1. The importance of tea. Yesterday I tried to get a cup of tea near Hove station at 4 in the afternoon. I was turned away. London: one of the only places in the world where you can get a decent cup of tea at any hour of the day or night.
2. Crowded. Has Victoria station always been so crowded? Either it a) got more crowded since I left London b) got more crowded because I left London c) was always elbow to elbow with commuters, tourists, language students, people trying to sell you something. I think it’s c. Scary that I didn’t notice for nearly 20 years.
3. The Japanese Kitchen. On hearing I was going to speak at the Camden People’s Theatre last night, my wife said ‘Oh, you could go to the Japanese Kitchen.’ The Japanese Canteen, known idiomatically in this household as the Japanese Kitchen: off the Warren St end of Tottenham Court Rd, do lovely Bento boxes, have high stools, the place I sat, seemingly for weeks and weeks, actually over the course of thirteen days, while our new born son was in intensive care and special care. The thing is, sitting there thinking about Z in his incubator, half devastated, half euphoric to be getting a break, huge tits, still looking pregnant, well, it’s turned The Japanese Kitchen into a place of pilgrimage. I couldn’t go to The Japanese Kitchen so lightly. I would be surrounded by people who don’t know how important it is.
4. Take Away Jacket Potatoes. I have written before now about the Covent Garden Jacket Potato. There are a couple of places in Hove to get take away jacket potatoes. But it’s not the same.
5. Haberdashery. I miss Crouch End. I miss the London-demi-posh mums with buggies, shoppers with artisan bread, and overpriced cafes. I miss Dunns. I miss the W7, the 144 and the W3. I miss the quick hop up to Muswell Hill to sit upstairs at Sable D’Or. I miss Ally Pally. I miss Priory Park. I even miss the drunk guy with long grey hair who walked up and down our street talking to himself who either had an identical twin or who only had a drink problem on some days of the week. Recently this miss-ness has been focused into not being able to walk to the Haberdashery for a breakfast. Not my favourite cafe, too expensive and not enough room for it to be my favourite. But the juices are gorgeous, the crockery is quirky, the breakfasts are delicious, and the atmosphere makes you feel you’re in the centre of things: you’ve finally found one of those quirky little places in London that only real Londoners know about. Being able to walk there was divine.