High Street Update Lite

And here we have a mini-High Street Update for you. An interim post, if you will. It’s almost poetic in its symmetry, balance and poignancy. Almost.

We have three photos that say something about the state of the modern suburban high street. Although we really ought to have kicked off with an empty shop we’ve spared you that depressing site despite there being plenty to choose from in Twickenham.

First, The Crown on Richmond Road, newly refurbed with a foodie focus after a long period of closure and already getting some good feedback on Twitter.

Second, the display at The Coffee Lab cafe on King Street. The latest addition to Twickenham’s cafe culture serves good coffee and some impressive looking cakes.

Third, one of the big kids shows up late to the party. And he hasn’t even brought a bottle! It’s the new Sainsbury’s Local at Twickenham Green. Expect a mix of offers, bargains and overinflated prices. Not all on the same items obviously.

Now That’s a Cake!

Twickerati celebrated three whole years of existence at the weekend. Perhaps ‘celebrated’ isn’t quite the right word… more a bemused questioning of ‘just how many hours have been spent on that bloody website?’ But to make the birthday event a bit special, the kind folk at Sweetie Pies Boutique Bakery created this giant cupcake for us to mark the occasion. It’s huge, delicious… and now gone.

That’s one big cake!

(Shhh. No need to mention that it was three years not four.)

Twickenham High Street Update

Sir? Madam? Can we tempt you with a brief High street update? Indeed, we would be sincerely honoured if you were to peruse the following article. Err, like, now dudes.

closing down

York Street’s in a right old state of flux. Carpet House is closing down and the Rugby Store is moving on. From all the newspaper plastered over the windows recently it looks as if Hair Design (10 York Street) is no more. Work going on inside suggests a new shop will be opening there soon selling phone accessories, gadgets, mobile top-ups, sunglasses and the like [Update: It's called Khan Communication]. Din’s Grill – the intermittently open takeaway sans pareil - is getting a refurb and a new independently run takeaway will open in its place; something a little bit different we hear. And it does seem that we may finally see some movement in what was the old Shanghai Village restaurant with the long-awaited (by some, perhaps) arrival of the estate agents Foxtons at 20-24 York Street. A few steps along, the short-lived Bathrooms4All (now Bathrooms4None) store could be getting new occupiers soon…

Prize of the Week

Prize of the week? Well, more like prize of last week. Remember our recent Twickenham themed caption competition? Congratulations again to our winner, David. The prize was a gift box of Twickenham and twickerati themed cupcakes from Sweetie Pies Boutique Bakery on Church Street. And here they are. Good or what?!

Cupcake Prize from Sweetie Pies

And in case you missed it, here’s the photo again:

Competition Time!

And the winner?
It was David. He correctly identified Church Street as the home of Sweetie Pies and won the tie break with this caption:
“Lord True regretted agreeing to judge the cup-stacking competition after it ended in a judicial review.”

You can see all the entries here.

High Street Update

Blockbuster closing

“If you’ve got nothing to say, don’t say anything”. Wouldn’t the world be a beautiful place if we all kept to that mantra? Well yes, probably, but here at twickerati we’re not about to find out. Despite things being fairly quiet out there, we’re going to say something about it anyway.

THAT’S BLOCKBUSTERS
The biggest news is probably the least unexpected, namely that Blockbuster has joined the long list of big name high street casualties. The chain is now in administration although northern-supermarket supremos Morrisons are in the market to buy 49 Blockbuster stores and turn them into Morrisons Locals. Will Blockbuster in Twickenham be one? Will Sean Bean’s dulcet tones soon be ringing out across Heath Road? We don’t know yet. The store is about the right size for a ‘local’ supermarket and in the current climate there might not be too many other retailers willing to take on a unit of that size. The twickerati view is that the best solution is to divide the current shop into several units accommodating, say, a charity shop, a café, and an Indian takeaway. This might work well given how lacking we are in such establishments in Twickenham at the moment. Would a Morrisons work? Who knows? There’s an M&S Food and an Iceland within 200 metres and a Waitrose and Tesco Express within 1/2 mile. Add to that the Sainsburys on Twickenham Green and numerous independents and one might feel there were already enough options to buy food locally.

And talking of the impending Sainsbury’s on The Green, we’re certainly no evangelists for supermarket chains but we have to say that some of the comments submitted to the El Brute licensing committee border on the hysterical. Yes, some have genuinely valid concerns but for a few others it’s as if the addition of another outlet for alcohol near the Green is going to lead to a complete breakdown of civil society and see Twickenham morph from leafy London suburb to post-apocalyptic Mad Max-esque hell hole ruled by teenagers, powered solely by alcopops, Hollister T-shirts and iPhones and where words of more than one syllable are banned.

Opposite Blockbuster the former florist shop Chez Chevallier, the one that was both short-lived and a bit crap, has been re-let. We hear a rumour that a kitchen showroom will be moving in. Now, is there a big demand for new kitchens during a recession? Dunno. But what we do know is that a kitchen showroom would fit with the Council’s Twickenham Action Plan that dreams of having that stretch of Heath Road populated by such establishments. A DIY heaven, if you will. Or will it be a kitchen gadget shop, perhaps? We’ve heard it said that Twickenham lacks a place to purchase that oh-so-special lemon squeezer and so maybe that could work too. Anyone?

Wowzer! It’s Competition Time!!!

Blimey! Just when you thought to yourself, “I’m feeling a bit peckish, when, oh when is twickerati going to run some kind of food themed competition?” and, hey presto, one appears on the screen in front of you. That’s right folks, it’s only bloody competition time isn’t it?!

We know how you love a photo. And we know how you love a cake too. Well how about if twickerati teams up with Sweetie Pies Boutique Bakery in Church Street to run a competition combining those two wonderful things? Could life get any better? Well, yes of course it could, if you win the competition that is.

The Prize?
A delicious gift box of twickerati themed cupcakes made especially for you by Sweetie Pies Boutique Bakery. Yum or what?!

What do I need to do?
You just need to answer our tricky question and then wow us with your witty caption in case there’s a tie-break. Well, to be honest, it’s all about the caption competition really.

The question?
In which street in Twickenham is Sweetie Pies based?

The witty tie-break photo caption?
Whatever you like as long as it’s not too long. Here’s our topical Twickenham picture to inspire you.

Competition Time!

So there you have it. Get to it, Twickenham!

The rules?

• You can enter by posting your answer and your caption either on here, or on Twitter. If you answer on here you need to use a valid email address otherwise we won’t be able to get in touch with you if you win. Don’t worry, email addresses are not published on the site. If you answer on Twitter you must use the hashtag #twcupcake otherwise we may never find your oh so hilarious answer!
• Your response must answer the question (on which street Sweetie Pies based) as well as including your photo caption.
• Judging of the best caption will be done by Sweetie Pies and twickerati. The judges’ decision is final. So, even if you don’t think the winning caption is funny, tough!
• One entry per person please.
• Closing date is midnight on Monday 25th February.
• The winner will be notified by messenger pigeon and must then contact Sweetie Pies to arrange collection from their shop during normal opening hours (sorry, no deliveries)
• If you don’t like the rules, don’t take part.
• If you want to win a gift box of tasty twickerati themed cup cakes, what are you waiting for?

Social Media & the High Street

If you don’t follow @twickerati on Twitter or ‘like’ it on Facebook (and why should you) then you might just have missed an interesting feature in yesterday’s Mail on Sunday. Locally based MoS journo Vicki Owen wrote a good article about how social media is being used to help UK high streets and stone the crows guv’nor, she only went and wrote about Twickenham, didn’t she? OK, so she also wrote about Dunstable and Whitstable but, frankly, Dunstable, Schmunstable.

The background to the piece, or at least the Twickenhammy bits, is the opening of Ruben’s Bakehouse on Heath Road back in December. Here at twickerati HQ we’ve given some blog space and tweet time to Igor the baker and his excellent bread, and Igor was tipped off about getting in touch with us on Twitter by local estate agent, Milestone Commercial. It seems our tweets and high street updates helped Igor raise his profile in Twickenham and pick up customers at his new venture, and that’s something we’re very pleased about.

Now, as you know, although we’re pro-Twickenham on these pages we’ll never say that everything is wonderful locally or that every Twickenham business is brilliant, but we do like to mention the good stuff and raise awareness generally to help people make up their own minds. Of course, one local website is not going to create a thriving town centre and there are plenty of others who are working much harder than the team here at twickerati HQ to improve Twickenham, but we’re very happy to get some recognition – and free publicity – for helping.

LINKS:
* Mail Online / This Is Money Article
* Ruben’s Bakehouse
* Vicki Owen on Twitter

Oh, and thanks very much for all the positive feedback on Twitter and Facebook about this. Tis much appreciated.

24 Hour Party Poopers?

The arrival of Burger King in Twickenham has met with a mixed reaction from locals. Some are delighted, others disappointed with the new restaurant on London Road. Thanks to the power of Twitter it didn’t take long (a matter of hours in fact) for the first photo to circulate of Burger King litter dropped in the street. It was probably just a one-off accident so there’s no need to make a meal out of it.

Burger King, London rd

The franchise will no doubt do a reasonable trade, and on rugby days it’s sure to having them queuing out the door. Fair enough. It’s handy for the police too. We reckon they like a burger, but please, keep any jokes about Whoppers to yourself. But what about a near 24-hour supply of burgers? Can you handle that? CAN YOU HANDLE THAT? Well, that’s what Karali Leisure who own the franchise are applying for. Or rather, they’re applying to serve ‘late night refreshment’ until 5.00am.

Best Sunday Lunch in Twickenham?

When someone sends you a message suggesting that it might be good to do a feature on the best place for Sunday lunch in Twickenham, do you:
(a) Sit around thinking about it for over a month but not actually do anything about it; or
(b) Get to it straightaway because readers need this information and it’s clear that with winter on the way, it’s an ideal time to be thinking about where to get a great Sunday lunch locally.

The Sussex, Twickenham

That’s right, you’ve got it! The answer’s “a”, just sit around for weeks on end hoping the item will materialise on the website out of the ether. Well folks, we’ve given up waiting and taken action. The waiting? Remember that thing ? Well, it’s like so over. We’ve realised that review pieces don’t write themselves, that’s your job and it’s one you’ve always done very well in the past.

We’ve covered Indian, Chinese, Thai and Italian on here before. We’ve also talked about Twickenham’s best cafes and pubs. But, dear readers, the killer question remains: what’s the best place for some proper Sunday grub? We’re talking pub roasts, traditional restaurants or maybe other places that don’t easily fit the other categories. We are not going to use terrible phrases like ‘hearty fare’ but if we were, we would. And we’ll also assume the planned Burger King on London Road will open too late to feature here. Such a shame.

How about the likes of The Sussex Arms or Ales & Tails, both of which have had impressive feedback in the lunch department. If that sounds loaded with innuendo, it’s not meant to. Maybe you’ve tried the food at The Alexander Pope, The Royal Oak, The Albany or The Fox? Or putting pubs to one side for a second, how about the likes of Arthurs, Raefils or Pinchos? Or maybe you desert downtown Twickenham for rarified air of St Margarets, East Twickenham, Teddington or that place over the water. Where’s good? And why?

Only you can know the inner secrets of your heart when it comes to Sunday lunch. So, it’s time to unburden yourself, free your spirit and share your foodie tips with the rest of the twickerati. Make sense? Deep down you know it does. Simply add your comments below.

P.S. Previously on twickerati:
* Best Curry
* Best Italian/Pizza
* Best Pub
* Best Cafe
* Best Thai

One more thing: If you enjoy reading this (free) site, please consider making a small donation to our Christmas Appeal for the local charity SPEAR, who work with homeless and other vulnerable people in Twickenham and across the Borough. Details here.

High Street Update: Updated

Our last High Street Update was a pretty comprehensive affair and it seems that not much has happened since then. Or rather, a fair bit has happened but mostly in the form of things that were going to open now actually being open.

What you talkin bout Willis? Well, Ruben’s Bakehouse is now open at 52 Heath Road selling baked-on-the-premises ‘artisan bread’ and even offering deliveries too. In fact it’s an ‘artisan bakery lab’ not just a bread shop. Initial reviews seem good and Ruben is tweeting away on Twitter mentioning things like ‘sourdough’, so it could be worth your while checking it out. He’s been selling bread in places like Kew market and Ham but his Twickenham shop is a new venture. At between about £2.80 and £3.50 for a loaf it’s not cheap but we can confirm that it is darn good bread. Best of luck, dude.

Ruben’s Bakehouse

Also now open since our last update is the Blah Blah Blah vegetarian and vegan restaurant also on Heath Road, near the ‘Red Lion’ Tesco Express (more on that company later). The menu is small but has a few interesting things on it. It’s the fifth restaurant on that site in the last few years so let’s hope it sticks around.

And another one from our last update, Ales & Tails bar on York Street is no longer a ‘pop up’ bar, it’s now a fully grown-up bar. It’s had its refurb and is open for business selling a range of ‘craft beers’ and cocktails and has got a good menu going on too. It’s been busy putting itself about a bit on the marketing front and feedback so far has been positive.

Burger That! We see that what was O’Zon on London Road is to become, wait for it, a Burger King! KFC, Wimpy and now Burger King in Twickenham. What chance of the return of McDonalds to the town some point? Don’t rule it out. In fact the Burger King’s franchise owners are seeking a late opening licence for food, though not booze. (see the comments section below).