Add to List - #94
The future is retro, the cocktails are strong, and the television is very emotional
Hello, thank you, and welcome. I love you for being here!
Add to List is my Sunday round-up. It’s the small things that brought me joy, evoked an emotional reaction, or became some short-lived stability in the past seven days.
Obsession
I’m not late to the game but I am late to talking about it on the internet.
You know what I’m going to say don’t you? Yes, Celebrity Traitors.
I am still 100% faithful to this show even in its famous-person edition. I have to admit I was nervous about it; often shows die at this Z-list-sell-out point but they’ve filled a castle with a knockout flurry of ‘big dogs’ and boy oh boy it might even be better?
I love to see how the preconceived ideas they have of one another play for and against them. The traitors are playing an absolute blinder. Will everyone just listen a little more to the darling that is Celia Imrie? And Mr Fry’s critical thinking ability in searching for tangible evidence— aka Cat’s sleeping? Genius.
Confession
I cried…
…when they banished Sir Stephen from the castle. What a treasure.
Shook
This long read about the sordid scale of Gail’s in
. The pigeon-homing of gentrification is propped up by deeply capitalist values? Wow, never.Makes that £7.10 smoked salmon bagel even harder to swallow?
Cook
Things I’ve made:
Turkey meatballs, sun-dried tomato sauce — This provided a healthy but easy meal prep for me this week. I combined turkey mince with lemon, fresh thyme, fired in oregano, and heaps of salt and pepper before being squished up into wee balls then sealing off before combining with a classic pomodoro sauce (bulked out by a few handfuls of sun-dried tomatoes). Served alongside brown rice, green beans, and garlic mayo. Saving myself the 8.49 price tag on that sad, sorry (and always tepid) Leon too.
Haddock Kedgeree — An antisocial but highly overlooked start to the day: a salty, smoky joy of a dish — like a comforting hug from your grandfather in breakfast form.
Sourdough + roasted feta (w/ a side of Heinz) — a midweek block baked with baby tomatoes and tenderstem, then spread lavishly on to toast. Dip in the perfectly sweet and creamy soup for a salty slice of heaven. And make sure it’s a tin of Heinz cream of tomato — I am human, come on.
Roasted pumpkin, ricotta and radicchio — I went a little wild on the pumpkin selection on the supermarket. It’s as close as you’ll get me to Halloween. How cute are munchkin pumpkins? They’re also really delicious. Roast a huge tray so they’re ready to stir through pasta, risotto, or chuck ‘em in a salad with toasted hazelnuts, radicchio and tangy vinaigrette.
Plus some outings:
Robin the Brave, Crouch Hill — a rainy Tuesday pub featuring a live saxophone. A couple of pints to ward off the sad seasonal steam taking residency on droplet-splattered glass. This felt like the first real sip of autumn/winter. Gorgeous. The lime bike home in torrential rain? Not so much.
Motorino, Fitzrovia — I was invited with a lovely group of journalists to try this new opening from Stevie Parle and Luke Ahearne on Thursday this week.
the only kind of red room I ever want to find myself in The space is The Dover meets Grease Lightning. With Parle’s vision at the helm there’s a generous dose of signature retro futurism — this time styled around the very sexiest of Italian vintage cars. The food sees high quality ingredients take podium position with an Italian-style menu in the words of chef Ahearne ‘which isn’t designed to be anthropologically Italian.’ It’s intentionally more playful.
The carbonara agnolotti was particular testament to why you might want to consider reinventing the wheel, after all. Is it where I’d choose for the best plate of pasta in the city? No. That would be Trullo, of course — but it is where I’d suggest for some sexy small plates in a central location where, for once, the vibe actually is as big as the venue (Motorino has 150 covers). Here you can find a surplus selection of cocktails that would get Mad Men’s Roger Stirling’s seal of approval. Plus, some of the best lighting in the city.
Don’t go for the Italian food: go to sit beneath trippy chandeliers, gush over bright leather banquettes, and stare out at a perfectly framed view of Fitzrovia chapel as the satellites orbit around you from the mustard yellow UFO-worthy kitchen. Grab a cocktail, unleash your inner Sharon Tate, and wait for dessert. Here, Ahearne proves in one spoonful alone exactly how and why a lemon meringue tart can be a much better pick-me-up than a tiramisu. Plus, their dill boy martini (also available at Town) is now a contender for a spot on my list of London’s Top 10 martinis.
Book
Medium Raw, Anthony Bourdain
Before there was The Bear, there was Bourdain. A no holds barred self-exposé, as is the culinary rock’n’roller’s style.
I enjoy when writers reflect on the success and pitfalls of their previous work with each evolution of their career— this one (more?) reflective yet still as always has a real immediacy to it. Another read where he’s happy to set it all alight and doesn’t mind if he gets a bit burnt in the process. Delicious.
Look
Go to a cool restaurant with sexy decor.
Drink one too many martinis.
Take selfies in the toilets like a loser.
…and then feel influenced by your mild hangover to keep the 70s-retro feels going the next day.
Also, these glasses should be medically prescribed. The world looks brighter in them. Instant happiness. I’m calling them Sertraline Specs.
Can’t Stop Scanning
Netflix’s Nobody Wants This.
What a brilliantly written show. I am so glad our favourite relatable-near-psycho-girly and romantic-rabbi-soft-boi are back on our screens. I cried in episode one! (The nightstand, obvs).
Warning: nobody wants to watch this pre-menstrual.
Forward Planning
Halloween Substack open mic parties.
What’s spookier than having to wear fancy dress as an adult? No, nothing actually. What the f— are you all playing at?
So, to ward off any ghosts (specifically those originating via Hinge) I’ll be reading something hopeful about love at our next Substack writer meet up. Link to sign up here. Spread the word, bring your writer friends, all very welcome!
Sertraline Specs, brilliant
I’m so pleased to read the martini drinking continues 🍸