Little Things #7
Fish bars, good art, and sunny poetry.
After a few privileged weeks filled with travel, I am enjoying being still. July and August are typically periods in the northern hemisphere where movement is encouraged and adventure is welcomed, but I prefer to be in London. The wide parks with their sprawling sunbathers and the bars spilling out over their thresholds and into the streets remind me that despite how lonely this city may feel at times, there is life here, after all.
And so, I have had ample opportunity to turn my gaze outward. To appreciate this big and weird city and enjoy having more time to focus on the things I love: cooking, reading, writing, films, music, and friends. May one or two or more of the below keep you in good company during August.
Little Things for August.
Read | Heartburn by Nora Ephron
A sure way to get me to not read something is to tell me repeatedly how much I will enjoy it. I tried to read Heartburn last summer but cast it aside after the third page. But on second attempt, I will admit, it is perfect. It’s not particularly challenging writing, but it is funny, and it is fun. No one writes about love as well as Nora does, and I am yet to read an account more mouth-watering.
You could also listen to it as an audiobook read by Meryl Streep
Watch | The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) dir. Martin McDonagh
Weird and beautiful, sad and funny. Collin Farrell is perfect in his role as the heartbroken Pádraic whose lifelong best mate, Colm, has decided to end their friendship. The story may be read as a metaphor for the Irish Civil War, but it is also about isolated communities and how humans interact in spaces such as these. I’m fascinated by islands of all natures, and this film only fuelled this further.
Eat | Julius wins once more, and dinner at Tollington’s Fish Bar
I made Julius Robert’s summer courgette tart for a Christmas in July party last week. So easy and so pleasing for a warm day.
I also am saving up to visit Tollington’s.
For so long, eating out in London disinterested me (a bad thing to admit as someone who works in hospitality in this city). It is expensive, and often disappointing, and I much prefer to gather my friends at home where we can keep the table for longer than an hour and a half.
But I am reminded how lucky I am to live in a city where dining is a crafted experience – intentional, thoughtful, unique. Tollington’s Fish Bar comes from the team behind Four Legs, who gained fame with their cult-status burgers. Now, they have turned an unassuming fish shop into the city’s most lauded opening of the summer. Reports from friends who have managed to get there already have confirmed that it is not one bit overhyped.
Visit | Zanele Muholi at Tate Modern
One of my favourite South African artists returns to the Tate with a new show about queer, black bodies existing in a world which would rather they remain invisible.
Listen | Hania Rani
A few weeks ago I went to see Hania Rani live at Somerset House. It was a perfect evening, the first warm one of the summer. But the show was, I’ll admit, a little disappointing, with only few of her beautiful neo-classical pieces performed. It’s not that her electronic music is not impressive, only it was not what I hoped to hear.
Nonetheless, I still like to listen to her as I cycle home on these warm evenings, transforming the city in to my own private film scene.
Also: Laura Marling has a new single! And if you happen to know where I can get a ticket resale to see her in November, I’d be most grateful…
Inspiration | beautiful things for the home, and for you.
All Day Goods - knives made from plastic waste.
Jade Paton ceramics - hand crafted homewear made in Cape Town.
The Knotty Ones - sustainable knitwear, hand made in Luthuania.
Poem | “There are Mornings” by Lisel Mueller
Even now, when the plot calls for me to turn to stone, the sun intervenes. Some mornings in summer, I step outside and the sky opens and pours itself into me as if I were a saint about to die. But the plot calls for me to live, be ordinary, say nothing to anyone. Inside the house, the mirrors burn when I pass.
