Leftovers #152
By this time next month, I will have moved out of the flat I’ve lived in for 6 years. Boxes and protective wrapping and big checked market bags have arrived, although I’m still only in the contemplation phase of packing up my entire life and moving it 6 and a half hours away. How does one acquire so much stuff? The thing is, if you have the space you’ll fill it. Which is how I’ve felt about friendships in London. There is so much space for them, that you end up filling every corner of the city with them. In old pubs in Soho, in specific spots in whatever park you’re gathering in, in beer gardens over pizza, in sweaty little clubs and crowded wine bars and cavernous exhibition halls and over the bridge or up South London hills looking out to the city, or in the marshland of Hackney or in the meadows of Hampstead Heath ponds.
To my left is the big ficus tree plant I inherited from my friend Lisa. I remember driving it back from Finsbury Park in my Peugeot 106, the top sticking out of the sun roof. And now I’m wondering – how do I get this thing to Cornwall!?
Anyway. Here are some leftovers from a week back in the Lime bike-laden haven of the city.
Good things to consume (bodily)
Went to Leila’s Cafe for lunch yesterday with Meg and I was honestly grateful for the grey weather so I could enjoy the most delicious Afghan lamb stew. I think what Alex Jackson is doing there is nothing short of perfection.
Equally enjoyed a very early dinner at Jolene for a slightly belated birthday celebration and their new chef is killing it with those pastas. The pork ragu was so delicious and umami, it almost had a peppercorn sauce vibe which I was super into. Always the best service, the loveliest dining room, the sexiest bathroom.
Haven’t made a tortilla in a while, then Julius Roberts made one in his greenhouse in a cast iron skillet and it’s browner than mine but looks pretty delicious. He made it seem v simple which I applaud.
Steak, corn, chimichurri. Yes. A meaty salad has its place.
Springy breakfast sandwich feat. goat’s cheese and spring veg omelette goes hard.
Asked my friend Debbie, a sommelier and founder of Wild Wine School, about good Lambrusco and this is what she said:
An array of spring salads, specifically the ones I mention in my most recent newsletter, which includes a tuna/chickpea number and a perfect 10 minute cold noodle salad feat. hot honey:
Good things to consume (culturally)
First interview Sufjan Stevens has done in years, with Vulture.
Another Vulture profile but this time with Ocean Vuong about his new book The Emperor of Gladness.
Vuong has long presented Vietnamese the way Pound presented Chinese: as a spiritual record of a people’s soul. We are told Vietnamese refugees “use metaphor as a coping mechanism” — for instance, one says of the deceased that they “got on the road.” The claim that euphemisms for death are somehow unique to Vietnamese culture is absurd in the extreme. But for Vuong, language is a fossil record of historical violence.
I came across Lamorna Ash through an interview she was giving about nuns (niche). Intrigued by her Cornish name I found that she’d written a book about living in Newlyn amongst the fishermen, documenting her time there escaping into the wild seas on trawler boats and getting to know the stories and lore of West Cornwall. I’ve just started but she’s a really evocative writer and it’s always so lovely reading about a place that’s about to be your home.
One of my favourite things about TikTok is the amount of new music I discover. Sometimes new to the world; sometimes just new to me. Derrick Gee’s show Solid Air is such a goldmine for new music. I always find some obscure Japanese rock band from the 70s, or a track from a favourite artist I hadn’t yet unearthed. His most recent show with MJ Lenderman is particularly good.
If you know me at all, you’ll be aware at how fixated I get on something when it really speaks to me. From shows and recipes to items of clothing. My wonderful friend Amelia runs DARN Studio, a universe of play, where she designs everything from cotton pyjamas to silk scarves. She kindly gifted me a scarf inspired by our friend Tor, and I’ve made wearing it my entire personality. You can support an indie business based in Cornwall that’s all about breathing creativity into pieces that last a lifetime here!
Discovered this album recently and it feels like you’ve been transported back to the 70s. A little Clairo meets Fleetwood Mac energy.
I’m less than a week in, in my adventures in Kernow!
For the same price as a bedroom in Cambridge, I found a house in St. Ives. It’s just me and the fluff - Truffle.
Come say hello 👋🏼 if you’re in the neighbourhood!