Blackboard special
SINO, Highgate listings, summer exhibition guide, The Parakeet, Galerie Revel, Freud Cafe Bar, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Ukrainian dance
The Skinny: A chic, intimate spot showcasing high-end dishes inspired by chef Eugene Korolev’s Ukrainian heritage, SINO debuted late last month in Notting Hill, a buzzy opening on an equally buzzy street, and the latest in an influx of refined Eastern European restaurants around London.
The Vibe: Earthy tones with wood accents make the compressed space feel airy and bright. It’s a relatively small restaurant generating a burst of energy when it’s packed. Although the atmosphere’s laid back, as befits the neighborhood, there’s an upscale-casual vibe to service and the food. Because of the size of the restaurant, most tables (a few of which are outdoors) are for two or four people, something to bear in mind when booking.
The Food: After a choice of bread and butter and savory waffles topped with caviar, a starter of crayfish wrapped in cabbage kicks the meal off with a bang (the server brought a spoon to help finish the rich, bisque-like sauce). The umami-packed beef tartare is topped with crispy artichoke, doused in a porcini sabayon. The main dishes encompass a range of meat, fish, and vegetarian options, including the indulgent sauerkraut dumplings and smoked potatoes served in hay-infused cream. Pickled beet salad adds a vinegary punch on the side. Currently, there are only two desserts: The honey cake is a strong finish, while a halva is less successful.
The Drink: A solid selection of wine, including non-alcoholic options from BÆK. The cocktails are artful and delicate, and pair well with the food.
The Verdict: An effortlessly cool, delicious addition to Notting Hill’s flourishing dining scene. –Emily Zemler
→ SINO (Notting Hill) • 7 All Saints Rd • Wed-Sun 12-230p & 6-930p • Book.
LONDON RESTAURANT LINKS: Thai restaurant Singburi opening in new Shoreditch digs today • Chef Masa Takayama planning Tobi Masa at The Chancery Rosewood in Mayfair • Takeovers: Fink’s taking over Clissold Park Cafe in Stoke Newington… chefs from the Seahorse in Dartmouth taking over Donovan Bar in Mayfair this summer • Soho pub The Shaston Arms has shut.
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three for-sale properties in Highgate that recently came to market:
→ Southwood Ave (Highgate, above) • 4BR/3BA/2R, 201 m2 semi-detached house • Asking price: £2.45mn • Victorian with modern touches, chain free • Ownership type: leasehold • Agent: David Astburys.
→ View Rd (Highgate) • 4BR/2BA/2R, 211 m2 house • Guide price: £2.85mn • attached garage and circular sitting room • Ownership type: freehold • Agent: Day Morris.
→ Shepherds Hill (Highgate) • 6BR/3BA/4R, 371+ m2 semi-detached house • Guide price: £3.50mn • 85’ garden, available for 1st time in 40 years • Ownership type: freehold • Agent: Benhams & Reeves.
WORK & PLAY LINKS: Has London’s art scene hit a saturation point? • Sting’s former home in Hampstead hits the market for £12m • Report warns on soaring service charges for leaseholders • Oxford St pedestrianization going ahead • The Other House Covent Garden, opening later this year, reveals interiors • Why cigarette cases are smoking hot.
GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines
Exhibition guide, summer
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of London’s best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@foundldn.com.
Baroque Anarchist: Nor Dread Nor Hope Attend (Felstead Art), Alexandra Suvorova (aka Baroque Anarchist) presents series of paintings that reinterpret vanitas through contemporary lens, until 5 Sept
Do Ho Suh: Walk the House (Tate Modern, above), visit the artist’s home in New York through rubbings of entire apartment, and flats in Seoul recreated in organza, until 19 Oct
Jewellery Design at CSM, as part of whole school final shows, open to the public 19-22 Jun
Ugo Rondinone: The Rainbow Body (Sadie Coles HQ), figurative sculptures set against fluoro backdrops, creating site-specific works with themes of connection and suspended time, until 2 Aug
Jimmy Roberts: The Erotics of Passage (Thomas Dane Gallery), reworkings of photographs into sculptural forms, exploring memory, identity, and the intimacy of everyday gestures, until 2 Aug
Yan Pei-Ming: Wanted (Massimodecarlo), emotionally charged portraits of public and personal figures, painted with a mop-sized brush in monochromes, until 8 Aug
Damian Le Bas: Cartographer of a Fifth Dimension (Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix), solo exhibition focuses artist’s cartographic works, until 31 Jul
Kathleen Ryan: Roman Meal (Gagosian, Davies St.), discarded lemons and moldy bread turned into glittering, oversized sculptures, until 15 Aug
Derek Jarman: The Black Paintings: A Chronology, Part I 1984-1988 (Amanda Wilkinson), traces the development of the influential artist’s significant series of paintings, until 11 Jul
WORK • Wednesday Routine
Fired up
XANTHE SOMERS • ceramicist
Neighbourhood you work in: South East London
Neighbourhood you live in: Peckham Rye
It’s Wednesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
I’m in my studio with my dog, Jenga, who’s currently trailing mud in after him from a damp winter’s walk in Brockwell Park. The studio is lovely and warm from the kiln firing overnight. I'm drinking a super cup of coffee and salmon bagel from Lulu’s in Herne Hill, a delightful deli run by the same team as the fantastic neighbourhood joint Llewelyn's.
I have just moved into a new railway arch turned ceramic studio, and everything is still finding its place. I have boxes to unpack but no shelves yet. Mugs, but no kettle. The space is much bigger than my previous studio, allowing me to work on bigger, more ambitious exhibitions, but settling in will take time. Luckily, my new studio is a stone's throw from my favourite pub, The Half Moon, where I'll head this evening to have a hump day pint.
What’s on the agenda for today?
Continuing work on a hand-built, large-scale ceramic sculpture. It’s a clay vessel that resembles a grass basket which stands as tall as me. I’m interested in exploring the metaphor of weaving, examining how it can be used as a device to speak about broader social cohesion or lack thereof. The slow process of weaving clay into shape will take me a week to build, a couple more weeks to dry, and then it has two firings in the kiln. Once complete, this vessel will be shipped off to France for an exhibition at Galerie Revel in Bordeaux.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
Last week I went to a fabulous spot for dinner called The Parakeet in Kentish Town. Beautiful contemporary stained glass decor to marvel at. Delicious food. Great service. The rather fancy food is kept modest by the bustling bar and pub-like atmosphere. The braised leeks were particularly tasty.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I recently went to a live show of The News Agents. It is a political podcast that I listen to everyday in the studio. I work alone, so this helps me feel a bit more connected to what’s happening outside. It seemed a bit of a bizarre concept to have The Royal Albert Hall full to capacity to watch three journalists entertain a crowd with the current political landscape. It shows the interest out there in trying to understand and make sense of the world we are living in.
Any weekend getaways?
I went with my partner to a wedding close to Limoges in France. En route, we stopped by a tiny French village named Brantome. This picturesque town floats like an island, while the river Dronne surrounds it like a moat. There’s a magical looking restaurant, Le Moulin de l’Abbaye, that we didn’t eat at, but it’s on my list of places reserved for a very special occasion one day. Instead, we got on a bus which dropped us 10 km upstream, and we canoed slowly back down to beautiful Brantome with a bottle of rosé, some Comté, and a baguette.
What was your last great vacation?
Last year, four of us cycled from Porto to Lisbon in Portugal. It took us five days of big hills and hard work but the reward was the constant comfort of pasteis de natas, kind people, cheap beer, and long summer evenings spent on the beach. My highlight along the way was stopping at the medieval walled-town of Obidos. Its labyrinthine, cobbled streets are all full of delicious eateries and restaurants. We ate at Jamon Jamon. After lunch, we walked the full length of the castle wall around the town and got a view of the vineyards and Atlantic Ocean.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
Not that new anymore, but couldn’t live without my kiln called Freddie!
GETAWAYS LINKS: In Kings Cross, St Pancras London rebrands, joins Autograph Collection • ‘Split House’ hits the market for £2.25m in Berkshire countryside • Belmond’s storied Splendito reopens in Portofino following elaborate revamp • Rocco Forte’s Munich hotel The Charles completes makeover • On vacation in France, finding pleasure in the good-enough.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Levitating
Santana • The O2 (Peninsula Square) • Sat @ 6p • section 111, £112 per
Dua Lipa • Wembley Stadium (Wembley) • Sat @ 7p • lower 101, £188 per
HSBC Championships • Men’s Final • The Queen’s Club (Kensington) • Sun @ 11a • section 11, £454 per
BARS • First Round
Mummy issues
In a minimalist concrete basement in the heart of theatreland, Freud has been serving strong drinks at decent prices since 1986. It claims to be ‘Britain’s first cafe-bar,’ and while that’s no longer a revolutionary idea, there still aren’t many places doing it better than Freud. The art on the wall is ever-changing (and for sale), but the drinks list displayed on a towering blackboard behind the bar and the crowd have, over the years, stayed much the same.
That blackboard may as well be the Rosetta Stone of mixology. It’s occasionally updated, but if you ask for anything off-menu, odds are Freud’s experienced bartenders will make it without batting an eyelid. Established classics like daiquiris, Manhattans, and sidecars rub shoulders with white ladies, june bugs, and cheeky monkeys. Every base spirit or liqueur has its own section of the blackboard, and (from many evenings of research), I can heartily endorse the zombie, Jamaican mule, and holy Freud.
Clock the ivy-covered facade, descend the narrow iron staircase and (unless you have a show to get to) work your way down that blackboard, and stick around for much longer than intended. –David Bard
→ Freud Cafe Bar • (Covent Garden) • 198 Shaftesbury Ave • Sun-Fri 4p-late, Sat 12p-late.
ASK FOUND
Three PROMPTS for which we continue to seek intel:
What is your favourite London flower shop (or flower delivery service)?
Who’s your go-to tailor?
What’s your Restaurant of the Summer?
Got answers or more questions? Hit reply or email found@foundldn.com.