Another Saturday, another working lunch in Notting Hill trying to make sense of all the things around us and what they mean for Turnleft. This one took me to posh E&O for a drink or two with Johannes, Turnleft’s creative consultant and all-time muse. After checking preserve and latkes recipes at Books for Cooks next door, we walked on Portobello and passed the flyover for a quick look at Les Couilles du Chien - the area’s favourite antiques shop – and then Rellik – the godmother of all vintage shops. It was very inspiring as usual and we agreed that the cosy world of travel publishing is in need of a new magazine that can relegate Conde Nast Traveller to history… What came to mind as sources of inspiration were Alain de Botton’s A week at the airport and Iain Sinclair’s Hackney. If I remember well, Johannes threw words like semiotics and psychogeography [Later that day I checked the travel writing section at Foyles and Waterstone's only to realise that it is indeed populated with stories of middle-aged men in the South of France and public schoolboys gonzoing their way through Africa/India/Tibet].

Apart from his imminent flight to Helsinki, Johannes also mentioned some ongoing trend forecasting work with a Hong Kong-based clothes manufacturer and it hit me that we should launch a clothes line for the World Cup, something fresh and different that would target football widows (TM thank you – I coined it) and those that feel alienated by football culture but that will still revel during the Cup. In a bout of naughties nostalgia the closest thing that came to mind was my old fcuk football tee-shirt and how daring it felt at the time.

For some reason we then talked about Mademoiselle Agnes, Paris’ eponymous fashion observer. I am not her biggest fan but Johannes – whose brains are permanently in overdrive – dared suggest that her style is the embodiment of Dada philosophy applied to the fickle world of fashion. I’m still pondering.

From there our discussion could only lead to how overrated most fashion bloggers are, and how ephemeral their influence will be in the realm of fashion, even if a few of them made it to the front row. Instead we analysed a range of new magazines, including Candy – the first transversal style magazine dedicated to transvestism, transexuality, cross-dressing and androgyny by the fabulous Luis Venegas, of Fanzine 137 and Electric Youth fame. With Bruce Weber and Terry Richardson as contributors, we gathered that magazine publishing isn’t on its last legs.

And that was it, another Turnleft brainstorm in the shadow of Trellick Tower!

E&O 14 Blenheim Crescent - Books for Cooks 4 Blenheim Crescent – Rellik 8 Golborne Road - Les Couilles du Chien 65 Golborne Road

Here comes another ephemeral concept just when I was about to blog about serious pop-up fatigue. Wish You Were Here Swap is an interesting NY-LON experience: 30 designer shops in Newburgh Quarter (Carnaby Street) and the Lower East Side swap places for a month… London designers visited New York this August and London is now welcoming 12 Lower East Side designers until 31 October – like a good old fashioned high school student exchange. Ok the yellow taxi is a bit corny but I am going this afternoon – I immediately spotted shirtmaker Robert James in the list…

More seriously, are we so over pop-up shops (to paraphrase Johannes, our creative consultant)? Yes, these guerrilla tactics have had their day and the concept has been bastardised by too many brands trying to keep up with youth culture, but there is something resolutely grassroots about the whole idea and we certainly haven’t seen the end of it in London. Part of it is down to economics I guess – finding affordable space was impossible 2 years ago but in the aftermath of a full-blown recession, London high streets feel decimated, not just in the West End but also in Shoreditch and in the posher parts of town (I mentioned how desolate Westbourne Grove feels in a previous blog but I also spotted 2 bailiff notices stuck on windows on Saint John’s Wood High Street). It is estimated that 15 UK retail chains are on the verge of immediate bankruptcy. It is very tempting to take over say Woolworths’ huge empty premises for an experimental project because I can’t see anyone else moving in…

It reminds me of Berlin’s Zwischenmieter movement (a proper translation would be “in-between tenants”): until recently there was no shortage of empty buildings in Berlin and landlords have always been prepared to let out their space for free to desirable trendoids who can boost the cachet of an area. If a small Produzentengalerie sets up shop for free say north of Torstraße, flashing shiny Macs and ic!berlin eyewear at passer-bys, within months the area gets a media company or two, a fashion store, commercial galleries, a restaurant and designer bars. And before you know it the former no man’s land calls itself NoTo (North of Torstraße), the Bavarians move in, Berliner residents feel alienated in the Toca Rouge-Reingold-Birnbaum triangle, and the landlord laughs all the way to the bank… So there is a rationale for keeping rents low for low-key creative outfits (London and Paris landlords take note). In fact many venues in Berlin still operate on such low rents that they don’t even need to sell anything, a few even feel compelled to give things away for free. So I wasn’t surprised last year when Wedding Dress, a fringe fashion and urban arts festival, occupied three entire blocks at the very unfashionable end of Brunnenstraße in Wedding. I was even less surprised to hear that it was organised by the building landlords. And at this stage I need to disclose that the whole Carnaby Street-Newburgh Quarter is not what it used to be – the entire area belongs to the same property developer…

Back to Turnleft – I’m very tempted to coincide Turnleft SS10 guide collections with maybe a pop-up or two in various cities, where guides would be available for free, with exhibitions, social events and fantastic us making the street shiny and happening. If there are landlords out there willing to offer some space, contact us. Oh, and a drink sponsor

London (West End): Wish You Were Here Swap. Newburgh Quarter (Carnaby Street area), W1. 1-31 Oct

Berlin (Mitte): Birnbaum Bergstraße 25 – Reingold Novalisstraße 11 – Toca Rouge Torstraße 195

New York (Lower East Side): Robert James 72 Orchard St, NY 10002

The Sartorialist recently posted the image of a homeless person but Scott Schuman had the elegance to apologise for what could be perceived as a lapse in good taste. I almost did exactly the same Boulevard Haussmann in Paris last week when the scruffiest beggar  flashed his private parts to relieve himself on a parked car. He was wearing a “I Love Paris” jumper… I won’t elaborate on his sartorial style but I couldn’t help thinking about the sad irony of such an attire for someone whose life has been hijacked by the French system and by Paris’ outrageously high cost of living. He should have been the last one to wear a jumper made for American rich kids doing bogus art degrees in the Marais. Stockholm Syndrome?

This is a bitchy way to announce that Turnleft is back to London after a lengthy Parisian exile. This is great news because most of the team is here – we’re already working on new ideas for aw09-10, including a collection of downloadable architecture tours of our favourite cities. If I keep a soft spot for my French hometown, many things won’t be missed: among them €12 drinks in nightclubs that turn down half of your friends because they need to keep a gender balance (La Fleche d’Or being the worst offender) and mi-cuit de thon aux graines de sesame in every new restaurant… But the great thing about Paris is that anyone can dip in and out of it safe in the knowledge that things will never change: same faces on tv, same faces at parties and still the same debate on Paris v banlieues [more on this topic soon]. In contrast London already feels like the schizo mix of same old and frenetic change. The recession hasn’t helped – every second shopfront on Westbourne Grove seems empty (not that I particularly like them) – but the party continues and a few months away are enough to make me feel alienated. I will do my best to catch up!

It is with great sadness that I share the news of the end of thelondonpaper, the daily evening newspaper that was part of Turnleft’s “5 iconic London objects” last summer… Over the past few years I have enjoyed the sight of London Tube carriages littered with copies of this highbrow publication and I look with nostalgia at those endless bus journeys filled with updates on boy dad’s DNA test, Guy Ritchie’s obscene divorce settlement, Robert Pattinson’s waxed chest, Beatrice and/or Eugenie’s night out and the captivating antics of the Geldof Sisters. It has to be said, thelondonpaper’s food & drink pages were REALLY good and the daily’s contribution to the London fashion scene has been stellar throughout: every fashion party was attended, every celebrity look was dissected and they were the first to report on Agyness Deyn’s cow prints. London Lite continues.

An unusual post for us but worth reading carefully. There’s a great article and video documentary on Nobu and Blue Fin Tuna in the online edition of Don’t Panic…

Singling out NOBU as an offender is a tad unfair – considering that blue fin tuna is on the menu of many other restaurants – but then a venue that has been thriving on media hype and celebrity endorsement should be examplary. And the godmother of all sushi restaurants can’t give us the ‘endangered species? really?’ spiel.

It’s a serious issue for Turnleft. We’re not kidding anyone – we’re not saving lives, we’re far from being do-goodies, we even encourage people to fly. But each guide recommends on average 70 venues – restaurants, clubs, fashion stores, galleries – and we’re bound to feature a few of them that don’t comply with our set of basic rules: good service, fair treatment of staff, no discrimination of any kind, etc… We try our best. If you find a venue listed in our guides that is inappropriate or offensive just let us know.

So it looks like we’ve made our point – we’re not total snobs: we can go to a fashion show at 3pm and binge on salt beef bagels at 3am. A global guide to 4am fast food is under way but in the mean time here are a few addresses we can’t live with after too many Malibu Pineapple (yes it’s back).

Send us your suggestions for other cities.

Amsterdam
Febo Leidsestraat 94 (automate snack)
Febo Nieuwendk 220 (automate snack)
Febo Oudezijds Voorburgwal 35 (automate snack)
Snackbar de Dijk Haarlemmerdijk 145 (sandwiches, kebab)

Antwerp
Frituur Number One Hoogstraat 1 (chips)
Frietkot Max Groenplaats 12 (chips)
Mama’s Garden Oude Koornmarkt 41 (kebab)

Berlin
Curry36 Mehringdamm 36, Kreuzberg (sausages)
Fritiersalon Boxhagenerstraße 104, Friedrichshain (chips)
Konnopkes Schönhauser Allee 44a, Prenzlauer Berg (sausages)
Mustafas Gemuese Kebap Mehringdamm 32, Kreuzberg (kebab)
W Imbiss Kastanienallee 49, Mitte (sausages)

Bruxelles
Friterie de la Barrière 5 avenue du Parc, Saint-Gilles
Friterie Tabora 2 rue de Tabora
Fritkot Flagey Eglise Sainte-Croix
Fritland 49 rue Henri Maus
L’express 8 rue des Chapeliers (pitta)

Helsinki
Eerikin Pippuri Eerikinkatu 17 (kebab)
Metro Fast Food Hämeentie 6 B (kebab)
Big Mama’s Iso Roobertinkatu 26 (pizzas)
Jaskan Grilli Dagmarinkatu (hot dogs & sandwiches)

London
Bar Italia 22 Frith Street, Soho (sandwiches)
Beigel Bake 159 Brick Lane, Shoreditch (bagel)
Beigel Shop 155 Brick Lane, Shoreditch (bagel)
Café Helen 105a Edgware Road, Marble Arch (kebab)
Kurz & Lang 1 St-John Street, Farringdon (sausages)
Marathon 87 Chalk Farm Road, Camden (kebab)
Maroush II 38 Beauchamp Place, Knightsbridge (kebab)
Tinseltown 44-46 St-John Street, Farringdon (burgers)

Melbourne
Supper Inn 15-17 Celestial Ave (fried ice creams)
Stalactites 177-183 Lonsdale St (souvlaki)
Lord of the Fries 9a 2-26 Elizabeth Street (chips)

Montréal
Fairmount Bagel Bakery 74 avenue Fairmount Ouest (bagel)
La Banquise 994 rue Rachel Est (poutine)
Montreal Pool Room 1200 boulevard Saint-Laurent (hot dogs)
Schwartz’s 3895 bld Saint-Laurent (bagel, sandwiches)
St-Viateur Bagel Shop 263 St. Viateur (bagel)

New York
Anytime 93 N 6th Street, Brooklyn
Bamn! 37 St Marks Place, East Village (automat)
Bereket Turkish Kebab House 187 E Houston Street
Cafeteria 119 7th Avenue
Crif Dogs 113 St Marks Place, East Village (hot dogs)
El Idolo 14th Street & 8th Avenue (tacos)
Gray’s Papaya 539 8th Avenue (hot dogs)
Gray’s Papaya 2090 Broadway (hot dogs)
Gray’s Papaya 402 Avenue of the Americas (hot dogs)
Rosario’s Pizza 173 Orchard Street, Lower East Side
Yaffa Café 97 St Marks Place, East Village (falafel)
Yatagan Kebab House 104 MacDougal St, West Village

Reykjavik
Bæjarins Beztu Tryggvagata / Pósthússtræti (hot dogs)
HabiBi Hafnarstræti 18 (kebab)
Hlölla Bátar Ingólfstorg (snacks)

Rotterdam
Febo Binnenwegplein 35 (automate snack)

Tel Aviv
Dabush 64 Iben Gvirol Street
Hakosem 1 Shlomo Hamelech
Orna and Ella The Queens of Falafel 33 Shenkin Street

Vienna (Würsttstand – sausages)
Albertina Albertinaplatz, Vienne 1
Hoher Markt Hoher Markt / Marc-Aurel-Straße, Vienne 1
Nußdorfer Straße Nußdorfer Straße, U6 station
The Kiosk Schleifmühlgasse 7, Vienne 4

LONDON - serial food entrepreneur Alan Yau – I have become totally addicted to Cha Cha Moon, his new fast food venture in Soho and Bayswater, but going from £3.50 to £6.80 for all dishes is a serious price hike. We’re in a recession! If you ask I’ll write about this place in Gerrard Street where dim sum are 50% off.