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Game

June 19, 2009 18 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized

Another day, another TV researcher asking

“Do you think we could pick your brains? Come film? Find out everything you know?”

“Sure. What’s the fee?”

“Oh I’m afraid we don’t have a budget.”

Why the fuck not? They are getting paid aren’t they? To send people like me, people who actually know what they are talking about, begging emails.
Or maybe not. One I spoke to today said, when I suggested that he book for the restaurant if he really wanted to know what it’s like, said

“Oh I can’t afford it”

You work in TV and you haven’t got 25 quid to book a place? What’s that about?

At least four TV companies are doing a show…all of them variations on the theme ‘Home dining’.“We get couples to open a restaurant in their living room” the researchers announce gleefully, reinventing the wheel.
‘Come dine with me’ is a huge success. They want a different but similar concept. Really similar. Nothing too different. It’s like a scene from The Player.
Nobody has actually done a show on (newly) established home restaurants. You know why? Because authenticity is not the name of the game here.

“haha I’m not a documentary maker” said the impoverished young ‘producer’ “I make entertainment. In fact you probably wouldn’t be very good for our show. You are too professional. It’s all about the journey you see. We want viewers to engage with the journey. You are further along the journey. We want tears, frustration, panic. 24 hours to turn your home into a restaurant. That kind of thing”.

The journey? I inwardly groan. Do none of these people have an original thought in their heads?
You want a journey? I’ll give you journey. I’m a single mum. A real one. No hidden bloke. No training. No money. This recession? Don’t make me laugh. I’ve spent years without money. I’ve also spent years making my flat nice by picking up furniture off the street, crockery from flea markets. I learnt to cook because I couldn’t afford to go to restaurants. A year ago I took out an extra mortgage to fulfill a long held dream…an Aga. I thought, how old do I have to be before I can have what I want? Just do it.Find the money somehow.
In 2000, the year I moved into this flat, fleeing my Camden studio flat for a larger space in which to bring up my child, I turned on the TV one night. I’d been clearing the jungle-like garden all day. My hands were like claws, dirt ingrained in them.
Exhausted, I numbly flipped channels. On Channel 4 there was this weird programme. A bunch of young people, some in bikinis, sitting about in a house.
One of them was coming out with this story about his wife dying in a car crash or something. He was sweating.
Cut to another scene. The young people go to a little room, in turns, sit on a big chair, talk to the camera. They are unselfconscious, natural. And even when they are unnatural, they are natural. They talk about their problems with the others, about boredom. It’s sunny outside.
At first I was tempted to turn over. The pace was slow. It was all a bit dull. But it grew on you. Watching it was a Zen experience. You were watching nothing, minutiae. It was rather soothing. One of the guys had a guitar. One of the girls flirted. One woman, who turned out to be a lesbian nun, came across as thoughtful and intelligent, a rare thing on TV. Another of the boys was Northern, with an impenetrable Newcastle accent.
I found myself watching it every night. I started to feel sorry for the Northern boy. He was ‘nominated’ to leave every week by the housemates but always kept in when it came to the viewer’s vote. He seemed nice but was obviously irritating to live with.
The sweaty guy continued to lie. He got caught. There was a confrontation. He said to the camera in the diary room, memorably “if you live by the sword you die by the sword”. It was a bravura display of ‘Je ne regrette rien’.
Along with me, the rest of the country had also gradually become interested. In fact, bit by bit, we were all watching these young people. And what was so delicious about it is, they clearly had no idea. At one point helicopters, paid for, I believe, by The Sun newspaper, flew over the house, trying to get a glimpse into what was happening inside. The ‘housemates’ inside, remarked upon the circulating helicopters, oblivious to the fact that they were the story.
This was great TV. It was never as good afterwards. These contestants were virgins. Every following series included inmates that had had their TV cherry popped, with all the knowing and degrading complicity that goes with that.
I stopped watching.
Last week another series started. We are now post-Jade, the ignorant girl who made a million, ruined her reputation in public and resussitated it by dying.
But they cranked it up again. My daughter turned it on for the opening episode in which the chosen housemates enter the house. Once assembled, Big Brother called a male contestant into the diary room.

“If you want to become a housemate you must find someone who is willing to have their eyebrows shaved off and have glasses and a moustache drawn on them with an indelible pen. You have three minutes.”

He ran out of the diary room, breathless, explained. One girl, an attractive black girl, volunteered. He shaved her eyebrows, drew on the funny glasses and moustache. Except it wasn’t funny. It was Abu Ghraib. Degradation. Exploitation. Removal of identity. In this era of economic difficulty, when young people are most likely nervous about their future, the dreadful prospect of working very very hard for very very little money in boring jobs, Big Brother was laughing at them for aspiring to be something more. And encouraging us to do the same.
Hahaha. Aren’t you ridiculous? We are supposed to think. How desperate are you?
I don’t feel that way. I feel cringing embarrassment, shame. These young people, some of them little older than my daughter, exposed and ridiculed. Forever known as ‘that Big Brother contestant’.
It’s ‘They shoot horses don’t they?’ the book by Horace McCoy in which depression era couples, starving, must dance for days on end, the rules preventing them from proper sleep.
And now every TV programme is like that. Competance, grace, talent is not enough. TV wants “the journey”. Ask Susan Boyle.

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Comments

  1. Canal Explorer

    June 19, 2009 at 10:32 pm

    'Our' Craig was not from Newcastle, he was from Liverpool.

    The narration was generally in North East speak though. The latest Private Eye (1238, p10) refers to reality TV shows with "laconic commentary – now such a familiar part of the reality genre that you hear it in a Geordie accent even when it isn't spoken in one"

    Totally agree about the first series being so much more compelling than the subsequent ones because the housemates really had no idea what to expect or what was happening on the outside. I can't see many of the people that were in the first series ever applying if they had seen the programme previously, and that's why they were so interesting. Except maybe "Calorine".

    Reply
  2. fingersandtoes

    June 19, 2009 at 10:41 pm

    The TV researchers are probably unpaid interns.

    Reply
  3. attributenow

    June 19, 2009 at 11:21 pm

    Excellent post. I know some people in TV feel like they aren't paid well (I was there once) – but you genuinely know what "not having any money" means when you're no longer "gainfully" employed in the media but doing odd jobs to get by.

    I like that your post illustrates the lack of compassion for that exists in the entertainment industry for the human condition. Just watched Ciaron(sp?) get evicted tonight and was appalled at the hard time he received. Give our youth some bloody credit!!

    Reply
  4. Andy Lynes

    June 20, 2009 at 12:09 am

    Oh God, I can't tell you how sick I am of "the journey". When did expertise or even competance become a dirty word? That said, I do love Come Dine With Me with a passion but that's despite the woeful cooking and all about the weapons-grade emotions on display.

    Reply
  5. Matt

    June 20, 2009 at 11:06 am

    There's been so little press about this series of BB it's clear Endemol have finally woken up to the fact that no-one cares anymore and they won't spend any money promoting it.

    It's so sad how people's lives are always negatively affected by this – how many BB contestants do you go to see doing something very worthwhile afterwards rather than spill out of nightclubs for a bit then disappear back to where they came?

    Reply
  6. Scarlett the Heavenly Healer

    June 20, 2009 at 11:42 am

    Great post.
    I completely understand the frustration of other people taking your ideas for free and making a load of money from their over-produced homogenised version. The pretenders won't stick around though. What you do is hard graft and as such has to be passion-driven or it can't be sustained. You will be around for a long time while others may come and go.

    Reply
  7. Animal Disco

    June 21, 2009 at 7:29 am

    ML, you're living 'the journey' (and, thanks to this blog, you allow some of us to live it with you). Many of those reality TV contestants haven't got any particular destination in mind. Loads of media industry workers have what people like you and I would consider to be 'real' money, but they, in turn, are comparing what's in their own wallets (or bank accounts, etc) to what those 'above' them have got – or appear to have. Their journey – which, oddly enought, is similar to the 'journey' of those in the BB house – is a search to establish some sort of place in the world which they haven't yet even thought about, let alone started to reach.

    Sorry, I'm rambling a bit, but your post moved me. You're not 'Come Dine With Me'. Your restaurant is not reality TV show fodder. You've arrived; don't let people you don't even know (or need) hitch a ride.

    Reply
  8. Rog T

    June 21, 2009 at 2:59 pm

    Hey Miss M,

    Great post & great comments. As I run a music studio, I periodically get contacted by TV companies on the look out for "new talent". If they say they are looking for people with genuine talent who need a break we talk, that's my job, helpin bands & musicians.

    Usually they are looking for potential TV car crashes who they can humiliate. They get told to f*ck off.

    Simple rule, works fine

    Reply
  9. Mister Trippy

    June 21, 2009 at 7:02 pm

    I've lost count of how many TV and film people have thought I'd be pleased to do stuff for them for free… despite the fact that unlike them I don't have a regular wage. And when being 'for the journey' is used to sell banking products, I know I prefer time travel! Keep on keepin' on!

    Reply
  10. Anonymous

    June 22, 2009 at 6:24 am

    Finally followed the link from HPANWO to here…and I have only read the first post here…but you write beautifully, and with insight. I look forward to reading more. Isn't reading a blog for the first time like 'going back in time'? You start with today and then work backwards….bizarre!

    Reply
  11. Anonymous

    June 22, 2009 at 6:26 am

    But then it says that you have to 'approve' the comments…Hmmmmmm….

    Reply
  12. theundergroundrestaurant

    June 22, 2009 at 6:37 am

    Anon, thank you for the compliment. Interesting point about going back in time.
    I think most bloggers enable the approve comments facility because you can get a lot of spam. Blogs such as Emerald Bile though publish all the spam which is rather funny.
    I think I've only ever rejected about two comments, when it was obvious they were from somebody I had a personal connection with and who had a particular axe to grind that was nothing to do with the blog.
    After all, one of the great aspects of this type of format is the interactivity. I welcome differing points of views as long as they are either amusingly or politely expressed.
    Hope to read more comments from you…
    Thanks everybody for your comments on this post. It's really heartening.

    Reply
  13. CheekyDani

    June 30, 2009 at 6:30 am

    Been reading you for a while but not sure if I've actually left a comment as of yet. I've had this post open in my browser for some time but without time to actually write anything. Anyway here I am finally!

    Like you I'm pretty fed up with reality type TV shows – what sort of reality is it really showing?! After the first Big Brother – which I did enjoy and find myself getting gripped by – I have found subsequent BBs and other reality shows tedious. But also, I run my own business, it's in a fairly trendy industry where at times you can end up rubbing shoulders with the odd celeb. I've worked hard and long to get here, at times giving up basics of life (like food!) so the business would survive. However since reality TV has shown how easy it is to be a star, I've received endless requests from youngsters barely out of high school and completely inexperienced and underqualified thinking they can step into the limelight via my business because they like doing what we do and their friends say they're good at it. Yeah. Reality. Sure.

    Anyway, thanks for the great post x

    Reply
  14. Ben Emlyn-Jones

    July 2, 2009 at 11:24 am

    Is this comment visible, ML? For some reason whenever I try to access Ms Marmitelover the page crashes! Weird and annoying! It only happens on my home PC.

    Reply
  15. G.H.

    July 3, 2009 at 6:59 pm

    Great Post!!
    Love your blog.

    http://confessions-of-a-waitress.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  16. theundergroundrestaurant

    July 4, 2009 at 12:04 am

    Thanks for your comments…very encouraging
    x

    Reply
  17. Ben Emlyn-Jones

    July 9, 2009 at 7:48 am

    Good post, ML. I deeply despise Reality TV. That programme you're referring to is one of the worst. One of the other contestants in the house also had to agree to change her name to "Dogface". How many people apart from me can see the inhumanity of that. It shocked me that the contestant's mother came on the show to proudly state that she'd be calling her daughter that in future after she left the house. It's so sinister yet the Great British Public are lapping it up! I've become convinced that TV shows like this have both contributed to behavior like that of the Abu Graib warders, and also the public's lack of reaction to it. "So what if some prisoners have been tortured?" I hear. "They'll be interviewed by Davina McCall next week". We've been indoctrinated by Reality TV and Soap Operas to, in the words of David Halpin, see the intolerable as normal.

    I've just found out what an Aga is, ML. I've heard you talk about it, but never really knew what you meant. Was it really that expensive? I know what a passion you have for cuisine so it must have been worth it for you.

    Reply
  18. Clare

    August 2, 2009 at 7:33 pm

    This is exactly why I hate most Tv programmes and newspaper articles… and why I am reading your blog instead.

    It seems so pretentious to think that they can dupe people with a 'journey'. I think people want genuiness above all. We're not stupid!

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

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msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Got the sewing machine out last night and hemmed t Got the sewing machine out last night and hemmed the top of these toile de jouey curtains in my summer house shed. The days are lengthening a little which brightens up my mood. Self care= trying to get up and washed. Trying to leave the house once a day. Keeping my hands busy. Finding small ways to be creative. #coronaloner #sewingmachine #curtains #shedsofinstagram #sheshed #springiscoming #supperclub #stayingsane #selfcare #lockdown3
Pasta aglio olio. I’m turning into a vampire. I Pasta aglio olio. I’m turning into a vampire. I get up later and later every day. I’m living in a twilight world- dim skies, getting nothing done. Next week it’s my birthday and every year I’m at my lowest ebb just before my birthday. Lockdown on your own is tough. My motivation, my mojo has disappeared. #lockdown3 #coronaloner #pastadinner #nofilter #january2021 #januarychallenge #selfemployedwomen #single #aquarius #0degrees
On the heath on Sunday. Must. Walk. More. #coronal On the heath on Sunday. Must. Walk. More. #coronaloner
Tonight’s lockdown dinner with my bubble. Proper Tonight’s lockdown dinner with my bubble. Proper pesto alla genovese with trofie, small boiled salad potatoes, steamed green beans (good tip: steam the beans in a colander plopped on top of the potatoes or pasta), good quality pesto sauce ( mine from local microbakery @seansloaf ), good olive oil (@pomoragoodfood), torn fresh basil, a few pine nuts. This turns this student dish into a balanced meal of carbs, veg and a little protein.  It’s cold outside, I’ve lit the fire. Covid rages in Kilburn high road in north west london. The rate is 1 in 30 london wide but I feel it’s higher in this poor inner london area. We have a high BAME population who are particularly vulnerable. It’s a little bit anarchic on my high street: cars perched on kerbs waiting for hijabi women, braving pound shops and Aldi . We are all covered up now. In winter masks keep your face warm, but you have a choice between safety and being able to see. I’ve not managed to prevent the inevitable steaming up of my glasses when wearing a mask. Nothing works.  #january #londonwinter #pestopasta #pestoallagenovese #vegetarian #pasta #trofie #supperclub #covid_19 #lockdownlife #lockdown3 #bubblegang
Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Mi Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Minus Crown and king as I cannot find either. This one is made with Tonka bean. Plus homemade puff pastry (well worth the effort). According to ike delorenzo at The Atlantic:  The tonka bean, a flat, wrinkled legume from South America with an outsize flavor that the US government has declared illegal. Nonetheless, it proliferates on elite American menus. The tiniest shavings erupt in a Broceliande of transporting, mystical aromas.
The taste of the tonka bean is linked strongly to its scent. "Scents," I should say, as the tonka bean has many at once. I register the aromas of vanilla, cherry, almond, and something spicy—a bit like cinnamon. When served cold—say, in tonka bean ice cream—the taste is like a vanilla caramel with dark honey. When warm, perhaps shaved over scallops, it moves toward spiced vanilla. Additionally, the aroma of the tonka bean shavings (it's almost always shaved) is so affecting that it seems like an actual taste in the way that opium, which has no taste in the traditional sense, "tastes" like its rich, flowery smoke.  Here is the recipe: 

Tonka bean galette des rois

Serves 8
Ingredients
* 140 g caster sugar
* 125 g salted butter, softened
* 100 g ground almonds
* 2 eggs, medium
* 1 tonka bean, grated
* 2 packs ready made butter puff pastry on a roll
* 1 yolk for brushing the pastry
Instructions
* Preheat your oven to 200c.

* Blend the butter with the sugar then add the almonds. Make sure it’s well mixed. Add in the 2 eggs one at a time, then add the tonka bean.

* If using a block: divide the puff pastry into two and roll out to 5mm thick. 
* Make two circles about 15 cm’s each in diameter. Lay one circle on a silicone mat/parchment paper on a baking tray and fill with the almond cream leaving a 3 cm border around the edge. 
* Paint the border with the egg yolk. Then lay the other circle on top, sealing the edges with a fork. 
* You could then carve designs into the top. Make a little slit in the middle to let steam escape then brush the top with the egg yolk
Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. T Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. This is a vegan version. ***

Ingredients:
- 400 g box of soft tofu not silken
- 5 soaked dried shiitake mushrooms, diced, keep water
- 1 red bell pepper, finely sliced
- 400 g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced thinly
- 400 ml vegetable stock
- 1 thumb fresh ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 tbsps groundnut or vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp fermented bean paste
- 1 or 2 small red chillies, minced or a spoonful of Chinese chilli paste
- 1 tsp heaped sichuan peppercorns, finely ground
- 2 tbsps soy or tamari sauce
- 2 tbsp cornflour in 3 tbsps water, mixed into a slurry
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced
- large pinch fresh coriander leaves

Prepare the tofu by cutting it into one inch cubes and soaking it in hot but not boiling salted water. Drain after 15 minutes.
Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms, covering them in boiling water. Leave until soft, then dice the mushrooms. Retain the mushroom soaking water and add to the vegetable stock water.
Prepare the other ingredients so they are ready to stir-fry: red bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, ginger, garlic.

Using a wok or deep frying pan, add the oil and heat to frying temperature. Add the bell peppers,fry for a couple of minutes, then add fermented bean paste, chilli paste or chillies, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sichuan pepper.
Add the mushroom/vegetable broth and simmer on high for a couple of minutes.
Carefully add the cubes of tofu, taking care not to break them too much.
Add the cornflour slurry, stirring for a couple of minutes.
Serve with rice or noodles, garnishing with spring onions or chives and or coriander leaves.  #veganuary #mapotofu #sichuanfood #tofu  #shitakemushrooms #supperclub #londonchef #msmarmitelover #ham&highcolumn #eatplants #lockdown3 #selfisolation #coronaloner #cooking #recipe #cookingfromscratch
Macaroni cheese with odds and sods from the Christ Macaroni cheese with odds and sods from the Christmas leftover cheese board. I’ve used @paxtonscheese truffled brillat-savarin and a mystery hard cheese that’s lost its label. Plus cream and topped it with samphire fried in butter. Haven’t bothered with making a roux- this is the lockdown lazy version.  #lockdownlazy #lockdown3 #supperclub #macandcheese #macaronicheese #truffledcheese #leftovers #leftovercheeseboard #londonlockdown #breakfast #coronaloner
Another thing the Japanese are brilliant at is san Another thing the Japanese are brilliant at is sandwiches. They use the softest, whitest, fluffiest bread. Their mayonnaise kewpie is gorgeous I don’t know why. Perhaps someone here can explain? Here I’ve used sourdough as it’s what I have; kosho which is a Yuzu citrus and green chilli condiment and the aforesaid kewpie Mayo to make an egg 🥚 sandwich.  I’m not a big egg fan but I suddenly had the urge. Also I’ve noticed when I eat eggs it satiates my hunger for hours. All that protein.  #sandwich #sandwiches #japanesesandwich #kewpiemayo #kosho #eggsandwich #sourdough #supperclub #cookingforone #solo #londonlife #lockdownlondon #recipe #snack #sundaysnack #sando
Agedashi tofu for New Year’s Day. With a vegan d Agedashi tofu for New Year’s Day. With a vegan dashi stock, it’s perfect for veganuary. How to make dashi: put a piece of kombu seaweed in water. Soak for half an hour then simmer for half an hour (don’t let it boil). Then mix 2 cups of dashi with 2 tbsps of mirin and 2 of soy sauce.  For the tofu: press soft tofu with weights for half an hour, then cut into cubes. Dust all over with cornflour.  Then deep fry the tofu cubes in 180C veg oil until they float. Set aside to drain, then place say 3 cubes in small bowl. Pour the sauce around and top with spring onion and daikon and togarashi 7 spice.  #easypeasyvegan #veganuary #agedashitofu #tofu #japaneseveganrecipe #newyearsday #freshstart #supperclub #londonsupperclub #msmarmitelover #visforvegan #recipe
Writing about tofu which I think has an unfair rep Writing about tofu which I think has an unfair reputation in this country. It’s so flexible and is a brilliant flavour sponge. Here I’m preparing my soft tofu for a Japanese dish: agedashi tofu. I first pressed it in a clean tea towel with a weight on top to firm it up a bit but not too much. Then I dusted it with cornflour and I will deep fry it in oil. Then I will serve it in a broth of dashi/mirin and tamari sauce, sprinkled with finely chopped spring onions and togarashi pepper from Japan. I would usually add some finely mandolined daikon radish but couldn’t find any. It’s a subtle dish of texture: soft yet crispy. After Christmas I’m desperate for light zingy fresh flavoured food. #supperclub #tofu #vegan #vegetarian #agedashitofu #newyearsday #cookingagain #lunch #asian #japanesefood
Happy new year from my bubble to yours! Keep holdi Happy new year from my bubble to yours! Keep holding on...
#happynewyear #happynewyear2021 #supperclub #hootenanny
Some of my Christmas food 🥘 lots of veg includi Some of my Christmas food 🥘 lots of veg including mashed swede with cheese and butter. I put pomegranate seeds with my sprouts, and cooked my carrots in marmalade ( worked v well), the mushroom wreath fell apart as I was transferring it to a tray 😤, roast potatoes and parsnips, then a cheese spread with fruit nuts, quince cheese (homemade), Chocs @lindtuk 😍 @guylian_uk @disaronno_official @baileysofficial @taylorsportwine and Brazil nuts. Plus a pavlova wreath ready to be topped with whipped cream and persimmons. 
#christmasdinner #vegetarianchristmas #vegetarianchristmasdinner #supperclub #londonchristmas #liqueurs #christmasspread #grazing #cheeseboard #port #pavlova
Christmas has started! Home-cured smoked beetroot Christmas has started!  Home-cured smoked beetroot and aquavit salmon with homemade blinis, creme fraiche, dill, Prosecco.  The fire is lit 🔥, the tree is up, 🎄the presents 🎁 are wrapped, we have a #brexit deal- a Christmas miracle. Peace and harmony. #christmas #christmasinengland #homemade #christmaseve #blinis #smokedsalmon #prosecco🍾 #londonchristmas
Done some doorscaping, the latest trend in Christm Done some doorscaping, the latest trend in Christmas decorating. It might also cheer up passersby. #christmas #christmasdecor #doorscaping #doorsofinstagram #londonchristmas #doorwreath #doordecor #doorsoftheworld #doordecoration #exteriors #london #supperclub #covidchristmas
Look at my gorgeous Nordic pine Christmas tree 🎄 from @pinesandneedles with some family ornaments and beautiful foodie ornaments from @gisela_graham  it’s 7 foot high and no drop. My parents brought over the candle lights. I’ve also used paper ornaments (apples and pears cut from maps) from @dionne_leonard which I first commissioned for a supper club.  #christmas #christmastree #christmasdecor #foodiedecorations #glassbaubles #supperclub #christmasinlondon
More #fbmarketplacefinds I find meeting the seller More #fbmarketplacefinds I find meeting the sellers interesting. It’s often about moving on whether through death, a change of circumstances, moving country, loss of a job. Today I visited a gorgeously renovated Edwardian house where the owners, an antique dealer & a master decorator had died with 18 months of each other of cancer.  The sister was there emptying the house, an incredibly painful experience. The husband who died was an expert in putting up lincrusta wallpaper which I’ve pictured here. All that craftsmanship and knowledge lost now.  The piece I got on Sunday, the teal chinoiserie cabinet, was from a Spanish guy returning to Spain. He’d lost his job as a hotel manager, the hotel, a big one, has now closed. The marble coffee table and arepas grill was from a Spanish couple who’d had a restaurant here for 40 years. They are now returning to Spain. Other slides: green Edwardian fireplace tiles, William Morris wallpaper, 2 small scalloped coffee tables, a knife and fork cutlery hook set.  A fireplace for my bedroom if I can find someone to put it in. #lockdownstories #covidstories #movingon #decor #interiors #bargains #secondhandstyle #edwardianstyle #williammorris #tiles #wallpaper #scallopededge #teal #chinoiserie #whitemarble #vintage #kitchenalia #supperclubrefurb #london #lincrustawallpaper
Another #fbmarketplace find £30. I can’t afford Another #fbmarketplace find £30. I can’t afford proper chinoiserie so I make do with fakes. The gradual doing up of my flat proceeds apace. Need to start on main bedroom. Looking for a storage ottoman (velvet?) bench to turn into a horizontal filing cabinet.  Any ideas? Above is a map of london based on the A to Z map which a minicab office was tossing out. Remember when we all carried mini A to Z books in our handbags? Before google maps? #nocrushedvelvet #chinoiserie #supperclubrefurb #londonapartment #londonflat #norfweezy #decor #organising #storage #interiors
My new/old rise and fall light over the dining tab My new/old rise and fall light over the dining table. Found for £50 on #fbmarketplace  but originally from @thefrenchhouse.net_ one of my favourite shops. Every day, a little more progress. #supperclubrefurb #supperclub #londonflat #interiors #lighting #riseandfalllights #lightingisimportant #frenchstyle #vintagestyle #rusticstyle #turquoise #diningtabledecor
Two vegetarian meal kits, laksa and ramen, from @k Two vegetarian meal kits, laksa and ramen, from @kit.eats.uk. Took only a couple of minutes to cook(see stories) and very good. I’m trying a few meal kits of late to see how hospitality has adapted to the great reset. As a cook I’ve always thought why would I need these but now I get it: it’s like going to a restaurant- the pleasure of food prepared by someone else. Getting jolted off of your normal repertoire, so it’s teaching cooking too.  #mealkits #vegetarian #homecooked #hospitality #covid #takeawayfood #foodpackaging #laksa #ramen #supperclubchef
Still working on my glass cupboard. I’ve hung up Still working on my glass cupboard. I’ve hung up all my wine bottle openers and cork screws. My favourite is the zigzag bottom left. If you find them at a flea market in France, if you are lucky you may get it for around 35 euros.  #supperclub #londonflat #londoninteriors #corkscrews #frenchkitchenalia #zigzag #tirebouchon #oakcupboard #diy #diyprojects
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