In early December we reported the filming of a TV advert in the newly smartened Wanstead Barbers at the Snaresbrook end of the High Street. It wasn’t, alas, a new Mike Leigh production, but rather an advert for a bookie’s. You can see the whole thing below. Whatever your views on the advertiser, they chose a good venue for their advert.
Wansteadium reader Marian Temple writes:
After a shaky start, things are picking up for Piccolo [the restaurant which took over from Giorberti’s]. Julio the chef and his delightful wife Marta, the new owners, are determined to offer a successful Italian cuisine on Wanstead High Street. Julio trained at the prestigious Italian “Il Cucciaio d’Argento†in New York and for many years he was the head chef at the Adriatico and the Bel Sit in Woodford Green. He is a true master at creating delicious sauces to complement his pasta, meat and fish dishes. All the ingredients are locally sourced; the fish is fresh daily; the deserts are made in house; nothing is bought in frozen.
Marta and the front-of-house team, Nino and Lenka, will be sure to give you a warm welcome, helping you to make a wise choice from the menu and the wine list. Of course there are specials on the blackboard; these change every week. And there is also a take-away service but you do have to collect the food yourself.
Plans for the future include upholstering the benches, refurbishing the toilets, extending the kitchen area – but these will take time and money. Another long term project will be offering an English style roast dinner on Sundays. I am only one of the many Wanstead residents who are delighted to have this Piccolo gem on the High Street, so please go and try it out for yourself.
Suki Orange, Wansteadium’s food blogger, writes: Thank you Marian for this – I confess I haven’t made it to Piccolo since it opened, so it’s good to hear promising things about it.
Geoff Wilkinson writes on Wanstead Daily Photo: “I really like this photograph, you have to look twice and think about it. The trees appear to be upside down and is that yellow disc the sun or a UFO in the picture? Truth is it’s a puddle on Wanstead Flats so the trees are a reflection and the yellow disc, it’s just a tennis ball floating in the puddle.”
Times must be good. The former Startin Builder’s office on the corner of Sylvan Road and Wanstead High Street, which has just been converted into a one-bedroom bungalow, has just gone on the market.
It’s yours for £300,000.
It’s before Wansteadium’s time, but we believe the building started life as a ticket office for the railway – presumably in days before the line it served was actually part of the Central Line. But this meant the building needed quite a bit of refurbishment before it would be suitable for a house – including installation of some insulation.
What was a paved front area for the builder’s office has now become a recently laid winter lawn, benefiting from the mild wet weather no doubt.
So who would it suit? Conceivably someone who works in the City who wants somewhere to sleep during the week (and who likes trains, probably).
We are seeking a comment from George C Parker posthaste.
Good luck to another new management at the Queen’s British Grill, for Tuesday, their first day. This change does, however, look pretty interesting.
The new chef is Adebola Adeshina, who has been running Parsons Restaurant in Waltham Abbey. His site biography says the following:
“Born in Nigeria, Adebola (Ade) moved with his family to London as a child. Inspired by his mother’s cooking, he always knew that he would be a chef. After college, he got a job working with the Aubergine team under Gordon Ramsay. He remained with Ramsay for six years, cooking at the three-Michelin starred Gordon Ramsay Restaurant and at Petrus under Marcus Wareing.  He also climbed the ranks working with Philip Howard at The Square, Eric Chavot at The Capital and Tom Ilic at Bonds.  In February 2006 he opened a critically acclaimed restaurant with Fabrizio Russo called The Lock Dining Bar in North London and in 2011 he recently opened Parsons Restaurant in Waltham Abbey.”
The restaurant reopens after a Christmas refurbishment. You can see the man in action here:
Wansteadium’s food blogger Suki Orange says: “Naturally I wish them well – as we always do with new ventures. My initial thoughts about the menu are that it’s ambitious if a bit confusing, and maybe a touchy pricey? I’d like to know a bit more about the provenance of the rare breeds it will be using, especially since steaks start at £19.50 on the a la carte menu. (Also I can’t resist pointing out some spelling mistakes on the menu, which might say more about me than it does about the restaurant, but really it’s those kinds of things I notice somehow… I know I’m not alone.) But once again, good luck to all involved – Wanstead needs good restaurants.”
https://twitter.com/queensbritgrill/status/423333363898806272
Sad to note that the 1st Wanstead company of Girls’ Brigade, which has met for 97 years, is to stop meeting because of falling rolls. The company has long met at Wanstead United Reformed Church, where other uniformed organisations will continue to meet. Should there be sufficient numbers of girls aged five and over who are interested in attending, the company might start meeting again, organisers say. (Wansteadium will pass on details if parents are interested in getting in touch – email wansteadium@gmail.com)
