Sculpture and texture at the Soap Yard

There’s nothing better than a sunny, lazy Sunday and our trip to Parrillan in the newly opened Borough Yards will take quite a bit to beat. Not only was there great food and a relaxing space, but there was also a visit to the nearby Neal’s Yard Dairy, a great unexpected sculpture and of course, time to check out the loos.

It wasn’t until we were through the bricked arch that I turned round and spotted the painted sign to the Soap Yard - the brickwork, and the neon signs pulled me towards them, but I soon backtracked to admire this too. Both are from different times, but both are equally design classics aren’t they?

Once through the arch and after taking a photo of almost every brick, I noticed the globe sculpture titled The World Reimagined - Stolen Legacy: The Rebirth of a Nation, which is by Alison Turner. It’s one of 103 unique globes across the UK which explore the history, legacy and future of the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans.

Alison Turner is a mosaic artist who uses recycled vintage bone china, broken and discarded pottery, glass, ceramic tile and porcelain ornaments to create unique artwork. Her globe at Borough Yards was fantastic, and it’s the sort of piece that not only has deep meaning, but one that every time you look at it you’ll spot something different, and be enchanted again.

The World Reimagined - Stolen Legacy: The Rebirth of a Nation – Artist: Alison Turner

We were early for our lunch reservation so took some time to wander around the space admiring yet more brickwork, and the structures they formed. I couldn’t help but notice and admire the curved reception desk at Parrillan which I’m sure was chosen to echo its surroundings.

It soon became clear though, that texture had been given a lot of thought. Even the lemon meringue pie - which was as tasty as it looks - adopted the brief.

And in the loos it was once again evident, with the panelled metal sheet on the ceiling, the smooth sink surrounds and the curves and symmetry of the mirrors and wall lights, demonstrating again that you can be adventurous with texture in a relatively small space.

Back outside we moved from our table to a less formal space to end our meal. There were a few discoveries there, not least the heated seat pads (not pictured). Who knew, what an invention though sadly we had no need for them on our visit, but definitely something to try on a future, slightly chillier visit!

The modern wooden bench also caught my eye for its simple elegance, and the texture it too brought to the space. Alongside it the planting introduced more, the needles of the pine and the underplanting of soft mossy mounds. That’s how you do texture.

But also, succulents and small frothy ferns. What a combination.

Papped in the City

One of our festive traditions is to treat ourselves to a steak night in the run up to Christmas. I think it probably started as a reward for Christmas shopping, starting most probably, not completing it. But over the years the shopping part has been dropped and the steak is the focus. Last year we managed to fit in a visit to the Hawksmoor at Borough, walking from Fortnum & Masons in Piccadilly, mostly to avoid the tube and because it had been such a long while since we’d been into London.

This year though we were headed towards the City of London, so I thought our Fortnum & Masons luxury mince pies (another festive tradition of ours) might not be on this year. Then I learnt that they had a shop in the Royal Exchange, you don’t know how happy that made me. And so with my mince pies ordered for click and collect to coincide with our steak night, I was happy. The mince pies are divine, expensive, but divine.

What I wasn’t expecting was to be papped by Gillie & Marc’s Paparazzi Dogs at the entrance to the Royal Exchange, but I was so glad we were.

They definitely made me smile.

Mince pies, paparazzi dogs and steak - it was shaping up to be a very good night.

It’s the first time that the dogs have been in the UK, I’d like to think they knew I was coming - but that’s not true at all.

On the Royal Exchange website, they explain more about their temporary exhibit:

Designed to highlight the pack mentality of the media, the four Paparazzi Dogs have been travelling the world from New York’s Rockefeller Center to Melbourne’s Federation Square, Shanghai’s Jing’an Sculpture Park and Dublin’s Dundrum Town Centre, before arriving at The Royal Exchange to turn their lens on Londoners in a piece of public art that gives us all a taste of the glare of celebrity living

As well as the dogs, the mince pies and the nibbles to try in the store both the exterior (top) and interior (below) never fail to impress. For many years I worked opposite this building, and for many of those years had never been in until it was transformed into a posh shop mall - and even then, mostly just to look.

Our next stop was a favourite City pub - The Counting House on Cornhill - where both MOH and I have spent many evenings, with many colleagues. We were apprehensive about how busy it would be, and our tolerance levels for what we remembered being one of the busiest pubs where often it could take tens of minutes to make your way from the front of the pub to the back.

Reassuringly for us, less so for the publicans I’m sure, it was by comparison empty. There were people there, and we found a table to sit relatively easily - of course this was much to MOH’s horror, as he’s not a sitting down in pubs kind of person. But as I am, he did. It was still as beautiful as we remembered, and enhanced by the Christmas decorations.

After an aperitif or two, we along with our box of mince pies headed towards our steak restaurant - Blacklock just off Fenchurch Street. We’d been here before and in my usual style, I have no in-restaurant photos. We took the scenic route through Leadenhall Market to the restaurant, and this chandelier - in a coffee bar of all places - caught my eye.

Do you think it’s large enough?

Ah, Leadenhall Market always looks so good at Christmas, and while it’s the emptiest I think I’ve ever photographed it, it was good to see that some things don’t change. Let’s hope that the pandemic doesn’t completely silence places like this, that we know and love, but can’t always visit as much as we have in the past.

Copper flowers, and a spot to relax too

For today’s Flowers on Friday we’re heading back to the 2018 Chelsea Flower Show, for a closer look at these copper flowers by Myburgh Designs. I’ve just taken a look at their site, and believe me it’s a very beautiful and potentially dangerous place. They had a garden at Chelsea this year, but when I fell in love with these copper flowers - and more - last year, they had a corner plot which I’m not sure many people stopped by and enjoyed.

These poppies look right at home in the border mixed with the red and white flowers. They’re relatively reasonably priced too, which is always a result, as I have a tendency to sniff out the priciest items.

I think a mixture of sizes works well, and the website says they have a life of their own collecting water for birds in the garden, or could be used to hold candles.

But my favourite way to enjoy them would be just as it was at the show, from this copper pod.

Which I’m sure proves my earlier point about falling for the high ticket items, but who can blame me?