🪑Table Talk #55 - A Seat At New Tables: Hackney

TABLE TALK #55

Welcome to Table Talk, your weekly injection of delicious dinner table chat delivered straight into your inbox.

This week, our conversation is meandering into new territories: it’s not what we’re talking about but where. As a new feature, we will share our guides to cities, towns and neighbourhoods we love, featuring brilliant places to dine, drink Wednesday’s Domaine, and make a memory or two. Because who doesn’t love finding new tables to pull up a chair at? 

Load up your Oyster Card and put on your coolest clothes, because we are heading to Hackney.

 

Shop: Columbia Road might be best known for the flower market, but its selection of boutique stores are worth visiting in their own right. 
See: The Museum of the Home is jam packed with free exhibits, events and installations that support the local Hackney community. 
Do: London Fields Lido is a heated outdoor pool that is truly worth experiencing on a cold winter's day. 

 

🍝 MAIN COURSE 🍝

New tables.

 

Hop off the train at Hackney Central and you’ll find yourself on the loud, gritty streets characteristic of east London. And yet, nearby, quiet parks and terraced houses sit sleepy and peaceful. This is the conundrum of Hackney, an area that covers both boutique residential areas as well as edgy warehouse districts and eclectic neighbourhoods. But all the better for it, because for the last decade the Borough has epitomised cool in the capital, and for good reason. 

A place to begin your visit is at the iconic Broadway Market, strolling through its many Saturday stalls peddling everything from vintage clothes and rare records, to artisanal toasted cheese sandwiches. From there, amble down the canal back towards Dalston, peering into flower ordained canal boats before exiting into Haggerston. Grab a flat white at SHED, a multifaceted creative space (that incidentally stocks us). Or, if you are after a pub by this point, we recommend The Scolt Head in leafy De Beauvoir, a well-loved boozer that hosts community events and throws a killer Friday night knees-up. After that, keep heading along to Kingsland High Street, where you’ll spot Dan’s nestled on the corner of it and Tottenham Road. Have yourself a glass of Wednesday’s Domaine while you’re there as the night closes in, before heading onto Mu, the sister bar to Brilliant Corners, for live jazz and incredible small plates. And if you’re still up past midnight, all roads lead to the MOTH Club back near Hackney Central station. 

By all means, this is a whistlestop through a Borough with plenty to offer. If you have more time, spend a morning pottering around Stoke Newington Church street, shopping at the likes of Labour And Wait before checking in at Clissold Park for a spot of wildlife (we’re talking real-life deer and goats, people). Or you could visit Hackney Wick, where Crate Brewery is unparalleled for its pizzas and good vibes. Sunday’s are reserved for Victoria Park Market and a turmeric bun at The Pavillion Cafe. When it comes to Hackney, there are always plenty of reasons to keep coming back for more. 

 

🍮 SWEET ENDINGS 🍮

Wednesday's book club. 

End where we began, on the bustling street of Broadway, where The Broadway Bookshop has been peddling the finest books for years, including Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, the front woman of Indie rockband, Japanese Breakfast. It is the first of our recommended reads for the month.  Time to settle in on a Sunday with a good book, and the finest reads for company. 
In brief: a tender story about family, identity and grief that will stick with you long after the final pages.

 

🍷 WHAT'S NEW
FROM
WEDNESDAY'S DOMAINE? 🍷

Week by week, the business continues to grow and evolve. We’ve loved the slow trickle of inquiries about stocking our products turn into a more steady flow; we’re enlivened by the chance to get our wines into more people’s hands and relishing the chance to receive ever more feedback that helps to shape the future of Wednesday’s Domaine.

This past weekend saw me (Luke) spend time with a group that has long heard me talk about my desire to one day set up a business, so to be there for the first time since having launched, and to see Wednesday’s Domaine being drunk and enjoyed in the utterly joyous surroundings at fforest, was really something special.

Until next week,
The Wednesday's Domaine Team x