Didi and Franc

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We were frankly devastated when Oddbins Kennington closed last year. Lord knows we tried our best to keep them open, morning, noon and night. Our loss is what’s commonly referred to as a ‘first world problem’.

Courtesy of our friends at Vanilla Black,  the site is about to be reborn Phoenix like as a wine and cheese shop called ‘Didi and Franc’, also billing itself as a ‘deli/wine/bistro’. This information was garnered from Instagram, where they have established a presence.

We contacted Didi and Franc about their opening date and they conservatively replied ‘spring’. We will have a full, in-depth and extremely positive review after we receive an invitation to their launch party*
*This never works
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Classical Vauxhall

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We don’t know a great deal about classical music, but we do know a thing or five about having a good time in Greater Kennington. If you have the time you could do a lot worse than check out the upcoming ‘Classical Vauxhall’ series. It promotes itself as embodying ‘drama and emotion of classical music in three of Vauxhall’s most quirkiest venues’. This has KR approval stamped all over it, especially when you add in that there will be a bar and a chance to meet lovely locals.

ClassicalVauxhall_Hero_2The fun kicks off on Thursday, 6 Feb. in St. Peter’s Church in Vauxhall. If you’ve never been then you should check it out anyway as it’s a beautiful great mammy of Victorian Gothicness with what we imagine are pretty fine acoustics.

Thursday 6th Feb, St. Peter’s Church – Quatuor Zaide & Fiachra Garvey

 

On Friday, 7 Feb. the classical fun continues at that playground of Georgian reclamation, Brunswick House (home of LASSCO). Now you might be thinking ‘I never really intended on spending my Friday night in a traffic roundabout in south London’ but LASSCO is worth it, if for no other reason then see the amazing if wildly unattainable objects on sale.

 

Friday 7th Feb, Brunswick House – Sean Shibe

Moving northwards and forwards, on Saturday 8th Feb the classical wave vibrates on to a KR fave, the fascinating Gardening Museum located at the side of Lambeth Palace (also Lambeth’s oldest building)

Saturday 8th Feb, Garden Museum – Adam Walker & Fiachra Garvey

 

While you might not know a great deal about classical music either, imagine the fun you can have impressing your friends with a conversation along the lines of this:

SALLY – Hey Paul, get up to anything musical this week?

PAUL – Thanks for asking Sally. Well, I figured out that the giant Daisy on ‘The Masked Singer’ is probably Charlotte Church. You?

SALLY – I went to a classical concert at Brunswick House

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The Elephant in the (Colombian) Room

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Last night we navigated our way through Elephant and Castle shopping centre to have dinner at Colombian diner ‘La Bodeguita’.  Latin and South American fare have come in waves in recent years (Mexican then Peruvian then Chilean) and we predict that Colombian will be the next. In fact it is already one of Colombia’s best known exports after Shakira and, well…that other thing.

You might have never heard of La Bodeguita but you’ve certainly seen it looming sentinel like over a corner of the shopping centre. From the outside it looks like a nightclub (which it becomes later), but at other times it is a friendly diner with mostly Colombian customers (tick) and is apparently an epicenter of the Colombian community (tick again).

We found that the best items on the menu were the starters. One of our party had the meaty chicken croquettes with chipotle mayo. Another the Chorizo con Arepa (arepa is a kind of tortilla). The highlights of the mains were ‘Bandeja Paisa’ and ‘Arroz Especial a La Bodeguita’. Your writer had the Arroz and it was a seasoned rice based seafood dish with prawns, calamari and plantain. It was delicious, with plenty of fish and a good rice to prawn ratio.

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The Bandeja is the national dish of Colombia and is best described as a ‘Colombian mixed grill’ consisting of chorizo, black pudding, beef, egg, plantain (LOTS of dishes have plantain) and beans. The combination worked well but was at times a bit stodgy. The chorizo was definitely unique and the portion could feed a Colombian family.

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Keep in mind that a trip to La Bodeguita is more of an experience than an undertaking in ‘haute cuisine’. One of the glories of our community is that you can experience areas and feel that you’re in a different culture entirely, such as Elephant street behind the station which is heavily Colombian (ok, and a bit sketchy). A trip to the shopping centre itself is also a nod to a part of our community which, sadly, won’t exist in a few years.

A meal for four with a few beers came in at £135.

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CRIBS!

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We know that you rely on us for riveting local matters, such as public toilets that might be turned into cocktail bars or scary garden gnomes which look like Tony Blair. However, once in a while public service beckons and we strive to join forces the larger community good.

A few years ago our Kennington friends over at the Earl of Bedlam posited the idea of a community information area in front of St. Anselm’s church to replace the one which has, quite literally, fallen off the wall in recent years. After consultation with an architect in Cleaver Sq. this evolved into more of a message board and 3D ‘monument’ taking more prominence towards the road and direct pedestrians to elevate their gaze above the isolation of their phones.  The current project is called ‘CRIB’ or ‘Community Resources Information Board’.

The initial purpose of the monument was hybrid. One was to act as an epicentre  for local people who want to meet  or impart a  message, and also to act as a permanent stone monument to celebrate our collective Kennington lives. Following a very well attended consultation last summer, the organisers decided that their plans might have been a bit ambitious in a community where resources were being cut, and this was scaled back to a message board with a stone seating area. Also in the mix was rotating art exhibits and contributions from City and Guilds art school in Kennington Park Road.

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The current proposal is the creation of a four sided stone plinth with four protected message boards and the aforementioned arts contributions from City and Guilds. The plinth will be made of a stone called Swaledale, which has preserved fossils from many millennia. This has been used previously in the very handsome new exit to Green Park station next to the Park. A current concept is that the stone will be engraved with the names who have contributed to the project, in Caroline’s words ‘from pennies to the thousands’.

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We celebrate these kinds of initatives not only as they create and perpetuate a sense of civic pride, but it also reaches out to the many people in our community who do not have access to the internet or who are not confident in using it.  If you are reading this we assume that you are probably interested in this project and how it might improve our special community. There are loads of ways to get involved in this project and the first way is to join their facebook group called ‘CRIBSKennington’. That bit doesn’t cost anything!

Winter Interest

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It’s a bit unorthodox to be writing about gardens in the bleak midwinter, but we all need a bit of greenery in our lives, especially when the sky matches the grey Kennington pavements.

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Harleyford Road Community Garden in Vauxhall wsd created by the demolition of a terrace of Georgian properties in the 1970’s which featured inordinately large front gardens. In 1984 the progressive residents of nearby Bonnington Square agreed to work in partnership with Lambeth to turn the site into a place of quiet refuge amongst the nearby smog and snarl.

 

 

 

 

The arboreal product of the partnership  created 36 years ago persists to this day, and even in winter offers a great place for the public to stroll, eat a sandwich, reflect, or just experience an element of silence. The garden is divided into several different areas and includes a children’s play area, lawns, benches, picnic areas, and a mossy green pond. It prides itself on being the only accessible wildlife site in the area.

The Garden is still maintained by volunteers from Bonnington Square,  and it without question possesses the quirky,  ‘planty’. and independent aesthetic of the Square. This is evident in the mosaic wall and paving stones implanted with chipped china  and rocks. In reality the entire layout of the Gardens are the masterwork of Bonnington residents, and well done.

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With no small amount of surreal irony our quiet, pastoral refuge is sponsored by the rather notorious nightclub ‘Fire’. As intrepid and responsible local journalists we approached Runoff management about getting to the bottom of this relationship (in a strictly professional capacity of course) by actually going to Fire at 3am last Saturday. We were rapidly rebuked and informed that this would be ‘inappropriate’ and ‘compromise the ethos of the site’. Well lets see about that and watch this space.

The Gardens are very kid friendly and also placid and safe for people on their own who seek solace and serenity. Enjoy!

Longdan Supermarket…Our Local Asian Superstore

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If it isn’t on your gerbil trail then you’ve probably missed a very unique place at the top of Walworth Road called ‘Longdan’. Longdan is a pan Asian supermarket with a very tasty Vietnamese street food restaurant attached called ‘Aobaba’.

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We know that some of you sit up at night wondering just where you can source dried lotus seeds and 50 kilo sacks of jasmine rice. Well, now you’re in luck. Longdan specialises in hard to find products from Japan, Vietnam, China, Thailand and Malaysia, among other places. The hard to find products are perfect if you are feeling inventive, want a bit of culinary inspiration, or just want a browse. For the cautious sorts much of their fresh exotic goods are sold frozen and can be kept for the long haul.

 

One thing Longdan does very well is condiments (and who among us doesn’t favour a nice condiment?) and you can bag a range of soy and chili sauces, bean curd, stir fry mixes, and good old fashioned Siriracha. Recently we bought banana leaves to remind us of the time we were in Kolkata (oops, better pick up that name we just dropped!) in a sad effort to resurrect our curry meal there.  Having said that, our favourite bit is at the back, where they sell a variety of Asian kitchen products which are largely impractical for western chefs but a great way to make you feel like a cooking pro.

 

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As for Aobaba, it offers cheap and delicious Vietnamese fare to eat in or take away. In the past we’ve enjoyed summer rolls, Banh Mi (baguettes), grilled pork and beef noodles. At the time of writing they didn’t do Pho, but our capital certainly isn’t lacking in those joints…

 

 

 

 

So, if your gerbil trail  leads inexorably to our depressing ‘Shipping Container Tesco’ then try moving in another direction for a bit of a culinary challenge. Cabbage roots, anyone?

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I Due Amici for a Change

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On Christmas Eve we experienced an existential crisis as Loose Women wasn’t on, so we decided to fill the gaping Northern Line Extentsion sized hole in our lives by exploring the lunch items at local institution I Due Amici. We’re also aware that our annual ‘top ten restaurants of Kennington’ posts are coming up* and we need to make up for lost time by stuffing our faces.

I Due Amici is owned by the unflappable Houman Meskati, who also owns ‘Amici’ and the gone but not forgotten Persian/Vodka joint ‘Doost’. As Houman is himself Persian we decided to get our chops into Due Amici’s Persian stews, which are definitely the best things on the menu. Your intrepid writer had the khoresh ghormeh (number 1) which consisted of lamb, kidney beans, and fresh coriander. Served with basmati rice, the lamb was very slow cooked and virtually fell off my fork. The seasoning was a bit off but a good balance of other herbs were present, including fenugreek.

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My dining partner noshed on the khoresh gheymeh (number 3) which was also less slow cooked lamb but also with potatoes `and split peas. It had a nice thick, split pea yellow consistently with some interesting herbs in the mix.

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While not quite up to the Persian standards of Doost, the stews offer a real variety in central Kennington that is needed in terms of lunches. Due Amici also has your standard fare of sandwiches, salads, vegan food and even, bizarrely, burritos. It is at 310 Kennington Road.

*shameless plug.

Northern Line Extension

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We don’t usually undertake ‘Public Service Announcements’ on the Runoff because A) they’re boring and B) It doesn’t fit neatly into our self ordained role as ‘purveyors of local infotainment’. But what the hell, it’s Christmas and we’re feeling generous. If you’re wondering about the status of that giant concrete hole in the middle of Kennington then all you need to know is belowScreenshot 2019-12-22 at 18.15.28

Meet the Locals 2 – Caroline Butler of Earl of Bedlam

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Last week we were invited into the verdant, sartorial wonderland that is fashion house ‘Earl of Bedlam’ to have a mint tea and chat with its founder Caroline Butler. In addition to being a Kennington based designer, she is also the bona fide Doynne of Kennington*, having lived in our hallowed patch for over 40 years.
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We have to admit that we don’t know a great deal about fashion. In fact, someone once referred to a male member of the KR team as ‘the muse of Blue Harbour at M&S’.  Whatever. Amongst the vast array of mannequins, needles, swatches and swag , Caroline explained that she and partner Mark specialise in bespoke suits for both men and women and have been inspired by the music, club life and characters of their past. Caroline emphasised that the suits aren’t intended to shock, and are rather ‘less showy and more about turning heads’; she used the evocative phrase ‘think Gangs of New York meets Oliver Twist’.  Their made to measure wear, Caroline continued, is totally bespoke so it doesn’t come cheap, but is 1/3 the cost of Saville Row.

For those of us not quite in the price bracket to swing a bespoke suit, the Earl also sell scarves and a range of T-shirts and knitwear. A number of these pieces are inspired by their dog Brian, and a canine sensibility permeates this work.

The amount of local good deeds that Caroline and Mark engage in seem limitless, and includes the dog show at Lambeth Palace (which we wrote about over the summer), clothing the staff at the Three Stags Pub, and initiating a campaign to have a local information stall or stone permanently placed in front of St. Anselm’s (we’ll write about this next month). They are also a perennial presence at the Cleaver Square Fete.

Any person who’s lived here for 40 years must be brimming with local recommendations, so I asked Caroline where the Earls go when the needles come down. They have an affection for often missed Indian joint ‘Ishtak’ in Kennington Road, The Kennington Coffee Shop, Windmill Fish Bar (apparently it’s cool again), Windmill Flowers and the Three Stags. In addition to talks at Durning Library.

Viva Earl of Bedlam, and may you long reign over the Kingdom of Kennington!

*There are several people at KR Towers also vying for the title of ‘Doynne’ who might throw us under the #3 bus if they find out we’ve given it to somebody else.

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Meet the Locals 1 – James Gill of ABC

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Recently we had a nice chin wag with comedian and overall ‘fun guy’ James Gill about his Thursday comedy night, Always Be Comedy,  at the Tommyfield in central Kennington.  For the uninitiated, ABC features some established comics (last Thursday we saw Marcus Brigstocke and the crap evidence is below) with up and coming folks. Once you recover from the crowd resembling a giant reunion of contestants from ‘The Apprentice’ it’s a nice place to unwind and have a giggle at this most stressful time of year.

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KR – How long has ABC been running and what inspired you to start it?

James – Oh my gosh! It’s been more than EIGHT YEARS. I started it with two former housemates: Stuart Keeping and Paul Vale.. So I’m the last man standing. Christ. This is how The Sugababes must feel. Why did we start? I still have no idea whatsoever. I think it was so I could learn how to MC. But I’m guessing. I have no idea. If you ever find out, please will you tell me?

KR – What makes a good audience member?  And what about  a bad audience member?

James – A good audience member is someone who laughs. At the right times, obviously. If they’re just sat laughing all night, before the show, at the set-ups and through the breaks, then they may be unwell, and I now feel genuinely sorry for this fictional person in my head. A bad audience member. Oh, the person who has turned up to actively have a shit night: arms folded and a general aura that says, “Yeah, well what have you got?” I try to spot them early on and ask them to unfold their arms as they’ll have a much nicer experience.

KR – Can you tell us a bit about the games you play before the show and during the break?

James – Yes! Absolutely. It feels like we used to play a lot more weird and wonderful games, and perhaps I was personally hiding behind the games. So I try to be a lot more man-and-a-mic these days, with the games a lot more pared back. That’s because I MC and do telly warm-up a lot elsewhere, and it wasn’t realistic carrying a bag full of props to, say, Leeds. I do sometimes miss the ridiculous games – especially the Nerf-related games. Maybe it’s time to resurrect the Nerf. You can never have a Nerf… I am SO sorry.

KR – What can punters expect to see in 2020?

James- Lots of shows are booked already. So from late summer into autumn, we’ve got Sara Pascoe, Rachel Parris, Ivo Graham, Iain Stirling, Ellie Taylor and heaps more. And perhaps a bit more Nerf. Have I gone on a bit too long? I feel a Nerf is a Nerf… Again, so sorry. Thank you so much for the chat and hopefully we’ll see a lot more local faces at future gigs. And, again, if you know why we started the gig, be sure to come over and have a chat with me.