What more can you want on a cold wintery evening than a first-class curry. Discover award-winning Punjabi cuisine in a hidden part of London. Shhh don’t tell everyone!
www.foodandflavour.co.uk/2017/01/31/curry-with-character
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Some of the best coffee in the neighbourhood, they take their coffee very, very seriously. Small inside so no room for buggies but the outside area has a couple of tables, space for prams, and railings to contain little ones in the summer. Some very delicious home made cakes and croissants are hard to resist on the counter. If you’re breastfeeding or pregnant and off caffeine, this is one of the best decaf coffees in town. Water served with coffee.
Toilet but no baby changing, no highchairs.
Free babycinos, thoughtfully served at a lower temperature.
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his place is almost the perfect place for mums and children. The coffee is always great here and there is a delicious variety of cakes, bread, sandwiches and croissants. Their cherry chocolate scones are possibly the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Help yourself to water. There is a little bit of space for prams, a fabulous long bench, some low chairs (although on wheels which is difficult for little ones) but once you’ve made camp, it can be a great place to spend some time and have a good natter. The downsides are, it can get crowded (especially after Harriettes sing-along kick out) and the surrounding cool customers don’t always appreciate little ones being… little ones. Great decaf coffee.
Babycinos 50p
Excellent baby changing facilities
You can always get a table here but if you can get the sofas here then you’re in a good place. I’m not a fan of the coffee here but good herbal teas, soft drinks, frappacinos, sandwiches, cakes and most importantly the babycinos are free. Space for a few buggies and help yourself to water. The door is quite often left open so not great if you’ve got a young toddler who loves exploring.
Good baby changing facilities
Babycinos FREE
Lots of fabulous sofas in this very cool, independent Clerkenwell coffee house. But as such it is always busy so good luck getting a sofa seat as they are in great demand by the laptop coffee guzzlers. I like this place because its buzzy, good music so you don’t feel like you’re disturbing the peace. Great sandwiches and cakes on offer too. Help yourself to water.
No baby changing. Babycinos 50p
I can always find an excuse to pop in here this cool London establishment for a coffee. I don’t know why I love this place but it grabbed my attention from the day it opened. The service is always slow, there is no space for buggies, it’s always busy. But there is a delicious, healthy menu, great coffee, free magazines, water available. Designed for bike couriers I don’t think i’ve ever seen a courier in the place but its got some great cycle paraphernalia around and a cool hip crowd, inevitably tapping away on their laptops. Oh to have nothing to do all day!
Quirky baby changing facilities but incredibly they do have them
Ok, so strictly speaking this one is in N1, but it is a brilliant place to meet up with other mums. Spacious, so room for buggies, lots of tables and chairs. Whilst the coffee isn’t memorable they offer hot food, served quickly and easy to eat which is a bonus when you have to grab mouthfuls between breastfeeding, changing nappies, or chasing down a toddler.
Baby changing facilities, slightly on the small side
Highchairs available
There are so many Prets that you probably know their menu already. The one near Angel is relatively less busy than the others so there are often good booth seats and plenty of space for buggies. And you can’t go wrong with their chocolate covered rice cakes and popcorn for lower calorie snacks. Service is really friendly for a chain and babycino refills served with a smile.
Babycinos: FREE
Highchairs
Great baby changing facilities in large disabled toilet.
Very cool, fabulous sofas, but it’s hard work competing with the laptop loungers to get a seat in this place. A nice independent serving good coffee so worth going if you can go when it’s not so busy.
No baby changing
The counter is in the barbican foyer so this one is a great place for big groups to meet, with buggies as there is masses of space, lots of seats, and a child friendly crowd who don’t seem too bothered by littles ones making noise. Lots of space for toddlers to run and roam inside on rainy days, nice outside area, although a little scary with the water having no railings if you have a todder. There are two disabled toilets on the ground floor and one in the Barbican cafe has baby changing facilities.
The most amazing hot and cold food, great coffee and free babycinos makes this place a winner. The downside is the seating inside isn’t family friendly with high tables and tall stools. Also, cakes in the window are displayed with easy acess for little people and at little people height. So my tip is not to order anything from the bottom shelf that might have had sticky toddler fingers on! Great if you can get a table outside in the summer or don’t mind a bit of fresh air and keeping a close eye on little ones near the road.
Babycinos: FREE
This is on the list in case you’re tempted to try it. I have done, a couple of times but all it really does is make me yearn for the child free responsibility free days of my 20s. A mecca for all things cool but probably the most un-friendly place for kids in town. No space for buggies. My advice – save it for date night or go to the Kings Cross one!
No baby changing
Babycinos a whopping £1.50
Typography prints are hot right now, but this blog is about Typography Art – ooo yeah baby.
When Jamie told me about his Exmouth Market print I was always going to be first in line to buy a limited edition, so I was stoked when he asked me to shoot it at his warehouse apartment in Clerkenwell. Life doesn’t get much better than this…
Working on a shoot with an artist-designer has got great advantages; an attention to detail and a clear vision of what he wants. When I arrived, Jamie had framed his print beautifully and hung it on the wall so that it was placed perfectly above retro sideboard. Urban chic accessories adorn Jamie and Nicola’s apartment, so we were never short of very cool props and tried out various set ups to get the perfect finished picture. We had some challenges… a white poster, in a white frame, on a white wall but Jamie used his designer skills on the image files to delicately balance out any of the quirks and create a perfectly finished image.
Look closely and you can see the lovely paper texture, the indent of the press and the amazing detail that has gone into creating each one of these amazing letters. They have started selling like hotcakes locally and have sold as far as Japan and Australia. Currently priced at just £40, now is the time to snap up one of these prints before the price inevitably goes up.
You can buy a copy from Jamie’s website
“The decorated initials, spelling ‘Exmouth’, have been inspired by the rich assortment of lettering found on the street or designed to represent its past. The text is also full of little typographic details, such as historical and ornamental characters, which were great fun to add.”
Details about the print
A series of beautiful images of you and your baby, to look back on and cherish.
Mums often take loads of photos of their baby and family and don’t have a few special photos of themselves with their baby. A baby and mum shoot takes place in the comfort of your home. Mums have been delighted with how much they enjoy the relaxed nature of a shoot.
A relaxed session usually takes around an hour, and you receive 3 black & white high quality digital files on cd for you to print or use as you wish, and as many times as you wish!
(Colour is £50 extra)
Photo shoot: Mum Claire and Syvlia Rose, 5 weeks old
Katie & Leo, 2013
A few precious moments of Mum and baby Leo, just four weeks old. Mum often takes all the photos in the house so new mum Katie was pleased to have a few of the two of them together. He looks so safe, warm and snuggly.
Princess Arianna, 2012
Baby Arianna, 2012
What a cherub! Mum told me she didn’t have any photos of her little angel smiling, so I was delighted to capture this lovely little smile. These photos would make a lovely photo book album.
There was a striking bro-mance between young Harrison and Jackson, they showed their love for each other like only brothers know how… there were kisses, cuddles and of course the odd punch!
2 year old Jack was headlining the show on this shoot but big brother Harry couldn’t help but demonstrate his perfect modelling skills. Being older & wiser always helps.
But keen to demonstrate his dinosaurs, Jack revealed his cute, excitable side, and stole the show with those amazing green eyes and gorgeous eyelashes. Lucky boy.
Looking after busy kids can be exhausting but they always seem to melt away the days trials and tribulations with some super-cute moment. I was privileged to catch this glimpse of Jack fast asleep and got a couple of minutes to capture his inner angel, which is brightest when he’s dreaming of his next adventure.
These boys were great fun to photograph, they are so engaging, and with super-patient, hands-on parents helping out, it turned into a very happy shoot.
Find out more about my family photo shoots.
Baby & Me photo shoots special offer: £99
Founder of the Big Issue and godfather of social enterprise, John Bird took me under his wing at the Hub in Kings Cross, and as we shot these pictures he talked about his passions for art, publishing and social change.
His portrait changed dramatically as he talked emphatically about a huge variety of subjects, from the history of William Morris at Merton Abbey Mills, to being at school at St Thomas More in Chelsea where my father and mother taught, fell in love and got married. Although he was kicked out of school, John has made it his business to be educated about most things in life and whilst leading life on the edge, amongst other things, he has made a huge impact on homeless people all over the world.
My portraits of John are for the lead interview next month in Time & Leisure, these are my top three, which one do you think they’ll pick?
Do something good today and buy a copy of the Big Issue! Click on the images to see a larger version.
Sometimes I find it tempting to keep my artwork secret and not risk showing anyone, but it was great to see some of my large format photos hanging at 13 Gallery’s April Art Fair. We had a good day with plenty of visitors, I was delighted to sell three pieces and potentially a couple of exhibitions to follow. Owners Alejandro and Katja from Cuba are a crazy mix of passion and business, they were keen to keep a few pieces in the gallery to sell and ended up taking seven. Thanks everyone who came and supported. Feel the love.
We had fun tearing up Tate Britain this week, much to the horror of the quietly horror struck visitors. I like to think most of the artists would approve of these two bringing the space to life, whilst the institutionalised quiet has made Tate Britain more like a library for preserving art. What do you think an art space should be?
Lucy Kane 