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p16
Rapid-fire round-up this issue: lots of new arrivals, too many to
cover in the detail they deserve, but let's hope the tasters we provide tempt you out for
some local retail therapy. So much less painful, in oh so many ways.
First off (only because it's the first place your dedicated correspondent gets to when she
leaves the leafy grounds of Casa Creditcard), is hub, a new arrival which
opened in June this year as an offshoot of the Manchester based original, also called hub.
While I usually think of Manchester as a very blokey sort of place - all pubs and football
clubs with funny names and stupid haircuts and that ineffable 'oop north' essence of
whippet and flat cap - hub couldn't be more girly. Run by Mancunian sisters Georgia and
Louise, the Stokie hub stocks handbags, slippers, shoes, cushions, tops, skirts, dresses,
lingerie, cards, baby and toddler gear - the lot, all crammed into what seems an
impossibly small space for such a wide range. Everything is cannily sourced and hugely
original; no high-street replicant stuff here. Stock changes regularly, so no top tips
from me: you'll have to get along there and check it out.
49 Stoke Newington Church St, N16, Tellfax: 020 7254 4494
 Handily almost opposite is the
spanking new Rasa shop, right next to Rasa Travancore. Shop, I hear you
gasp? Yes, eager punters, at last you can get your Rasa cookbooks and a range of gear -
spice trays and boxes, lassi glasses and a whole bunch of mostly Indian-sourced items, all
specially selected by Rasa's canny proprietors - in your very own shop. They're adding new
things all the time and plan to offer a range of antiques and artefacts - the culture of
Rasa - as time goes by. Eventually, if things go according to plan, you'll be able to buy
tea and hot snacks, to nibble as you browse. What could be more tempting? Open from 6-11
pm and at Sunday lunchtime.
54 Stoke Newington Church St, N1 6, Tel: 020 7249 1340
And working back down the street, your dedicated personal consumer arrived finally at one
of the more exotic of our new arrivals: the cool-blue Firefly Rhum bar.
Opened in June, Firefly is one of only four rhum bars in London - and indisputably the
first of its kind in Stoke Newington. Owner John Williams prides himself on stocking more
than 70 different rums, with all the usual suspects and more than a fair few that have
been specially imported from around the world. lan, the rapping 'mixologist' (look, I'm
not making this up, I promise!) also mixes some of the meanest cocktails in the Northern
hemisphere, something I will personally vouch for as soon as I've checked out of the
Priory. They're planning some special rum tasting sessions later in the year, and will be
hosting steel bands every other Sunday, from 6-9.30, starting 28 July. Opening hours:
5-11, 7 days a week. A great place to chill.
18 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16, Tel: 020 7254 2300
Other recently-opened businesses in the area will be reviewed in our October issue. These
include The Cobbled Yard, a large emporium in the mews on Bouverie Road
behind the Daniel Defoe pub, selling a great selection of antiques, collectables, ceramics
and pine furniture; Two Wheels Good on Church Street, a supplier of bikes
and accessories for all cyclists, as well as a repair shop., Ever Green,
an attractively laid-out Chinese Herbal medicine shop on the High Street; and
Spence on Church Street, selling delicious home-made bread and sandwiches. Almost
certainly by the next issue there will be several more. All roads lead to Stoke
Newington.
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