Joseph Gann

3 weeks ago | idealmagazine.co.uk | Joseph Gann

It’s clear mere moments after setting foot in Bruton that the extravagantly named Merlin Labron-Johnson is an almost mythical figure around these parts. A mononymous presence at hotel receptions, in charity shops and at cafes along the high street, the chef is referenced by folk in the village with a mix of tongue-in-cheek disparagement and genuine admiration.

3 weeks ago | idealmagazine.co.uk | Joseph Gann

East London’s London Fields is so clouded with clichés that even observing them is something of one. They put Monster Munch on their oysters here, the mad bastards. Their wine is turbid and full of sediment. Perhaps there’s something in the water here. There’s certainly something in the soil…London Fields – the grassy stretch, not the neighbourhood – is a sprawling plot that dates back to the 16th century.

3 weeks ago | idealmagazine.co.uk | Joseph Gann

From its humble beginnings in the 1790s as a residential area developed by Sir Charles Pratt, Camden has transformed into one of London’s most visited boroughs. Once home to Charles Dickens, George Bernard Shaw and JB Priestley, now it’s one of the most thriving multicultural places in the UK, with its almost 300’000 residents speaking over 140 languages and dialects between them, and the local council placing diversity at the forefront of its thinking.

3 weeks ago | idealmagazine.co.uk | Joseph Gann

Let’s park the Battersea/Clapham border debate once and for all, in favour of finding great food together and forgetting arbitrary quarrels about where one area starts and another begins. Instead, we’re here to break down barriers, borders and bread, all in the time it takes to wait for a train.

3 weeks ago | idealmagazine.co.uk | Joseph Gann

With a shiny new stop on the Elizabeth Line cementing its status as a TFL headlining act, Tottenham Court Road is now the eminent focal point for those wanting easy access to Soho, Covent Garden and Fitzrovia. But heavy is the head that wears the crown. Peckish passengers, starving shoppers and hungry day-trippers (yep, alliteration has failed us there) might just find that Tottenham Court Road station is a victim of its own success in terms of decent options of where to eat nearby.