By @milestothegallon

Today we hand over our exceedingly slippy reins to guest editor and noted vegan Miles. Miles is apparently another of our work experience staff here at the Runoff who must be lost in our labyrinthine complex beneath Kennington Cross as we’ve never met him in the flesh. We appreciate his erudite review, below, and hope he’s found his way out.  

So following their remodelling of the Zeitgeist  and the creation of sandwich bar Simply Bread, the team at the Jolly Gardeners have bought what was Millar’s General Store… and rebranded it ‘Ginger Provisions’ – maybe another sly fanboy wave at titian lovely Mick Hucknall? Or maybe not. 

Either way, I was finally allowed on my first mission out of Runoff Towers, having spent the first six months of my placement in the ‘reprographics suite’ – or the photocopier on the fourth floor. 

To my and a lot of my neighbours shame, we had kind of thought that Millar’s General Store had given up the ghost during the lockdown, as we huddled outside the various Sainsbury’s Local, and Tesco Express, waiting for Ocado to start delivering again. 

As it happens, Millars thrived across this period (they told me), but as the labour of love of one chap (presumably Mr Millar), when the Jollys came a-knocking , he was interested in selling. This wasn’t before he had introduced an Ecover refill station, sourced a delicious bread supplier in Tottenham (which I guess counts as local these days) and maintained the best stock of fresh veg this side of New Covent Garden Market. 

Millars was also the purveyor of an excellent range of vegan foods –  with real thought into what was available, from ready meals, to vegan cheese, to basics like yeast flakes and vegan fish oil. Along with a wine section and regular cheeses, Millar’s packed a huge variety into a tiny space, and was very reasonably priced – especially when you realise that most of fruit and vegetables was organic. 

So how is Ginger Provisions any different? Well since the sale was announced, the stock of Millers was being run down – as a weekly visitor, I would see things that I had bought not being replaced.  Following the reopening, the old shop has been moved forty five degrees counter clockwise, so that the counter is now at the back, bread on the other side of the window.

This has allowed them to squeeze in another fridge, which is going to be used to sell ready meals made by the kitchens of the Jolly Gardeners. There was only one available when I popped by, which was roasted vegetables and giant couscous. That was delicious, but being the rookie reporter that I am I forgot to take a photograph, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. 

Other than this and the big ‘EasyJet’ coloured sign outside, there wasn’t much else changed, certainly in the case of stock. The shop rearrange has made the space more negotiable and make more sense, but there didn’t seem to be anything else new bought in – they promised me that they would be continuing a ‘full vegan range’. The refill station had been dumped behind a display unit, and I was just able to refill my multi-surface cleaner bottle.