2 x fish and chips please

Given that I'm getting married in just over two months, you may think that I'd want to steer clear of fatty, fried foods. But then you would be massively overestimating my ability to refuse free fish suppers.

Due to my lack of willpower, and love of food, I've enjoyed two such meals in the space of a month, and each one deserves a mention, even, I'd argue, a round of applause.

The first of these British delicacies was enjoyed in Cornwall, at Rick Stein's Fish & Chip Restaurant in Padstow no less.


As with most places in Cornwall, it takes a bit of getting to - a car journey and a ferry-ride over the Camel Estuary from where we stay in Port Isaac - and is so popular that you have to queue for the privilege. But oh is it worth it. Get there at around 11.30am and you're more or less guaranteed a seat for the 12-midday sitting. Get there any later and you risk being forced to standing outside, drooling, as you watch and wait for the first lucky diners to finish the last of their mushy peas.

Now, while I do love fish and chips - I'm from Yorkshire, home of Whitby and more locally Compo's chippy - the dish has decided that it doesn't much like me over the years.

"And would you like anything to finish madam?"

"Do you have any heartburn on the menu today? Oh you do, of course you do, it's your speciality."

So I now allow myself only the gluttony of the chunky chip, choosing the grilled fish options offered by the top notch frying establishments I frequent, and chose as my main Rick Stein's lemon sole - the perfect delicate and fluffy accompaniment to fried carbs. Special note must also go to the homemade tartar sauce - bearing no resemblance to the greasy, vinegary gloop you're usually served.

Also on the menu are battered oysters, scallops and local squid, all served up in cardboard boxes - let's hope they recycle.


I had allowed myself the Stein fish and chips as a 'last fling before I (try to) tighten my belt for the wedding'. But when PR company R&R Teamwork emailed inviting me to a fish supper at Brighton's famous Bardsley's Fish & Chip Restaurant , that plan was flung far out the window.

Arranged to build awareness around new website www.beergenie.co.uk, celebrating the social aspect of beer and providing a resource for journalists, the evening focused around beer tasting/drinking, with one of the brewers himself there from the local Harveys Brewery. My favourite was Samuel Smith's Organic Lager, which was light, refreshing and not too gassy - just as you need an accompaniment to fried food to be.

I also tried something else new - swordfish. The steak was meaty, tender and delicious and the chips even better than Stein's (although I did have the vegetarian version in Padstow this year - the chips fried in beer dripping are yum). I did, as ever, have a side order of mushy peas, and I could have eaten another bowlful, because I'm a bit weird.

So, that really is it until the wedding now, unless anyone else has a fried-food offer I just can't refuse...

Behind the lens - Tony Stubbings 2

Brighton-based photographer Tony Stubbings on one of his favourite shots, 'Chloe Can Jump'.

This shot was taken during a test shoot for Curve Couture. Owner Chrissie Nicholson-Wild had arranged the models and a car load of her fantastic clothing for some promotional pics.

Chloe, the model here, was fantastic, taking direction very well. She knew exactly how to work with both the camera and garments.

Chloe had her eye on this coat (I think everyone did) and made a beeline for it. I wanted her to look fierce, she told her to jump at the same time as crossing that leg while bearing her teeth at the camera. She jumped, I clicked, and this is it!

Both of us knew the image was good, so tried half a dozen more times to take it again, just to make sure. Each time something wasn't quite right, either the timing or the flow of the cloth, just something. But that initial snap was almost perfect.

The image isn't complete, it's a touch underexposed, but I`ve been reluctant to edit it. Perhaps one day I`ll feel upto the task of bringing out all that it has to offer. Until then though, I love it as it is.

London Road Co-op - Before I Sleep and fashion installation

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from hat designer Joanna Zara, telling me to get myself down to the old London Road Co-op building. There, apparently, I would find the fashion showcased in the windows to be part of the set for a site-responsive theatre production. Odd.

As it's somewhat out of the way, and the concept confused my little brain, I didn't give it much more thought, until I was invited to a free fish supper at Bardsleys (post now up) and found myself peering in the windows at the aesthetic delights on display.


Of the fashions on offer, I was particularly impressed with Brighton-based designer Lucy Faulke's cosy knits, with bright and intricate tribal-detailing, from her BA collection - for which she received a First in Fashion Textiles with Business Studies from Brighton Uni. Faulke, who has already worked for John Rocha, is currently studying at the Royal College of Art for an MA in Knitted Textiles and is no doubt destined for great things.


While I was snapping a way, a man approached me and began enthusing about 'Before I Sleep', the Brighton Festival production based in the building that has enjoyed such success that it has been extended until 4 July.


The production, so the Brighton Festival website says, sees "the characters in Chekhov's greatest plays inhabit a world on the verge of collapse. They look out to the future and wonder what life will be like in years to come, unaware that, for them, it is about to change dramatically and irreversibly".

"The starting point is Firs. Left alone at the end of The Cherry Orchard, the elderly manservant unwittingly traverses an entire century on an odyssey to retrieve his past. As we journey alongside him, we experience a richly inventive and ever-changing landscape of performance, film and installation created and inhabited by performers, architects, model makers and art designers."


Indeed, while I was there, a man, who I assume was Firs, could be seen washing his face and wandering around the mannequins as if they were trees in a wood. It was all very intriguing and while I was talking to the unofficial promoter man, a woman walking past also chimed in that "it's great" and that I "really ought to see it".

Unfortunately, my week is ram-packed so I will be unable to, but if you can, do check it out. See Editor Bella Todd's review in the Latest 7 if you need further persuasion/explanation. And if you're down that way, take a minute to admire the fashion in the windows, the below maxi dress by Dina Malkova, is particualrly stunning.

My guilty EastEnders’ secrets

The fact that I watch Eastenders is not the secret - I’ll happily admit that I’m a big soap fan, with a preference for the northern light relief that is Coronation Street. No, my secrets are a little more idiosyncratic. So here we go:

I have a crush on Stacey Branning/Lacey Turner.

My friends say that she is ‘my type’, this apparently being a slightly chavvy brunette - Cheryl Cole, Billie Piper (who I often have to point out, actually speaks very well now and has blonde hair for much of the time). I’m also pretty sure that Charlotte Riley – Cathy in the most recent Wuthering Heights’ adaptation - isn't a chav. There's a difference between being northern and being a chav...


Anyway, I’m not sure if Stacey/Lacey is ‘my type’ or not, or even if I have one, but she is certainly stunning to watch. Her storylines have seen her have an affair with her boyfriend’s dad, be diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, kill Archie Mitchell and watch her husband fall to his death in the live episode and she’s played them all with such passion and conviction that I’m very sad to see her leave 'The Square' (which is actually a circle).

She’s also very attractive, in an understated and unknowing kind of way. And I love her new mid-length wavy hair so much that I’m considering having mine chopped off after the wedding.


I want Dot Branning’s wardrobe.

Dot Branning is still living fifties/sixties style the first-time round, without irony or any sense of self-conscious postmodern cool.

I love her print dresses, prim cardigans, pearls, trenches and full-length fur-collared coats and she also has a great collection of proper handbags, in which to keep her ciggies and lippy of course, and practical shoppers – see this week’s plastic-handled net bag. The wardrobe department no doubt have a grand old time rooting around in the vintage shops, where all Dot’s attire is uber-cool and pricey, to dress her.


Mrs Branning’s hair has also now taken on iconic status itself – I much prefer it to actress’s June Brown’s bowl cut – just check out this glorious embroidered portrait by Angharad Jefferson. And after Coronation Street’s late Blanche Hunt, she is by far my favourite old-girl busybody.

“Weeell, you know me, [insert Eastenders’ character name], I’m not one to gawssip”.

Next's fur clogs/is fashion melting my brain?

I'm no slave to fashion. I follow the trends - it's part of my job - but my style pretty much remains the same, with the odd experiment. Neither I am a killer heels kind of girl - I'm just not willing to suffer for style and therefore spend most of my life in boots or pumps. So, it is with these facts in mind that I find myself utterly confused by my fervent attraction to Next's A/W season fur-trimmed clog boots.

This is try-hard footwear - so on-trend that it hurts. Ever since Alexa Chung stepped out in Chanel's S/S 2010 prairie-girl clogs, they have been a constant in the fashion press's 'must-have' lists, being paired with everything from Seventies-style maxi dresses to denim hotpants. And with Karl Lagerfeld focusing on fur as the look for A/W 2010/11, it's no surprise that clogs are toughening up for the colder months.

So yes, bound to be a big hit with fashionistas, and already championed by fashion bloggers such as Emily O'Brien over at www.myfashionlife.com. But would I be able to walk in them? Most probably not for more than five minutes. And what would I wear them with? My black skinnies is the only item which doesn't conjure up ridiculous images in my fashion-addled-mind. More worryingly, does my lust for Heidi/yeti-hybrid footwear mean that I am turning into a stereotype? Is my flat soon to be filled with hilariously impractical shoes which appear to be feats of engineering genius?

I can't explain myself - I just think they're great, and at £55, affordable too. Am I going mad? Please, someone, reassure me.

Celebrate creativity this Recycle Week

As this week is Recycle Week (running from 21 to 27 June) I decided to take a look at the wonderful and weird upcycled crafts on offer at www.etsy.com. Here are some of my favourite finds:

The wonderful
Vintage book cover notebook - Coverstories, $20
Broken china necklace, dishfunctunldesigns, $65
Noddy books butterfly art - aboundingtreasures, $15
Flattened bottle serving plate - prizmatic, $18
Vinyl storage container - retrograndma, $9.99
Upcycled vintage suitcase - funkyfindzonline, $85
Your little sock pony - goodergoods, $25

The weird
'Vernon' found-object woman - springcreekstudios, $165
Octobaby - chaosdoll,$35

Behind the lens - Tony Stubbings

In the first of a series which tracks his career, the Brighton-based photographer remembers his first model shoot.

Perhaps it’s because it was taken on my first ever model shoot, perhaps it’s the tight crop (I love tight crops), for whatever reason, this picture has a special place in my heart.

The model is Vicky Decay (now sadly living in Bristol), who had done several shoots and was quite experienced, as opposed to me - a trembling newbie not really knowing what to expect. Although I’d been shooting for a couple of years, both the technology - off-camera flash - and the situation - working with a model - were quite new to me.

For the shoot we where in the basement of a night club. I only had a single flash to light her with and luckily I managed to get this off camera and remotely triggered.

I wanted her to look like she was emerging from the blackness, as if pouring out of the corner ready to pounce or leap on the viewer.

Vicky delivered, the flash worked and, to my amazement, what I wanted was there, staring back at me from the camera screen!

I often wonder, had that initial shoot had turned into a disaster, would I have pursued model photography at all? Of course the pic is not without its faults, but I was (and still am) thrilled at the result. I knew there and then that as great as landscapes, reportage and wedding photography can be, it was working with fantastic models such as Miss Decay that I really wanted to do!

Vicky - I thank you.

www.tonystubbings.co.uk