late August

by Jon Massey

T

he images on the two pages this article is spread over were shortlisted for, but did not win, at the Association Of Photographers Awards 2019. Their presence here is to demonstrate the remarkable depth and quality of the entries.

It’s also to spark a mystery. If photographs of this calibre didn’t make the final cut, how good must the winners be? Those in Canary Wharf can find out by popping into the lobby of One Canada Square, where all 250 images from the finalists and winners are on display for free until May 30.

We caught up with the association executive director Seamus Mc ibbon to find out a little more about why it’s worth stopping by.

“This your chance to have a look,” he said. “What we have is the 35th AOP Awards Exhibition, and this year we’ve been very fortunate to be invited back to One Canada Square following our 50th anniversary exhibition there last year.

“People can expect to see 250 amazing images covering 11 categories of image-making, including a category on moving image, because a lot of people. It is, and photographers always has been, actually make short very difficult from an films. We also have an industry point of view, innovation category, so that while these brands Seamus there are some interactive recognise the importance of McGibbon good quality images, they’re exhibits.”

Beyond showcasing the work of accessing them by different means, its members, the association plays using members of the public as a vital role in the health of the well as professionals, and someindustry. Seamus said: “There has times they’re taking advantage of never been so much image-making that. out there as there is now.

“Members of the public may not “Brands like mobile phone be aware of their rights when it companies, for example, aimed comes to creating work. at the youth market, are very “The AOP, which has much more geared to using been around for 50 years, is image-creation. concerned to protect the rights “They are also very much of all photographers and about interested in using it to influence educating them to understand

winner not one of them a

Richard Durkin’s Takayama, Gifu, 2018, taken in Japan during a late-night walk hunting images

what they should be aware of. The most important thing they ought to know is that when they create an image they own it and they should be very mindful of giving up that ownership and of the value of that image.

“I can see why people would be attracted to appeals from businesses to use their images in advertising campaigns, but they need to ask: ‘Why is that company asking me to do this? Why are they not paying me?’.

“Professional photographers do give things away – our members do a lot of work to support charities, for instance, but these companies are selling products.

Continued on Page 37

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

37

Canary Wharf

from Page 16 “People should just be mindful their work has a value and that they have a value.

“Creative people, photographers especially, can be taken advantage of because of their need to have their work out there. That’s what we’re here to prevent and to support our members in that as well. If they’re in a situation where they don’t feel quite right about something, they can talk to us and we can offer support to them.

“Many creative people don’t feel comfortable talking about the business side of things, and we’re aware of both the creative side and the business side of being a photographer.

“It can be very complex, getting permits to work in certain areas, working to make sure that people are protected or making sure you’re not breaking someone else’s copyright. We concentrate, with our team here, on making sure that photographers can get on with running their businesses.”

And it’s the fruits of their labours celebrated by the Canary Wharf exhibition. Whittled down from more than 2,000 entries, the images on display cover a vast array of topics encompassing the full breadth of the photographer’s art.

“It’s the quality that makes it stand out,” said Seamus. “The first time I saw it on the first day it was almost like seeing something done in high definition – never an image out of focus. When you go to an exhibition, you’ll see some beautiful work, and sometimes it’s because it’s not instant.

“Some of this work has been thought about quite a lot and those images just have a sense of detail to them that is quite lovely.

“If you’re the kind of person that likes detail, you can look at an image for ages, such as Dolly by Peter Dazeley.

“You can see little hair cracks in this porcelain doll, which was actually used to illustrate the problems of domestic abuse and violence. So you’ve got this very strange picture, which is also quite pretty, but it’s telling a very serious and very important story.

It’s illustrating a very disturbing attribute of our society.

“Photographers work with other people, because they’re making other people’s imaginations come to life and that’s what makes it very special.

“There are some very funny, very moving and very artistic pictures in there and pictures designed to tell a very specific story.”

While most categories are for the association’s members, three are open to any photographers professional or amateur. The association also presents the Discovery

2

Winners of AOP’s Discovery Award for 2019

Squonkers, Drippers And Cloud Chasers by Mikael Buck, shot to accompany a story in The Guardian about vaping

Above, Beach Disaster by Matt Davis shot as a sea rescue was in progress Below, Dolly by Peter Dazeley and A Closer Look by Sam Robinson

Award (splitting it between two photographers for 2019), in a bid to offer encouragement to those making their way in the industry as assisting photographers.

“To become an AOP accredited photographer, you need to be working on commission for at least two years in the areas our commercial photographers operate in – the commercial sector,” said Seamus.

“Then you submit a portfolio and this is assessed by a panel of eight professionals – photographers and agents. If you pass that, then you become a member.

“You have to be really good at what you do. What we do with the Discovery Award, is we award the winners in that category with a year’s membership. Then we match them up with a professional in the industry, so that they can get some mentoring.

“For them it’s also an opportunity to be spotlighted, and it’s a great opportunity for agents to look at their work and think: ‘Possibly this person is the next exciting talent’. A lot of work goes on that. Awards events in the photography world are really important – they give photographers an opportunity to really market themselves and their work.”

To that end, 2019’s Discovery Award winners were Mark Griffiths and areth Williams. ou’ll just have to visit the exhibition to find out the rest. Images by the winners, who were announced at the East Wintergarden on May 14, and full details of the awards can be found online. A book featuring all the finalists is also available.

Go to the-aop.org for details

38

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

rock

25k

refugees and

Refugees welcomed to Canada by prime minister Justin Trudeau

we take stock of Hannah Moscovitch’s play about refugees, immigration and intolerance

Image byGraeme Braidwood

by Florence Derrick

O

n September 2, 2015, the world awoke to a horrifying image – the lifeless body of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, a Syrian boy from a refugee family that drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

In Canada, it sparked a particular outcry. The Kurdish family had been reportedly trying to reach the north American country, where the then prime minister Stephen Harper had instigated a hard-line anti-immigration stance.

“Old Stock, the name of the piece, is actually something that he said,” said writer of Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story Hannah Moscovitch, who is preparing to bring the work to Wilton’s Music Hall in Wapping. “Harper said universal healthcare was for ‘old stock’ Canadians, not immigrants or refugees.

“It’s like, who’s ‘old stock’ in a country of immigrants and refugees? To distinguish between one set of immigrants and refugees and another felt fucking crazy – the hypocrisy was insane.

“So we made it the title of the play.

Harper lost his re-election campaign and ustin Trudeau came in, and his first act was to welcome 25,000 refugees into the country.”

These are the themes of the 80-minute play, based on the true story of Hannah’s ewish great grandparents who fled from Romania for Canada in 1908.

“In Canada, most immigrants after 1880 came through Pier 21 in Halifax,” said Hannah of the Nova Scotia city where she still lives. The port served as the point of entry for more than a million migrants and refugees in the steamship era, before closing in 1971. Today, it’s the site of the Canadian Museum Of Immigration At Pier 21.

“I went there when my son Elijah was two months old and it was around the time Alan Kurdi was washed up on the beach in Turkey,” said Hannah.

The playwright (whose other work includes Other People’s Children, This Is War and What A Young Wife Ought To Know), interviewed her family members and traced her history, all the while relating it to the refugee crisis on Canada’s doorstep.

Hannah researched the play by talking with members of her Canadian family “Their circumstances were eerily parallel to today’s,” she said. “I can’t help but know the other possibility for my family was to wash up on a beach.

“The moment my great grandparents stood at Pier 21, that’s when life came. My parents’ lives, my life, my son’s life.

“So with Old Stock, the question is how you rebuild your life in the context of that trauma, along with questions on how we treat immigrants and refugees.

“We invited Syrian refugees from an organisation called Immigrant Services Association Of Nova Scotia to see the first run of the play, which was very moving.”

That was in January 2017. Since then, the play has travelled to the Edinburgh Fringe, run at Broadway for seven weeks, been nominated for six Drama Desk Awards and toured in Europe. After its stint at Wilton’s Music Hall, it’s set to travel to Shanghai.

While the play’s themes are about as serious as it gets, the treatment is not.

Singer-songwriter Ben Caplan (along with director and co-set, lighting and sound designer Christian Barry) wrote an album of accompanying songs.

Ben performs them in the role of narrator, interrupting the story to

Rock concert loud: Ben Caplan performs songs during Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story in the role of narrator to the tale

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

39

Wapping - Limehouse

Ben’s songs have been written to work as a stand alone album as well as for the show

“

At the beginning you only see a storage container on stage. The metaphor is clear – it is one way in which refugees have been moved across the ocean

14 days later

plan your life from Jun 6-20 where?

Troxy Limehouse

Hannah Moscovitch, playwright

Image by Stoo Metz Photography

comment on the action via the medium of rock.

“It’s like a theatre, rock concert hybrid, kind of a weird musical,” said Hannah.

“Ben wrote a concept album for the stage.

All of the songs comment on the action but are stand alone because we wanted them to make an album for his repertoire.

The songs are sexy and joyful. He’s a rock star.”

It’s an unusual idea that has the effect of elevating the atmosphere, both to offer a break in the narrative and to add to it.

“Oddly enough, the story is less political than the music,” said Hannah. “So in a way he acts like a Cabaret-ish MC.” The treatment adds a layer of fun that offsets the staging and carries a strong moral message.

“At the beginning you only see a storage container on stage and out of that comes everything, objects and all the performers,” said Hannah.

“And at the end everything goes back in. The metaphor is clear – it is one way in which refugees have been moved across the ocean. We wanted to show an exodus, movement across vast spaces and precarity.”

The accompanying songs also point to the team’s experimental approach, which – by playing with standard theatre tropes – has garnered some strong reactions.

“Young people like it and old people don’t,” said Hannah. “There’s a lot of swearing, it’s rock-concert loud. When we get audience members above 70, they just find swearing really offensive and they find it very loud.

“And it’s very sexual and they don’t like that. So we’ve alienated them for sure.

But I think theatre today is often caught between needing to keep its audience base and needing to build a new audience, and those can be irreconcilable desires. There’s a big generational difference now.”

So how will Old Stock go down at Wilton’s Music Hall?

“In the UK, you guys actually have a history of theatre,” said Hannah. “You have Shakespeare. In Canada it started in the 1970s – there basically aren’t any dead Canadian playwrights, I can only think of one.

“So it’s a different ecology and a much more marginalised art form there. Plus, all media are up against the golden age of TV. “It’s my goal to write things that reach a live audience. I’m interested in the liveness of the experience. Old Stock seems to reach people.”

Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story is set to play at Wilton’s Music Hall from September 18-28. Tickets start at £12.50 and are on sale now.

Go to wiltons.org

GIG | Jay Critch (pictured) And Polo G The former is from Brooklyn, New York, the latter from Chicago – together the rappers have travelled to the UK to play Limehouse’s biggest stage.

Jun 11, 7pm, from £37.50, troxy.co.uk where?

Wilton’s Music Hall Wapping

STAGE | The Sweet Science Of Bruising Constrained by corsets, four women in Victorian London take to the ring. Their tales unfurl set to a backdrop of underground female boxing.

Jun 5-29, times vary, from £12.50, wiltons.org.uk where?

Jamboree Limehouse

GIG | The Bohemianauts And Fiona Fay Expect polka, tango, waltz and gypsy swing (plus a song about David Icke) from the headliners following a set of lyrical folk from Tell Tale Tusk’s Fiona.

Jun 7, 7pm, from £6, jamboreevenue.co.uk

on the radar

If, like us, you’re not quite tired of the gin boom yet, Junipalooza at Wapping’s Tobacco Dock is the ideal place to indulge those spirited passions, sampling the wares of 65 producers for £35. Runs June 8-9 tobaccodocklondon.com

spot check worth a visit Anaesthetic flowers?

Dokke in St Katharine Docks is a taste sensation dokke.co.uk want more? @wharflifelive

40

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

14 days later

plan your life from Jun 6-20 where?

The Space Isle Of Dogs

why Tapa Vino’s uncomplicated version of wine and tapas is a welcome addition to the Island

2

Number of branches on Tapa Vino in London that are now trading Way up high: The inevitable exposed filament light bulbs at the Lincoln Plaza venue on the Isle Of Dogs

by Jon Massey

STAGE | Hopeful Monsters From simple organisms to giant beasts, this is a story of evolution told entirely with hands. Yep, literally palms, digits and the skin in between.

Jun 18-22, times vary, £10, space.org.uk where?

Poplar Union Poplar

EVENT | Poplar Poets Society Poets and writers are invited to come together with local poet and musician John Warwick to hone their craft, develop and share new material.

Jun 10, 6.30pm, free, poplarunion.com where?

The Space Isle Of Dogs

STAGE | Holy Land Three stories of online escapism and revolt interweave in this new show from Elegy that fuses multimedia, new writing and spoken word.

Jun 11-15, times vary, £12.50, space.org.uk

to do before Jun 6

Head to Jazzgir at Harbour Exchange on May 25 for the very last in a series of Bunny Nightingale dates embracing sounds from the 1920s-1940s. Music is free when booking a table for dinner or drinking at the bar jazzgir.co.uk

spot check Try Trinity Buoy Wharf’s regular jazz nights from June 5 – £12.50 trinitybuoywharf.com want more? @wharflifelive

I

can’t help feeling a little bit sorry for Tapa Vino. The wine bar and Spanish restaurant hasn’t been open that long on the Isle Of Dogs. And, during its brief tenure, it’s been at the mercy of building works to finish the streetlevel landscaping around the unit it inhabits at the base of the Lincoln Plaza development.

Its staff have something of a siege mentality when my companion and I visit, talking up the time when paving slabs will be laid, looking forward to the summer and the promise of outdoor dining unencumbered by piles of building supplies and the army of labourers clad in bright orange hi-vis.

It’s lunchtime and we’re the only customers – others dissuaded, perhaps, by the task of reaching the door via a maze of constructive industry.

And that’s a shame. Tapa Vino deserves to succeed. After gaining access we’re met by a lofty space lit by the inevitable exposed filaments of bulbs dangling from a high ceiling.

It’s fresh, painted white and feels airy and clean despite the heavy metal and wood of its tables, chairs and stools.

Their welded solidity, softened by artfully distressed leather, manages the difficult trick of acting as a contemporary frame to the classic pairing of wine and tapas.

It’s an aesthetic perfectly summed up by the vintage posters, images of Spain and art, all neatly contained in simple, unfussy frames on the venue’s walls. Just enough to give it character – not so many that they detract from the unit’s natural minimal forms.

Given the lack of competition, we’re seated swiftly and presented with Tapa’s lunch menu. Available until pm daily, it offers a choice of three dishes from a list of eight, plus a dessert for £12.50. It also includes crusty bread with oil and balsamic vinegar.

Pleasingly, tap water is delivered swiftly – something every restaurant should do as a matter of course – and we set about selecting from the range.

We decide to try six different dishes and share, eschewing the padron peppers (as these typically vary little from place to place) and the chicken wings (as my companion doesn’t eat the bird due to keeping them at home as a child).

bravo this is tapas

Rich and spicy: Tapa Vino’s take on patatas bravas

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

41

Isle Of Dogs - Poplar - Blackwall | presented in association with mortgage specialist Bennison Brown

“

The menu is essentially tapas staples, unlikely to shock or intrigue so judgement is down to the execution Jon Massey, Wharf Life

From top, the green salad, artwork on the walls, a bowl of albondigas and, below, the soft joy of tortilla Espanola

The menu is essentially tapas staples, familiar sounding dishes unlikely to shock or intrigue, so judgement is down to the execution.

The plates emerge from the kitchen when ready, leaving us to sip cool glasses of Sierra De Los Suenos Torrontes – a two-year-old Argentinian white that starts at £6.20 a glass and offers a little honeysuckle in the nose alongside its crisp, lemony flavours.

First to grace our table is a green salad of spinach, asparagus, broccoli and walnuts, decorated with matchstick slivers of apple and dressed with a vinaigrette. It pops and crunches in the mouth with necessary cleanliness ahead of two slates of croquettas, one ham and the other a blend of spinach and goats cheese.

Glued with sauce in groups of four to their dark stone bases, these balls of flavour are a little hot to handle on first mouthful.

Fortunately a bowl of luxurious patatas bravas arrives as a spicy distraction just before the albondigas turn up to steal the show.

These soft, juicy beef meatballs, swimming in a rich, orange sauce are the dish of the day for me, not even eclipsed by the final savoury to grace our table – tortilla Espanola. The pieces of this deep omelette are crisp and brown with gooey potatoes and onions in the centre.

Following on, the desserts are miniature in size – no trouble at all given the overall quantity of food delivered – but refreshing in the case of the gin and tonic sorbet and potent for the little pot of chocolate mousse.

The service is rapid and friendly throughout, although there is a sense the staff are simply happy to have some custom.

With a sister restaurant in its chain open at Boxpark in Wembley already it wouldn’t be surprising for a rash of branches to spread across the capital.

The team behind the brand has form in east London – and has operated Tapa Tapa and La Barrique just outside the Excel centre for a number of years. Hopefully, with a third, a few more openings locally aren’t far away.

While unquestionably, the Isle Of Dogs iteration of Tapa Vino needs a few more people drinking and dining to fill its airy space with atmosphere and conversation, its well executed take on uncomplicated classic dishes should do a lot to pull in the locals.

It’s a welcome addition to the Island.

Go to tapavino.co.uk for more information or to book a table

Buffet raided: A small selection of the treats available as starters at the Food Store Feast

are your eyes bigger than your stomach can handle?

by Jon Massey

B

alance must have been tricky to find at Food Store. The Lincoln Plaza London hotel’s second restaurant is also a grocer, breakfast outlet, bar and buffet – and is staggeringly coherent considering all the jobs it’s been given to do.

While headline act Mr Todiwala’s Kitchen is the attention grabber, (complete with improbable quantities of rope, vases and spice – not to mention a sizeable wooden elephant on a trolley) visitors certainly shouldn’t dismiss the support act.

In fact it’s almost impossible to ignore, because to get to either the main restaurant or the venue’s Jack Speak cocktail bar, guests typically have to walk through Food Store’s sprawling parts.

Its bar lies to the left of the dining room, while its buffet counter and grocery selection line the thoroughfare from reception, cementing it into the fabric of the hotel proper. The effect is a certain dislocation of the dining room, with waiters deftly negotiating the through-traffic.

Part of the Curio Collection by Hilton, the venue is hoping to tempt in the Sunday crowd with the launch of Food Store Feast. Despite service being between 11.30am and 3pm, this

Above, the tagliatelle. Right, the Eton mess

is not billed as brunch, although diners can add two hours of bottomless Prosecco or beer to their three courses for an extra £20 on top of the £25 base price.

Except it’s not really three courses. The starter is a buffet and we all know what that means. Dart over the way from the restaurant and load up with the likes of London cure smoked salmon and pear and walnut salad with blue cheese dressing.

Invited to try, I confess I had an Alan Partridge moment, wishing I’d smuggled an 18-inch plate in for the cheese, bread, potato salad, charcuterie. I could go on...

How much is too much? Another tricky balance to find. Inevitably I started with a heap of food, so the mushroom tagliatelle felt unnecessary as a main. Fortunately I’d not opted for the even more substantial roast Aberdeen Angus beef sirloin with Yorkshire pudding or roast Launceston lamb shoulder with mint sauce.

The desserts were similarly buffet-based. I didn’t attempt to go up for seconds, although I can’t imagine any of the smoothly drilled staff would have objected much.

Like the hotel and its other venues, they are a thoroughly lubricated mechanism, just waiting for a rush of customers to find them south of Canary Wharf on the Isle Of Dogs.

The price point, which is comparable to similar weekend offerings at Plateau on the estate, may be enough to lure the masses down. But it doesn’t have the views of Bokan, for example, and that’s only £5 more (fizz included).

Food Store did leave warmth inside, however, and the slickness of the cocktail bar above is a solid temptation. Espresso Martinis anyone?

Go to lincolnplazalondon.co.uk

42

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

ÂŁ3

What The Watch House Cafe charges for a cheese, ham and tomato croissant

Pastries on sale at the cafe

watch keeping

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

43

Rotherhithe - Bermondsey - Deptford

The Watch House is located next to St Mary’s Churchyard Gardens

why a pilgrimage to The Watch House in Rotherhithe needs to be in your stars

14 days later

plan your life from Jun 6-20

by Jon Massey

I

’m sat behind The Watch House cafe in Rotherhithe, which has tables and chairs arranged in St Mary’s Churchyard gardens for its patrons to sup al fresco. As my toasted ham, cheese and tomato croissant begins its journey from the small squat building to join Toasted and melty: Jon’s freshly me, a small dog lifts his nose. warmed croissant His furious run, hopeful eyes lifted, is perfectly timed to coinwhich comes sprinkled with cide with its arrival. His owner, rosemary and stuffed full of one of several exercising their artichokes, avocado, tomatoes hounds on the green space, and olives. barks ferociously – alternating With the fresh green leaves between apology and admonof the gardens bathed in May ishment. Guiltily her charge trots sunshine, it’s a toasty, tasty treat away. His efforts in vain. for breakfast alongside excellent They would never have succoffee. ceeded in any case. I’m much too selfish to share the soft, ith only a limited crumbly butter pastry and its online presence rich filling.

– there’s no At Jack Russell intensity, it’s a obvious website I charming encounter. And that’s can find through pretty much the adjective that Google – this is sits well with the whole experia cafe that doesn’t feel the need ence of visiting this miniature to endlessly Instagram itself as a establishment. form of fiscal masturbation. Yet Sandwiched into a little brick at 8am, there’s a steady stream building dating from 1821, The of locals picking up coffee and Watch House is no longer the provisions for later on. preserve of lawmen but of dog Its prices are reasonable. The walkers and locals. croissant comes in at £3 to dine Inside it offers a cute selection in and the focaccia somewhat of pastries, sandwiches, cakes dearer at £4.90. and traditional brown drinks.

However, tiny pain au chocolat There’s a lot of wood inside are only 70p each and for the with something of the feel of a quiet, relaxing location a mere farmhouse kitchen about it – a £3.80 for two coffees (thanks to sleepy little local bakery potterordering before 9am) seems a ing about for the needs of its decent deal. customers. But with Located in St limited space outMarychurch side at the back Road, those is the place to working sit. in Canary In addiWharf can tion to the simply go aforemenone stop tioned from Cancroissant, ada Water my comon the Overpanion ground and selects a alight at Rothervegan focaccia, hithe for a short Vegan focaccia stroll past the back of the Brunel Museum – a journey of some 12 minutes, connections permitting.

Charming is pretty Just across the road, the words hope and sufferance are much the adjective painted on honeyed brick. that sits well with the I’m happy to confirm there’s nothing to suffer at The Watch whole experience of House and that it’s a pretty fair visiting this miniature bet if you’re hoping for a decent breakfast before work. establishment Follow @WatchhouseCafeR on Jon Massey, Wharf Life Twitter for more information

W

“

where?

The Albany Deptford

STAGE | Cabaret Playroom Co-curated by artists Tricity Vogue and Lisa Lee, expect a slew of diverting, risque and funny acts to grace the stage before your very eyes.

Jun 18, 8pm, pay what thou wilt, thealbany.org.uk where?

The Albany Deptford

STAGE | Surge The premiere of poet Jay Bernard’s multimedia show revisits the 1981 New Cross Massacre, where 13 young black people lost their lives in a fire.

Jun 20-22, 7.30pm, £14, thealbany.org.uk where?

Deptford Market Yard Deptford

EVENT | Carless Car Boot Sale Pitch up, sell your stuff on a blanket or tables (for hire). Take drinks from Little Nan’s or simply dance to some tropical tunes. Just don’t bring a vehicle.

Jun 9, noon-4pm, free, littlenans.co.uk

to do in the near future

Hear from final year popular music students at Goldsmiths University Of London as they line up for PureGold at The Albany. Expect singer-songwriters, bands and electronica from June 5-13. Tickets cost £10 thealbany.org.uk

spot check worth a visit Vegetarian junk food rules at The Full Nelson in Deptford hopburnsblack.co.uk want more? @wharflifelive

44

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

14 days later

plan your life from Jun 6-20 where?

The O2 Arena Peninsula

GIG | Backstreet Boys Calling everybody – the boys are gigging and they’re set to bring their DNA tour to the world’s most successful venue. Backstreet’s Back, alright?

Jun 17-18, 6.30pm, from £53.75, theo2.co.uk where?

Greenwich Theatre Greenwich

STAGE | Germaine Greer - On Rape The writer and commentator presents a talk on why we need to “rethink rape” dealing with the crucial issue of consent. Followed by a Q&A Jun 12, 7.30pm, £21, greenwichtheatre.org.uk where?

Up The Creek Greenwich

COMEDY | Ian Stone The comedian and broadcaster takes to the stage in Greenwich for a standup set. Expect football to be on the agenda and support from Mick Ferry.

Jun 8, 7pm, £15, up-the-creek.com

to do in the coming days

e th

p

h itc th

T

he Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency has taken the reins at Royal Arsenal Riverside’s farmers’ market. Held Christina on the second and last Saturday of each month Reynolds from 10am, the move sees developer Berkeley Homes bring in a partner with the aim of giving things a boost after four years of trading.

Following a recent relaunch with an at-capacity turnout of 42 traders, the signs are good. It’s the job of market director Christina Reynolds to build on that positive start and, from her bombast and smiles, it’s something she’s relishing.

“We’re a not-for-profit organisation and we basically empower communities through food, all the way from free cookery clubs for vulnerable people to food business support,” she said. “We run startup courses too and everything in between. There’s so much going on.

“One of my jobs is to regenerate this market. The relaunch was the most traders we’ve ever had, however, we will be having this sort of level at each market. Word of mouth has got out and the ball has really started to roll. I now have a waiting list for Christina’s pick some areas, although we still need fish, so get in touch if you’re interested. We just want to make it bigger and better.”

Email christina@ Nutella baklava, £2.50 gcda.org.uk for more information from Greekelicious

stall spot Just Add Sauces

No room for small egos here – Hugh Jackman: The Man, The Music, The Show comes to The O2 from June 2-7 celebrating the showman behind the Wolverine costume. Tickets start at £47.75 theo2.co.uk

spot check one to try Shoot some arrows at Archery Fit London’s only permanent archery club thegipsymothgreenwich.co.uk want more? @wharflifelive

Business owner and Woolwich resident Paul Adesanya said: “I sell homemade Jollof rice sauce from West Africa – Nigeria to be precise.

“This is the authentic Nigerian flavour and it’s everything you need to make Jollof rice in one bottle. Simply fry the sauce in a pan, add water and rice and cook. It’s so easy.”

Paul also sells spice mixes, but be quick. His products go fast.

e

de rt a

rs

The market is held every second and last Saturday in Artillery Square, Woolwich

Give us this day: Bread Bread serves a customer as he picks up a loaf at the market Right, beers and other tipples are dispensed by the stylish Bonnie And Rose bar

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

45

Greenwich - Peninsula - Woolwich

r pa

tn

s er

hi

p

market th

e

to

stall spot Kent Collection

Company director Dalton Hopper said: “We have our own smokehouse and charcuterie.

We produce a range of smoked meats and fish, all by hand using orchard-reared animals.

“We produce everything in Cranbrook in Kent and we’ve been attending the Woolwich market for about three years. It’s taken time to get English people used to charcuterie but we’re getting more popular every year.”

to market B

how Royal Arsenal Riverside gave its farmers’ market a reboot, just in time for the summer months stall spot English Flowerhouse

street food Himalayan Tiffin Gourmet Sausage Maker Gone are the days when markets can get away with simply selling fresh produce, homewares and knick-knacks. The unstoppable street food boom must be acknowledged and desires satisfied.

Fortunately Royal Arsenal Farmers’ Market understands and delivers. At its launch event we first sample a £4.50 baguette stuffed with sausage. Its soft bread makes it a triumph, perfectly containing the rich meaty tubes within.

Better still is the veggie rice – £5 from Himalayan Tiffin.

Cooked fresh and pimped with dumplings, it’s a mix and match delight. Spicy and exotic.

Woolwich resident Bernadette Creagh is the owner of this Deptford-based creative florist.

She said: “I’ve been attending the market on and off since it started. We’re a family-run business and sell mostly English-grown products – plants and flowers. We do weddings, functions, installations, you name it.

“We do the lot and we’ve been doing it for 15 years. We offer a potting service for free and try to present our business as though it’s a little bit curious.

“We try to keep everything we sell British – I think we have the most amazing creative industries here and they should be supported.

“We’ll always attend this market and we’re hoping to open negotiations with Berkeley to have a permanent site here.”

erkeley Homes (East Thames) divisional managing director Karl Whiteman who lives in the development, attended the relaunch of the market on behalf of the firm.

He said: “The farmers’ market has moved from strength to strength since it launched four years ago and is a real asset for Woolwich and the Royal Arsenal. It’s a pleasure to see people come together twice a month and to witness the traders grow and evolve over this time.

“GCDA’s involvement is going to have a hugely positive effect and we’re really excited to have them on board.

We’re thrilled with this partnership as it means the market will truly be community based.

“I’d also like to thank all the fabulous traders who have really started to make this space their own.

“For Berkeley, creating places isn’t just about bricks and mortar. Both here and with our scheme at Kidbrooke we’re really pleased with the way the communities are coming together.”

For more on the market follow @RAfarmersmkt on Twitter

stall spot Wolfe’s Shrubs

Founder Bronwyn Wolfe said: “Shrubs are fresh fruit that’s been macerated and pressed out and mixed with vinegar, then left for about a month for the flavour to develop.

“As drinks they taste amazing.

The process really brings out the flavour of the fruit.”

She began making them as an alternative to alcohol, although they also work well in cocktails.

Wolfe’s is at the market monthly.

46

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

park finding a place to

how the latest branch of One Element in the shadow of the Thames Barrier could satisfy your social and fitness needs

by Jon Massey

R

hea Patel is all set to bring a little bit of passion to Royal Docks.

Starting from May 25, the chartered accountant turned trainer will be operating the latest franchise of social fitness brand One Element in Thames Barrier Park.

“It’s especially good for Docklands, because there are lots of new-builds, a lot of high-rise buildings and people don’t really know each other – there’s not so much of a community,” said Rhea, who lives at Royal Wharf.

“One Element is a social as well as an outdoor fitness club. It’s a community of people who love getting fit but would also come to social events.”

Based on a membership model, the organisation will offer fitness sessions at 9am on Saturdays and at 7.30pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. An outlay of £49 buys unlimited sessions for a month with 12 available.

“Every potential member also gets a free session before they have to pay,” said Rhea. “It’s the equivalent of a gym membership.

There’s a student membership too and a 10% discount for people who work in the public sector – police officers, doctors or nurses, for example. The workouts are basically high intensity interval training sessions and they’re built on a model created by professional sportsmen and sportswomen for One Element.

“They last an hour every week and we try to create a supportive atmosphere. They are quite challenging, but people will come away feeling they’ve really pushed themselves, especially when they train with other people around.

“

In that situation, people push themselves even further.

“It’s a very positive kind of engagement. When some people The sessions are quite challenging, but go to the gym just by themselves, people will come away feeling they’ve they don’t have as much confidence in what they’re doing or really pushed themselves know whether they’re doing it Rhea Patel, One Element right. But when you’re in a park with 10 or 15 other people and everyone’s encouraging each other, it’s more like a sports club.

“I’ve always played sports my whole life and I really like that feeling. This is a great opportunity for people who want to get fit but don’t necessarily play a sport to feel that camaraderie.

“The sessions are structured so they cater to all levels of fitness. eople will really start to see results straight away.”

Rhea says she will take Beyond the planks, star the Saturday sessions and jumps and intends to hire trainers to push ups, One Element also run the weekday workouts promises a social dimension. Rhea is keen to stress it’s aimed at people looking to do more than just get sweaty in a group on a sunny day.

“I’m hoping that, if the weather’s good, there’ll be a few picnics in Thames Barrier Park,” she said.

“Those will be the initial events and then there will be lots of drinks and post-session coffees for people to get to know one-another over.

“There will also be brunches

and a black tie event and we’ll be trying to get families involved as well.”

In addition to the consumer market, Rhea has ambitions to grow her franchise by offering workouts to companies.

“I am a chartered accountant by day and I’m also a personal trainer,” she said. “I’ve worked in the City for about six years now, including time at KPMG in Canary Wharf, and saw a gap in the market in Docklands.

“I thought it would be good to get corporates involved, so people could do sessions as a part of their company.

“I’ve organised socials at companies I worked at before and they would often revolve around drinking. But we’d have people who didn’t drink and they would ask if there was anything coming up which would involve something different.

“Because I’m familiar with the corporate world, my network is pretty good in that area – I know it quite well and hopefully people will be keen to get out with their colleagues.”

One Element also offers an antidote to hours of sucking in whatever the air conditioning pumps out.

“From what I’ve seen, outdoor fitness is becoming much more fashionable, and many more people are wanting to train outdoors,” said Rhea.

“There are health benefits if you’re training in a park too.

You’re in natural light, and I guess that’s why we’re seeing more and more people running outside rather than on a treadmill.

“It helps to improve people’s anxiety and moods. When you’re inside an office all day, getting out for an hour, is just really nice.”

Rhea, who is currently working as a contractor and plans to spend the next two months focusing on One Element said she picked the location because of the quality of the landscaping and its location.

“Thames Barrier Park is meant to be one of the best parks in London – it looks over the Thames Barrier and it’s a great opportunity to use that space,” she said.

“You’re training outdoors in natural light and, like a sports club we’ll run the sessions in all weathers.”

Go to one-element.co.uk to book a free trial with One Element

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

47

Canning Town - Royal Docks

3

Number of fitness sessions One Element will offer on a weekly basis in Docklands Rhea Patel is eager to recruit like-minded people that are keen to work out and socialise through her One Element franchise at Thames Barrier Park

14 days later

plan your life from Jun 6-20 where?

Excel Royal Docks

EVENT | Tech Shows A slew of events is set to descend on Royal Docks including Mission Critical Technologies, Startup Elevate, TechXLR8 and AR & VR World Summit.

Jun 12-13, times vary, entry varies, excel.london where?

Excel Royal Docks

EVENT | The Autism Show Looking for information or help post-diagnosis?

This show offers talks, workshops, clinics and specialist products all gathered in one place.

Jun 14-15, 10am-5pm, from £16 online, excel.london where?

RA Fold Canning Town

CLUB | The Mover For those who prefer their techno hardcore, Mark Acardipane comes to London for the first time in 25 years with sets from Astrid Gnosis and Loose Lips.

Jun 15, 10pm, from £7, residentadvisor.net

planning ahead

The London Triathlon 2019 is set to take over Excel from July 27-28, offering athletes a variety of distances and routes. It’s the largest event of its kind in the world and places are still available excel.london

spot check worth a visit

Images by Holly Cant – find more of her images at hollycant.com or via @hollycantphoto on Insta

Climb aboard Sunborn London a yacht hotel at Royal Victoria Dock sunbornhotels.com want more? @wharflifelive

48

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

7,500

Capacity of all five one-day festivals at Three Mills Island

a quintet of oneday festivals is set to hit Three Mills Island over the course of a long, red hot August

by Florence Derrick

T

hree Mills Island – 26 grassy acres opposite the Three Mills, one of London’s oldest industrial centres, separated from Bromley-By-Bow by the winding curls of the River Lea. It’s a quiet corner of post-industrial east London that’s so far remained under the radar – empty, except for the Three Mills Studios in a former distillery there, responsible for feature films like Attack The Block and Made In Dagenham, TV shows Masterchef and Big Brother, and a few early-noughties raves.

But last summer, house music guru DJ Artwork plugged in his decks and hosted a first for the island and for London – a one-day, one-stage festival called Art’s House.

Drag queens shimmied and high-kicked onstage while Artwork DJ’d an all-day, back-to-back set with his friend DJ Harvey – dubbed the Keith Richards of dance music – who deigned to give Hackney’s ravers a rare London performance.

Art’s House 2018 was a trial run – and a huge success. On August 10, the two DJs are set to return for a celebratory second edition, but it’s just the first of a series of five festivals that will be held over the month on Three Mills Island.

The following day, record label Anjunadeep brings a line-up of deep house and trance to the island for Open Air. On August 24, a funky mix

Arts House 2018 at Three Mills

of disco-house producers take to the stage for One Day At The Disco. Then, on August 25, it’s the Camden Jazz Cafe’s inaugural Maiden Voyage Festival, bringing jazz, hip-hop and afrobeat before Sara Cox and Martin Kemp host the family-friendly 1980s In The Park Festival on August 26.

There are three men behind the new festival hotspot. The first is Rob Star – architect of the east London Star pub chain and a legendary party promoter, who started out organising warehouse raves in the early 2000s with his events company Mulletover.

The second is hospitality and nightlife entrepreneur Steve Ball – CEO of the Columbo Group – and the third is its director Andy Peyton.

With Phonox, XOYO and Jazz Cafe as the Columbo Group’s flagship venues, it’s arguably responsible for some of London’s top nightlife, boasting both the best line-ups and sound systems in the city.

“The parties that we do at the moment are extensions of parties we’ve done in the past,” said Rob. “Being in a field outside is very different to a sweaty warehouse at four in the morning, but we want to put on interesting events for people who maybe aren’t catered for normally.

“We want these events to be fresh and interesting and a little bit more intimate – you’re not there with multiple stages and 40,000 other people.”

With space for 7,500 ravers to attend, Three Mills Island’s festivals are far more intimate than their competitors – All Points East, for example, held in Victoria Park, has capacity for 40,000. For Rob, sound quality is paramount, and limiting the festival to one stage makes things easier.

“Last year, Artwork was very vocal about wanting to have great sound at the festival, especially for bringing guests like Harvey over,” he said.

“Because we’ve only got one stage we manage to get really good sound levels. Often when you’re outside with multiple stages, invariably some of the levels on some of the stages have to get turned down.”

Ensuring top sound quality is a concern that Andy sees, as fundamental to putting on a great party – something multistage festivals often have to compromise on.

“All the things people are

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

49

Stratford - Bow

parties getting our

on the island

A dancer on stage last year jaded about at festivals – short sets, bad sound, expensive tickets – we did away with,” said Andy.

“We’re selling £20 tickets and the big advantage is we have a real clarity of sound as we don’t have stages bleeding into each other.

“We want to provide those big festival moments and experiences in a nice environment in the sunshine, without loads of hassle. And the one thing we want is no queues.

“There won’t be long lines for drinks, food or the toilets.

It’s an accessible site, there’s a natural amphitheatre and a nice woodland at the back and that’s it.”

As for the artists, hosting an entire day’s party on one stage creates a combination of festival and clubbing vibes.

“I like the one stage set up,” said Maarten Smeets, one half of electronic duo Detroit Swindle who will play a two-hour set at One Day At The Disco. “It’s still the same approach as if you went to a nightclub with one room – there’s one specific offering and that’s what you go for – except you have that relaxed atmosphere and that outdoor vibe.

“The most difficult thing about normal festivals is the movement around your stage.

“People going to the food stands, moving when someone else’s set starts halfway through

DJ Artwork on stage at 2018’s Arts House Festival

“

Being in a field outside is very different to a sweaty warehouse at four in the morning Rob Star, promoter

– it’s really hard to keep the focus. But with this, it won’t be the case and that’s really fun, because it makes it intimate.

“For an artist it’s nice to really feel that connection with the crowd – to grab everyone and take them on the musical journey you’re on.”

And a musical journey it promises to be, with Detroit legends Inner City playing their first festival live show in a decade at One Day At The Disco, and iconic hip-hop producer Madlib gracing Maiden Voyage with his jazz-heavy, syncopated beats.

With such big names on the bill – added to the family vibe instilled by these underground party veteran organisers – ticket holders can expect the artists to bring their A-games to the stage.

“When you look at the line-up, we’re all friends,” said Maarten. “And it’s a good mix, just focused on having fun.

“We’ll be playing a beat set of cool underground disco and some of our own tracks. We have a lot of new material, for a new EP on our label Heist. It’ll be full of positive energy and jazzy influences.”

Talking to Andy and Rob, it’s clear the islands’ August events are pitching for a different audience, compared to some of London’s other day-long festivals – real electronic music fans, underground ravers, or simply anyone who’s ready to replace the hassle and queues of more mainstream offerings with the worship of pure music.

“We’re almost a bit reticent to say these are festivals at all,” said Rob. “This isn’t your average festival experience.”

Go to residentadvisor.net for more information

14 days later

plan your life from Jun 6-20 where?

Theatre Royal Stratford East Stratford

STAGE | Spoken Word Evening Centred on the theatre’s current major production, King Hedley II, this event includes the work of Kat Francois, Sophia Thakur and Anthony No Filter.

Jun 9, 6pm, free, stratfordeast.com where?

Stratford Circus Stratford

STAGE | Horrible Histories Live On Stage Titled Dreadful Deaf, this show explores the tales of major figures from times gone by (Greeks, Romans, Victorians) who were unable to hear.

Jun 16, 7pm, from £8, stratford-circus.com where?

Here East Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

SPORT | Midsummer 5K 2019 East End Road Runners host their annual 5,000m race around the former Olympic venues. Expect chip timing and a bouncy atmosphere.

Jun 18, 6.30pm, £11, queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk

to do before Jun 6

There are still a few days of Your Stratford Stage left. Running until May 29, Endeavour Square is playing host to a variety of entertainments from the likes of Stratford Circus and is well worth checking out full listings at internationalquarter.london

spot check try this place out There goes Neighbourhood a solid choice for drinks and food in Stratford neighbourhood-bar.co want more? @wharflifelive

50

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

Advertising Directory - Acknowledgements

find our advertisers’ messages here Chase Evans print Pages 1, 34,35 online chaseevans.co.uk

Vantage Properties And Management print Page 22 online vantage-uk.com

Capeesh print Page 3 online capeesh.co.uk

Ballymore print Page 23 online londoncityisland.com

Kidd Rapinet print Pages 4, 17, 32 online kiddrapinet.co.uk

Landlord Investment Show print Page 24 online landlordinvestmentshow.co.uk

The Gun print Page 5 online thegundocklands.com

Folio London print Page 25 online foliolondon.co.uk

Third Space print Pages 7, 11 online thirdspace.london

L&Q print Page 27 online thamesstreet.co.uk

TfL print Page 9 online tfl.gov.uk

Sourthern Homes print Page 29 online shosales.co.uk

Efendi print Page 13 online efendi.co.uk

Berkeley Homes print Pages 30-31 online berkeleygroup.co.uk

Lime print Page 15 online limerestaurant.co.uk

Higgins Homes print Page 33 online higginshomes.co.uk

Bennison Brown print Page 19 online bennisonbrownmortgages.co.uk

Galliard Homes print Page 36 online galliardhomes.com be part of the Canary Wharf conversation To advertise in Wharf Life call 07944 000 144 or email advertising@wharf-life.com

without these people, Wharf Life would not have been possible Graeme Bellenger, John Garwood, Jon Dyer, David Galman, Natasha Maddison, David Campbell, Matt Grayson, Kerry Hill, Stephanie Massey, Sarah Leaman, Steve Grieg, Phil Wetz, Camille Waxer, Lucy Merrit, James Vellacott, Lyndon Nunn, Camilla Maddison, Philip Wild, Michelle Vellacott, Andy Shaw, Andrew Scott, Paula Voong, Nadia Maddison, Gary Pring, Edwin Chiu, Annamaria Maddison, Mike Televantou, Chris Ezekiel, Steve Askari, Michael Massey, Andy Shrimplin, Gooch Heer, Rudy Wong, Nick Preston, Steven Herd, David Massey, Ian Li, Andrew Brown, Jean Paul Toerien, Mark May, Ranald Macdonald, Mustafa Topkaya, Simon Spann, Enza Capodici, Mathew Heaton, Kim Wiper, Sophie Watt, Louise Howell, Victor Huang, Phillip Maddison, Spencer Fortag, Dan Smith, Richard Carroll, Randeep Thethy, Toby Wilson, Joel Rayney, Lana Marshall, Olivia Curle, Laura Warren, Rebecca Wood, Maria Tognarelli

thank you Jess Maddison co-founder and commercial director Jon Massey co-founder and editorial director

@wharflifelive

Wharf Life is published by Massey Maddison Limited, printed by Iliffe Print Cambridge and distributed by Willis News Distribution. Copyright Massey Maddison Limited 2019

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

51

Creative Space

this space is yours

you’re not on the Tube, you’re on this island and it’s yours to decorate – share your works with @wharflifelive or #keepittoyourself – don’t like, subscribe or comment

WORKING TITLE

52

Wharf Life May 23-Jun 6, 2019 wharf-life.com

SUDOKU

Crossword - Sudoku

Medium

7

Previous solution - Easy

6 5 9 4 8 1 2 7 3 Sudoku 3 a8break 1 from 5 7 that 2 phone 4 9 6 Take 4 7 2 6 9 3 8 1 5 How 1 to3 play 5 9 2 7 6 8 4 To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 6 such 1 that 5 8each 9 row, 3 7column and 3x3 box one2to4nine contains every number uniquely.

7 9 8 3 6 4 1 5 2 6 find 3 strategies, 2 1 5 hints 7 4and8tips online You9can at sudokuwiki.org 8 1 4 7 3 6 5 2 9 5 to 2 play 7 8 4 9 3 6 1 More

6

5

8 6 1 9 7 4

8 2 2 9

6

7 5 4 5 9

3 6 6

that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely.

Notes

1 1

4

You can find more Sudoku puzzles and a wide selection ofTo others available in apps and books at str8ts.com. This complete Sudoku, fill the board Sudoku is supplied by Syndicated Puzzles. by entering numbers 1 to 9 such

© 2019 Syndicated Puzzles

8

For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org If you like Sudoku you’ll really like ‘Str8ts’ and our other puzzles, Apps and books. Visit www.str8ts.com

crossword Down

1

2.

8.

9.

10.

12.

14.

15.

17.

18.

19.

21.

22.

Run to get back wild animal (4) The result of heaps of work by nuclear scientists, no doubt (6,4) Take what I have first it will yield metal (4,4) Put the gun back where the cricketers practise (4) Spiritless court coming to a bad end (6) How players make light of a match? (6) Didn’t make a hit – and so remained a spinster? (6) Make the tyrant less rash? (6) Inventor of the ring? (4) Concocted by a don, it fights harmful substances (8) Remain to get support at one’s back? (4,6) Some glass as held by a window-frame (4)

Notes

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

11.

13.

16.

17. .

20.

Keep proper hours? (4,2,4) Pull up part of the hospital (4) Proposal to end the standstill? (6) Sundry people who take the plunge (6) Unconcealed weapons are a sign of welcome! (4,4) Where servicemen eat must take some cleaning up! (4) Become a minister – and an obedient servant? (4,6) Shows lad is spy (8) The tradesman who has all the cards to start with (6) I’d late amendment to item (6) A fishy member of the choir? (4) Lots are likely to go where they are made (4)

Quick Across 1. .

9.

10.

12.

14.

15.

17.

18.

19.

21.

22.

Fling (4) ratification ( 0) Oblique (8) Chessman (4) Load (6) Threefold (6) Bondman (6) Banish (6) Nil (4) Quarter-circle (8) Disquiet (10) Job (4)

Down 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

11.

3.

16.

17.

18.

20.

Speak clearly (10) Weary (4) Abut (6) Slender (6) Impotent (8) Low (4) Desert (10) erfidious ( ) Fluid (6) Crown (6) Jupiter (4) Repose (4)

Across: 1 Cast; 8 Indulgence; 9 Sidelong; 10 Pawn; 12 Burden; 14 Treble; 15 Vassal; 17 Dispel; 18 Zero; 19 Quadrant; 21 Uneasiness; 22 Task.

Down: 2 Articulate; 3 Tire; 4 Adjoin; 5 Slight; 6 Helpless; 7 Mean; 11 Wilderness; 13 Disloyal; 16 Liquid; 17 Diadem; 18 Zeus; 20 Rest.

Across

whether you’re cryptic sleuth or synonym solver in it for quick wins, this should satisfy

Cryptic Solution

Cryptic

beating the

Across: 1 Flow; 8 Atomic pile; 9 Lead mine; 10 Nets; 12 Wooden; 14 Strike; 15 Missed; 17 Despot; 18 Bell; 19 Antibody; 21 Stay behind; 22 Sash.

Down: 2 Lose no time; 3 Ward; 4 Motion; 5 Divers; 6 Open arms; 7 Mess; 11 Take orders; 13 Displays; 16 Dealer; 17 Detail; 18 Bass; 20 Bids.

The solutions will be published here in the next issue.

Quick Solution

No. 220