Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Campaign to open a new nice cafe on Green Lanes
Don't get me wrong - I love all the kebab shops, and antipilar cafe does good mezze - but wouldn't it be really great to have either a lovely,french patisserie like the one in newington green over here, or a nice, slightly upmarket chain like a giraffe cafe? i really feel like there is somewhere missing on green lanes - you have to go to crouch end, stokey or newington green for any lazy sunday brunches, or mid week treats for yummy mummies, or someone nice and relaxing to meet your friends. i want to collect enough support to show one of the managers of these sorts of places that there is the demand for it on green lanes. does anyone out there feel the same way as me? i moved to the area 8 months ago from highbury and miss the cafes most of all!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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I agree rahman. It's never going to happen. It's a dirty old main thoroughfare. Always has been, always will be. Went down to Exmouth Market a couple of times last weekend. Nice place. No traffic, no menacing idiots and lots of excellent places to eat, plus the usual useful shops. Only 30mins away on the 341. Great open space play area for kids too. Green Lanes just ain't green.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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yes I like Exmouth market but I hardly thinks it makes a good comparison. The architecture and street layout has lent itself to that kind of development and its proximity to Holborn etc means there is a sure fired clientele.
Areas do not stand still and will go up and down. Planning a community is perfectly acceptable. Marylebone High Street in the 80s was full of tacky shops and takeaways. A Waitrose was convinced to open which was followed by some niche outlets, a fishmongers, a bookshop...the point was that contol was taken over the kinds of shops that were encouraged to open in the area and others followed. We have a group the Green Lanes Strategy group whose job as the name suggests is to develop a plan for the high street. What's wrong with higher expectations, some encouragement of specialist stores, control of what opens here? Other parts of the borough do it. We have some nice places; Papa John's (a chain I'm pretty pleased about) the Garden ladder, the salisbury, Baldwins (an absolute gem of a place that I can't believe is so close to my house) the newly revamped Bianca's whose owners are very aware of the kind of customers they want, the Antiplier juice bar, Danube bakery, what's wrong with wanting more. I think our model could be something more like Stroud Green Road which has a much more positive profile in people's minds but still has its pound shops, tacky shops and cheap cafes too. Come on matt, el parade grande?
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Chacun son gout, eh? They may not be everyone's taste but the guy is pretty nice, and it beats an estate agent, betting shop or a hairdressers.
What other local businesses do you enjoy using? I also like the roast chicken man next to the Danube, the Russian shop, the cake shop opposite the post office and Mizgins for Turkish. I'm also a fan of george's chippy, in fact I rarely go beyond the railway bridge to shop. i take it you, like me avoid the Arena shopping centre for the same reasons
btw See you in Biancas then as I go in pretty often. will you be wearing the hat?
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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Exmouth market was a pretty dirty and dingy place when I started working round the corner from it in 1991. No nice restaurants and cafes then, and not even much green. Sure, its nice and quiet in a way that GL never will be, but I think it is actually a very good example (or bad, depending on your viewpoint - I suspect there are some who don't like what has happened to it) of how a place can change over the years.
Unfortunately, I can take no credit for this transformation...
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Hot damn, I agree with you Jo. It would be a real boon. Streets can change. I've been in London for 25 years now and I've seen many areas change for the better.
If we could see a few more varied businesses open up (and I'm not talking Crouchendification), that would be superb. It's on the list for the residents' cahrter - sort of thing that needs Council clout to help it along - or a brave entrepreneur.
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Permalink Reply by Birdy_Too on
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Varied businesses, I am all for and we need that in Harringay. In would love to see a good family Italian, continental style coffee shop plus any other restaurants other than Turkish and Kurdish, of which I frequent but GL is over saturated with these.
Costa, Starbucks and other café / restaurant chains are not what "I" would like to see. GL is special and virtually chain free and would hate to see it turn into Clone Street. It was like this when I moved in and that's why we moved here.
I moved here because of what the area offers and I fear there are too many people wanting to “Crouch End” it.
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Just been thinking about this whilst walking my son to nursery.
Is there a market for what some people are asking for around here?
I remember when the Garden Ladder opened, we thought, great a place to eat and socialise that is not another kebab shop. Sure it’s not too Guardian-esque but it’s okay and does reasonable food, wine and beers at a good price – smiles from the bar staff included, which doesn’t happen in all hostelries in Harringay!
Do people use the Garden Ladder or support it? It always seems sparse when I go in.
I doubt that a more upmarket café or restaurant would succeed, as people always seem to flock to the Salisbury, even though it is expensive and bar staff am not the friendliest. Don’t get me wrong I love the place, but there are other places to meet, use and support on GL.
Maybe some of the groups and socials should support other local cafés and pubs and meet at the Garden Ladder, soon to be refurbished OAE or other café on GL in order for them to stay, especially in these financial times.
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Someone said to me the other day that we should go to the OAE as David is a member and contributes to the site, but when Van tried to get something going at Munas only 4 people showed. I agree B2, use it or lose it. How many people go to Sainsbury's for things that could be bought on the high street? I would suggest that there are a lot of people around here who do not use the facilities we've got, preferring to go to Crouch End or Upper Street or shopping in supermarkets and then moaning about their own high street.
However some control over things like shop fronts, behaviour of shops (waste, cleanliness), type of shops and refurbishment of the Victorian fronts could change the perception of the residents. Look at those beautiful old pictures of green Lanes, even in the 70s there was a piano shop, a traditional fruit and veg (Fords), etc. I'm not talking about a bunch of shops selling overpriced baby clothes and pretty note paper a la Crouch End but a high street with proper shops and a culture that uses them and doesn't buy overpackaged tasteless nonsense from supermarkets. If you have low expectations you can be sure you won't be disappointed.
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Permalink Reply by RuthE on
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I recently finished a job I was doing for 15 years, 10 of those years we were located right next to Exmouth Market. When we first moved in, there was the old Spa pub, a dry cleaners, betting office x 3 or 4, oldest pie and mash shop in London (apparently) and a tradional chav bakers. Plus the oldest and best fish & chip shop on Farringdon Rd. The rest was either empty or dire. Gradually over the years trendy restuarants opened up it was a great place to work, and I miss it. Mind you the busiest places were the pie and mash shop and the chav bakers. I've got no doubt that Green Lanes has even more potential then trendy Clerkenwell. People want great places to eat and drink on their doorstep. Living in London often means we spend a great deal of our time commuting, stuck in traffic or stuck on over crowded buses and tubes. I dont want commute to go out for a meal or a drink. I feel we need more female friendly places to hang out and meet friends etc. Cafe Lemon has a nice atmosphere but their food could be of better quality. Having to use one of the internet cafes on GL recently - the guys that run it are really friendly and do a good service but the actual layout and naff decor makes it look a bit seedy. Often when you sit at a computer thats just been vacated some of the bizarre and downright grotesque photos are still on the screen - not very pleasant, not to mention the host of bacteria lurking on the keyboards. I often think to myself wouldnt it be nice if there was a more female friendly internet cafe, modern and comfortable, that was an actual cafe for everyone not just internet users. Iceland would be the perfect size, plenty of space for mums and their prams, a good restaurant with healthy quality food, books and magazines to read, maybe even classes going on, music etc.. But most of all, we need a cafe that knows how to make a decent CUP OF TEA.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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The thing at Muna's started at 6pm, no? I can get a post-kids-in-bed pass pretty easily but the don't-come-home-from-work-until-11 passes would be used up by a come-home-and-go-straight-back-out pass.
Muna's at 8:30 and I'm there. In fact anywhere serving alcohol and I'm there.
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