zoe d.

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My new header….

zoe d. posted an article on - Dec 11, 2009, 3:40 am
A huge thanks for my lovely new header goes to Edwin Lynch, a filmmaker, writer, teacher and webmeister from West Australia who designed it for me – and gave me lots of sound advice earlier this yea...
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Everyone else is doing it so I am too… best books of 2009

zoe d. posted an article on - Dec 9, 2009, 10:34 am
This year I wrote down every novel I read. I wanted to see how many I get through, and have a record. I’ve read some great books over the years that I would like to revisit but only remember fra...
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Friday, sunshine, stuff to do in East London this weekend

zoe d. posted an article on - Dec 4, 2009, 9:27 am
Thank god for the sun shining today. I thought I had lived here long enough that the weather no longer affected my mood, but what a difference a bit of sun makes to the public morale. Strangers smilin...
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The Turkish Food Centre in Dalston & a recipe

zoe d. posted an article on - Dec 2, 2009, 2:06 am
Sometimes I get annoyed when Prince Charles bangs on about how everyone should eat properly. It’s easy for him to say, isn’t it? I’d eat pretty well too if I owned half the bloody We...
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Sophie Calle: Talking to Strangers at the Whitechapel Gallery

zoe d. posted an article on - Nov 30, 2009, 4:40 am
Hell hath no powers of analysis like a woman dumped. That, anyway, is the message I got from Sophie Calle’s exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery. Calle has made a career out of recording her journe...
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Ed's Shed in De Beauvoir Town by David Adjaye

zoe d. posted an article on - Nov 25, 2009, 2:31 pm
                    If you’ve visited The Idea Store in Whitechapel or the Dirty House and Rivington Place (here’s my review) in...
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The Brick Lane Bagel Shop

zoe d. posted an article on - Nov 17, 2009, 7:56 am
When I first moved to London someone told me that this is where you can get ‘the best bagels in the world’. I have since been informed by a born-and-bred New Yorker (in extremely weary ton...
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A walk to the Vietnamese cafes, Kingsland Road

zoe d. posted an article on - Nov 12, 2009, 9:32 am
The Vietnamese restaurants along Kingsland Road are legendary. And somehow, the competition means they all – at least of the seven or so I have tried – are excellent and honestly priced. Usually, ...
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Mysterious windows on Bethnal Green Road

zoe d. posted an article on - Nov 10, 2009, 10:45 am
It’s damn near impossible to make it to the end of Bethnal Green Road without stopping for a snack. Even the fried chicken shops sell curries and shish kebabs, and the smell is so delicious I us...
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Doll houses at the Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green

zoe d. posted an article on - Nov 7, 2009, 12:10 pm
It’s thanks to good old-fashioned lobbying that East London has the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood at all. Part of the V&A, it’s a beautiful open-plan museum on Cambridge Heath Road, just n...
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I still haven't found what I'm looking for….

zoe d. posted an article on - Nov 5, 2009, 11:17 am
One of the most interesting things about keeping a blog is the search box. This is where you see what phrase or word someone has typed into google that has led them to your particular corner of the in...
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The band stand at Arnold Circus in Bethnal Green

zoe d. posted an article on - Oct 30, 2009, 1:32 pm
Well it’s a spooky, gloomy time of year, so I thought I’d mention the bandstand at Arnold Circus. It always strikes me as such an eerie place. It was built in the 1890s on top of a mound o...
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Graffiti spot of the day: Kitten at Garner Street's black palace

zoe d. posted an article on - Oct 29, 2009, 9:05 am
 Although not a cat person I think this little painting is quite lovely, and I do hope the council overlooks it. It’s painted onto the wall of what I think of as the black palace, a big warehou...
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More Aussie coffee at Wilton's on Wilton Way

zoe d. posted an article on - Oct 28, 2009, 5:18 am
The steady, determined and very welcome march of Australian baristas into the deepest corners of Hackney continues. First there was Climpson and Sons in Broadway Market. Then came Tina, We Salute You ...
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Seizure by Roger Hiorns at Elephant and Castle

zoe d. posted an article on - Oct 27, 2009, 12:54 pm
Another south-east London dispatch, this time to a soon-to-be-demolished council flat in at 157 Harper Road in Elephant and Castle, which has been transformed by artist Roger Hiorns into a grotto of b...
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I'm now on Twitter

zoe d. posted an article on - Oct 27, 2009, 8:40 am
Here’s my feed… trying to get the widget thing sorted but not quite there yet.  http://twitter.com/eastlondonlocal  
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Queue-jumping city banker rant

zoe d. posted an article on - Oct 23, 2009, 10:42 am
I’ve mentioned before the fact that there are very few free cashpoints in East London. It’s just one of those irritating little facts of life. Mare Street has a few around the council buil...
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Ralf Obergfell's Beautiful Freaks at Dalston Superstore

zoe d. posted an article on - Oct 21, 2009, 8:44 am
 I’m planning another foray into the nightlife of Dalston soon to mark (but definitely not celebrate) the departure of yet another friend to sunnier shores and will be taking my makeup inspirat...
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Blueprint magazine at the Wapping Project

zoe d. posted an article on - Oct 16, 2009, 11:13 am
So I finally made it to the Wapping Project. It’s a former power station that’s been converted into a restaurant and exhibition space in – funnily enough – Wapping, which is right on the Thame...
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John Irving at the Southbank

zoe d. posted an article on - Oct 14, 2009, 6:41 am
So today we are taking a slight detour south of the river, as one of my favourite late childhood authors, John Irving, was making a rare UK appearance at the Southbank to promote his new novel, Last N...
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A hive of activity at Cafe Oto in Dalston

zoe d. posted an article on - Oct 8, 2009, 1:25 pm
Is this the office of the future? I certainly wouldn’t complain. It’s amazing to see how many people run their working lives from cafes these days. I have never really liked the idea of taking...
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Menu & sticky toffee pudding in Shoreditch

zoe d. posted an article on - Oct 5, 2009, 3:44 am
After spending the last three years adrift in the culinary wasteland that is White City, it’s quite a shock to be somewhere with decent cafes to try out on a lunch break when I’m selling ...
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Boris Johnson on Eastenders

zoe d. posted an article on - Oct 2, 2009, 11:24 am
Just wondering what anyone else thought of Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, appearing on Eastenders? There does seem to have been some criticism, but as always with Boris, it’s so ridiculous tha...
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The Geffrye Museum, Kingsland Road

zoe d. posted an article on - Oct 1, 2009, 3:14 am
The Geffrye Museum on Kingsland Road is devoted to exhibiting the ‘interiors of the middle classes’. Set within an old almshouse (which is also open on the first Saturday of the month), the long n...
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Putting faces to places

zoe d. posted an article on - Sep 30, 2009, 3:49 am
During Open House a couple of weekends ago we noticed that the nearby Haggerston estate, which looked like it was being vacated for eventual demolition, had photos on some of the windows. And then jus...
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London Open House & Adelaide Wharf

zoe d. posted an article on - Sep 21, 2009, 2:44 am
This weekend was London Open House, which is when you get a chance to sniff around some of the city’s buildings, and see for yourself what makes them special. I have gone past Adelaide Wharf on...
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Royal Mail, and the snapping of one's mind

zoe d. posted an article on - Sep 14, 2009, 10:58 am
Sometimes I despair. So much so that it becomes funny. For example, today at the post office. I got there at 3.15pm, so frankly I had it coming, but still. There is a bloke – floppy hair, skinny jea...
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Opening of the Savoy Cafe

zoe d. posted an article on - Sep 4, 2009, 4:56 pm
Although Hackney Council has done some pretty dumb things lately– and for a more articulate discussion of that particular drama, head over to Ms Baroque’s blog – they have started a regenera...
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The message – a short story

zoe d. posted an article on - Sep 3, 2009, 4:30 pm
The waiting room was empty, the air ripe with an earthy, yet somehow pleasant smell. November sunshine lit up the shiny vinyl floor and the green benches, which were arranged around a coffee table pil...
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Something for the long weekend

zoe d. posted an article on - Aug 27, 2009, 6:26 am
So much on this weekend, and so many people hit the road to leave London, giving the rest of us a bit of breathing space. Here are some suggestions….. You’re probably way too late to book...
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Who was that very talented saxophonist at Passing Clouds?

zoe d. posted an article on - Aug 26, 2009, 10:44 am
I finally got around to visiting Passing Clouds a few weeks back. It’s in an unmarked warehouse beside the train tracks just off Kingsland Road, and we stumbled along in the dark for a little wh...
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Baroque in Hackney on East London

zoe d. posted an article on - Aug 24, 2009, 9:12 am
One of the things I like about Baroque in Hackney is that she isn’t afraid to be honest. She once made a comment about ‘middle-class guilt flying around like shit in a fan factory’ t...
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Briefly

zoe d. posted an article on - Aug 12, 2009, 4:40 pm
Sorry for not writing much lately. There’s been a flurry of international visitors, a battering of the Visa Electron and many a light-hearted exchange in the past few weeks. Oh, and a bit of ...
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Steak at Buen Ayre Argentinean restaurant, Broadway Market

zoe d. posted an article on - Aug 5, 2009, 10:54 am
Buen Ayre in Broadway Market is quite the red-blooded experience. The waiters are full of vim –  no obsequious, waif-like simpering here. And from the moment you book, it’s made clear that yo...
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The Dalston Mill at Dalston Lane…

zoe d. posted an article on - Jul 30, 2009, 2:09 pm
Here are some photos of the Dalston Mill, which is open for a short time on an empty block of land just opposite the massive Barratts housing development. You can admire the wheat field, buy drinks, l...
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Opening party of the East London Design Bureau in Clapton

zoe d. posted an article on - Jul 27, 2009, 4:26 pm
Poor old architects were hit rather hard by the slump, and many a London circle of friends has thrown a gloomy going-away party  as a result. For those with citizenship elsewhere it’s often mea...
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Overheard…

zoe d. posted an article on - Jul 15, 2009, 1:31 pm
First of all, cramming onto a packed train from Highbury & Islington to Dalston Kingsland and someone muttering ‘About 12 people on this train probably have swine flu‘. Really not a nice ...
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Tony's juice stall on Broadway Market

zoe d. posted an article on - Jul 10, 2009, 5:58 pm
If you’re heading to Broadway Market today, my personal tip is a fresh juice from Tony’s stall. Tony Platia ran Francesca’s Cafe for some 30  years until his shop was sold to a deve...
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