Stephen Emms

2 weeks ago | kentishtowner.co.uk | Stephen Emms

The last time I wrote about Holloway Road’s Nag’s Head on these pages was – astonishingly – back in 2013, when Kentishtowner used to run what we called a “Free Weekend” section. This weekly slot gently guided readers away from the twin postcodes of NW5 and NW1 into somewhere equally adjacent and interesting. It’s worth adding that in the years since, however, we’ve featured reviews of its game-changing new openings since such as Zia Lucia, Sambal Shiok and Westerns Laundry.

2 weeks ago | leytonstoner.substack.com | Stephen Emms

Two factors strike you on the threshold of Leyton High Road’s revived William The Fourth: firstly, the distinctive exterior signage, by Irish artist Loughlin Brady Smith (more of which below). Secondly, the interior: it now appears so much bigger. “Previously the bar was a double horseshoe,” explains new co-owner Steph Solley, who’s giving me a tour a few days before opening. “It was gorgeous, but took over the entire pub.

3 weeks ago | leytonstoner.london | Stephen Emms

Sure, the new £65m V&A East Storehouse is, it’s as impressive as everyone is saying. But the best thing for locals? It’s free to visit, an easy weekend jaunt over to Here East. It’s also the biggest of 2025’s trio of arts arrivals in our part of East London: the other two, lest you’ve forgotten, are Sadler’s Wells East and Soho Theatre Walthamstow. For the uninitiated, Storehouse is the first half of the new V&A East.

3 weeks ago | leytonstoner.substack.com | Stephen Emms

“We were having a drink, discussing what to call the place,” says Katy Severson. “Jean had just got this tattoo of a wine bottle labelled Regret — and we were like, “fuck it, yes.” And thus Le Regret was born. It’s a few days before opening, and I’m standing in Leytonstone High Road’s latest bar and cave à vin, historically a millinery, as the exterior ghost sign attests. Bottles line the counter and shelves, stools await thirsty customers, and quirky framed art adorns the wood-panelled walls.

1 month ago | leytonstoner.substack.com | Stephen Emms

This week, like the rest of London’s media, I was lucky enough to enjoy a preview of the new £65m V&A East Storehouse. And the truth is, it’s as impressive as everyone is saying. But the best thing for locals? It’s free to visit, an easy weekend jaunt over to Here East. You’ll have spied its unassuming mirrored glass facade already if you’ve had coffee at Clarnico Club, or Saint Espresso, a couple of minutes’ further towards Hackney Bridge.