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Ms T said:
I think Le Bab prices are pretty standard aren't they for a sit-down meal these days, especially if the meat is free range? Restaurant prices are rising due to the increasing costs of ingredients and staff.
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Depends where you're sitting down and what prices you see as 'standard'.

I can get a sit down meal in places that cost nowhere near those prices or sell £80 bottle of champers. And let's not forget it replaced an affordable vegan shop. It's just more gentrification and the pricing out of those on low income.
 
editor said:
And let's not forget it replaced an affordable vegan shop. It's just more gentrification and the pricing out of those on low income.
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That ‘affordable vegan shop’ was a boutique bakery hawking cupcakes at £3+ a pop. About as symbolic of gentrification as a product can be.

Its pitch was never accessibility to those on low incomes, despite its ethical stance on other matters.
 
Jimbeau said:
That ‘affordable vegan shop’ was a boutique bakery hawking cupcakes at £3+ a pop. About as symbolic of gentrification as a product can be.

Its pitch was never accessibility to those on low incomes, despite its ethical stance on other matters.
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I wasn't a fan but it was still better than yet another trendy chain rocking into Brixton and flogging fucking £80 bottles of champers.

And to use the parlance of gentrification apologists, I think most people could afford a £3 as an 'occasional treat.'
 
editor said:
I wasn't a fan but it was still better than yet another trendy chain rocking into Brixton and flogging fucking £80 bottles of champers.

And to use the parlance of gentrification apologists, I think most people could afford a £3 as an 'occasional treat.'
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Geggs Donut- £1
 
editor said:
Depends where you're sitting down and what prices you see as 'standard'.

I can get a sit down meal in places that cost nowhere near those prices or sell £80 bottle of champers. And let's not forget it replaced an affordable vegan shop. It's just more gentrification and the pricing out of those on low income.
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A tenner for a plate of food is not extortionate.
 
Ms T said:
A tenner for a plate of food is not extortionate.
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Indeed not, especially in a sit-down restaurant, given that most takeaways charge around £7 for a kebab.
It's comparable to the Lebanese place a couple of doors down.
An £80 bottle of champagne is not the price of admission.
I've not seen a menu for Le Bab Brixton, but their website says that their other sites have one Champagne - Louis Roederer Brut Premier for £68. The same wine is £46.99 at Majestic. They will be buying it for less, but a 200%-300% markup is quite typical in restaurants.
Also this isn't a case where a business serving nutritious good value vegan square meals has been ousted by something super-expensive and high-falutin'. It was previously a boutique bakery selling cupcakes.

Despite agreeing with the general point that it's a shame that chains selling fancy versions of junk food are gradually replacing interesting independents, and that this inexorably reinforces the transition of the town centre into a place geared around weekend nightlife, I do increasingly find myself fact-checking many of the articles on Brixton Buzz.
 
Jimbeau said:
I do increasingly find myself fact-checking many of the articles on Brixton Buzz.
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Sorry, which of the 'many' articles have needed their facts checked? Please list then because I don't take kindly to these kind of nasty, baseless slurs about the website.

Be sure to list which facts are wrong about the Le Bab article - or are you confusing 'facts' with someone having a different opinion to you about what is affordable to them?

And it wasn't just me commenting on the prices either: New restaurant opens in Brixton but kebabs cost £13.50

Edit to add: it's quite startling seeing the responses here to how people have reacted on the Reclaim Brixton FB group (click on the FB logo in the top right corner below to access the discussion):

It's not all about you. Lambeth remains one of the most underprivileged areas of London with over a third of working age people living in poverty. So when you're defending extortionate prices for ordinary things because you can afford them, spare a thought for the tens of thousands who live here and have no choice but to eat crap because gentrification and indifference has driven the price of almost everything, including basics like a sodding kebab, sky high. You know, even when Franco Manca took over Franco's and turned it from a tiny market stall pizzeria into a national restaurant chain, at least they had the decency to keep some options affordable for the regular market shoppers who'd been eating there since the original place first opened.
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Ms T said:
I've been a couple of times but not recently. It's quite expensive.
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Lunch used to be the same menu but at a discount, which made it really good value for that standard of food. Somewhere for a special occasion with the bonus of being walking distance.

The sister restaurant, Bistro Union, on Abbeville Road was very good when I went. £40 for 3 courses isn't much more than you'd pay in a lot of very average pubs now.
 
Ms T said:
Did anyone see Jay Rayner's review on Sunday? I thought it was really good.

www.theguardian.com

Sugarcane London: ‘This is all comfort food’ – restaurant review

The food is terrific, but it is the story of care leaver Chef Tee’s Sugarcane London that’ll feed your soul. By Jay Rayner
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
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There's a thread on this.

www.urban75.net

Sugarcane London: ‘This is all comfort food’ – restaurant review

Jay Rayner reviewed this restaurant for the Guardian, sounds good. The food is terrific, but it is the story of care leaver Chef Tee’s Sugarcane London that’ll feed your soul Sugarcane London, 517 Wandsworth Road, London SW8 4PA...
www.urban75.net www.urban75.net
 
editor said:
I wasn't a fan but it was still better than yet another trendy chain rocking into Brixton and flogging fucking £80 bottles of champers.

And to use the parlance of gentrification apologists, I think most people could afford a £3 as an 'occasional treat.'
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..never saw that term before.....who does it encompass ?
 
cuppa tee said:
..never saw that term before.....who does it encompass ?
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I thought it was rather self explanatory. It's the kind of people who are far more interested in the positives that gentrification brings to them personally rather than considering the wider impact on the community, and they often attack, belittle or dismiss members of that community raising concerns.
 
editor said:
I thought it was rather self explanatory. It's the kind of people who are far more interested in the positives that gentrification brings to them personally rather than considering the wider impact on the community.
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Thanks for replying, it was a genuine question, but I don’t think that ’occassional treats’ is exclusively used by apologists in that case....
 
cuppa tee said:
Thanks for replying, it was a genuine question, but I don’t think that ’occassional treats’ is exclusively used by apologists in that case....
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Of course not, but it's almost the stock reply when some upmarket trendy place turns up in a deprived area.
 
Ms T said:
That was the implication, and once again the most expensive thing(s) on the menu were cited as evidence. It's not fair dealing.
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The article on Buzz listed the entire menu, along with all the prices, along with the full range of wine prices so I fail to see what it is unfair about the piece or indeed what needs 'factchecking' (I'm still waiting for Jimbeau to get back to me on that one).

www.brixtonbuzz.com

Le Bab ‘Michelin-honed’ kebab chain moves into Coldharbour Lane, Brixton

Describing themselves as ‘the only restaurant deploying top Michelin credentials on kebabs.’ the Le Bab restaurant chain will be opening up in Brixton soon, taking over the site of the …
www.brixtonbuzz.com www.brixtonbuzz.com
 
editor said:
The article on Buzz listed the entire menu, along with all the prices, along with the full range of wine prices so I fail to see what it is unfair about the piece or indeed what needs 'factchecking' (I'm still waiting for Jimbeau to get back to me on that one).
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Do excuse the delay. Work and family life can be inconvenient for online obligations sometimes.

I read Buzz for local information, while recognising its editorial stance isn’t neutral. Some writers are prone to hyperbolic statements that immediately make me reach for Google.

That’s the size of it. I’m not going to give examples.
 
Jimbeau said:
Do excuse the delay. Work and family life can be inconvenient for online obligations sometimes.

I read Buzz for local information, while recognising its editorial stance isn’t neutral. Some writers are prone to hyperbolic statements that immediately make me reach for Google.

That’s the size of it. I’m not going to give examples.
Click to expand...

No news editorial worth its salt can be 100% 'neutral' and the fact that you're unable to substantiate your nasty slurs tells me all I need to know about your personal agenda here. Nasty.
 
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