Your Friday morning essential read. Five local feel-good highlights, including exclusive special offers and events. Prepared with love by the team at Camdenist

 EAT: £20 menu local restaurants revealed 

There's been a fantastic response to our campaign getting people back out to support local restaurants.

Tickets for the special £20 menus

are going fast, and we can now reveal more about the location and the restaurants involved. The Secret Feasts will take place in the Grade II-listed heritage setting of North Yard on Chalk Farm Road, giving you a chance to see this historic part of Camden in a whole new light as the local foodie hotspot it has become. 

Indian Alley

are offering a full thali meal in their Delhi-inspired converted stables, while next door

The Cheese Bar

have a bottomless British raclette with wine for you. Italian craft brewery

Baladin

have a menu of pastas, gnocchi, pinzeria and paired beers, while 

The Farrier

is offering a flight of 5 natural wines with Hampstead Butcher charcuterie or cheese (pictured above), and the trailblazing

Rudy's Dirty Vegan Diner

have a 3-course plant-based burger feast. Experts will guide you through the food and pairings. We'll be previewing the restaurants on Camdenist.com all week, so book your table now.

 LIVE: Art Battle comes to Tufnell Park 

Live painting tournament

Art Battle

is a bit of a global sensation, with events now being held in over 50 cities worldwide. The London chapter touches down on March 4th at Tufnell Park institution the

Boston Music Room, 

where artists compete in rounds where they have just 20 minutes to create something striking from a blank canvas. As they work against the clock and the DJ, the crowd moves around the easels before voting on the winner. All the art is put up for a silent auction at the end, too. Grab a ticket now to be in the audience or find out how to participate as an artist. 

 READ: Discover Secret Feast restaurant Baladin 

In the first of our previews of the restaurants offering £20 menus at Secret Feasts, we reveal the story of Baladin, Italy's first 100% craft brewery, which has grown from a simple family bar in the tiny village of Poizzo into an international beer champion. We chat with chef, Gerasimos Gkogkas, about working his way up in hospitality at a difficult time, and discover his favourites from their tasty selection of Italian classics and lesser-known dishes.

 VIDEO: Secrets of West Hampstead and Cricklewood 

The latest in Camden History Society's acclaimed series of neighbourhood guides zooms in on West Hampstead and Cricklewood and unearths hundreds of hidden facts and forgotten stories about the streets and buildings, plus the many characters who once lived in them. The authors recently presented this fascinating YouTube video including highlights they uncovered while researching the book. Expect to be thoroughly entertained.

 TONIGHT: Wassailing party in Camley Street 

One of Camden's most quirky and beloved community events takes place tonight at Alara Wholefoods warehouse in King's Cross. It's the annual waking of the apple trees ceremony, as locals gather for an evening of games, free food, live music and good cheer set around a bonfire. The event runs 5pm-9pm and is ideal for kids. Get there in good time to rouse the fruit in the permaculture orchard, or come later for a bit of a hoedown into the evening.

 THIS WEEK'S ONE-CLICK POLL With storm Eunice triggering a red weather warning across much of the UK including here in Camden, how does a stormy night make you feel?  

LAST WEEK WE ASKED:

Valentines - can you bear it?

Romance wasn't in much evidence on Monday night, with the majority of local voters eschewing dinner dates, roses and boxes of chocolates in favour of going it alone. We salute that spirit of independence and not being sucked into commercially motivated gesture events (but we still love those who genuinely do adore it, of course). 💝

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