Annie's: Welcome to Kentish Town
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“I want to live like common people said the Shamed Obsolete Banker (SOB).” “Excellent," I said. "As it happens I have a review coming up in Kentish Town.”
His face dropped in horror. “I’ve never been out of West London. When I said cutting edge and hip I thought you meant somewhere edgy, you know like Notting Hill.”
“Shut up. Now take off those stupid chinos and that blue shirt and put these on.”
I handed him some skinny jeans, Docs and a black hoodie. He put them on, and once we’d got the stubble stuck on his face, he had that North London je ne sais quoi. It didn’t quite work since he clung on to me like a limpet, shaking when we got off the tube. Strangely this did not faze the locals, who nodded understandingly and said “Good party, eh?”
The owners of Annie's have clearly sensed an opportunity and set up what they call a restaurant/bar to serve a population that doesn’t have too many options in its immediate area. While Kentish Town houses the kind of people who get paid well for making bad programming decisions at the BBC, it still hasn’t attracted the developers in a big way and retains a certain, essential London shabbiness.
Perhaps it was a kind of shabby chic, which Annie's was trying to reflect with its faux Louis XV chairs, but something wasn’t right. Was it the jeweled black wallpaper perhaps? With the modern tables and the white grand piano, I sensed a desire that maybe this bar/diner was trying to be all things to all people.
We had come for dinner and hearing that the steaks were good, SOB ordered one while I had chicken. His steak was huge, big enough to stop him saying, “I can’t believe I’m in North London” for at least half an hour.
The food was well cooked, competent, and hearty. We had some fish cakes to start, which were better than the standard London offering, and all were served to us cheerfully. Being a midweek evening, there were not a lot of people, and this is where I think it would start to get difficult.
The bar and eating area are not clearly delineated, which I guess must be deliberate on the management’s part to create a relaxed feeling. Here they must be counting on the fact that most of their clientele do not mind if there are noisy drinkers standing close to their table, because that’s what will happen.
But if you don’t mind that sort of thing and you live locally, then Annie’s is a place you’d welcome, and Kentish Town certainly needs it.
“Shut up. Now take off those stupid chinos and that blue shirt and put these on.”
I handed him some skinny jeans, Docs and a black hoodie. He put them on, and once we’d got the stubble stuck on his face, he had that North London je ne sais quoi. It didn’t quite work since he clung on to me like a limpet, shaking when we got off the tube. Strangely this did not faze the locals, who nodded understandingly and said “Good party, eh?”
The owners of Annie's have clearly sensed an opportunity and set up what they call a restaurant/bar to serve a population that doesn’t have too many options in its immediate area. While Kentish Town houses the kind of people who get paid well for making bad programming decisions at the BBC, it still hasn’t attracted the developers in a big way and retains a certain, essential London shabbiness.
Perhaps it was a kind of shabby chic, which Annie's was trying to reflect with its faux Louis XV chairs, but something wasn’t right. Was it the jeweled black wallpaper perhaps? With the modern tables and the white grand piano, I sensed a desire that maybe this bar/diner was trying to be all things to all people.
We had come for dinner and hearing that the steaks were good, SOB ordered one while I had chicken. His steak was huge, big enough to stop him saying, “I can’t believe I’m in North London” for at least half an hour.
The food was well cooked, competent, and hearty. We had some fish cakes to start, which were better than the standard London offering, and all were served to us cheerfully. Being a midweek evening, there were not a lot of people, and this is where I think it would start to get difficult.
The bar and eating area are not clearly delineated, which I guess must be deliberate on the management’s part to create a relaxed feeling. Here they must be counting on the fact that most of their clientele do not mind if there are noisy drinkers standing close to their table, because that’s what will happen.
But if you don’t mind that sort of thing and you live locally, then Annie’s is a place you’d welcome, and Kentish Town certainly needs it.
Here Is The Writer : Ms Robinson
Ms Robinson was once a copywriter who wrote award winning ads and had eight hour lunches. Weary of the sex, glamour and lavish parties, she switched to corporate communications where she held the hands of executives and banned them from writing this execrable sentence: "In this ever changing world, the only constant is change itself." These days she writes for an increasing variety of people and has ghostwritten several books but if she told you who for, she'd have to kill you. Click here to read her blog, Woman of Experience.
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