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

 COFFEE: Caravan's stunning new roastery brewbar 

Leading coffee crew

Caravan

may have Kiwi founders, but they're still a real local success story, expanding from the original Exmouth Market restaurant to the wildly popular one on Granary Square, then Fitzrovia (among others), before moving their bean roasting operations up to North Road. This week, they opened up the front of this HQ, housed in Victorian meat market infrastructure, to serve quality coffees and a range of top breads and pastries daily. Come with us on this photo essay visit as we explore what's on offer, and uncover the history of the Caledonian Market's Lambworks buildings, too.

 READ: Saving Queer Camden 

As we mark a shocking seven years since Camden High Street drag institution The Black Cap was shuttered, London's nightlife venues continue to be threatened by multiple forces. For marginalised groups, these pubs and clubs serve as vital urban safe spaces, so are well worth fighting for. In this week's exploration of Camden's LGBTQ+ venues, local journalist Ella Williams talks to Jade, AKA Lady Phoenix and founder of Euston's newly-opened gay bar Zodiac, local LGBTQ+ charity forum+, some of the The Black Cap Foundation's leading activists still fighting to see the pub reopen, and K Anderson, host of the Lost Spaces podcast, about the borough's shifting Queer scene and what the future looks like.

 SHOP: Spring markets aplenty 

We've got your post-Spring-clean weekend covered. Tomorrow at St Pancras Way's lovely co-working space WorkShop, resident creatives and designers will be showcasing their fashion, jewellery and cosmetics alongside other local brands, too. Entry is free, register here, and there will be music and drinks whilst you browse. Also on Saturday, replenish your shelves at a giant book sale at Keats Community Library in Hampstead, while the popular Minerva Makers Market is back all weekend in Kentish Town too, with a lovely selection of desirable wares.

 PUBS: A new Alliance & musical bingo 

West Hampstead's The Alliance pub is happily set to reopen at the end of this month, as locals (and owners of nearby The Clifton and the Duke of Hamilton) offer a fresh menu, and a family-friendly approach to their latest location. To get a decent pub fix in the meantime, tonight DJ Grid is taking over upstairs at The Lady Hamilton in Kentish Town with her fabulous musical bingo. Instead of numbers, cross off the songs she plays, and there's a shot included with each ticket.

 THEATRE: Two family affairs 

Tomorrow night, Jeremy O. Harris's new play, Daddy, opens over at the Almeida Theatre. The melodrama, which features a three part gospel choir, tells the story of a young black artist and an older white art collector. A different kind of dad is at the centre of Alexis Zegerman's The Fever Syndrome at Hampstead Theatre. IVF innovator Professor Richard Myers is joined by his family to receive a lifetime achievement award, but it's not long before things begin to fall apart in a clever portrait of familial disfunction.

 THIS WEEK'S ONE-CLICK POLL As yet more local pubs become increasingly 'gastro'-fied to survive, are you a fan, or do you yearn for sticky carpets and a simple ploughman's? 

LAST WEEK WE ASKED:

There's a fair bit of uncomfortable squirming being admitted to when it comes to the public mention of lady parts. Perhaps a trip to the Vagina Museum is in order to bust those lingering prejudices and prudishness 😮

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