Dalston-Dubai

I'd read about the new Dalston Superstore from Dubai so on Saturday night I was itching to go. It went like this... 10 mins walk in pouring rain... 10 mins queue in pouring rain...£5 entry fee...10 mins queue for a drink...generic electro hoxton music...kids too cool for school...leave. Such a shame. I spoke before about the gentrification of Dalston and it seems the city boys are pushing the shoreditch crowd up the Kingsland road, but where do the Dalstonites go... not to Stoke Newington surely!

The answer is Barden's Boudoir. Loud and unappologetically dirty, live drums and guitars and a girl screeming down the microphone without any reference to the beat. She bounces around with the other girl guitarist and then they both take their tops off and bounce around until the set finishes- weird, arty, fun and live, how a night out in Dalston should be.
The perfect way to end my Dalston visit.

I love the concept, rummage through the vintage clothes while you sip on a cocktail and the dj plays records. All housed in the most appropriate pub the Albert & Pearl on Upper Street. I'd love to start something like this in Dubai it just wouldn't seem appropriate bringing your old tat to the Hilton, there's just no equivalent venue or product here in Dubai. I know there is the interest in cute, vintage clothes but would just need to work out the right platform to sell them. Another dalston-dubai spin-off I think.

Oh how quickly I've slipped into the art of the brunch! This one was much more civilised than most, the food was excellent and the views to die for. Then happy hour begins and the view over Barrasti is too much temptation! Such a different way to spend a Friday to London. Well... actually Fridays at Splendid used to start brunch-like with lunch in the pub at 12 and then we would get take outs back to our desks at about 4 and then back to the pub at about 6 till the wee small hours so not much different then. Only the views, and the food then! Ah the Crown and Two Chairmen then the Sun and 13 Cantons - beats Double-Deckers hands-down but perhaps not brunch at the Harbor Hotel.

OK so we've known this for over a year now but the secret is out - Dalston has been lauded by the Guardian, that barometer of the cultural zeitgeist, as the coolest place in Britain.  Highlighting nightspots such as Disco Bloodbath and the newly-opened Dalston Superstore (Barden's Boudoir is so 2006, people), the newspaper hails it as being "like the lower east side of Manhattan in the late Nineties", and the perfect antidote to Shoreditch's overpriced cocktail bars and member's clubs. Read the full article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/27/dalston-cool-london-suburb

My first drink is a 'Mocktail' at the Hilton beach bar...this is going to be very different to Dalston in fact I think it's safe to say it is the opposite of Dalston!

Meeting with client at Maison Bertaux on Greek st - the biggest Almond Croissant I've ever attempted to eat! Deffinitley pop in if your in soho.

Bowling at the new All Star Lanes On Brick Lane. Bring a touch of 50's glamour to the area with an American Diner style restaurant and wonderful ice cream sundaes.

Meeting with another client and then back-to-back meeting at the Old Shoreditch Station

take a moment- I'm going to miss all of this socialising. As hectic as it gets it's the diversity that you can't beat and I really don't expect to be able to do all of this in Dubai...It's the calm before the storm, tonight is the last night and an open house with a massive pot of chilli on the hob and a booze cabinet to empty.

A week of saying goodbye to new and old friends. Katy, Jo and I have been mates since being trainees at the Beeb, boo hoo. The NZ lot I met through Stella and they're such an awesome bunch. Putting off saying bye to Stella, I've only just found her it feels ike our time has been cut short. Still, the world is getting smaller its only £300 return and my kidneys are about to implode!

Karaoke at Lucky Voice in Islington was amazing fun- so many goodbye/ summertime / sunshine related tunes to massacre.

Dinner at RASA South Indian vegetarian restaurant in Stoke Newington- amazing food and supercheap.

Lunch today with a dear friend who is pregnant and she thought she wouldn't be able to conceive so another celebration this time sans alcohol thank goodness!