What is London to you? Yesterday I went to watch Hadley FC play Oxford City in the FA Trophy. I spent much of the journey chatting with Alan, a fellow Hadley fan. We discussed football, music, the joys of parenthood and pies. I won't share most of this, but the conversation about pies was wonderful. I can honestly say that Oxford City FC sell the best pies I've had for years anywhere. Proper chunks of steak, no gristle and proper suet pastry. Absolutely delicious. Alan told me that there is a Pie and Mash appreciation society page on Facebook. I won't bore you with the details of our chat, but it got me thinking. For many of us of a certain age, Pie and Mash is indicative of a London that is disappearing before our eyes.
I had always dreamed of writing a book about the great cafe's in London. My idea was to spend a year where three days a week, I'd visit a different greasy spoon cafe or pie and mash shop. Maybe even ten years ago that was still my ambition. Now? I am not sure that there are enough to actually do it. The days when eating in a cafe was cheap, seems a thing of the past. I still have a favourites. The Cafe Anglais in Colindale is one. The Little Portland Cafe is another, a guilty pleasure for me when I was having my cancer discussions at UCL. But the whole culture of cafe's for the workmen of London is a dying culture. Pubs are another victim. The industry is almost unrecognisable from when I started going to pubs in the 1970's. Then beer was cheap, pub hours were limited and everyone smoked like chimneys. Food in pubs was a bag of nuts. But that is a lost London.
The present? There are still great pubs, but they are different. Some outliers hold on. I love the Southampton Arms in Kentish Town, it has many of the best features of 1970's pubs, but it has a far better range of beers than most pubs then. If I eat out, it tends to be curries, but this is another sector that is under pressure. I like old school curries. The owners who set up shop in the 1970's are dying and retiring. Enjoy it whilst you can.
And the future? What will London's pubs, cafe's and Indian restaurants be like in the year 2044. I'll be 82, if I'm still here. What is the pub of the future like? I look at my kids and what they like. They'll be in their 40's then. They don't really seem interested in beer. They like places that have a vibe. Will there still be real ale pubs, or will that culture die, when my generation pass? I hope not, but my kids aren't interested. They like curries, but like the cheap and cheerful sort. I suspect the sector will survive but become more London. The old Bangladeshi generation's food traditions will pass. The food will either be cheap and copious, or expensive and fussy. And the cafe's? It seems to me that healthy eating ideas will do for the little family run cafes I love. I hope I'm wrong, but it's hard work running a cafe and there's no margin on egg and chips.
And finally, going back to my conversation with Alan. Will the pie and mash shop survive. None of my kids have my love of pies. I don't see too many of their generation with our obsession. I do hope they do, but London is constantly changing. I do wonder what I'll be eating when I eat out in London in 2044, maybe it will change for the better. When my Grandad was my age, having a curry wasn't an option and he'd probably have hated it. My Grandma wouldn't go in pubs. She thought they were for men. So it does change and evolve.
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