The last month has been something of a whirlwind for RofAboutTown. We would like to claim it was all an effort at wining and dining to the wee hours, rubbing shoulders with celebs like Alexa Chung, Matt Damon and errr… Stephen Parish (Norton Rose Group Chairman, obviously) and enjoying Keith Richards-sized fun. Sadly, the whirlwind swirling RofAboutTown was more filled of freezing cold, seasonal viruses and a wonky internet connection. This isn’t the fun we had signed up for – clearly, as with everyone and everything else we blame Greece and bankers. Bankers are always to blame – the other day we spilt tea all over our new carpet. Bloody bankers.
Anyway, despite this almost sisyphean battle against the all-too-common-cold, we have still managed to lumber our way to a few interesting places for your delectation. Well we hope they’re interesting, but seeing as our nose seems to be on permanent drip, we’re going to assume you’ll love it as always.
Sorry. That was a bit aggressive.
Perhaps it’s because we’ve been hanging out at the Kings Cross Social (oddly enough near Kings Cross) a bar-cum-club-cum-live music spot… It’s a jack of all trades really – master of each. It’s a great place to grab a cold beer on a Friday night after work before listening to the music that the kids of today are listening to (which, in our experience, tends to be something sung by that weird fella from Cbeebies). In our opinion, this is the sort of fun place that seems to be disappearing – replaced by fuzzy experimental cocktail bars or gastropubs. Gone are the days when you can wonder into a dark place, have a pint of Red Stripe (oh yes) before wondering downstairs for a bit of a dance. We wasted many a night of our youth in such places and venturing back to the KCSC brings it all screaming back to us. Sadly, we were a lot more awkward in those days so this is our chance to relive our youth but with more cynicism, money and less rhythmic coordination.
http://www.kingscrosssocialclub.com/#home
The Youth of Today
Ok, perhaps we can’t keep up with the slightly younger ambitions of our ego – it’s time to accept that our years of working at RofTowers has given us some key advantages over our younger self. For starters our tastes are infinitely more refined; we’re far more cynical – staring at an orange screen all day makes the rest of the world far duller as a consequence; and those late Thursday evenings have left us impervious to the effects of caffeine. This last one is a major advantage as it means we make the most of places like Tapped and Packed – one of the uber-cool new coffee chains (well it has two locations. If RoF were to open another website we’d start referring to ourselves as a multi-national, multi-faceted franchise operation – sort of like those really random small law firms that call themselves ‘International Lawyers’ when they have a 3 person office in Milton Keynes and a bloke in Thailand that helps them out from time to time).
Known by the shop number they occupy rather than by any form of serious branding (it has a bike hanging outside their outlets), this is a simple coffee shop churning out top quality stuff – it is, we think, a crime that they charge so little for their quality hot beverages – not to mention their freshly produced cakes. We’re big fans of the ‘traditional’ ones like the Victoria Sandwich cake. It would be great value for money if it was served up in normal human portions but as it is, they’re actually insanely cheap seeing as a wedge of cake is enough to feed a family of 4 at Christmas. Maybe. There’s also a healthy selection of salad and sandwiches looking like they were crafted by Jamie Oliver or someone else with more style and taste than us.
Regardless of portion size, we would pay just to sit in their coffee houses. It’s spartan but chic design is inspiring – it looks like a cross section of reclaimed furniture and grand designs. It’s where a place you want to be seen – and looking cool with some coffee too.