Steven Marshall artist | cheriecity.co.uk

The Long Table Night Market, Dalston

December 11, 2011 by cheriecity

East London has its fair share of great food markets, but The Long Table brings a new concept to Dalston – a night market with live performance, DJs and a bar with heated seating.

The Long Table is a collaboration between creative enterprise Bootstrap Company (Dalston Rooftop Gardens) and The Loft Project founded by Viajante chef Nuno Mendes and his partner Clarise Faria.

Every Friday, up until Christmas (and hopefully beyond, if they can be pesuaded), The Long Table will occupy a disused space behind Cafe Oto and Arcola Theatre and serves dishes from the best street food vendors and guest restaurants, up until midnight.

Last night, after Steven’s private view at Specs Gallery we paid a late-night trip to the market for some celebratory food. We hadn’t anticipated standing in a queue in the cold for almost 30 minutes, although this probably isn’t an uncommon sight in Dalston (it is the land of the secret bars/clubs and warehouse parties, after all).

The scene started to get tense as blaggers claimed to know the DJ/chefs/organisers to bypass the queue and two guys were unceremoniously kicked out for attempting to stride past security. This is just how much everyone wanted to get a place at The Long Table, but don’t even try to charm or strop your way past security, they won’t entertain any diva behaviour!

When the time came, those of us who patiently waited were rewarded with a foodie wonderland that was part carnival, part après-ski party. You can wander around the food stalls and choose from well-priced dishes to eat under the heated canopy, if you can find a spot.

When we visited, the street food vendors included The Loft Project, St John Bread & Wine, Moro, Big Apple Hotdogs, Lucky Chip, The Bowler, Le Petit Paris, L.A Sueño, House of Umami, Yum Bun, Lily Vanilli and many more…

We were most tempted by Big Apple Hotdogs, a local legend that food bloggers have even taken the day off work to visit (now that’s commitment, A Rather Unusual Chinaman)!

Run by Abiye from a cart based at Old Street, Big Apple Hotdogs are handmade in London, using natural casing and only the good cuts of free range pork and beef.

We chose The Big Frank (£5), a huge frankfurter made from pork, topped with fried onions and grilled to perfection. The thick, crispy skin bursts on the first bite, letting all the delicious meat juices flow. Unliked manufactured hot dogs, our Big Apple hot dogs were rich, well-seasoned and filled with large individual pieces of meat.

The plan was to follow with some cake or macarons but we were tempted by the Croque Monsieurs (£3) at Le Petit Paris. Made with lots of bechamel, gooey Gruyère, nutmeg, black pepper and butter-fried thin bread, these croques were the most authentic I’ve ever had in London and possibly in Paris! They come in four squares with cocktail sticks, making them easy to munch on standing up.

Le Petit Paris appears at food markets across London, although I’m hoping they might consider opening a permanent cafe, so that London Frenchies can get their Croque fix easily.

It may be cold and you might have to queue, but The Long Table is so worth a visit! Just down a few glasses of mulled wine or Lily Vanilli’s absinthe hot chocolate, make some new friends at the table and get dancing to keep out the chill. It’s the most fun you could ever have at a food market!

The Long Table is open every Friday until Christmas, from 6pm-12 on Abbot Street, Dalston.

Art, London

Hindsight at Specs Gallery

December 6, 2011 by cheriecity

Following the success of debut exhibition, memo, earlier this year, pop up pioneers Specs Gallery returns with Hindsight, hosted in an abandoned office space on Oxford Street.

Hindsight explores issues surrounding the city’s social, political and urban landscape, offering a thought-provoking alternative to a conventional gallery setting.

Hindsight will feature new works by London-based visual artists John Greene, James Voller and Monsieur Chéri himself, Steven Marshall.

Hindsight will be at Specs Gallery from 10-20 December with private views on 8 and 9 December (invitation only).

To attend one of the private views, RSVP with guest names to: info@specsgallery.co.uk

London, Restaurants

Restaurants In Residence: Bistrotheque 88*

August 2, 2011 by cheriecity

Bistrotheque pop up restaurants have become legendary in London and always sell out immediately, so I was overjoyed to be invited by Champagne G.H Mumm to attend a dinner at Bistrotheque’s latest pop up 88* – part of Create London’s month-long Restaurants in Residence programme.

Not only did we have the privilege to attend the dinner at a secret Canary Wharf location, but we arrived there in typical lavishly 80s style – on a champagne speed boat!

A small group of us met at Westminster Pier and zoomed down The Thames to Canary Wharf with the dashing David Waddington and our very own Bistrotheque champagne master.

Clutching a glass of Mumm Cordon Rouge and trying not to fall overboard, we made it to Canary Wharf and teetered down the side of the motorway still holding a glass of champagne (the two vans of police obviously had bigger concerns than louche public champagne quaffers) and arrived at a brightly coloured, retro office tower block that is soon to meet its demolition fate (but not before one last hurrah).

Downstairs was a Mexican photography exhibition and we had to brave a shonky lift that insisted on speaking in a computerised drawl to us before deigning to move. The 88 venue was major eighties with a chequered black and white lino floor, huge graphic slogans on the walls, neon pink tubes and office paraphernalia – even the tables were named after office supplies.

It reminded me of Monsieur Cheri’s debut art exhibition, Memo, with Specs Gallery, where the group show was held in a huge disused office space just off the Old Street roundabout. At Memo, we drank red wine (I wish it had been G.H Mumm champagne) from water coolers, paying homage to the purpose of the building.

As expected from Bistrotheque, the waiting and bar staff were suitably charming and good-looking, with uniforms overseen exclusively for the event by Giles Deacon.

It would be easy to write off the 1980s as one big spread of Findus Crispy Pancakes, Angel Delight, fruit cocktail and pineapple upside down cake, but the Canary Wharf yuppies, living it up on huge expense accounts, were more likely to be feasting on the posh delights on the Mediterranean-influenced menu at 88*.

Bistrotheque cites now legendary restaurants The River Cafe, Bibendum and The Walnut Tree as influences and the menu reflects their huge impact on making British restaurants more cosmopolitan.

On arrival, we headed to the terrace for a few glasses of Mumm Cordon Rouge and then it was time to begin the ‘historical’ feast. We grazed on plates of crisp bruschetta with scrumptious sharing bowls of marinated artichokes, red peppers and olives, tapenade and fresh tomato and basil.

The champagne menu began with a glass of G.H Mumm Cordon Rouge NV, their signature blend. My Parisian friend Coralie first introduced me to Mumm champagne as a gift when she came to stay with me and ever since, Mumm has reminded me of her – she clearly has great taste!

G.H Mumm Cordon Rouge is a crisp champagne with light bubbles, lots of fruitiness and a warm hint of vanilla.

The Salt Duck arrived on another sharing plate and was served chilled with pickled gooseberries. The duck was rich, meaty and succulent and the gooseberries added an interesting tart flavour.

When I saw Rice and Peas on the menu, I presumed we’d be tucking into some Caribbean comfort food, but it was actually more like a creamy parmesan risotto with fresh peas (not like the usual 80s frozen ones). It was gooey and delicious, although the rice was a little under-cooked (not quite al dente). This was matched with G.H Mumm Rosé.

Speculating about what on earth a ‘coquelet’ is, Chris Pople came up with the description of a ‘teenage chicken’. Cue lots of jokes around the table about a sulky, temperamental bird.

The roast coquelet was nicely seasoned, sized between a poussin and a regular chicken and very tasty. It lost some of its juiciness by the time it was served and the skin could have been crisper (this teen chick had a bit of an attitude problem), but this could be to do with the kitchen facilities, being a pop up and all…

It was still a delicious main course, but I have Bistrotheque’s incredible signature half roast chicken with garlic to compare it to.

The Rocket with Parmesan was lovingly mixed at the table and it was extremely tasty for such a simple side. It was served with G.H Mumm de Cramant Blanc de Blanc.

The Pavlova laden with starfruit slices and berries with lashing of fresh vanilla cream was a 1988 triumph. The humble Pavlova later morphed into Eaton Mess (apparently a long tradition), as foodies found it way more chic to deconstruct the fanciness of the Pavlova.

This was matched with my favourite of the champagnes G.H Mumm Demi-Sec, a full-bodied dessert champagne with a fresh honeyed citrus finish.

As if the magnificent Pavlova wasn’t enough, we were plied with more cream – Tiramisu and an Espresso Martini shot. This just added to the 80s excess of the evening and was a good way to finish, even if I was bouncing off the ceiling all night from the double espresso intake!

My first Bistrotheque pop up experience was as fabulous as expected and it was great to try all of the different kinds of G.H Mumm champagnes – my new favourite is the demi-sec. I’m also now determined to finally strike Bistrotheque brunch off my ‘to do’ list, especially if there’s champagne involved!

For more info and menus, visit: www.bistrotheque.com