Get snapping for Thameslink

We're only a few months away from the new Thameslink station opening on Iverson Road. To mark the occasion, Network Rail is running a photography competition. The winning photographs will be reproduced and displayed at the station for all to see.

The theme - not incredibly original, one has to say - is "Connections". Photographers can interpret the theme as they see fit, with entries falling into two categories, under 16 and open.

Tim Galvani, Network Rail project manager, said: "Passengers are really going to benefit from the opening of the new station and will get the chance to see the picture gallery on the back of the new Iverson Road wall. It’s a great space that will be seen by everyone that travels to and through the station."

To enter, fill in this form. You can either send digital copies of your photos on a disk or USB stick or e-mail them, together with the entry form to thameslink@networkrail.co.uk. Closing date for entries is 30th October 2011.

Talent seeking

Richard snapped this earlier... if you want in to this Lymington Road residents association event, the contact details are at the bottom of the poster (click for large version). Frankly I'm upset that I haven't been asked to be a judge. This must be what Cheryl Cole feels like.

Whampreview is back - October 6th

After the summer break, #whampreview is back - and it's bigger than ever.

If you're new to all things blog/Twitter around here, then some background: over the past couple of years, we've tried out 11 different local restaurants and rated them on food/service/value and overall experience. Each time just eight of us have gone - with the exception of Barraco when I was full of the Christmas spirit of generosity. It's a different eight each time and for many people this is a calmer and quieter way to meet some locals than the party atmosphere of whampgather. Plenty of friendships have been forged at whampreviews and I think each one has been a great night out.

What now?
As the whamp community has grown so has demand for places at whampreview. It got to the stage where I was turning away more people than I was taking. Time for a rethink. We're going to start increasing the number of people now, the precise number will depend a bit on the restaurant. Where possible, we will still order off the à la carte menu. No longer will we be anonymously reviewing the restaurant - that's simply not feasible or fair with large numbers, the event is more about trying out somewhere new or different or that has a new menu, and getting to meet each other over a plate of food and glass of wine.

So, where are we going next?
Next up is perennial favourite The Wet Fish Café on October 6th. Despite its popularity, we've not reviewed the WFC before, largely because it wouldn't have been possible to do it anonymously but that is no longer a concern. However, the restaurant has just this week launched a new evening menu so it seems like an ideal time to go and check it out. Owner André is also throwing in a free glass of prosecco for us all as an aperitif.

I want in! How does this work?
I'm lovin' your enthusiasm. We have 16 places available. If you'd like to come then please or tweet me (@WHampstead) before midday Friday. If the event is oversubscribed then, as is customary, I shall draw the names out of a hat. (NB: this is not first-come-first-served as whampgather was). If you're one of the lucky ones, I shall be in touch Friday afternoon and I will need a mobile number and active e-mail address from you.

Please don't commit to this 'on the offchance'. Once I've contacted you to say you're in, then that's basically a restaurant reservation you've made. Of course there are always odd very good reasons for last-minute dropouts, but for the restaurant's sake (and mine!) please try and commit to the date - that's much appreciated.

What's the bill going to be like?
We always split the bill evenly, although we do try and take into account any large discrepancy in alcohol consumption. The Wet Fish is not the cheapest restaurant in West Hampstead and a three-course meal + wine + service is likely to run at ~£40/head. We may decide to share starters to bring this down a bit, and we'll stick to house wine, but don't come with a crumpled £20 note and expect that to be enough this time around!

Anything else?
If you go here, you can see links to all the previous reviews. Note that from now on we won't be scoring every element of the evening. I'll jot down some comments during the evening to incorporate into the write-up, but this is a bit more about socialising together and a bit less about hardcore restaurant reviewing than it used to be.

Woohoo!
Quite.

What have I missed since September 19th?

What were locals murmuring about this week? As usual, everything is documented here. If you're out of time to check the blog remember you can sign up to an automatic newsletter that reveals everything. I'm reckoning that's enough R.E.M. references for now, though there might be a few more buried below.

There was an armed robbery in Kilburn on Friday.

The Tricycle is going to dramatise the summer riots.

There's a monster cat seemingly on the loose in West Hampstead.

Is Ed Fordham set for the pageantry of the Lords?

Hellenic, the restaurant on the corner of Finchley Road/Rosemont has closed - it's set to become a café apparently.

West End Lane's Spice 212 has also closed.

Property was big news this week. The new Mill Lane residential development claims to be in a green nature reserve. 

West End Estates has launched on a new adventure as Edmund Cude.

West Hampstead featured on Location Location Location, and on the BBC's To Buy or Build later in the week.

There was a great write-up of last Saturday's honky tonk night at The Alliance.

Also at The Alliance, art students from College of NW London are exhibiting at the moment.

There's a write-up of the Hampstead celeb charity cricket match on the blog.

Tom's Diner visited Gourmet Burger Kitchen.

The Alice House had its first comedy night, and The Gallery celebrated its 15th birthday.

Finally, the new lights on the Black Path seem to be a hit.

Tweet of the Week

Celebs turn out for local cricket match

Last Sunday the Hampstead Cricket Club hosted its third annual charity celebrity cricket match. Andy Sarner (@bubela) was on hand with notebook and camera to report

"The HCC Celebrity Cricket Match was, as always, a thoroughly pleasant affair. Due to Chairman and organiser Jim Carter's role in Downton Abbey there was a distinct Downton presence this year, including Dan Stevens (playing) and Penelope Wilton (watching).

HCC chairman Jim Carter commentates

Local actor/author/tweeter Michael Simkins played a great match, and Greg Wise - sporting huge sideboards for a film - bowled the winning ball after his wife Emma Thompson had bowled the opening delivery.

Greg Wise strides off the pitch

Michael Simkins looks focused

Yes, I think the celeb team (albeit including a Middlesex player) beat the Club team, though I was too busy perusing the cakes and food stalls to watch much cricket. Jim Carter did his usual witty commentary on the match and the following raffle draw. The weather was lovely, the crowd picnicked and, as soon as everything was packed away and we'd all gone home, it rained."

Emma Thompson and Phyllida Law

Imelda Staunton

What have I missed since September 12th?

Turned out to be quite a busy week for local news, so just as well that I was away all week and wasn't able to stay on top of all of it. Nevertheless I've put together a few bits and pieces for you

The electoral Boundary Commission released its preliminary proposals on Tuesday (although they were leaked a day early). If they go ahead then there are major changes for Hampstead & Kilburn - but that's a big if.

The Ham & High published a very positive write-up of #whampgather.

The Swiss Cottage Odeon finally re-opened - it now sports an Imax.

There was a fire in the flats above ShakeTastic on West End Lane - no-one was hurt

Meanwhile, West Hampstead fire station celebrated 110 years with an open day on Sunday.

Sunday also saw the third Hampstead Cricket Club charity match.

The Gaumont State in Kilburn was part of this weekend's Open House programme, and plenty of people went to see the Wurlitzer.

The Priory Tavern celebrated its first anniversary under its present owners.

Café Bon's empire expanded again with the opening of Bon Express, replacing Wood Grill with what looks like another kebab shop.

Monday's public meeting on the 187-199 West End Lane development didn't seem to have much outcome, other than to reinforce what we already knew.

Hilariously, the Marriott hotel on Kilburn High Road is not only on Twitter, but describes itself ther as being "In the heart of Bohemia"

Coming up this week
There's a Safer Neighbourhood meeting on Wednesday.
On Saturday, the Gallery celebrates its 15th birthday.
A new bike shop opens on Mill Lane this week.

Tweet of the week

Odeon Swiss Cottage reopens with Imax

On Friday, the Odeon cinema by Swiss Cottage tube station reopens after months of redevelopment. Mark "Kermode" Ledder (@MJL77) went along to the press launch for West Hampstead Life.

"After a £3m redevelopment, the Odeon at Swiss Cottage is reopening its doors on Friday 16th September. New features to the 5-screen, Art Deco venue include north London’s first IMAX screen and, at the top of the building, a large bar area called 'Ambar'.

The first thing that strikes you is how bright and welcoming the cinema now is, it has benefitted from the lick of paint and feels modern and fresh. Reassuringly, it is still the labyrinth of old, with the narrow staircases and never-ending corridors, but unfortunately the large "retail" area that dominates your eye line on entry is still American in both look and feel.

The new bar area upstairs is a very welcome addition.It's spacious and comfortable and works as a meeting place. Odeon is offering 30 different types of wine as well as a selection of appetisers and desserts here. If you were being cynical you could say it is a blatant attempt to take a larger share of their customers' wallets, but I would rather spend my extra dime here, than on some popcorn and a drink downstairs.
     
The other major change is in the nature of the cinema's five screens. They have been split into three distinct groups. The Imax is an impressive state-of-the-art facility that will show modern classics (Dark Knight, Inception) and Imax events. Two of the other cinemas are standard multiplex screens with 100 or so seats. The third and most interesting category comprises the two 'club' cinemas, which will house 60 guests and offer a premium experience (think Everyman in Hampstead).

I was impressed overall and will return, however I did have an issue concerning the film rota strategy and pricing.

In a normal week, the four non-Imax screens will share only three films. One each for the first multiplex and club screens, and then a third will show in a standard multiplex screen and in the second club screen.

This, coupled with the pricing strategy (10.75 Adult std vs. £16 Adult club) looks slightly misguided and overpriced. A comparable club ticket at the Everyman in Hampstead or Belsize Park is £13.

So, overall, the Odeon Swiss Cottage has made a welcome return to the neighbourhood and is a great place to watch film. However if you're pushing the boat out for a premium experience there are cheaper options available."

Happy Birthday The Gallery

First La Brocca turned 20, and now The Gallery is celebrating its 15th birthday with a party on Saturday the 24th.

Safer in your Neighbourhood

Want to meet your local coppers? The Fortune Green and West Hampstead Safer Neighbourhood teams are holding a public meeting the evening of Wednesday September 21st in the synagogue hall on Dennington Park Rd. Why not go along and say hi (they're a friendly bunch) and find out the latest on how they're helping the community. I don't think you're expected to stay for two and a half hours!

Boundary review: securing H&K for Labour?

[this article has been updated several times]

The Boundary Commission's inital proposals to change electoral constituencies were published a day in advance it seemed by political blogger Guido Fawkes. Today they are online on the Commission's own website.

There are a lot of changes across London, including to our own Hampstead & Kilburn constituency. If you recall, the seat was won by Labour's Glenda Jackson in 2010 by a whisker from Conservative Chris Philp, and Lib Deb Ed Fordham wasn't much further behind. H&K was the closest three-way seat in the country.

Inevitably, therefore, any changes to the constituency are likely to affect the next election. There was talk earlier in the year that the seat would lose its Brent ward, and pick up two of the Westminster North wards, which would swing it clearly in favour of the Tories.

However, the commission's review suggests something entirely different.

We would keep Kilburn and Queens Park in Brent, but add Gospel Oak, Kentish Town and Highgate that were part of Frank Dobson's Holborn & St Pancras constituency. This means losing some wards. Oddest of all, Fortune Green would become the only Camden ward in the otherwise Barnet-dominated seat of Finchley & Golders Green. Belsize meanwhile becomes part of a new Camden & Regents Park constituency with four north-eastern Westminster wards and the rest of Camden.

Context
Lets remember first of all that these are just proposals. Why are they happening? The government asked the commission to reduce the number of constituencies in England by 29 to 502, and every constituency had to have a population between 72,810 and 80,473. This is a major change to preview boundary reviews. These sought to try and balance the number of voters in each seat, but it was not a legal imperative. At the moment in England, electorate numbers per seat range from 55,000 to 111,000.

The proposals are up for discussion as the Commission's report explains at great lengths. If you want to attend a public meeting about it, then there are two for our whole region (North-West London) will be held at Brent Town Hall in Wembley on Thursday October 20th and Friday October 21st

Implications
What does this mean for the constituency of Hampstead & Kilburn? It's almost impossible to tell, but it's definitely not great news for Chris Philp, who is surely looking for a safer seat than one that keeps two Brent wards and loses Belsize.

Gospel Oak - home of Alastair Campbell - seems to be fairly strong Labour; Highgate elected two Labour and one Green councillor last time around - so not immediately obvious that it would be an easy task for a Tory candidate to win over voters there; Kentish Town meanwhile appears resolutely Labour.

In other words, the changes would seem to suit Labour more than any other party at least in H&K. Glenda has announced she won't run again, so if the proposals are adopted will this be seen as a moderately safe seat for someone to snap up? Fiona Millar - Campbell's wife and free school advocate Toby Young's worst nightmare - has said she won't stand. But we're almost certainly still two to three years out from the next election.

Indeed, changes elsewhere in the country could leave high profile Labour MPs without a seat and H&K might be one to move to. Most notably Ed Balls and Hilary Benn may have to decide who stays and who goes as their West Yorkshire constituencies are redrawn around them. Closer to home, London MP Tessa Jowell's seat of Dulwich & West Norwood could be split into three constituencies if the proposals are implemented,

For other parts of Camden, the picture is very different. Frank Dobson's safe Holborn & St Pancras looks much more marginal as Camden & Regents Park as it picks up Belsize and some Westminster wards and loses Highgate (which returns to the fold of the old Hampstead & Highgate constitutency that Glenda represented for so long before H&K). This might explain this tweet from Labour councillor and former Mayor of Camden, Jonathan Simpson: "The review is a bit bonkers, can't let this happen".

And what about Fortune Green? Well, the seat it's joining changed hands from Labour to Conservative at the last election, and could be fairly close again. In the council votes, the Tory candidates were just ahead of their Labour rivals, but both were well behind the Lib Dems. Oddly, therefore, Fortune Green's 7,000 voters could still have some impact in the vote, but to be the only ward from Camden in a seat dominated by Barnet does feel strange (if you look at how far south-west Fortune Green ward covers - right down to Maygrove Rd - this feels strange. Don't expect too many canvassers down there)

I've left in the info on how to have your say in the abridged version of the document below, which has details for most West Hampstead Life readers I think.
Abridged Boundary Commission Proposals Sep132011

What have I missed since September 5th?

Clearly the main global news this week was Whampgather. So I guess we'll lead with that.

Thursday saw the SEVENTH edition of local get together know as whampgather. 

West Hampstead was all over the national news this week thanks to squatters who were keeping a pregnant woman out of her home. They moved on, but initially only round the corner.

Netherwood day care centre - reprieved from cuts earlier in the year - is on the chopping block again.

This Monday there's a meeting with the developers about the 187-199 West End Lane site. Fortune Green cllr Flick Rea wrote a slightly polemical piece about local planning issues earlier in the week.

La Brocca's 20th anniversary party has been going on all weekend. Earlier in the week, we profiled the owner.

The glass frontage was installed at the new Thameslink station.

Lots of local businesses were interviewed on camera.

The Made in South Kilburn book was released.

A ferret went missing on Thursday, but seemed to have been found later.

Perennial reality TV fave Come Dine With Me is looking for NW londoners.

AITComputers joined Twitter.

Ladudu adopted its new opening hours of 10am-11pm (6pm-11pm on Tuesdays).

This marks the the 1-year anniversary of "What have I missed since...". A year ago, the news was about weekly rubbish collections and problems at nightclubs on Finchley Road.

Tweet of the week
Despite lots of nice comments about #whampgather, a joke about a hummus shortage, and even anecdotes of a woman riding a mop like a broomstick, we close with the other big story of the week:

Meeting on 187-199 development

If you're interested or affected by the development of the 187-199 West End Lane site (for background, I suggest reading this), then you might want to go along to the meeting on Monday night. The relatively newly formed West Hampstead Gardens Residents Association (with its 'rhymes with Viagra' moniker of WHGARA) is certainly going to be represented if this flyer is anything to go by.

The Whampgather Story - Vol. 7

Photo via @anthonymarsh

I don't think it's too much of an exaggeration to say that Whampgather VII went quite well. The hyperlocal cocktails went down a storm - we had #whamppunch, Kilburn Mist (my personal favourite), Made of Ale (geddit?) and an SJW with a touch of sparkle. DJ Sid Trotter did an outstanding job - even getting me onto the dancefloor, which as many of you (too many of you) will have realised is not something you want to see every day.

Huge thanks to Lucile and Merlin at the Priory Tavern for making it such a great event. Thanks to everyone who bought raffle tickets - we raised £350 for The Winch, and a lot of that should be credited to Nicky who spent her evening brilliantly badgering you into buying them.

Photo via @gitfinger

Most of all, thanks to all of who you came and made it such a success. We had more #whampgather virgins at this one than we've had for a while, which is brilliant. It was great to see everyone mingling and it seems like quite a few friendships were forged on the night.

Photo (c) Lauren Geisler

It's worth keeping in mind that pretty much every single person at #whampgather (except for the flatmate or friend you might bring with you) has met at a whampevent. I know one or two people understandably felt that this was a big gang of people who already knew each other - and while it's true that the group of us who have become friends has grown, this is how we all met so everyone recognises the situation.

Enough prolesityzing from me. As always, the best people to tell the story of #whampgather are the people who were there. I could only include a small fraction of the tweets people sent about it, and it's still a long ol' Storify. But hopefully it rekindles some memories of a great night.

For more photos, go visit Lauren's Flickr page, and for a pic of Lauren herself in action scroll to the end! [update: also check out Michael's excellent pics].

Photo via @gitfinger

David Locke of La Brocca reflects on 20 years

All this weekend, La Brocca is celebrating its 20th birthday. Moya "Scoop" Sarner, spoke to the owner:

The impressive figure of David Locke, usually found dominating a bar stool of West Hampstead local La Brocca, is familiar to many of us. He opened the restaurant 20 years ago today, and one of his first customers was his granddaughter Yasmin, then a baby in a moses basket. Today she’s the warm, sparky brunette, working as a waitress in the bar upstairs. It’s very much a family business, as he explains: "My wife Edda does all the hard work in the back office, our daughter Laura is the manager, and I’m in charge of 'marketing, strategy, and drinking'". Sounds like a damn fine strategy to me.

The bar is much the same as when it opened – but the area certainly isn't, he says. "West Hampstead has changed totally in 20 years. There wasn't much here back then, but it's grown more and more upmarket. When they opened the Jubilee Line through to Canary Wharf [in 1999], all the pine doors and brass knockers appeared, and property prices doubled". That's reflected in more sophisticated tastes – so the bar sells more champagne and prosecco, and the restaurant has branched out from pizza and pasta into meat, fish, and other specials. But, he is quick to point out, "West Hampstead is an amazing place to live. Although it's gentrified a bit, it's nowhere near as up itself as Kensington or Chelsea – in my view, it's still one of the last villages in London."

The regulars – and they are many – haven't changed at all. Take the two white-haired gentlemen who rarely leave their window seat. "Pen and his friend Peter started coming in about 10 years ago, for lunch," David says. "Now they’re addicted and come every day. They have two large sherries, a bottle of red, three large green chartreuses and two courses – I hope I'm doing that when I’m 87!"

And there are celebrity customers too, from the Crediton Hill mafia's Emma Thompson and Imelda Staunton, to rugby and cricket stars including Ricky Ponting. "And one afternoon", David continues, "I strolled in to find Peter O'Toole sitting at the bar, with his sparkling blue eyes". Then there are the well-respected jazz musicians who started off at La Brocca's Thursday night jam sessions, friends and students of our very own local musician and teacher @cyberdonkey, aka Simon Whiteside. Many are now big names, like jazz pianist Gwilym Simcock, Mercury Award nominee for best album, just pipped to the post by PJ Harvey. "The jazz is a love", David explains, "but it doesn't make me money. You want to know how to make a million pounds out of jazz? Start off with two million."

Jokes aside, David glumly says that La Brocca is not immune to the effects of the economic downturn. "Our turnover's gone down 15 to 20 per cent over the last couple of years. We've had to cut back on staff and wages – we're okay, but life isn't as much fun as it used to be." But David still seems to be having a pretty good time, as do his customers. "Loads of couples have met here in the bar," he says (at this point I decide to spend even more time in La Brocca). "They get married, and they all come back to see us with their kids. When we first opened, I was maitre d', and trying to get rid of a couple who were, shall we say, lingering. It looked to me like it was a blind date, and they were deciding whether to go off together or not. So, eventually, I said 'Ain't you got no homes to go to? Ain't you got a bed?' The best thing was, the guy was called Mr Rutter! Anyway, they came back six months later, married, and they'd brought me a little model of a double bed. 'There you go', they said, 'We've got a bed now!'"

Don’t worry folks, despite the tough economy, La Brocca won't be going anywhere soon. "I want my daughter Laura and the next generation coming up to carry on running the place", David says. "That portrait of me on the wall is about 15 years old – I hope it stays there for my grandchildren and my great grandchildren – for at least another hundred years."

La Brocca turns 20

This weekend is La Brocca's 20th anniversary! Why not swing by on Friday evening for some live music. Details below. And look out for a guest blog post all about La Brocca and its owner.

What can I win?

Want to know what the raffle prizes are at whampgather? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway:

The "Streets of West Hampstead" book (courtesy of me)
4 free tickets to a night at the Good Ship Comedy Club
The Bake-a-boo cookbook
A bottle of champagne courtesy of Dass on Mill Lane
2 bundles of promotional CDs and vinyl
Chocolates from Cocoa Bijoux
and meal vouchers from:

• Gourmet Burger Kitchen
• The Gallery
• The Alice House
• The Clifton 
• The Wet Fish Café.

As if all that wasn't enough, there's also a special mystery bonus two-part prize. All will be revealed on the night. And I think there might be one more prize as well.

How do you win one of these lovely prizes? Um... buy a lot of raffle tickets, obviously. We are raising money for The Winch. Specifically, they need a couple of new (and astonishingly cheap) computers, and we think we can probably raise enough to get these for them. Be generous! The draw will take place at ~10.15pm.

A really big thanks to all the businesses who have donated a prize. It's seriously very much appreciated by me, but especially by Paul and the crew at The Winch.

What have I missed since August 30th

It was a short week this week, and the final hurrah of the summer holidays for many people, so another quietish few days for West Hampstead news fiends. But there are still a few morsels to tide you over.

Media news aplenty as the Ham & High's West Hampstead correspondent Georgia Graham defects to the Camden New Journal. Two of her H&H colleages, are apparently also leaving the paper. Tough times for owner Archant, which is merging the long-standing Kilburn Times into the "Kilburn & Brent Times".

Cllr Mike Katz announced that Kilburn Grange Park adventure playground has been invited to join the OpenHouse project on the weekend of Sep 16/17. The newish apartment block on Fortune Green Rd is also part of the scheme.

Spiga, West Hampstead's newest restaurant, opened during the week. I reviewed it, and so did Tom.

New Kilburn bar 366 also opened.

As did Cocoa Bijoux.

There were a couple of small fires on Priory Road, and a larger one the same night on Kingsgate Road.

The H&H covered last week's Sherriff Rd story.

The Odeon Imax at Swiss Cottage is due to open on Sep 16th. 

It was steam train time again.

Coming up this week:
The third and final Camden summit to look at the riots takes place this Tuesday evening at Kingsgate Community Centre.

Whampgather is on Thursday - if your name's not on the door, etc. etc.

And on Friday, La Brocca celebrates its 20th anniversary! (This week, the Good Ship celebrated its 6th).

Tweet of the Week
A few good ones this week and as always the decision to be made between reinforcing West Hampstead's middle-class stereotype or reinforcing Kilburn's reputation for being odd. Have sided with West Hampstead this time.

Want to see your company name here? Sponsorship of the weekly news is available

No sign of first night nerves at Spiga

Last night Tom and I decided it was Our Duty to check out Broadhurst Garden's newest restaurant, Spiga. It was opening night so I wasn't really expecting to review it as there were bound to be first night issues and it's not really fair to give a definitive verdict on such an occasion.

As it was, our meal was verging on faultless. From a friendly welcome from front-of-house manager Marcello through to the cheery goodbyes a couple of hours later, it was refreshingly hard to find much room for improvement. The menu looks appealing, and there's a set menu tucked away on the back page that has an early bird price option before 7pm. An interesting selection of bread appeared swiftly and we were assured it was made on the premises. While we struggled to choose from the tempting menu we ordered some stop-gap olives, which were not the usual dull overly-marinated selection beloved of so many restaurants, but a nice handful of vibrant green and black juicy monsters.

Tom will, no doubt, post his own review, so I'll focus on my meal. I had carpaccio di polipo (octopus) as a starter. This was good, although not as good as I've had in Italy. I like the slices even thinner and a slightly spikier dressing, although that's not to say this wasn't enjoyable. It was served with a few more olives, and a rocket and potato salad. A good start.

Main course was rack of lamb. This was a very generous portion - a rack and a half of perfectly cooked meat. I've had lamb with more flavour before, but rarely as well cooked - certainly not in restaurants at this price level. The lamb had a Grissini crust, and this was the only element of the dish I was less keen on - too thick for me and I could see no benefit in it compared to a traditional herbed breadcrumb crust. It's not on the menu, but main courses are all served with a pea and onion side - sort of like a stew and perhaps cooked in ham stock (vegetarians would want to check)? Sounds odd, tasted great - and again very generous portions.

We'd merrily drunk our way through a bottle of house red - a Sangiovese/Merlot blend that was better than I expected for £12.95. The wine list isn't that extensive, but does befit the vibe of the restaurant. Those that remember the Green Room will recall the rather glossy boudoir look it had. Spiga has gone for a slightly retro 70s look, but it feels modern and welcoming. No red & white checked trattoria tablecloths to be found. I do think the lighting could be dimmer if it's looking to create a more romantic atmosphere.

At this point, Sandra Royer, the French wife of one of the two Albanian brothers who own Spiga and are the chefs, came over to say hello and we felt it was only reasonable to reveal who we were. It turned out she was already an avid reader and fan of Tom's Diner. That boy will go far! She explained that they'd hoped to open a bit sooner but some admin issues, delivery hold-ups, and a minor flood downstairs had pushed them back. It was good to see that we weren't the only diners that evening, and although some punters clearly knew the owners there were others like us checking the place out (and we all stared intently at each other's food).

Sandra told us that most of the food is sourced from Italy, so it is clearly going for the authentic angle. I was surprised to hear this was their first restaurant venture, although her husband has been a chef elsewhere - this was certainly no novice in the kitchen.

Tom grappled manfully with a large slice of chocolate torte and we both indulged in a grappa. We were joined by @moyasarner who saw us as she walked past and was immediately offered a basket of bread and a drink.

I was impressed with the service - friendly and professional throughout, even though the junior waitress was clearly a little nervous and made a couple of minor mistakes, which I heard Marcello pick her up on quietly afterwards.

The mark of a good restaurant is consistency. If Spiga can keep delivering the sort of food and experience that we enjoyed then it will do well. In ambience and menu it has kept itself suitably different from very close neighbour Sarracino and while I always found the Green Room to be style over substance, I think Spiga marries the two rather well.

Spiga
182 Broadhurst Gardens
020 7372 8188
(website still under development!)

If you go, do leave comments below.