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The daily doomscroll can be exhausting at the best of times, but this week’s national and international news has made things particularly grueling - let alone when layered all that on top of today’s multi-stresses and the practical impossibilities of just trying to make life add up on the home front. 😬 

Despite, or perhaps because of it all, Camden’s abundance of simple, reliable pleasures seemingly pull into sharper focus right now, (although it also helps when the sun’s out).

And so it was that a power-assisted Forest bike ride home this week turned into an almost overwhelming celebration-cum-reminder of just what joyful riches we have to behold here on our proverbial doorsteps…

Dropping a daughter off at a free Camden schools summer event at the British Museum - at the British Museum! - my ride immediately sweeps past the equally imposing Senate House, soon to be at the centre of a big public art-led new placemaking district, (as we reported earlier this year). Then comes the blockbuster line-up of SOAS, Birkbeck and UCL, providing mind-boggling/expanding educational opportunities all on the very same stretch.

And oh, joy! Around that next corner lies Skoob Books, bastion of the rare multi-sensory pleasures to be indulged in when rummaging through teetering shelves of serendipitously-surfaced printed knowledge. No time to stop now, but over on the right goes past fave Bloomsbury pit-stop Pitted Olive, purveyors of proper meze platters, perfectly crispy borek and fresh gozleme. A bit further along lies the home of brilliant value vegan thalis, hidden behind the nondescript doorway leading to the secret little Thenga Cafe.

In stark contrast is the gothic masterpiece of St Pancras Station, down at the junction. Beyond iconic, its red brick is looking fully resplendent in the burnishing glare of a searing August sun. After that, shooting up the fantastic C6 cycle lane past what was once the bustling Goods Yard railway lands, it’s odd feeling almost blasé as the mighty British Library and trailblazing Francis Crick institute sit quietly being culturally and scientifically brilliant on my left.

And oh, now we’re crossing over Victorian engineering marvel the Regent’s Canal, and there’s recently reborn boozer The Constitution - I must try and save up for another meal on their enviable canalside terrace (following this indulgent opening month invite feast) before the weather changes - and oh, now there’s The Old Eagle, too. Good god it’s fun in there of an evening, enjoying Whisky Mick leading another local troubadour jam, complemented with a skinful of strong Czech lager and song.

So many Camden pubs, so little time. Or rather, so many other things to choose from, beyond just more sozzled bonhomie. The warm embrace of a neighbourhood flying past that offers up unequalled educational, culinary, international travel, historic, scientific and hedonistic opportunities, all caught in the peripheral vision of a 12.53 minute cycle ride through it all back home. And then, through the wonders of modern micro mobility, I get to just leave the bike in a street bay, awaiting the next eco-electric-powered urban traveller. What a time to be alive!

Anyway: deep breath.

I do hope I’m not unusual in feeling so elated taking a single route across a small part of the Borough though; not the only one giddily reminded every time of the exciting and varied potential down every new turn. And while we know that access to all these delights - even the e-bike hire - is still far from universal, I return to the theme of the truly unrestricted pleasure there is to be gained from celebrating this place - any place - simply by moving through it appreciatively every day.

That’s a proven way to put some of life’s wider chaos into perspective, or it is on an electric bike on a summer’s day, anyway.

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FOOD + DRINK

🍛 Holborn gets a new weekly Kerb market, while the chains continue to fall in Highgate

A brand new lunchtime Kerb streetfood market debuted this week in Holborn, featuring a rotation of familiar operators like Caribbean chicken dons Only Jerkin’ and Filipino BBQ crew Filligrillz, alongside exciting newcomers. It will support the talent pipeline from their InKERBator programme, which nurtures startup indie food traders and has seen over 100 graduates come up through the ranks so far. Find it at Hand Court every Wednesday, 11.30am – 2.30pm (with an additional day expected to be added later this year).

🫨 Fairly shocking news from the gritty hospitality frontline this week c/o foodie website Hot Dinners, on the demise of the Highbury outpost of popular Kentish Town restaurant Patron. It turns out their Blackstock Rd landlord sneakily ripped out the entire restaurant for alternative use while ostensibly performing building maintenance - and if you know how meticulously the Patron team focus on their aesthetic, you’ll appreciate quite what a loss that means. On a happier note, you can currently book outdoor tables in their Fortess Rd original’s ‘secret’ garden for a five-course tasting menu, served by the chef himself, which will help towards their unwelcome N5 legal fees.

🍽️ Up the hill in Highgate, Hertfordshire’s successful mini-empire Lussmann’s have just got the keys to the defunct branch of Cote on the High Street, and owner Andrei Lussmann is currently posting Insta reels updates as they transform the joint into what’s billed as his triumphant return to the London dining scene later this month. It’s certainly nice to see more independent names join the Highgate Village lineup, which has been dominated by dull chains for yonks, with Camden fave Namaste Kitchen where a Strada used to be, and meze specialists Turkuaz in place of a branch of (the somewhat incongruous one-time George Michael haunt) Cafe Rouge.

FESTIVALS

🚣🏾 Canal Dream hits the water

We freekin’ love the waterways round these parts, so it’s good to see likeminded creatives putting on another event that truly celebrate them. Starting today, and running all week (until the 16th), the Canal Dream Art Festival invites you to drift between boats filled with dance, poetry, live music, film screenings and art, presenting a bamboozling array of events.

You’ll encounter it all aboard the established barges of The Floating Garden and Word on the Water near Granary Square, plus other boats in a trail up to the Caledonian Road bridge, all masterminded by boater and Royal College of Art grad Chuntian Hu.

🎶 That dovetails neatly into the start of the big free annual 12-day Summer Sounds music festival King's Cross starting on Thursday (15th) with electrifying European folk live in Coal Drops Yard with the ensemble Unicorn Frequency. 

Camdenist is back at HowTheLightGetsIn 2024

HowTheLightGetsIn has just revealed its full programme for London this 21st-22nd September at Kenwood, and it looks bigger and better than ever with Sam Harris, Sadiq Khan, Clare Chambers and Yoshua Bengio just announced. As the world’s largest ideas and music festival, expect to see Carla Denyer, Slavoj Žižek, John Bercow, Philippa Gregory, Nadhim Zahawi, Ruby Wax and more, too. With debates, talks, comedy, and live music across the weekend, listen to top thinkers give their views on the most urgent issues facing society.

As partners of the festival we’re offering an exclusive 30% off tickets with code CAML24. Get your discounted tickets now and we’ll see you there.

STAGE

More Camden Fringe highlights, this week and beyond

🕷️ Spider is a key show in the ongoing 2024 Camden Fringe line-up; a fast-paced black comedy romp with a flawed character at its heart. For years, Frank Dowling has kept his acting students in his thrall. But two decades after starring in the West End hit, Spider, his vigour is waning. Set in a London drama school, we watch his students develop over the course of a year, culminating in an improvisational game set over a few hot summer days Epping Forest. The play asks what happens when you deconstruct your heroes and watches as the superior male begins to lose his grip on power. It’s on at The Cockpit Theatre, Aug 19th-21st. This week we’ve been chatting to the play’s writer and director, Jude Benning, about the work, where, as she puts it, ‘Whiplash’ meets ‘The Goonies’.

💏 The Space Between The Sheets explores the complexities of young love and cultural differences in pursuit of intimate experiences and belonging, where every embrace reveals a new truth and even the darkest secrets are unveiled in the most sacred of places. It’s on at St Paul’s Church Hall in Camden Square tonight, Aug 9th until Sunday 11th, with matinee and evening shows.

🎙️Tonight, 9th Aug and tomorrow (10th, at 5pm), you can step into the heart of a bustling audition room at The Courtyard Theatre, where the fate of aspiring performers rests in your hands. Open Call is an interactive musical theatre cabaret experience that transforms you into the judge, as aspiring stars showcase their talent under the spotlight for a night of high stakes and unexpected twists.

👱🏻‍♀️ Whirlwind one-woman show, A Lady Does Not Scratch Her Crotch, sees our hero seeking the help of feather-dusters, three blondes and the whole audience, to figure out how she's supposed to dress, act, kiss and love like a lady… but not too much. It’s at the Hen & Chickens Theatre August 14th, 17th and 18th.

MUSIC

🎶 Live and local this week

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