LS_Dec Cover1.4 gold FINAL.pdf 22/11/2010 17:33:20 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K 2 Herne Hill 020 7274 3333 OLIVER BURN Clapham 020 7622 1121 Exceeding expectations www.oliverburn.com Christmas Cheer! The year is coming to a close and the news is that it has been a great one for property sales, rentals too! Although there are negative reports of a housing market downturn, we are still experiencing serious demand and prime properties Diana Burn, Founder are selling quickly often at record prices. This position is not likely to change as the New Year dawns……. More properties required. S ( O s a m pl L Br e anof c H h ser D alene s) Hill Proud to sponsor Brockwell Park Events 2010 Battersea • Brixton • Clapham • Dulwich • Herne Hill • Oval • Stockwell • Vauxhall Neil Stuke on Season’s Greetings and his passion for Franklins Farm Shop 7 Accessories all areas! 34 Flawless at the Eat, drink, and Southbank Centre and be very merry! more seasonal events 45 14 Contents Deck the halls with glittery angels... 31 Features Regulars 7 Stage presence 11Jenny Eclair Actor, foodie, family man – Leaving on a jet plane NeilStuke has a lot going on 14What’s on 22The Living South gift guide 41Health & beauty Credit cards at the ready... 45Recipe for living 31Oh, Christmas tree! 50Helen Lederer Ethical trees and gorgeous decorations Compulsory Christmas quaffs 34Sparkle, shimmer, shine 53Dining out Web exclusives The most fabulous party accessories The Old Nun’s Head, Nunhead 55 Life & style Nar Restaurant & Bar, Vauxhall ● More gift ideas for The London Lifestyle awards in photos 56Kids loved ones, more 61Things are looking bright 75Directory festive events to spread Photographer Sandra Lousada captures 83 Property the cheer, more foodie the lighter side of London suggestions for pure 70Photo fabulous overindulgence... The Great British Life photography Find it all online at competition London Shortlist livingsouth.greatbritishlife.co.uk livingsouth.greatbritishlife.co.uk December 2010 3 ABOUT US LIVING SOUTH Avon House (5th Floor), Kensington Village Avonmore Road W14 8TS 020 7605 2200 Editorial Group Editor Mark Kebble [email protected] Editor Victoria Purcell Editorial Assistant Charlotte Livingstone ContributorsJenny Eclair, Helen Lederer, Keith Sheriff, Anne Thatcher Advertising Sales Publishing Director Sharon Kirby [email protected] PA to Publishing Director Sean-Paul Roberts Advertising ManagerLynsey Saker Field Sales Executive Linda Ikwue Head of Property Alexandra Hunter Telesales ExecutivesAlice Lander, Camellia Mester Design & Production Group Production Manager Lesa Melbourne [email protected] Production Manager Gordon Wallis Copy Controller Christine Mann Editorial DesignZeenat Niazi Designers Gary Fortune, Stewart Hyde, Deepti Khanna, Igor Lavrenchuk, Tom Miller Archant Life Group Commercial Director Tim Thurston Group Publishing Director Suzanne Heaven [email protected] Finance DirectorIan Fish Managing Director Johnny Hustler Print & Distribution PrintingHeadley Brothers DistributionRegal Enquiries Customers [email protected] Subscriptions020 7605 2206 Advertising020 7978 3464 Editorial020 7978 3486 Switchboard020 7978 3499 Facsimile020 7978 3498 Community numbers CCoouunncciillss PPoolliiccee HHoossppiittaallss BBrroommlleeyy020 8464 3333 BBrroommlleeyy01689 891212 KKiinngg’’ss CCoolllleeggee HHoossppiittaall LLaammbbeetthh020 7926 1000 LLaammbbeetthh020 7326 1212 020 3299 9000 LLeewwiisshhaamm020 8314 6000 LLeewwiisshhaamm020 8297 1212 GGuuyy’’ss aanndd SStt TThhoommaass’’ HHoossppiittaallss SSoouutthhwwaarrkk020 7525 5000 SSoouutthhwwaarrkk020 7378 1212 020 7188 7188 Archant is a community media company active in the fields of newspaper and magazine publishing, contract printing and internet communications. 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When you have finished with this magazine please recycle it. 4 December 2010 livingsouth.greatbritishlife.co.uk FROM THE EDITOR m o bythesheriff.c ot Victoria Purcell w.sh ww [email protected] R eaders, we’re very excited here at Living South! There’s a whole lot of mighty fine festive fun going on around the area, from the Cologne Christmas Market at the Southbank Centre, right down to Penge Town Centre’s Xmas Celebration Event, with many a Dulwich happening in between. The team here has been channelling the spirit of Christmas present for weeks now, composing ggiifftt gguuiiddeess, contemplating the bbeesstt ttiipppplleessto top off the turkey dinner, and even shooting oouurr ffiirrsstt--eevveerr oonn--llooccaattiioonn ffaasshhiioonn sshhoooott. My, the girls look gorgeous, dressed to the nines in party wear fit for a princess at the Cambria in SE5. We’ve also trawled the streets/the web/our inboxes for the most glitzy, glittering and glamorous ppaarrttyy aacccceessssoorriieess to add pizzazz to your festive frock. Effectively, we’ve done our Christmas shop, embarrassed ourselves at the office party and overindulged in a festive feast already! We also have aaccttoorr NNeeiill SSttuukkee, here among these very pages, to wish you Season’s Greetings. The owner of Lordship Lane’s Franklins Farm Shop is treading the boards at the National in the aforementioned play by Alan Ayckbourn, alongside his old friend Catherine Tate. Find out more about his year on stage and screen in our exclusive interview. And finally, JJeennnnyy EEccllaaiirr hhaass ggoonnee ttrriibbaall!!Chances are you’ve already spotted her face on TV, hair askew, flicking off bugs, as she tries to refrain from yelling “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!” Why do such a thing, you ask? Jenny reveals all in this month’s column... Here’s hoping you have a very merry Christmas! THIS MONTH’S COVER... Photographer Chris Lewington captures the light shimmering through a frosty pine tree in Peckham Rye Park © Chris Lewington/Alamy Launched in 1992, Living Southis distributed free to selected households and businesses in Anerley, Brixton, Brockley, Camberwell, Crystal Palace, Dulwich, Forest Hill, Herne Hill, New Cross, Norwood, Peckham, Penge, Sydenham and Tulse Hill. For subscriptions, call Sean-Paul Roberts on 020 7605 2206. Visit us online at livingsouth.greatbritishlife.co.uk livingsouth.greatbritishlife.co.uk December 2010 5 6 s. s r e E E ecto attr t m F R ss proality e u m attrery q v e h t wi The Bed Butler. The perfect way to buy a bed. Many of us dream of a good night’s sleep, and as we spend a third of our lives Wriggling on and off a bed for 30 seconds in a department store is not the best way at all. But trying out a bed in the comfort of your own home is a far, far better option. Choose one from either our modern or traditional luxury range of crafted beds and it will be delivered free of charge to your own home along dispose of your old one, and can even provide a selection of handmade linen, duvets and pillows. In fact we do everything and more that you would expect of a personal luxury service the carries the name of ‘The Bed Butler’. Freephone 0800 975 5211 Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm The Ultimate Bed Service 53-57 Norwood Road Herne Hill London SE24 9AA PROFILE AA CCLLAASSSS AACCTT FFrroomm RRooookkeerryy NNooookk ttoo ffrraannttiicc ccooookk,, NNEEIILL SSTTUUKKEE iiss aa mmaann ooff mmaannyy ttaalleennttss.. VViiccttoorriiaa PPuurrcceellll ccaattcchheess hhiimm aatt tthhee NNaattiioonnaall Neil Stuke photographed in rehearsal for Season’s Greetings at the National Photo by Catherine Ashmore livingsouth.greatbritishlife.co.uk December 2010 7 S E R U T A E F X E R V / T S; I E R U T A E F X E R S / WI E L T N AI R E G E; R T A E H T L A N O TI A N E H T K / S Season’s Greetings. From left: Marc Wootton, FI L Mark Gatiss, Oliver Chris, Neil Stuke, HI P Nicola Walker and Catherine Tate Ihave always loved Christmas, and I have I thought that was a stroke of genius – they always been lucky to be surrounded said it was the best dish of the night.” by other people that love Christmas,” Clearly, this is a man as passionate about says actor Neil Stuke, calm, composed and food as acting – a professional actor for incredibly relaxed as I catch him between about 20 years, he is also the brains behind rehearsals for his latest turn on stage. Franklins Farm Shop on Lordship Lane. His It’s a stark contrast to the Stuke I’d seen father was a chef, as are many of his friends, on screen earlier this year, sweating and thus it’s no surprise that he has “a big love furrowed of brow on Celebrity MasterChef. of food.” Not fancying cheffing as a career He narrowly missed out on a place in the himself (“I think it’s a really dark sport”), final alongside Dick Strawbridge, Christine he set his sights on a farm shop at a time Rookery Nook at Menier Chocolate Factory, Hamilton and Lisa Faulkner – who went on when he was becoming disillusioned with April 2009 From left: Kellie Shirley as Rhoda to win – and it seems the experience still acting – not the easiest line of work either. Marley, Edward Baker-Duly as Clive Popkiss, haunts him: “It was horrible, I still haven’t Tim Sheehan, owner of Franklins Neil Stuke as Gerard Popkiss and Clare Wilkie got over it, I was really horribly robbed…” restaurant and a good friend, suggested as Clara Popkiss Stuke refers to the incident where the setting up Franklins Farm Shop in a vacant custard tart base he had prepped from shop next door. Two years ago it opened its scratch crashed to the floor as he pulled it doors, selling seasonal fruit and vegetables Lordship Lane has been doing well from the oven – it made for painful viewing, fresh from farms in Kent, award-winning in column inches of late, with The Times as a clearly distraught Stuke crouched on English cheeses and Barrington Park Estate considering it the best high street in London the floor over his destroyed dessert. eggs. Sheehan, his business partner Rod last month. Despite Stuke having put down “I burnt my thumb really badly, which Franklin, and Stuke now run it together. firm roots with his wife and two young was the reason I dropped it, but they didn’t (Though Stuke is the first to admit his children near Hampstead Heath, he show that. I completely remade it again business partners do the lion’s share of the is a huge fan of the place: “It’s incredible from scratch and served it after my triple work, since a busy year on stage and screen – I wish I lived in a place that had such dessert [his replacement dish], but they has kept him away.) The trio recently a great high street.” didn’t show that either. celebrated Franklins being named runner So who’ll be cooking Christmas dinner at “I think they’d already decided who they up in the Observer Food Monthlyawards the Stuke household? “I will be! Now I have wanted to win anyway,” he continues, “but for Best Ethical Restaurant. a family of my own – and my mum will be 8December 2010 livingsouth.greatbritishlife.co.uk PROFILE there, my sister and her husband will be Neville, alongside Catherine Tate in the role Franklins’ festive feast popping in, my wife’s family will be popping of Belinda. The two attended the Central in – it will be lovely. But of course we’ll be School of Speech and Drama together, and ●● VVeegg bbooxxeessOrder a working here [at the National] this Stuke has also appeared on The Catherine bespoke box of seasonal Christmas, so it’ll be slightly scuppered Tate Show. The chemistry on stage then, vegetables, all fresh from – we’re gonna be working our asses off!” should be good, especially when it comes farms in Kent. Choose from Season’s Greetingspaints a less rosy picture to a ‘bungled infidelity under the tree’. sprout tops, chestnuts, of the festive season. First staged in “[Their relationship is] very strained,” he cranberry sauce, Italian Scarborough in 1980, the play by Alan says, “There’s a lot of bonhomie, especially mostarda, goose fat and Ayckbourn opens at the National Theatre from Neville. As with a lot of married even piccalilli, gravies and this month. Ayckbourn, one of the country’s couples with kids, there’s a lot of tension chutneys prepared by the restaurant. most popular and prolific playwrights, peels there, a lot of frustrations, if you just scratch ●● HHoommeewwaarreeDeck the kitchen with back the façade of the typical family under the surface. The infidelity is with traditional homewares including Christmas to reveal the tensions, the drama Belinda. It didn’t actually come to fruition, Victorian jelly-print aprons and tea and the indiscretions. Belinda and Neville but a young, attractive writer comes to stay, towels sporting a partridge in a pear Bunker invite the family over for the and with two very funny, highly comic tree, by Cockpit Artists Thornback and festivities, but a toxic combination of consequences, that infidelity is thwarted.” Peel, as well as 1930’s bread bins. uncles, aunts and family friends leads Stuke’s career started out in theatre almost ●● WWrreeaatthhss The team are also creating to disaster. 20 years ago when he took to the stage in their own wreaths, made with fresh ivy, “It’s classic London theatres such as the Royal Court holly and berries – you can even order Ayckbourn,” says Theatre and the Bush. His TV breakthrough a bespoke version. Stuke, “It’s darkly was Game On, a flat-share sitcom aimed at 155 Lordship Lane SE22; 020 8693 3992 comic and very twentysomethings, where he played self- funny, but it obsessed agoraphobic Matthew. “I think certainly I’m quite good at playing irritating,” he highlights the says, “I seem to get cast as a lot of assholes. tensions a lot [Game On] was unbelievable fun. It certainly of families tapped in to some kind of zeitgeist at the experience over time. I couldn’t quite believe we were being Christmas. But paid to have that much fun.” we’re having This year has been a busy one for Stuke, a lot of fun.” starting out with Celebrity MasterChef, and Geraldine James – that was pretty Stuke plays filming the second series of Reggie Perrin extraordinary; the mid-90s doing all the with Martin plays at the Bush, and more recently Boeing Clunes followed Boeingin the West End, I took over from by a new BBC Mark Rylance, did a long run in that, that drama, Silk, was good fun. But Silkwas absolutely which is due to air incredible. I got a great part as a senior clerk in February, and in chambers, a nice Machiavellian role, with now Season’s Rupert Penry-Jones and Maxine Peake. Greetings. With “But I’d like to branch out, maybe take such a résumé, a year out, start something else. I’d like to one wonders what have a pub or something like that… who he considers his knows, we’ll see.” ● career highlights? “Probably Season’s Greetings is on now at the ITV’s Kingdom, 2007. From left: Peter Kingdom [BBC drama] National’s Lyttelton Theatre, running (Stephen Fry), Mark Larsen (Luke Mably) The Sins, with in repertoire until 13 March 2011 and Damien Larsen (Neil Stuke) Pete Postlethwaite South Bank SE1 9PX; 020 7452 3000 livingsouth.greatbritishlife.co.uk December 2010 9 10 eclectic KITCHENS BEDROOMS BATHROOMS INTERIORS 65 ABBEVILLE ROAD LONDON SW4 9JW 020 8673 0572 WWW.ECLECTICINTERIORS.CO.UK KITCHENS • BEDROOMS • BATHROOMS • INTERIORS • PROJECT MANAGEMENT