The Where’s and Who’s of E17
By Something CuratedWalthamstow… chicken shops, marshes, and massive warehouse outlets as far as the eye can see…. that’s all, right? Wrong. Unbeknownst to most, this area is beginning to develop an independent flare. Galleries, breweries and eateries are opening up in a particular niche of the area – and it’s one to keep an eye on.
Bumping elbows with car servicing plants, carpentry outlets and kitchenware suppliers is Mother’s Ruin: a gin bar and on-site production factory just a stone’s throw from Ravenswood Industrial Estate‘s other watering hole, Wildcard Brewery. Just around the corner and perfect to make some gin-vision impulse buys (or simply be wowed by all the dazzling lights) is God’s Own Junkyard, a neon-lit warehouse of all the novelty signs you could ever want (or feasibly) need.
A short walk west will put you on Orford Road, a pedestrian-friendly (i.e. no cars allowed) cobbled street bursting with culture and international cuisine that melds newer eateries (the SPAR-volutionary E17) with established local favourites like the lively Orford Saloon Tapas Bar the Village Kitchen Restaurant.
Stop 1: Ravenwood Industrial Estate
With prior ties to WWI’s ammunition production and storage, this group of industrial units nestled around a car park has quickly become a destination point in the last few years. A major trigger was the opening of Wildcard Brewery in 2014, a side project turned proper brewhouse. Just across from the brewery is God’s Own Junkyard, which invites you to stare wide eyed at a neverending neon wonderland. And finally, Mothers Ruin gin palace, which distills its own gin as well as several fruit-based liqueurs.
Mother’s Ruin Gin Palace
Mother’s Ruin is a nod to a dark spot in 18th century British history, when the liquor fueled alcoholism and tore apart social relationships in the capital, causing the death rate to exceed the birth rate for the first time since the Bubonic Plague. Despite its morose past, gin has continued to feature prominently in London drinking culture, serving as the base of many favourite drinks and the prime output of many craft distilleries citywide. Nestled in Unit 18 of Ravenswood Industrial Estate, which once served as a WWI munitions factory, Mother’s Ruin drinking palace is a tiny cocktail function that also produces award-winning fruit liqueurs on site.
Founded by gin-slinger Becky Griffiths, whose upbringing on a farm where making wine from rose petals, blackberries and elderberries was custom, Mother’s Ruin has always transcended the boundaries between growing fruit and making booze. Griffiths has been making fruit and herb-infused spirits for over 20 years and has achieved quite the following with plenty of like-minded practitioners coming out to Walthamstow to talk shop.
Mother’s relocated from Wood Street Market in 2014 and has since been producing its gin and liqueurs on-site. On the weekends the factory opens up until 12 am (F-Sa) and 10 om (Su), wherein visitors are invited to take a look at the production facilities and process. No stranger to the budding community, Mother’s walls are also covered with the art work of local painter Carl Harris, who also uses the mezzanine as his studio. Mother’s serves pop-up food from Sham’s Kitchen, a Pakistani restaurant on wheels that also calls the E17 its home base. For those who prefer something sweet with their gin, or perhaps as an accompaniment to one of the many fruit liqueurs on offer, Mother’s also hosts Cakes Aura Rosa, another expat of Wood Street Market. We recommend the Guinness cake if you want to drink while you drink.
Wildcard Brewery
Wildcard opened in Walthamstow in 2014 after growing from beloved side hobby to full-on enterprise with the hand of crowdfunding, the 6 barrel brewers barrel kit is operated by Jaega Wise, William John Harris, and Andrew Birkby. Wise, who put her chemical engineering studies to good use, is also a talented musician and performance artist; Harris brings along prior brewery experience and Midlands-raised Birkby was raised with a refined palette for IPAs, which sees daylight in the Queen of Diamonds, a fragrant lychee-based IPA. The King of Hearts, Ace of Spaces, Queen of Diamonds and Jack of Club beers could not be more different – but Wildcard offers plenty of tastings during its music events and brew tours days to ensure you find your match.
God’s Own Junkyard
God’s Own Junkyard was founded and owned by the late Chris Bracey (d. Nov 2014), a neon and light artist and collector who made his name designing the gaudy signs for a more seedy Soho, as well as some of Hollywood’s and the art world’s biggest stars. From designing neonwares that framed cinematic shots of Jack Nicholson in Batman and Johnny Depp in Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, to creating iconic artworks from David La Chappelle and Martin Creed, Bracey had established a cult following in London and Los Angeles (unsurprisingly).
Since his untimely death the shop has taken up a charity initiative in which proceeds go to Prostate Cancer UK, an initiative which the ever-thankful Bracey started himself. It is to this day the largest stock of vintage neons and signs in Europe, as well as the oldest neon signmakers in London.
“Repaired and resurrected, coupled with quirky art and powered up to shine like jewels of light. Icons in their own right, Gods own junk yard where neon never dies.” – the late Chris Bracey, Owner and Founder of God’s Own Junkyard
Stop 2: Orford Street
Sound familiar? If you’ve read our 24/7 Window Galleries piece, you’ve no doubt heard of the Walthamstow Village Window Gallery, nestled on the east end of Orford Road. This street’s ability to meld old and new does not stop at art. This highly walkable street is also home to an exciting mix of restaurants heading west: From Orford Saloon Tapas (2006) to the classic yet homey Village Kitchen (1997) that serves up modern British food, Orford road also hosts E17,
Eat 17: Restaurant and SPAR
Founded just shy of a decade ago by step-brothers Chris O’Connor and James Brundle, natives of the E17 postcode, Eat 17 is revolutionizing the distinction between convenience shop and sit-down restaurant by blurring it. With outposts in Walthamstow’s Orford Street and Hackney, Eat’s reputation has extended far beyond its own inventive product line (including the worshipped bacon jam, and its sibling chorizo jam), having based much of its own business module on collaboration with other London-based independent eateries and kitchens. Partners include Plantation Pigs (Surrey), the East London Sausage Company (across the street from the SPAR in Walthamstow), while their Hackney outpost is roost to London-based gelupo, belu, joe’s tea co., as well as SE London-based brewery’s Gipsy Hill.
Orford Saloon Tapas Bar
The tapas bar opened in 2006 under the guise of Mark and Karen Ward, two daring locals of the Village with next to no restaurant experience, and has since become one of the staples of Orford Street if not all of Walthamstow for a lively evening out. While it changed hands to Mark and Jane Godfrey in 2014, the two – long term patrons of the establishment and aware of the community it had nourished over the years – held tight to the old crew, including Jorge the head chef, a native of Spain who has run the kitchen for over eight years. Mark and Jane are a bit more experienced than their predecessors – with Mark serving as executive director at the Soho Theatre – and sometimes experience means letting a good thing stay as-is. Other than increasing the capacity of the space, extending the hours and slightly stretching the menu to incorporate a weekday lunchtime special, the two have largely let the bar stay as it was before – to the unanimous approval of the local community.
Cheap, unpretentious, and zany are three of Orford Saloon’s selling points. That, and its great list of spanish wines. Run out of what was previously a barber’s shop, it offers exposed brick walls and plenty of Spanish music as well as Jorge’s modest but tasty classics such as tender lamb cutlets, patatas bravas and succulent pig’s cheeks.
The Village Kitchen
The Village Kitchen, established in 1997, is the brainchild of chef Spiros Ragavelas. In its 20-year history, it has since established itself as the home of some of London’s most innovative takes on modern British fare as well as European cuisine. Despite the surge of new restaurants with an international focus that have cropped up on Orford Street in recent years, the Village Kitchen has proven a mainstay as a favourite establishment by locals and far-Londoners alike.
