New In - Jan_Feb 24
Happy anniversary to New Journo, one-year-old in Jan – a recap of the first few months of 2024 to celebrate. In January and February – our newest coffee gadget, a design guide to Greece and a shortcut to achieving good film photography.
Alessi: Moka Espresso Coffee Maker
Owning a moka pot has completely changed our home coffee brewing experience and feels a tad fancy. Our choice is this kitchen staple by Alessi, designed by architect David Chipperfield. It’s a timeless, functional, sleek design that would never be amiss in Italian culture. We pair ours with Obadiah or Resinn beans, ground by our Snowpeak: Field Barista Coffee Grinder.
Nestled in the heart of East London, Bethnal Green Tavern has become our first choice pub for small gatherings due to its close proximity to various tube lines. Ensuring no one has an excuse to bail. We love it for its rustic yet refined interiors, craft beer offerings, natural wines, and the good old British classic – their chip butty – a sturdy choice, if you ask us.
The Greek Islands are rooted in nostalgia for us. The destination for most family holidays growing up, as adults, we love it equally but now enjoy a more curated approach to our trips. Who better than to compile a list of local recommendations than The Greek Foundation? We love their latest travel guide on the country’s capital, Athens. Experience culture through the eyes of local experts; we’ve already added plenty to our evergrowing Google Maps list. From eateries, concept stores and museums, we’re ready to book our next getaway.
We spoiled ourselves with a Violet Cakes special for a birthday and, in our minds, to celebrate one year of New Journo. Claire Ptak founded the bakery on Wilton Way in Hackney, one of our go-to, one-stop-shop roads for independent businesses. We opted for simplicity with the Vanilla Buttercream flavour, which went down a treat. All cakes are made with low-intervention, organic ingredients, making them slightly more indulgent.
We’re no strangers to delving back into TV and films released years ago. Or simply being late to the game and only watching highly recommended shows and cinema years after the hype. This is the former. Big Little Lies was on our re-watch list over the last few months, but we go way back. It’s a black comedy drama that follows five women in Monterey, California, centred around a murder investigation. It consists of a sombre set design, a stellar soundtrack and a star-studded cast that has racked up Golden Globes and Emmy wins, with good reason. Meryl Streep comes on board for the second season, and if that doesn’t sell it to you, we don’t know what will. Sky Atlantic is where to go.
Credit: HBO (Big Little Lies)
As tattoo newbies, we were feeling a tad nervous. We knew what we *roughly* wanted but didn’t know where to go for it. After hearing good things about Old Habits Tattoo in Dalston, we spontaneously decided to drop in. We gave our tattooist, Mark Judges, the most basic brief he could have possibly asked for and probably the easiest tattoo he’d done all year. As requested, a few simple numbers in Helvetica were scaled down to something barely noticeable. But we love it nonetheless. A super nice team, welcoming, and they cater for walk-ins.
Do not miss this. You have plenty of time until Sept 1, so there’s no excuse. Music of the Mind at Tate Modern is an exhibition showcasing the work of the incredible multi-faceted Yoko Ono, a celebrated musician and a formidable campaigner; her work spans conceptual art, film and performance. Across 7 decades, it’s the UK’s largest display of over 200 works from Ono’s career from the USA, Japan and the UK, incl. some collaborative work with the iconic John Lennon. Like most of Ono’s work, interactivity is key to the exhibition; visitors can hit nails into the wall, play chess and draw their silhouettes behind a projector.
Credit: Yoko Ono, Clay Perry, Tate
Continuing our interest in sporting documentaries, take a deep dive into the world of Olympic swimming with the Australian national team in Head Above Water. Some of the best swimmers in the world are produced down under, rivalling the USA, so there’s no better country to follow for insight into an athlete's trials, tribulations and intense training. The four-part series follows swimming icons in Oz, from a retired world record holder, Ian Thorpe, to a musical superstar, Cody Simpson, making a career pivot and trying to get back up to speed.
Film photography is back on the rise. People are digging out their grandparents’ cameras and delving into the old-school format. That being said, it can be tricky to get the hang of and somewhat technical. Especially buying the correct film roll and learning all the functions. While practising, we recommend getting a few single-use cameras from Yashica. There are plenty of options, from coloured prints to black and white, with different exposures, and it removes many complexities. Still, the result is good quality. Ease into shooting on film, and don’t be intimidated!
Back in our university days, we used Sergej Jensen as our dissertation muse, so thrilled we were to visit Bermondsey’s White Cube recently to see some of his older works and more recent paintings. His earlier fabric-based work took a ‘painting without paint’ approach, seeing how art can take shape with colour and texture from the canvas without conventional art techniques such as painting or drawing. Rather, Jensen would bleach, stain, and dye textiles stretched over canvas frames, patched up or partially sewn. The work is beautiful, and it’s nostalgic for us. On show until Mar 24.
