The family bringing Sri Lankan food to East London
(Founder of Kottu Lanka Mahen Perera, left. Shanti Perera, right) Sri Lankan food has been tipped as this year’s top food trend and the BBC’s Good Food Guide has praised market stall Kottu Lanka as one to try. It’s run by Mahen Perera and his Uncle Shanti. Two years ago, Mahen was on holiday in Sri Lanka with some friends from the UK – when he saw how blown-away they were by the flavours being served there, the seed of an idea began to grow. He said; “When we got home to Lond
Embrace the sentimental this Mother’s Day
(Picture courtesy of Earlybird Cards) We don’t buy this piffle that Mother’s Day is an over-commercialised day designed to get you spending! What’s wrong with showing a little thanks for the love, the care and the constant work mums devote to us and a little appreciation for the havoc motherhood wreaks on bodies and minds! And if we can do that while keeping it local – all the better! So with that in mind (and yes, this article was compiled by a wrung-out mother), we’ve put t
BBQ Dreamz: what next after My Million Pound Menu?
Hackney couple who won My Million Pound Menu launch Bong Bong's Manila Kanteen.
INDEPENDENT ISLINGTON: AREA GUIDE
Islington’s independent heart beats loudly. This is an area guide with a difference – giving you the inside track on the best way to experience this vibrant borough like a local. There’s so much on offer here that your time could be happily occupied without visiting a single big-chain business. Rising rents and business rates mean conditions are tough for many traders – they need your support more than ever and, if our experience is anything to go by, the quality of the local
Pay as you feel café opens in Stokey
A 'second chance’ pop-up café has opened in Stoke Newington offering soup and smoothies and allowing people to pay what they like. The zero-waste café at St Mary’s Church is open on Thursday and Friday lunchtimes in March and April and uses leftover food from local shops, including Spence, Wholefoods and local fruit and veg stores. It’s being manned by volunteers from the church, Hackney Migrant Centre, Hackney Food Bank and the local community. Rev Dilly Baker, of St Mary’s
SIPOLOGIST SOCIAL - Wine buff puts fun and science into tasting
Did you know music impacts the way you perceive flavours or that the human tongue is as individual as a fingerprint? Mandy Stevens is revolutionising the wine-tasting industry with Sipologist Social - fun and science-based classes which demonstrate how factors like music and other flavours impact our taste buds. Some classes involve covering the tongue in blue-dye with a pipette and using a mirror to look at the taste buds. Mandy explained: “Our tongues are as different to ea
STOKE NEWINGTON AREA GUIDE
Centuries of campaigning have helped make Stoke Newington one of London’s most vibrant, community-minded, independent and green neighbourhoods. Whether you’re a history buff, a foodie, a nature-lover or a shopaholic, our area guide to Stoke Newington gives you the inside track on where’s best to go… from a local’s perspective. It’s thanks to the dogged determination of locals to protect and improve the area that Clissold Park wasn’t lost to developers in the 1880s, that the E