En Français, Paradis Means Heaven

If you are a devoted fan of Vanessa's as much as I am; if you've collected all of her albums, and hummed Joe le Taxi, Divinidylle and Sunday Mondays all throughout your teens, and if you've watched her appear in gorgeous Chanel ads and stunning campaigns for years on end, then you'll be delighted to know! Honey-voiced French Pop Princess, actress, fashion icon, face of Chanel and envied wife of Johnny Depp,Vanessa Paradis is popping into town for a once in a lifetime performance of her greatest hits EVER at Koko London in Camden!

Rush now to get tickets as they are selling fast! 

Be ready for a bewitching evening on February 2nd at 7pm at:

Koko London

1a Camden High Street
London NW1 7JE
0870 432 5527

A Real Life Fairytale

Last week, I was in the presence of real life magic. It all started when last Tuesday, I met one of Disney's most popular princesses. Cinderella, my favourite one (she was always the most down to earth - literally a floor washer and scrubber), stopped by my office for an exclusive showcase of her jewelry.

No, I am not talking about the real life Disney Princess, God, get a clue. And no, do not worry about me, Zesties, I'm not going insane - though some Christmas holidays would be very much needed right now. Rachel, the closest thing to the collection's namesake and Brazilian muse, Cinderela, is the mastermind designer behind Cinderela B, a beautifully eclectic and utterly whimsical jewelry collection, which is based right here, in the heart of one of London's hippest area, Spittalfields, E1. And she can even visit your office or a girly night in, if you fancy the VIP experience.

Her line ranges from a colourful set of pearls and beads, necklaces and bracelets, pendants and charms, all made from the real thing and marked with a "made with love" stamp; a wide variety of DIY charm necklaces, for which you have an extensive choice of charms, from cutesy stars and boy and girl kissing, to rock n' rollin skulls and angel wings; and finally chains up the wazoo, gold, silver and bronze, dangly and neck-choking. 

It's a miracle Harvey Nichs hasn't whisked her away yet, and an even bigger miracle that I only got myself this adorable rose quartz star-charm bracelet. I wish I had filled up a cart full of goodies before Cinderela flew away in her pumpkin carriage.

If I were you, I'd give it a visit sooner rather than later. The prices are friendly and there is even a sale going on right now. Or, get Prince Charming to go there instead. Christmas is around the corner after all. 

Here are some of the places you can spot Cinderela B:

Sunday-Up Market (every Sunday 10am-5pm)
Just off Hanbury Street, Spitalfields, London, E1 6QL
Lucas Bond, 45 Bedford Hill, Balham, London, SW12 9EY
Tickled Pink, 2 Bellevue Rd, London, SW17 7EO

Back to the Retro Future

I'm normally not such a huge fan of the old rancid smell of vintage shops. It's nauseating. At times, completely repulsive and a huge deterrent in my ability to enjoy my time browsing through the racks of a shop. But my last visit to a certain vintage boutique made me feel quite open-minded about the whole experience. Yes, the smell of old clothes somewhat permeated the air above and around me, but taking it all in, I was more impressed by the quality of the garments than overwhelmed by the sweet smell of old clothing. Plus, it's always a nice surprise to leave a shop in London with only £40 less in your bank account.

Pinch your nostrils no more, zesties, as I am talking about London/Stockholm's one and only Beyond Retro, located in the West End and Brick Lane: the magical kingdom of retro shopping, and the best place to find a special something for a special occasion. Lately I've had quite a thing for vintage boots. I'm a big sucker for cool, riding-style boots, and I'm all about the summer dress-fall footwear combination. Check these out, for £35 or less.

Speaking of summer dresses, lately, and I don't know about you, I've been really eager to whip out that flowery summer dress from the dark corners of my closet. It's been just a tad too prickly outside though, and I haven't mustered up the courage or warm blood to slap one on. Here is an example of a summer dress, for less than £30, that will take you straight to the outdoors of California just by wearing it. Summer barbecue coming up, anyone? A chilled Margarita please, and some Mamas and the Papas as background music.

I've also experienced a sudden urge to acquire one of those awesomely cool felt hats - one with a feather sticking out from a silk ribbon on one side. The Bavarian-style one. Or just a simple English-style one like this one below. Gotta love the Alexa Chungness of this gorgeous piece of head-wear.

That's just it, isn't it? Alexa Chung shops here! Or does she? If not, does she even know that there are about a trillion denim shirts to choose from in this uniquely cool retro boutique? And that once you've got a denim shirt, well you pretty much got yourself an outfit. Oh, but smack something else on your toosh than a pair of leggings, please I beg you. There is nothing less sexy than a girl in just leggings.  Check out the rack on that girl! (or lack there of).

I mean, check out the denim shirts on that rack!

Beyond Retro - Vintage Shop

110-112 Cheshire Street, London E2 6EJ

58-59 Great Marlborough Street, W1F 7JY

Photography Test Run at the Broadway Market

This is the first day of the new and improved London Zest. Saturday was the day of my photography workshop at Studio Time at London Fields. I could not vouch for this place enough. If you're a photo-blogger, this is a great place to start. A full day's learnings and practice gave me the small bit of confidence I would never have obtained had I just stuck to reading my camera manual. 

Photography is a tougher hobby than I anticipated though. So many variables to factor in: lights, focus, angles, shadows and depth of field are some of the things you constantly have to think about as you're handling your camera. It's a constant strive to improve and enhance the quality of your photographs. It's a challenge to ensure that each shot is more precise, more "on purpose" than the previous one; richer, and with more texture. Because at the end of the day, that's the hard bit: getting exactly what you want. It hardly ever happens.

The morning at the studio felt long and tedious, going over the innumerable techniques of photography, understanding the various settings of the SLR, finding my way around the menu page. It also felt strange to be in class again. Soaking it all in, I was desperately trying to remember all of the details the teacher had just mentioned. I struggled to understand the theory without the practice. You see, I've usually been more of a "trial and error" kind of learner.

London Fields is a mad and crazy place on a sunny Spring Saturday. But it's an even crazier and exciting place to go for your first test drive. That was when the fun began. People wearing strange outfits, walking about, playing around and dancing to drums and guitar. Plenty of great material.

A short while after that the teacher took us to Broadway Market, instructing us to capture a variety of depths of field and focus angles as possible. The exercise was simple enough: the market has a great many colourful bits about it; take it all in. It's gonna be hard to screw it up. Here was my first attempt at capturing the wonderfully exciting Broadway Market.

The Everything Stall

The Junk & Jewelry Stall

The Cheese & Sausage Man

The Hamburger Man

The Cupcake Stall

The Cake Stall

The Carrot & Banana Cake stall

The Panty & Bra stall

That was a restrospective of my day of fun in photography land. I would love to hear your feedback on these shots. Please indulge me a little. This was a practice run. And it's just a start! If you're also into photography, it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on the hobby and how difficult you found it. Is it always this hard or does it become second nature?

It's a Jungle Out There

One of the many great things about London are the hundreds of sample sales that are at our disposal week after week. I generally tend to miss out on them unfortunately, always finding something better to do, or some other excuse that will keep me far away from spending way too much money on something I'll convince myself I need, at a price I'll convince myself I can afford. Sample sales are killer. But hey, that's part of the game. You get there, you promise yourself you won't buy anything over £100 and then you end up with 4 things adding up to exactly 4 times that amount. It's inevitable. You sample sale, you ruin yourself. 

New York's Barney's Warehouse sale did that to me every year. It killed me but I loved it. The smell of a large uninhabited warehouse and the thousands of clothes and accessories ready to be snagged off to better and greener pastures. The women, the crazy women, stomping, ripping, yapping, shouting and swearing at each other all for a pair of marked down Loubs and McQueen trousers. I would go there at times just to enjoy the unreal jungle scene (it's a Mean Girls moment). Here in London, I hear there is something quite like it called the Secret Sample Sale at the awesome and legendary Old Truman Brewery in Shoreditch (87 BRICK LANE LONDON E1 6QL) and it must not be missed.

It starts today, April 8th, and lasts through the 11th, all day til 9pm. You print out your pass (only needed for today April 8), you show up, you pay £1, you got yourself an entry to the sample sale of the year. 

It's your last chance to grab a McQueen anything for a decent price, your shot at a great pair of Seven jeans for the spring, some Stella McCartney blouses and Miu Miu jackets, a Zimmermann bathing suit, Martin Margiela shorts, and of course Marc Jacobs colourful prints sometimes only for a  tenner. It's all there. And the prices are crazy at discounts of up to 80% off. It's a jungle out there. Be ready to unleash the lioness in you!

Boys Will Be Boys

I've been receiving a few comments by a couple of my male followers lately. Yes I have male followers indeed, believe it or not, and they are slowly losing interest in what LondonZest has to say about waxing, eyebrows and fashionology 101. Shaved by the bell. In this entry, I have decided to focus my attention on something quite male-skewed. Actually, it's completely male-skewed but could definitely be of interest to some of my "married or in relationships" lady followers. If you've got a Dad or a brother, this may be of interest to you too. Well basically, after much rambling, this is for everyone. 

Last weekend, as I was meandering down Old Street, I stumbled upon this gem of a spot- an old-school barbershop and traditional (yet super hip) English male grooming salon. At Murdock Shoreditch (there are 2 others- one in Mayfair and one at Liberty's), you can get the pampering you've always deserved without feeling embarrassed about it. No more sneaking out of the house on Saturday at dawn to make sure your girlfriend doesn't see the excitement on your face as you head to the hair/nail/shaving salon around the corner. No more lying in her face about the manicure "you never got, what are you talking about?" and no more of those "manicures are for gay people" comments. There is nothing girly about this man's man haven of English elegance. Walking into this wooden, leather and shaving cream scented 20 square meter box, you'll find yourself to be overwhelmed with the sensation of manliness.

It's all about the wet shave at Murdock, the most precise and traditional shaving technique there ever was and ever will be. In addition, your man can enjoy a nice and manly shampoo, a hair trim, a curly little mustache, or a buff and scruffy manly beard.

The perfect gift for the man in your life (or for yourself if you are the man in question), the shaving gift boxes will make any of his male friends raging with jealousy. Gift certificates for a 2 hour traditional wet shave or a mustache trim are available to purchase and quite the show stealer at a birthday party gathering. So don't hesitate to splurge on the man in your life. He will pay you back in due time.

Columbia Road Flower Market-London's Not So Secret Gem

Columbia Road Flower Market was the one thing on my list I was dying to do for months and hadn't come around to doing yet in my quest for London Zest. Which is strange considering I love markets and I love flowers, and lately I have come to love Hoxton and Shoreditch. Yesterday, I broke the spell once more and ventured out to East London, camera in hand, huge empty grocery bags on each arm, an empty stomach dying to be fed, and a big smile on my face. Apparently that was enough to prepare me for my colourful little adventure on Columbia Road.

And colourful it truly was. I was surprised at how many different types of flowers could actually be sold at flower market and how many of those I had never seen before or didn't know the name of. I picked out a few bunches of tropical and local bouquets and filled my Sainsbury's bags enough to make me keel over from the weight. I kept walking and noticing the variety of corners and angles that would catch my camera-ready eye. Some little spots made me think I was in the midst of some tropical open market, and all I needed was a cool and icy guava juice to quench my thirst and tide me over til lunch. Others were just plain London: funky, colorful and unique.

 

 

There is something quite cute and cozy about the fact that Columbia Road is actually a regular road on regular days without flowers everywhere and that normal people actually live in this adorable street dotted with cute stores and bakeries.

And each little store, each little corner, each little food joint has something quite quirky about it, sells God knows what, but still manages to attract a couple tourists and curious eyes, like this trinket/junk store below.

 

That's the magic of open markets I guess.

3 Things You Must Try This Holiday Season At Borough Market

There's something quite special and unique about Borough Market. First of all, there's breathing in all the wonderful scents of cheeses, baked breads and freshly roasted coffee and getting your nostrils all confused and perked up. Snacking and picking off sample trays from a random food stand when you're not even hungry. Standing in a mile-long queue for a sandwich containing some mysterious bird meat with lukewarm gravy and chunks of black pepper inside of it. Yeah, there's something quite special about Borough Market. No kidding though. I really love it. It's got some crazy quirks, and that's why it's in my good books.

Let me tell you this, though. Borough Market at Christmas time, is even special-er. Here are 3 things that make Borough Market a must-go-to destination during the Holiday season. So bundle up, time to go on an exotic Holiday field trip!  

Holiday treat # 1: The Thai Green and Red Curries. There's nothing like a little spice to make your Christmas extra exotic. Biiiig buckets o' curry, yummy yummy yummy!

Borough Market Green Curry

Borough Market Red Curry

Holiday treat # 2: The Ostrich Sandwich. The queue takes forever, but this is a delicacy you'll want to try at least once in your lifetime. So be patient, wait for your turn.

Borough Market Ostrich Sandwich

Holiday treat # 3: The mulled wine at BM is sweet and vicious. Again, this heavenly beverage is just the right amount of spices, cinnamon and alcohol. You'll sing hallelujas and hail marys all the way back home. Enjoy it with a brownie from the stand next door. If you're feeling particularly kooky, you might want to go for the good ol' dunk & eat combo. Brownie and warm wine! Yummmmmmy!

It's a Wapper not a Whopper

No I'm not referring to the fast food sandwich we all know too well.

Haha, ew, gross

And no, I'm not referring to anything remotely close to anything relating to fast food either. I'm talking about a restaurant. Not a fast food restaurant (if that's not an oxymoron right there) just a restaurant. Well, not exactly just a restaurant...

The Wapping Project, Wapping, London

Ever been to a place that's a restaurant/gallery/bar/former hydraulic power plant all in one? No? Didn't think so...(ok fine, the Tate modern is also an abandoned power plant, but let's not talk about that today)...that's because the place I'm about to write about is an original _ meaning there is no place like it- not in London, not in the UK, not anywhere really.

The Wapping Project is a dramatic and compelling restaurant/gallery/bar/former hydraulic power plant in Wapping, East London. And if you've never heard of Wapping, it's probably because it's a land far far away...well far way from my land at least. For people working (ahem I mean living) in The City, or Shoreditchers and...Aldgaters (hey, that's a word, ok?), it's just a stone throw away really. Keep in mind that the fact that the word project is a part of the name doesn't necessarily mean that the work is unfinished, though some parts of it, including the gallery space, are a continuous work in progress. If you ask me, this wonderfully odd-looking industrial venue is a perfect work of art. The beauty of it is, you walk in, you soak in the beauty of the place with all its twisted water pipes, tall ceilings and gigantic columns, you sit down, you order from a fantastic looking menu, then you walk around, then you sit down again, then you eat something spectacular, then you gander around again to go somewhere dark, cool and mysterious to see some dark, cool and mysterious art, and then you stroll back to your table to eat some even more spectacular dessert. All in all, it's a pretty special experience.

You may be incredibly confused by my incredibly convoluted description, so I recommend you just check out the place. Each room is more surprising than the next, and each dish is more exciting than the other. Go on, live a little! Get out of your London shell! Go to Wapping! Click here to book a table via OpenTable.

Burlesque Tease Party

I had never been to or organized a proper hen party before and, I have to admit, after organizing one for one of my best friends this past weekend, I now understand why: these things knock the wind outta you. Not that it wasn't one of the most fun weekends I've had in London since I've arrived, au contraire. Celebrating my friend getting married in London as opposed to flying to a foreign city and feeling the pressure of discovering that new city and being a tourist, meant that we could really truly enjoy the moments spent together. It also meant that everything we did, and all activities/games we prepared had to be extra special. And extra girly. I will not go into detail about my weekend but one thing I must share with you has got to be the most zesty discovery I've made in London so far.

Have you ever done something so decadent, so extravagant and so full of excess that you felt like the whole world outside and reality were light years away from your reach and you could anything?

Have you ever stuffed your face with delirious amounts of scones, jelly, clotted cream, cupcakes, finger sandwiches and tea, while watching a burlesque show take place right before your eyes? Have you ever wanted to do nothing else for the rest of your life than to be served yummy treats by a girl in a French maid uniform, while enjoying eye-popping gorgeous women sing, dance, do strange skits and twirl nipple tassels? Ahem, I haven't. Yeah, I mean, what kind of a absurd fantasy is that? 

Anyways, this unbelievably decadent supper club called Volupte Lounge in Farringdon is a fun girly afternoon guaranteed. Not only is the show fantastically original, intimate and memorable, but you will spend 5 beautiful hours with your friends, fabulous English treats and tea while being entertained by incredibly talented performers. This is a perfect venue for birthdays, hen parties or other surprises for your girlfriends, boyfriends and gay mates.