Independent X-Mas Shopping in Greater Kennington 2023

From Panettone to Dog Collars

Before we commence our mega mix of how you can buy gifts for people you love/put up with this Christmas, let’s think about the Greater Kenningtonians out there who are struggling to put food on the table in these difficult times. This year we’re supporting the Secret Santa campaign run by our friends over at the Kennington Association. Last year KA raised funds to give shopping vouchers to 150 local households, with the families chosen by local early needs professionals. To find out more and to donate, click here. If you like the more hands on approach there is a food collection box next to the exit at Tesco in Kennington Lane. 

FOOD AND DRINK

Italo Vauxhall and Mimi’s Deli both have a range of Italian foodie gift ideas including wines, beers, spices, panettone (that’s Italian for ‘stale cake’), oils, cheeses and even posh sauces. Mimi’s has also turned the former seating area into a glitter themed pop up Italian accessory shop in the back, not visible from the road. They also do custom made hampers. As you can see below, the joint is rammed this year.

Mercato Metropolitano has all of the Italian fare outlined above and also features some wine and posh olives in jars . They have wonderful meats and cheeses but if they sit under your tree for the next fortnight until Christmas the smell might rather dampen the Christmas vibe. 

Oval Farmer’s Market Ever thought about buying an edible Christmas gift from our own beloved country market? They stock many things that won’t perish under the tree such as chorizo, chocolates and wine. We’re also concerned that the Market is kind of dying and we need to prevent this. You have two Saturdays before Christmas! 

Beefeater Gin Distillery has a lovely but totally deserted gift shop offering unusual, limited run gins and gin accessories. You can also buy a gift voucher to tour the distillery (we can confirm it’s great fun). Perfect for your loved one who likes a nice holiday tipple or to get your annoying uncle Fred to nod off before the turkey is served. We understand Beefeater’s parent company Pernot Ricard is the opposite of independent, but it’s Christmas so don’t judge us.

Orbit Brewery is our own hidden away little gem of a brewery in Walworth. Online or in person you can buy a range of their lagers, cders, ales, porters, and even socks. And the rumour is true, they sell tzatziki flavoured beer that we can only describe as, well, ‘adventurous’. 

Didi and Franc have gone full tilt in 2023 and are selling custom made hampers to fill with their gorgeous goods. But if, like us, you don’t fit their demographic, you can just buy one of their baskets and fill it with things from the corner shop. And while you’re there you can pick up a panettone at I due Amici next door. Panettone being of course the food that you never actually eat, but just regift at a Christmas party you’ve been invited to.

NON FOOD

 Castle Square  When you think of Christmas shopping the first thing that springs to mind probably isn’t ‘ooh, lets go to the place behind Elephant Station where they keep the bins’. But if you venture there you’ll discover a clutch of independent shops that used to exist in the shopping centre. Great for your younger folk looking for baseball caps, hoodies, clothes, or undergarments to make your bum look either smaller or larger. While there pop over to the retro video game emporium 4 Quarters?

SoLo Craft Fair is a collective of online artists and creatives who run a bricks and mortar shop in Elephant Park. Sixty small businesses have their work shown on rotation and during our journey we saw affordable jewellery, handbags, baskets, cards, scarves, bath salts, prints and T-shirts. Things that smell nice seem be dominant this year.

Hound Hut  From the chains, cages and chew toys in the window, for many years we thought Hound Hut in Clapham Road was actually a bondage/S&M shop. However, it is your one stop shop for everything canine, even refrigerated dog food. 

Pretty Shiny Shop sit nexts to the (not S&M) Hound Hut and they swaggeringly claim to be Greater Kennington’s Christmas Shop (steady) and they stock a range or cards, houseware items, Christmas tree goodies, and small pieces of jewellery. It’s like a giant Christmas explosion in that place. 

Windmill Flowers stocks not just flowers but also collectables and houseware accessories and Mary is in charge to show you the way forward. Mary also has some Christmas trees and accessories for those who haven’t got their act together quite yet.  

Vanilla Black in addition to books also has some nice gift ideas such as cards and stockings and a few food items. We think VB secretly hate us but we’ve moved on with our lives and are plugging them anyway.


QueArts is a sterling little arts and crafts store across from Kennington Park and they also undertake framing. Great for your creative or just bored friends. 

Bee Urban is bee based charity in the middle of Kennington Park (behind the cafe) selling all sorts of honey and honey related things such as candles, fragrances, soaps and even cards. Interesting place to check out even if you don’t buy anything.

Walworth Garden and Urban Botanica While perhaps not the easiest thing to wrap, have you ever considered the gift of houseplants? The charity and juggernaut of horticulture, Walworth Garden are selling cacti, cards and other things in their geodesic dome. While over in Kennington Cross, UB is one of the few places on earth where you can sip your Minor Figures chai latte while browsing Boston ferns.

Always be Comedy , our very own stand up club, is offering your loved one the gift of a comedy E voucher at The Tommyfield. We’ve seen the likes Harry Hill, Al Murray, Sara Pascoe and more. The crowd looks a lot like a casting call to be on ‘The Apprentice’ but you quickly get over that.  

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X Mas Shopping in Greater Kennington

From doggie treats to panettone 

Before we commence with our run down of how we can treat people we love, lets think about all the Greater Kenningtonians out there who are struggling with the basics. If you would like to help them but aren’t really sure how, the Vauxhall Foodbank is a good place to start. You can either donate money, volunteer, or donate food directly at Tesco Kennington Lane or Sainsburys Nine Elms. 

If you’re anything like us, you’d rather have a pencil crammed  into your ear canal than face the throngs of Oxford/Regent Streets right now. And if you like to hold objects before you buy them you can do this in our very own manor, and we hope you find our little guide useful. 

FOOD

Italo Vauxhall and Mimi’s Deli both have a range of Italian foodie gift ideas including wines, beers, spices, panettone (or as we call it ‘stale cake’), oils, cheeses and even posh sauces. Mimi’s has also turned the former seating area into a kind of pop up Christmas shop in the back, not visible from the road. 

Mercato Metropolitano has all of the Italian fare outlined above and also feature some Italian themed hampers and they’re also selling wreaths. They have wonderful meats and cheeses but if they sit under your tree for 10 days the smell might rather dampen your Christmas vibe. Don’t forget they have a new shop at 1 Walworth Road.

Ever thought about buying an edible Christmas gift our own beloved Oval Farmer’s Market? They stock many things that won’t perish under the tree such as chocolates and wine. You have one more Saturday before Christmas! 

The Beefeater Gin Distillery has a lovely but totally deserted gift shop offering unusual, limited run gins and gin accessories. You can also buy a gift voucher to tour the distillery (we can confirm it’s great fun). Perfect for your loved one who likes a nice holiday tipple or who just has a drinking problem. 

NON FOOD

Now, when you think Christmas shopping the first thing you say to yourself probably isn’t ‘ooh, lets go to the place behind Elephant Station where they keep the bins’. But, if you venture there you will discover a clutch of independent shops in Castle Square that used to exist in the shopping centre. Great for you younger folk looking for baseball caps, hoodies and clothes.

If you are in Elephant pop over to the new SoLo Craft Fair which is a collective of artists and creatives who now run a bricks and mortar shop. 60 small businesses have their work shown on rotation and during our journey we saw affordable jewellery, handbags, baskets, cards, scarves, bath salts, prints and T-shirts.

From the chains, cages and chew toys in the window, for many years we thought Hound Hut in Clapham Road was actually a bondage/S&M shop. However, it is your one stop shop for everything canine, even refrigerated dog food. 

Next to the (not S&M) Hound Hut sits new kid on the block “Pretty Shiny Shop’ which swaggeringly exudes itself to be Greater Kennington’s Christmas Shop (steady) and they stock a range or cards, houseware items, Christmas tree goodies, and small pieces of jewellery. 

Mary over at Windmill Flowers stocks not just flowers but also collectables and houseware accessories. 

In addition to books, Vanilla Black also has some nice gift ideas such as cards and masks and also a few food items. We think VB secretly hates us but we’ve moved on with our lives and are plugging them anyway. And since you are over there, I Due Amici has some fine looking panettone hanging in their windows (no that isn’t a rude euphemism).  And if at this very second you are thinking ‘what happened to Didi and Franc’. Well, we have no idea but try asking in VB.

As a second joyless year comes to a close, have you ever thought about the gift of comedy? Our local gold star comedy club Always be Comedy are doing E vouchers for their virtual and socially distanced and live events (the virtual being very surreal) at The Tommyfield. Recently we’ve seen Harry Hill, Al Murray, Sara Pascoe and more. 

Most importantly, this has been yet another shitty year for almost all of us. So you have the Kennington Runoff seal of approval to treat yourself during the 2021 festive season! 


X Mas shopping in Kennington #2

From doggie treats to bum lifts to panettone

Before we commence with our run down of how we can treat people we know, lets think about all the Greater Kenningtonians out there who are struggling with the basics. If you would like to help them but aren’t really sure how, the Vauxhall Foodbank is a good place to start. You can either donate money, volunteer, or donate food directly at Tesco Kennington Lane or Sainsburys Nine Elms. 

UPDATE 19.12. 3:00pm. Boris is about to announce that London is moving into the unknown ‘Tier 4’. This might mean that these fine business shut in a few days. You better be quick!

And as you can imagine, our little run down of where to shop locally was only ever going to commence with items of the edible variety – 

Italo Vauxhall and Mimi’s Deli both have a range of Italian foodie gift ideas including wines, beers, spices, panettone (or as we call it ‘stale cake’), oils, cheeses and even posh sauces. Mimi’s has also turned the former seating area into a kind of pop up Christmas shop.  

Mercato Metropolitano has all of the Italian fare outlined above and also feature some Italian themed hampers and they’re also selling wreaths. They have wonderful meats and cheeses but if they sit under your tree for 10 days the smell might rather dampen your Christmas vibe. 

A number of Greater Kennington restaurants such as 24 the Oval and Amici have converted their surfeit of floor space into pop up farm shops with a few foodie gift ideas. Great craft beers at 24 the Oval.

The Beefeater Gin Distillery has a lovely but totally deserted gift shop offering unusual, limited run gins and gin accessories. You can also buy a gift voucher to tour the distillery (we can confirm it’s great fun). Perfect for your loved one who likes a nice holiday tipple or who just has a drinking problem. 

NON FOOD

Mary over at Windmill Flowers stocks not just flowers but also collectables and houseware accessories. 

Caroline and her team at Earl of Bedlam are tailors and makers of swishy clothing for both men and women, including very glam t shirts. They’re studio is open for said shirts and they can craft a gift voucher.

Max and Melia – Greater Kennington’s own Christmas shop. Check out our full review in our previous post.

In addition to books, Vanilla Black also has some nice gift ideas such as cards and masks and also a few food items. We think VB secretly hates us but we’ve moved on with our lives and are plugging them anyway. And since we have you, VB, please get cracking with your upcoming deli and wine shop, Dodi and Frank, a few doors down. We can’t wait.

As this crappy year draws to a close, have you ever thought about the gift of comedy? Our local gold star comedy club Always be Comedy are doing E vouchers for their virtual and socially distanced and live events (which are very surreal) at The Tommyfield. Recently we’ve seen Harry Hill, Al Murray, Sara Pascoe and more. 

The Hound Hut in Clapham road is your one stop shop for everything canine, even refrigerated dog food. We know very little about dogs (although we have been told we resembled one once) but this place is highly regarded. 

Have you ever thought about a gift of a ‘non surgical Brazilian bum lift’? Well you can buy one for a loved one at Oracle Skin Clinic in Kennington Cross. Of course, you may never hear from that loved one again. 

Some of the shops that were ruthlessly turfed out of Elephant and Castle shopping centre in September have found a new pop up home in Elephant Street (that sketchy street behind the station). Great for you younger folk looking for baseball caps, hoodies and clothes. Happy shopping!

Rocking the right mask

We  here at the Runoff know what the most important thing in life is. Love? No. Giving birth? No, it’s looking good. And come Friday you’ll be spreading the love in all the wrong ways if you’re not rocking a face covering. So we’re here to lead you in the right direction. 

The other day we were sitting in Vanilla Black and noticed that the staff were sporting some quite fetching head gear. Avoiding the temptation to say, ‘hey is that a coughy filter’, we kept it professional and asked the manager for more information. She led us in the direction of a local creative type who started making masks as a side project when her business dried up as a result of The Event.

Hannah Walley doesn’t actually live in Greater Kennington (we all make mistakes, hey ho) but she worked here for many years and has a understandable fondness for the place. She started making the masks in May for friends and now they are catching on like a viru…..umm….wildfire. 

 

Hannah’s face coverings are 100% cotton, have soft elastic, machine washable, and come in a variety of patterns or made to order. At  1 for £12.50, 3 for £33 or 5 for £50 they aren’t the cheapest things out there, but we have a feeling face coverings are the new normal. It’s also best to be at the cusp of a fashion wave while keeping it local.

Hannah can be reached via Instagram at @hannahloveslondon or you can pop her an email at  Hannah@hlwconsulting.co.uk. Or if you like the face to face treatment they sell an assortment at Vanilla Black itself. 

farewell beloved Kennington, and thank-you

We have moved away from Kennington – very reluctantly as we will love it 4eva.

Before bowing out we wanted to shout out some of our favourite Kennington people and places, including some we’ve neglected to mention previously. These people not only provided a great service but made us feel at home.

Belle from Yogabelle, who is everything a yogi should be, and teaches at the very special Siobhan Davies Centre.

Abraham from Bouquets & Beans or Bouquets & Babyccinos as it will always be to us.

John the Kennington Baker – thanks for all the home deliveries and the exquisite bread and buns.

Everyone at the Kennington Coffee Shop, 3 Wincott St – truly the friendliest, most community-minded establishment we’ve been to in London.

William at Oxymoron at the Royal Oak – shine on you crazy beachcomber.

Sally, Mark and everyone at Sally White for the best brownies in the world, and for making Kennington even nicer.

Everyone at Vanilla Black and also Veronique for the awesome French singing classes (now at the Duchy Arms).

Andrew at Millars General Store – thanks for all the granola, Kernel and information.

Awesome hairdresser Fabian at Haus of Hair – one of the establishments we may have to travel back to Kennington to frequent.

Everyone at the Hub Coffee House, our favourite friendly place to work from, even though we are atheists.

Vivien and all the team at Toad Hall Montessori Nursery School – a home from home that we’d recommend to any parent (Florence Welch is an alumna).

All our lovely neighbours on Kennington Lane including everyone at Express Superstore, the family shop.

Thanks to Lady C from the Earl of Bedlam – our no. 1 source of local intel – and to everyone else who wrote us an email or tweet or Insta comment. We wouldn’t have done it without you.

Thanks to the surrounding areas for agreeing to being co-opted into Kennington, except Walworth who were weirdly humourless about it. And finally, thanks to Kennington for being an awesome place to live.

map of Kennington

Vanilla Black Coffee & Books

When Kennington Bookshop closed down, we campaigned for Daunt Books to take over the site, at 306-308 Kennington Road, SE11 4LD. We even polled the people of Kennington and they unanimously supported this (except for four contrarians who we suspect are estate agents from Clapham). Daunt Books, on the other hand, completely ignored us.

But no matter, because today something better opened on the site – Vanilla Black Coffee & Books (no relation to Vanilla Black the vegetarian restaurant near Chancery Lane).

Vanilla Black counter - kenningtonrunoff.om

As well as Allpress coffee and some swanky looking teas, they serve a variety of cookies, croissants, cakes and muffins including some dairy and gluten free options, and some delicious Portugese-style blueberry custard tarts.

Their breakfast options range from £3.50 to £4.20 and include rolls, croissants, porridge, yoghurts, sourdough toasts, and Scottish smoked salmon and cream cheese.

We went for lunch and, in customary Kennington Runoff style, started eating before we remembered to photograph our food, which was a hearty portion of spinach and feta filo pastry quiche with a mixture of salads for £8 (veggies beware – one of the salads contained bacon).

Vanilla Black spinach and feta quiche and salads - kenningtonrunoff.om

They also do a beetroot quiche which is really good. We’re convinced it contains plums although they don’t mention that. And they serve toasted sandwiches and a soup of the day, plus some delicious freshly blended juices.

We said the downstairs would be a surprise – and the surprise is that it’s decorated like someone’s living room, probably in Chiswick, complete with a roaring gas fire.

Vanilla Black downstairs - kenningtonrunoff.om

It’s the kind of place you could spend hours, and there’s now a toilet downstairs to help with that (also decorated like someone’s house).

As for the books, they have a small selection of new ones, including some for children, but with less of a literary emphasis than Kennington Bookshop (Game of Thrones, Dan Brown, Dawn French….):

Vanilla Black new books - kenningtonrunoff.om

They have a much bigger second hand section:

Vanilla Black second hand books - kenningtonrunoff.om

The second hand section continues downstairs where there are sections on cookery, art and photography.

You can order books from them and if you’re lucky they will get them the next day. email info@vbkennington.co.uk

They sell some very nice wrapping paper. If they could add tasteful greetings cards then we could start doing what we did with Kennington Bookshop and buying all our gifts from there (December 2015 edit – they are now selling Christmas cards). But this is already better than Kennington Bookshop, who never served blueberry custard tarts, and better than we’d dared hope.

Their opening hours as of November 2015 are Tuesday to Friday 8am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm, and Sunday 10am to 4pm (closed on Mondays).