We would like you to believe that Blanco has been on our turntables for AGES, but to be honest we’d never heard of him until a handy (and younger) reader sent us this intriguing video.
Blanco is the pseudonym of 20 year old rapper Johshua Eduardo. A Kennington native, this video is shot almost entirely on the Kennington Park Estate (behind the Post Office). Look carefully and you’ll also see glimpses of Vauxhall and the Kennington side of Elephant. Enjoy!
You have doubtlessly walked or run by these little brick cottages in Kennington Park a million times, but have you ever stopped to wonder what it is or how it ended up there? Well, dear reader, consider yourselves to be demystified.
The first clue to our mystery is the inscription ‘Model Houses for Families Erected by HRH Prince Albert’ on the side that faces the street. We doubt that Prince Albert himself took off his ermine lined gloves to build the edifice but with the Prince as patron, it was erected by the ‘Society for Improving the Conditions of the Labouring Classes’ for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The cottage was located outside of the exhibition grounds in Hyde Park and entry was free, unlike the Exhibition itself. After the Exhibition closed, the cottages were moved to our sanctified patch of green and became a minor Victorian tourist attraction.
The model cottages were designed to house four families, with two flats on each level. It was envisioned that the cottages would provide suitable accommodation for people from “the class of mechanical and manufacturing operatives who usually reside in towns or in their immediate vicinity”. Each family was designated a living room, kitchen/scullery, three bedrooms and a toilet – but no bathroom, as was still generally the case in houses built at the time. What we see in our park was a protoype, and it’s unknown whether any were actually executed.
Since 2003 the cottages have been inhabited by the wonderful charity ‘Trees for Cities’ so it isn’t open to the public. However, have a spin around it and contemplate that this one little building was meant to house at least 16 people. It makes you appreciate the era we’re in.
Without a great deal of fanfare, on Wednesday Newport Street Gallery reopened with a survey of Damien Hirst’s early work called ‘End of a Century’. The timing of this retrospective might be a coincidence or an intentional and very prescient observation of the world around us in 2020, as Hirst’s early work explored themes of death, healing, life saving medication, infection, and anatomy. We checked out the show on it’s opening day.
In the first gallery we were introduced to one of Hirst’s trademark dissected animals; this one being a baby shark in formaldehyde. Moving into the main galleries you might think you’d just wandered into aisle three at Iceland, as there were several freezers stuffed with frozen cow heads (we asked, and they are real). Also on show were Hirst’s trademark medication cabinets and a variety of medical implements. After an enormous anatomical model we’re left to ponder the slightly humorous ‘Shut Up and Eat Your Fucking Dinner’ (pictured at bottom) which was fashioned as a butcher shop window featuring a variety of meats encased in formaldehyde. Is meat murder?
On the first floor we got to grips with several of Hirst’s spin paintings and dot paintings, with one actually spinning in the room. Surprisingly, there were several cubist inspired collages of found materials which Hirst created before he was a student at Goldsmiths, even then showing his early interest in mortality and resurrection. The most arresting work upstairs was ‘A Hundred Years’, in which a bloody severed cow head is being eaten by maggots who turn into flies who then get executed by an inect-ocutor. We’re not making this up.
Some of these works are almost 30 years old and don’t have the shock value they once possessed. But if your artistic taste embraces decapitated cow heads, meat, pills, blood, dead flies, and medical implements then this show will be right up your street. Vegetarians might want to steer clear. And lest you don’t give your mortality much of a thought during the pandemic, this show is a reminder of the profound fragility of organic matter.
End of a Century is on now and until the end of March, 2021. Tickets are free and can be booked here.
If you’re a regular reader you are probably aware of two things. First, we have a serious addiction to eating out. Second, we would rather be jabbed with rusty ice pick than give a biased review. If we feel passionate about something or it’s quirky we write about it. If it isn’t reviewed here we either didn’t like it or it just isn’t on our radar.
The restaurant 24 The Oval seems to have been on the radar of everyone but ourselves for ages, so recently we went to sample their Sunday menu. Early in lockdown they converted the front of the restaurant into a farm shop. It ‘s still going strong and we reviewed it here. The setting of the restaurant at the back is unpretentious and the open kitchen and wealth of cookery equipment attest to a restaurant that is led by confident chefs. And 24 defies the current ‘small plates’ trend proudly.
As it was still warm we were sat in the garden with orchids and succulents and a nice 80’s soundtrack. In an attempt by the staff to sabotage our dream of washboard abs, as an ‘amused bouche’ we were given four mini yorkies and served a further four between courses – and between us we downed nine of them….Moving on…your scribe defied convention and had the seared Cornish cod. It was very meaty and delicately cooked slab served with peas, dill, and preserved lemon. Your scribe was also getting flavours of celeriac..
My very ambitious associate had the lamb roast, which consisted of a pink leg and slow cooked breast, served with a pot of mint sauce (homemade, not Coleman’s). This is definitely posh roast territory so there was some artful piling in the centre of the plate with a construction of various roast vegetables (including some lovely cabbage) and crisp roasties. Then, if that wasn’t enough, there was a separate dish of extra veg and roasties plus a pot of cauliflower cheese. Although at the pricier end of Sunday roasts, this was super quality – and super quantity.
The crowd at 24 was an eclectic and diverse mix of white middle class people with lots of hair who were under the age of 45. If this describes your good self then you’ll fit right in. If, like us, you do not fit that category you’ll still be greeted heartily. As for the service, it was very causal yet well drilled.
Well it’s finally happened. Like that scatty aunt you loved dearly but never bothered to visit, Elephant and Castle shopping centre is finally gone forever, and we would like to mark the event with a visual celebration.
The shopping centre was the sight of many ‘firsts’ for staff here at Runoff HQ and will be hugely missed. For example, it was the first time we ever had our shoes nicked at a bowling alley, the first time we were ever frisked before entering a restaurant, and our first ever experience of being sexually aroused by a massage chair.
The centre was also reminiscent of a bygone era of truly one stop shopping and formica. Where else in London could you buy Christmas ornaments in June, have your phone unlocked, score plantains and have a vegan sausage roll all under one roof? To be serious, while never fully realising it’s potential even after 55 of years of existence, the wonderfully eclectic centre served a vital function to parts of the population often overlooked by retailers and put food on the tables of the people who worked there. In addition to offering food and clothing from around the world which acted as symbols of our diverse community.
Some of the smaller independent retailers have set up shop in a temporary structure in Elephant Street, behind the centre. The iconic Elephant sculpture will also find a new home there. However, it is only a matter of time until they close and we’re left with another identikit shopping centre catering to a small element of our varied population. But please remember a better era by the photos we took several years ago. And a mind boggling illustration at the bottom of the Elephant of the future.
With the Gasworks gallery closed for now (reopening on 1 Oct) and Newport Street Gallery closed for the foreseeable, you might be feeling a tad culture deprived. We would like to share with you a little gallery in Elephant and Castle that has recently come to our attention, The Drawing Room.
The Drawing Room is a space to discover both historic and contemporary drawing in an open and accessible manner. They have an impressive art library and (probably not right now) have a series of talks, artist led projects, and hands on learning. The show currently on until the end of October is called ‘Not Without My Ghosts: The Artist as Medium’ and features work by Victor Hugo, Yves Tanguy, Sigmar Polke and William Blake, with many newer artists who, unlike those guys, are still very much of this mortal coil.
It’s hard to overestimate the importance of the metaphysical, occult, and communicating with higher powers to 18th and 19th century society. This was not missed by artists and writers, who often considered themselves to be mediums who could communicate with the dead and other spirits. The output which resulted from this communication was strikingly at odds with prevailing artistic tradition at the time, which was increasingly concerned with learned artistic forms and rigorous training. The exhibit moves into the 20th century by examining current artists who continue using the concept of the unseen to grapple with the ambiguities of the world around us. Quite prescient given how 2020 has unfolded.
Not Without my Ghosts is totally free but it’s best too book first. It should be noted that most of the works in this exhibit are sketches and drawings, so don’t go in expecting a blockbuster experience. But on the bright side, after the show you might find a way to have a nice chat with your auntie Vera who popped her clogs back in 2015.
In spite of Rishi Sunak’s lauded £10 meal deal, some Greater Kenningtonians are still reluctant to eat out. This is understandable, as some of our neighbours are taking social distancing about as seriously as, let’s be honest, licking a doorknob. The Runoff team used this reality as a flimsy excuse to order takeaway last week. If you are a regular reader you can probably surmise that this was not going to be a traditional undertaking, and after research and recommendations we reached a very logical conclusion. Of course, Nigerian street food from Walworth Road.
Big Town is a newish, funky Nigerian street food outlet on Walworth Road just across the street from M&S. Not knowing a great deal about Nigerian cuisine, we took to the internet for recommendations and expectations and ordered the following –
Jollof rice is most familiar staple of Nigerian food, and we ordered prawn jollof (other meat and veg options were also on offer). It was a generous and delicately spiced affair. Next was the beef suya, which were blackened and grilled strips of beef with a peanut rub, with the consistency of jerky. A bit of a spice kick in the end. The suya chicken wings were also ordered, which were cooked the same way but very much fell off the bone. Both of these dishes were punctuated by a rash of onions.
The most interesting item your intrepid gastronomes consumed was the eguasi soup (we opted for the fish variety). Less like a soup and more like a curry, it was a blow your head off collision of scotch bonnet meets palm oil (we know palm oil is evil so please forgive us). It seemed to contain a pureed gourd or squash and definitely pureed onion. It also contained melon. If you order this just ensure you have a giant glass of water to hand. Or in our case wine.
Nigerian cuisine doesn’t exactly meet the lofty altitudes of Italian or Chinese nor does it claim to. However, for a takeway adventure of a weekend it is a great alternative to pizza or chow mein. With hindsight this was rather ‘in your face’ cooking in terms of heat and spices. And after a full Nigerian meal you certainly won’t be feeling the pang to lick doorknobs.
The Beefeater Distillery became an ‘experience’ in 2014 and since then the Runoff has been keen to visit. However, we rather balked at the notion of shelling out £16 a head to tour what is in essence a factory, even with the added benefit of getting sozzeled in the end. So when we saw that #beinvauxhall were offering two for one tickets we leapt at the chance. We wrote a little missive about the history of Beefeater in Kennington last year.
The Beefeater experience starts self guided, with a very slick history of the sauce, covering everything from the ‘gin lane’ era of Hogarth and unregulated spirits, to US prohibtion and the rise of the speakeasy. Intertwined are fun little videos about how gin is produced and the propagation of gin distilleries in London over the years.
Our enthusiastic Italian tour guide Maria took over for the second part of the tour and put more depth into the gin making process. In the tasting room we sampled different kinds of gin and the botanicals that give different varieties their unique flavour. This included not only juniper but also orange peel, coriander, tea, licorice, and angelica seed. Our only slight digression was when Maria asked ‘so what does that remind you of’ and your scribe shouted ‘Bombay Sapphire’. Moving on…
The last part of our journey was indeed the most fascinating as we had a very informative tour of the stills and learned more about the distillation process. Maria was also able to verify a long held Kennington urban myth-…..only five people are employed and produce all of the Beefeater gin sent around the globe.
The event ended with a G&T in their tasting room and we left with the best of both worlds – feeling cerebrally enhanced and a bit tipsy. With the added benefit of being able to say to our mates with confidence – ‘yeah, I’m really getting heavy notes of angelica seed here’.
The Be in Vauxhall deal runs at least until the end of the year, and details can be found here. Even if Be in Vauxhall is a faceless marketing company they still seem to know what’s going on, so its fun to have a root around their website if nothing else.
If we told you there was a German restaurant in Greater Kennington you’d probably say ‘get the schntizel outta here’. Well there is – and it’s a gastropub called Zeitgeist in Black Prince Road. The Ethelred estate seems like a rather implausible place for a pub geared at the German community, so we donned our Alpine headwear to check it out.
Zeitgest has a host of German beers including Pils, Helles, Hefeweizen, Kolsch and Altbier all on draft, with some bottled beers as well. A pint came gratis with our meal, which was a bonus. Of course eating was involved, and I had the Zeitgeist Flammkuchen, which is a kind of Alsace pizza. The base was extremely thin and crumbly, and the pizza consisted simply of munster cheese with pastrami. I’m not exactly sure why it was served on a piece of torn cardboard but lets just call that ‘rustic’, shall we?
My dining partner had the Jager Schnitzel, which consisted of a generous chunk of veal, well breaded, and a creamy mushroom sauce. The huge pile of chips beneath it, unfortunately, had spent most of their short lives in a freezer.
In summary, let’s just say that eating at Zeitgeist is an activity best undertaken when you’re not entirely sober. But that’s easy, as for the German beers they have 18 on tap varying from the big German brands to the more niche. It’s also a fun environment and usually shows German football and plays 80’s music. The free beer with a mains ends on 31 August so you better get your Gesäß in motion.
We hope you are enjoying ‘Eat out to help out’ – or as we call it – ‘The Rishi Sunak £10 meal deal’ as much as we are. In fact, we find ourselves using the 50% discount as a flimsy excuse to eat out twice as much. And as we say with a mouthful of that seventh slice of pizza ‘it’s all about saving local business’.
The jury is still out as to whether the mind boggling juggernaut that is Elephant Park is actually in the Runoff catchment area (don’t get your hopes up). However, a nifty little street has popped up there in recent months and it is proving quite the go to spot for foodies. Sayer St* has an array of independent food joints that includes Chinese, Italian street food, jerk chicken, ramen, a few coffee places, and more on the way.
Sayer St. is anchored by a large and swish looking establishment called ‘Bobo Social‘. To us Bobo sounds like the name you’d give a yappy dog sticking out of a handbag, but we decided to go for a drink and check the place out as it received rave reviews in it’s previous location in Fitzrovia. This place ticks all the boxes for what the hip Elephant Park demographic crave at the moment. Brunch – tick. Fancy cocktails – got ‘em, strange but alluring sounding burgers – by the spadeful. Oh and what else is hmm, yes.. small plates! . The small plates that past our way looked and smelled lovely and looked great, such as braised lamb croquettes and chili squid. And as you can guess, the West End prices now sit snugly in Elephant.
A number of Sayer Street restaurants are participating in ‘Eat out to help out’ but remember to make reservations first.
*Sadly not named after washed up 70’s pop star, Leo Sayer.
