A first peek inside Sadler's Wells East - and what's on the menu

Plus: local hospitality owners with zero food hygiene ratings speak out, what to order at J'Adore, Yard Sale's Bubala collab roadtested, a bakery for Morny fans - and my round-up of top AF beers

Sadler's Wells; inside the 550-seater auditorium. Photos: SE

Back in autumn 2023, I enjoyed a serendipitous moment walking through the Olympic Park. Lo and behold, the first part of the £600million East Bank waterfront development had just opened that morning.

As I wrote at the time, it was a thrill to step inside and explore the galleries at UAL’s new London College Of Fashion campus, which I’d watched steadily rise up over the last decade. Even more impressive are the views from the elevated stone and wood-clad steps leading down to the towpath.

Fast forward to this week and I attended the press preview of UAL’s neighbour, Sadler’s Wells East, which officially launches in February. Designed by Irish architects O’Donnell + Tuomey and built in Italian red brick, it’s the first public venue to open here, to be followed by BBC Music Studios and V&A East Museum, and houses a theatre, six dance studios, educational facilities, a free public performance space, a restaurant and bar.

First thoughts? Its entrance illuminated by the sign, You Are Welcome, the double-height ground floor foyer is huge, with plenty of tables in the café to sit with a coffee and laptop - once a freelancer, always a freelancer - while there’s also a fancier restaurant, more of which below. The whole space is lit by rows of bare bulbs and given a shot of life by two colourful large-scale Eva Rothschild tapestries (make sure you look up as you enter from the waterfront side).

Upstairs is the sweep of the 550-seater auditorium with the “longest curve seating in Europe”, said one of the friendly staff. On the top two floors are vast mirrored studios and rehearsal spaces, where we glimpsed the cast working on the nightclub-themed opening show Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu’s Our Mighty Groove. A roof terrace offers panoramic views over the London Aquatics Centre, Anish Kapoor’s ArcelorMittal Orbit, the stadium and park.

Encouragingly, there’s a firm emphasis on working with the local boroughs and community, which, of course, means Waltham Forest and Newham predominantly. Its opening season features twenty productions, much of it showcasing work from east-London based artists, as well as national and international stars. And they’re keen to promote all kinds of dance - not just ballet - and so hip hop enjoys equal prominence with, say, Indian classical dance kathak. The venue even houses a hip hop theatre school called Academy Breakin’ Convention.

The final factor worth mentioning is price. They promise that 50% of all tickets across the season are available for £25 or less, with £10 tickets for 16-30 year-olds. Forthcoming highlights include James Baldwin’s Inside Giovanni’s Room, Pete Townshend’s Quadrophenia: A Mod Ballet, Mette Ingvartsen’s Skatepark, and a new production of Romeo & Juliet featuring actors and dancers from local boroughs. The full programme at Sadler’s Wells East can be found here.

So what’s the food offer?

First up is The Well, the casual bring-your-laptop daytime café that turns into a theatre bar in the evening: think artisan sandwiches, pastries and homemade bakes. More spenny is the waterfront Park Kitchen & Bar, inspired by “London’s diverse cuisines”, as they put it - but no Head Chef is named - and using the best of British seasonal produce. Sadly it wasn’t open this week on my visit, but the menu includes picanha steak with chimichurri and twice cooked pink fir potatoes (£28), squash fondant with mushroom, celeriac and truffle (£13) and - most interestingly - a daily market fish with katsuobushi (fermented tuna), wasabi tartar sauce, mung beans and fries (£17). Small plates comprise salt-baked beets with saffron tahini and hazelnut, smashed cucumber salad and braised short rib. It sounds promising: look out for 50% off food offers advertised online until the end of January. @sadlerswells_east

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Welcome to this week’s issue - and just a quick note to say thanks for all the love last week: it was my most-read newsletter yet, with around 6000 views, hundreds of new readers - and some valuable feedback from both new paid and free subscribers. It means a lot.

Here’s what to expect in today’s (hopefully) Blue Monday-beating issue:

• In Part Two of my Food Hygiene story, four of the area’s most high profile venues discuss frankly about what went wrong when they scored surprising zero ratings - and how they’ve since rectified things

• Missing Morny? A little bakery that is well worth discovering

• The reason J’Adore in Leytonstone is so good - and my brunch pick

• Yard Sale Pizza’s spicy new Bubala collab roadtested on a cold midweek night

• Today is the day Dry Januarists often crumble - so read my essential AF craft beer round-up

• The weekly rundown of this week’s pop-ups, new openings and one-offs

• And don’t forget, three local fitness studios are still offering paid subscribers offers and discounts (until Jan 31st). Access the exclusive codes here

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• Upgrading to a paid subscription costs £5 a month, or just £45 a year: that’s the same as a pint of milk (or 86p) a week. And for that you can positively immerse yourself in food and culture stories, local discounts and freebies with independent businesses, longer reads, unbiased restaurant reviews and all the latest foodie gossip in the area. You even get to suggest what I cover (I promise I listen to everyone’s suggestions). The more people who pay to subscribe, the more I can publish.

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Food Hygiene poll: four zero-rated businesses speak out

You might remember that last week saw part one of my two-week investigation into food hygiene ratings. If you missed it, Waltham Forest food safety don Khevyn Limbajee talked me through how the system works, before I rounded up the best ratings at food venues in Leyton and Leytonstone (those which scored 3, 4 or 5 out of 5). I also asked all subscribers what their thoughts were: as you can see above, people are justifiably cautious about visiting a venue with a zero.

With that in mind, let’s spare a thought for those quality restaurants that do indeed carry the lowest possible rating. What on earth happened? And why? Today, four of the area’s most high profile have kindly been honest enough to speak to me about the dramas that ensued. I also speak to a separate chef who gives his (frank) views on the subject.

The info on hygiene ratings is of course publicly available to all, but the reason this long read is for those have upgraded is that the research and time spent was only made by possible by paid subscriptions. I do hope it serves as a glimpse inside a world many of us will know little about, unless we work in or have ever worked in hospitality, with its uniquely rigorous parameters. So, now let’s begin with a restaurant we all know - and many of us will love.