Beefeater Gin Distillery

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Kennington is the Home of Gin – Burnett’s White Satin gin was made in West Kennington from 1750 onwards, and London’s last surviving gin distillery, Beefeater, has been located on Montford Place since 1958 when it left Chelsea in a bid to move upmarket.

As part of their ongoing commitment to Kennington, Beefeater recently opened a visitors’ centre, so naturally we went along for a tour.

The museum part of the tour has plenty about the dark history of gin in London, when it was known as mother’s ruin.

Here are some different eras of Beefeater bottles:

Only four people know the recipe for the Beefeater blend – the master brewer Desmond and his three stillmen, Keith, Maxim and Leeroy. They all have to have their noses insured and under no circumstances are they allowed to visit Walworth. The visitors centre are happy to tell you the flavourings anyway, and let you sniff them: Seville orange peel, lemon peel, bitter almond, liquorice, orris root, angelica seed, angelica root, coriander, and of course juniper:

Then you step through into the distillery itself:

Beefeater are aiming to make 36 million bottles this year, all of it distilled here, although then they transport the highly alcoholic distilled liquid to Scotland to mix it with water there.

Naturally the tour begins and ends in the gift shop, which plays heavily on the patriotism:

They have a new brew called London Garden which is inspired by the flower garden in Kennington Park, and is only available from the distillery.

The visitors centre is open every day except Christmas Day, and costs £12 for adults, £10.80 for concessions, and is free for under 18s, although they miss out on the free gin and tonic at the end. From mother’s ruin to kid’s day out.

BeeUrban – Kennington’s own honey brand

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

We’re not just saying this because it’s from Kennington, but BeeUrban’s honey is the finest we’ve ever tasted. It’s so flavoursome and lemon-y, it’s not even comparable to the bland stuff you get in supermarkets. We’d go so far as to say you haven’t really tasted honey until you’ve tasted Kennington honey.

If you’d like to pick some up, and find out more about it, then get along to one of their Keeper’s Lodge open days at the Keeper’s Lodge in the middle of Kennington Park. They’re on July 26, August 30 and September 20 from 11am to 5pm.

They’re also running an introduction to beekeeping on August 17th. This lasts from 11am to 4pm and costs £50. Go to their website for more info.

Kernel beer now available at your place

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

We love Kernel beer. It has only been around since 2009 but it has pretty much revolutionised London’s brewing scene in that time, inspiring other new breweries along the way. They mostly make pale ale, using different hops each week. And the beautifully designed label on each bottle names the hops contained within. So Kernel geeks like us end up buying the beer all year round just to find out how the Centennial hop tastes when combined with the Amarillo – very good by the way.

Check out their domination of Ratebeer’s list of the best beers brewed in England. You haven’t tried pale ale until you’ve tried Kernel.

Until recently, the only place you could buy Kernel in Kennington was Italo Deli, but now Hubbub (another of our favourite companies) have added Kernel as one of their shops. Hubbub is a food and drink delivery service like Ocado, but instead of getting all their products from supermarket warehouses, they get them from your local shops. So you can get your Kernel straight from the brewery in the same delivery as some cavolo nero from Ted’s Veg in Borough Market, some comté from Franklin’s Farm Shop in Dulwich, and some general smugness from L’Emporio Fine Foods.

Or, if you a fancy a Saturday morning excursion out of Kennington, you can visit the Kernel Brewery under a railway arch in nearby Bermondsey every Saturday from 9am to 2pm, and sample their latest brews on bierkeller-style seating. Grab a waffle from Waffle On at Maltby Street Market on your way home.

n.b. We have not been compensated for this post but we would like it to be known that we would basically do anything for a crate of Kernel – even be nice about Clapham.

Let’s revisit our Kennington predictions for 2014 and see how we’re doing

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

We predicted that Sally White would provide mindfulness training for all staff – we are very touched to see they now have a book on their counter about mindfulness, although we have noticed occasional lapses in mindfulness towards closing time.

We predicted that Kernel Brewery would open their first pub in the site next to the Old Red Lion – watch this space for something even better for Kennington-based Kernel fans.

We predicted that Waitrose would expand in Kennington; they had their eyes on the site of the Kennington Post Office until that was saved from closure.

We predicted that The Imperial War Museum would reopen with catering from Ottolenghi. We should have said ‘The Imperial War Museum will briefly reopen then close again shortly afterwards for no apparent reason’. Fingers crossed they are just concluding negotiations with our man Yotam for their July relaunch.

We predicted that Russell Brand would perform at Always Be Comedy; it can only be a matter of time.

We predicted that Damien Hirst’s gallery would open in West Kennington – chop chop Damien.

We predicted that Dirty Burger would introduce a veggie burger. This happened! So for our next trick, we predict that Dirty Burger will introduce a veggie burger without mushrooms in BECAUSE MUSHROOMS ARE DISGUSTING, OK.

We predicted that Kevin Spacey would return to the Old Vic – and he will.

We predicted that Florence Welch would launch her guest column for Kennington Runoff by performing Addicted To Love at the Kennington Runoff pop up shop. That was a hint Flo. 300 words please on why you love Kennington to kenningtonrunoff@gmail.com. Deadline December 31st, else we’re giving your slot to Dot Allison.

Florence Welch with Sourberry at South London Pacific, warming up for her Kennington Runoff party performance

http://kenningtonrunoff.com/kennington-predictions-for-2014/

La Chatica Colombian Café, Deli & Bakery

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

Back to London’s Latin American Quarter to visit La Chatica, a Colombian cafe, deli, bakery, and bar on Elephant Road in North Kennington.

La Chatica seems to have started as a business importing Latin American food before opening this cafe. They “use the finest South American ingredients” to make their version of the “much-loved” Pan de Bono (cheese bread), Pan de Yuca (another type of cheese bread) and Empanadas (the Latin American equivalent of a pasty).

So how does Latin American food shape up? Mexico and Argentina are justly famously for their cuisines. Brazil has some great restaurants. But elsewhere in the continent, it can be hard to find great food besides meat, fish, rice and salad. So La Chatica definitely feels authentic, with its baked goods wrapped in cellophane, rich in sugar and caramel. But if you don’t fancy those, you can just window shop the product displays. You’ll soon forget you’re under a railway arch in London:

La Chatica is open seven days a week, and they serve 100% Colombian coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice, freshly made baked goods every day, and they have free wifi.

The Coffee Mob

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

The Coffee Mob is a ~~notorious Clerkenwell-based gang~~ relatively recent addition to the Kennington Flowers stall outside St Anselm’s Church at Kennington Cross. This coffee van is a joint venture between Tomorrow’s People and The Coffee Mob, who say they source all their coffee ethically and donate all their profits to Centrepoint.

Want to know what a cup of Coffee Mob coffee says about you? Their website has the answer: “I appreciate a great cup of coffee but I want to help others too, and I have a high tolerance for cringe-y brand messages”.

Like Kennington Flowers, The Coffee Mob van is open from Tuesday to Saturday from whenever they feel like till whenever they feel like, so snap up a coffee for £2 while you can. But if you’re in the market for a decaf soy macchiato, prepare for a blank stare.

Italo Deli

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Kennington Runoff

The final stop on our tour of Bonnington Square is one of West Kennington’s finest and most important shops. It was a Turkish shopkeeper whose legal action saved Bonnington Square from demolition in the late 1970s. Since 2008, those same shop premises have been occupied by Italo Deli which has also had a big part to play in the flourishing of Bonnington Square.

The deli is run by Luigi di Lieto, formerly of Di Lieto’s bakery and shop, and Charlie Boxer. Charlie is the son of food writer Arabella and father of Jackson (Brunswick House Café) and Frank (Frank’s Campari Bar in Peckham). Just don’t mention the errant son who’s the fruit and veg buyer for Tesco.

If you shop at Borough Market or Whole Foods, you will recognise some of Italo Deli’s products but hopefully not the prices – Charlie told The Independent “I have a very strong dislike of expensive food shops and that whole Borough Market thing – the effect where quality translates into high prices and exclusivity. People can feel excluded from the food revolution going on.”

Kennington Runoff’s favourite beer is Kernel, brewed at one of the first London craft breweries in nearby Bermondsey. We’re a little obsessed with it, especially the Amarillo Pale Ale. Italo Deli is the Kennington area’s only stockist of Kernel (although Greensmith’s on nearby Lower Marsh also have it).

Italo also sell a good range of fresh seasonal vegetables, some grown by residents of the square.

Some, but not all, of what they sell is Italian, including homemade fresh ravioli, and they do hot food at lunchtimes.

Tommy Adams and Jamie Berger, the founders of Pitt Cue Co, met at Bonnington Café then worked together at Italo Deli, and Chantal Coady, founder of Rococo Chocolates, is a big fan (and long-time Bonnington resident).

The place is beautiful, like an old village shop, which makes the abysmal aesthetics of their website all the more surprising. Their Twitter feed is pretty good though, and they like the Flying Burrito Brothers so they’re alright by us.

Mimi’s Italian Deli

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Stuck for a Christmas present for that special food lover in your life? Get along to Bon Vivant Boulevard (AKA Brixton Road) and assemble a hamper from all the delights that are on offer.

South Kennington institution Mimi’s Deli is a good place to start. It’s a family-run deli and cafe selling Italian foods and wines, many of which would otherwise be hard to find in London.

Meats and cheeses:

Italian wines, starting at £7.50 per bottle:

If in doubt, there’s always Panettone:

They open till 7pm every day except Sundays when they close at 3pm. Still not sure? Let inspiring testimonials from the likes of Joanna Lumley, Kevin Spacey and Will Self convince you.

Malinka Continental Delicatessen

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

We need to think of a name for the northern stretch of Brixton Road to reflect all its foodie delights. Bon Vivant Boulevard? Gourmet Ghetto?

Anyway, Malinka Continental Delicatessen has been at 58 Brixton Road for at least six years but people are still discovering it. From the outside you could mistake it for a standard Polish delicatessen, and the aesthetic of the cafe area is rather utilitarian, but they make up for it with a great range of products – some Polish but mostly not – and a five star hygiene rating from the Food Standards Agency (we are sticklers for hygiene).

Teapigs tea – hurray:

Cheeses:

They also do sandwiches, lasagne, pierogi and such like, and they have a comically bad website which claims they are closed on the weekends but we think this is wrong.

Malinka is a village in Northern Poland and has several meanings in Polish: raspberry, or love bite, or person who is prepared to pay wildly over the odds for nicely branded tea. Yes, we’re a pair of malinkas here at Kennington Runoff.

Ava Catherside

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Kennington Runoff

Ava Catherside is an East Kennington-based, ready-to-wear, androgynous fashion label created by Anna Gloria Flores and Veronica Todisco. From an austerely chic Victorian studio in Pullens Yards, the duo produce minimal designs that are stocked in boutiques around the world- including London stockist LN-CC (alongside heavyweights Balenciaga, Comme Des Garcons and Yohji Yamamoto). Their clothes, produced using environmentally ethical fabrics such as Alcantara, have been featured in style bibles Vogue Italia, Tank and iD, and have been spotted in the real world catwalk that is the Cleaver Square summer fete.

For one day only (tomorrow) Ava Catherside will be selling their wares in Kennington, at their first ever private sale event:

Ava Catherside A/W 13:

Kennington Runoff

Surreptitiously exploring Kennington, including the suburbs Vauxhall, Oval, Walworth, and Elephant since 2012

Category Archives: shops