Macondo

Macondo
8 & 9 Hoxton Square
London N1

Could Macondo be the best café in the whole of London? I think so. Exposed brick walls, cozy leather sofas, this is a great place to while away the Sunday morning hours. If you while away enough hours, you might as well stay for lunch. Despite my initial apprehensions, the place does actually serve authentic tortilla de patatas and paella, as well as a variety of other appealing foods, which yesterday included mushroom stroganoff, some aubergine bake-type thing, lasagna, and the infamous broccoli with cheese, which was a bit random. But forget all that, this place has the BEST cakes ever. They have REAL cheesecake. None of this Philadelphia fridge cake nonsense, I mean proper baked cheesecake made with fromage blanc, drizzled with honey and served with whipped cream. Their coffee's pretty darn good, too, and they serve an interesting array of drinks, including mint and lime iced tea (highly recommended).

Service can be a bit flaky, though. You have to order at the till and it's all slightly chaotic when it gets busy. I ordered and paid, and then they forgot our order, and then they forgot I'd paid. It seems a bit strange given that the food is actually on display in trays sitting atop shelves. I mean, you could just give me a spoon and I'd have no problem serving myself, since it all looks so yummy! But anyway, our server was having kind of a stressed out day.

Watching the Hoxton crowd is part of the experience. They can certainly be, well, let's say "expressive" in their fashion sense, and they range from continental chain smokers to doctorate students conducting interviews about cross-cultural ethnicity for their humanities dissertation.

And that Nutella cake.... it's just waiting to be tried...... maybe next time.......

Proper, baked cheesecake (bottom) and carrot and orange cake (affectionately described to us as "squidgy" cake (it's drenched in honey, so mind your kidneys.....)

From the favelas to the future (via Hackney...)

Favela Rising, Jeff Zimbalist (Dir.)
From the Favelas to Hackney
This is the Future, Paul Kelly (Dir.), Saint Etienne

Following brutal police massacres in Rio de Janeiro's Vigário Geral slum in the 1990s, the AfroReggae movement was born with the aim of offering a positive alternative to the drug-fuelled violence of the favelas. Jeff Zimbalist's documentary, Favela Rising, follows the movement's founder, Anderson Sá, a former drug trafficker turned musician, social activist and community leader. The film describes the structure of life in the favela, the dominant role of its drug gangs and the resultant social exclusion of its residents. Through the AfroReggae movement, Anderson Sá provides young kids with an opportunity to channel their energies more creatively by teaching them percussion and dance and holding mass social awareness parties. He makes insightful observations about the destructiveness of false hope. For many in the favelas, becoming a drug soldier provides one of very few ways of earning good money, but a drug soldier can rarely expect to live beyond 25 years. Poignantly, as AfroReggae's founder comments on the paralysis that violence imposes on the favelas, he himself is faced with his own paralysis when he fractures his fourth vertebra in a surfing accident. As AfroReggae's members consider whether to end the movement, Anderson Sá makes an unlikely recovery, walking unaided within four days of his surgery. Zimbalist's documentary is a rare film, about the power of social organization against negative influence and the role of culture in bringing hope.

In 2005, AfroReggae were invited to spend one week at Hackney Free and Parochial School to bring their experiences to inner city schoolchildren 6000 miles away and help them prepare for a performance at Amnesty International. From the Favelas to Hackney demonstrates the transforming influence of the experience, providing often challenging students with an outlet through performance, and an opportunity to focus on positive activities and enabling them to work together. The school is taking this experience forward, with performances at the Barbican planned for next year.

Completed in 1951, the newly renovated Royal Festival Hall is a historical landmark on London's South Bank. Built as the capital's showcase for the Festival of Britain, the building's post-war modernist design was a symbol of hope and a vision of the future. Following last year's hugely successful Hymns To London Revisited, Saint Etienne were invited as the RFH's resident artists. During the following 12 months, together with director Paul Kelly, the band made a film about the restoration of the hall. Much in the style of Revisited, the film is accompanied by a live soundtrack from the band, this time with a 60-piece orchestra and youth choir, and details the historic importance of the South Bank and the hall's careful refit, from the new acoustic ceiling membranes, to the hand restoration of the original Race seats and 4000 square metres of hand-woven carpet. As usual, Saint Etienne demonstrate a great sensitivity to the spirit of the city, producing a film that is both educational and compelling, and a vision of the future today.

Feist

Feist, Shepherds Bush Empire, London, 17 February 2007

First of all, a piece of advice. If you're collecting money for charity at the line for a Feist concert and you hear someone speaking in a vaguely North American accent, chances are they're Canadian. Just as a general matter of course, it's not good to start conversation by asking: "So, which part of the US are you from, then?" There's a good chance abuse will be hurled at you and your name will be cursed forever.

There was an opening act to this. I vaguely remember it. It was a one-man band. Some guy called Dr. something. It must have offended something, for my mind seems to have blocked the details from memory.

Feist played material from her new album, The Reminder. I'd say Feist is the right side of quirky. I liked all the rhythm lines and riffs, but I kinda got the feeling that, despite her instantly recognizable voice, she doesn't really have a distinctive style of her own, so I kept being reminded of bits of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, the White Stripes, the Zutons, Alison Goldfrapp and Eva Cassidy, among others. Her mellow stuff is better than her more upbeat, rocky songs. And, of course, we always welcome a new rendition of Mushaboom to end the evening.

Asadal and Jump

Asadal, 227 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7DA

Sometimes, all you want is a baby chicken stuffed with sticky rice, garlic and dates, slow cooked in a stone pot and served with broth. No? Well, you will after you go to Asadal. This basement Korean restaurant right next to Holborn tube station is quite a find. It has sleek, modern but simple decor and the food is great. Definitely try the whatever baby-chicken-stuffed-with-sticky-rice-garlic-and-dates-slow-cooked-in-broth thing is called. I have to warn you that this isn't the easiest thing to eat, particularly with thin, metal Korean chopsticks, but man it's worth the effort. The tofu jeon is also good - light, deep fried tofu with peppers.

And what better way to round off a delicious Korean meal than with the high-octane, martial arts extravaganza that is Jump, down the road at the Peacock Theatre? Performed by the Ye Gam Inc. theatre company, this is like a cross between The Itchy and Scratchy Show, The Matrix, a Bruce Lee spoof and a bad 80s pop video. On amphetamines. The 'story' basically involves a martial arts-obsessed family that indulges in fights involving crazy stunts, slow-mo action replays, fast forward, rewind, tae kwondo dance routines and all manner of bizarre and highly entertaining action.