Champagne & Fromage opening in Brixton soon
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King Biscuit Time
Well-Known Member
I prefer vin rouge with my fromage.
snowy_again
Slush
How can you trade mark "Champagne + Fromage"?
dylanredefined
Not a house elf a tiger
They have an odd + sign I guess in their design.
clandestino
no llevar papel
I went for lunch with my two boys at the old cafe on Market Row today, after going to see Despicable Me 2 at the Ritzy - hilarious and a big hit with the boys - and then we had a wander around BV afterwards, as I haven't been there in ages and I was curious to see what it's like now.
I was thinking that Market Row has the balance just about right. There's old places like the cafe and Nour and various grocery stores and suchlike alongside new places like Franco Manca and Seven, and the mix doesn't feel jarring at all. In BV itself, the ratio of old to new is obviously slanted towards the new and it would be nice if it was a bit more like Market Row, with the old and the new co-existing and creating something that is old Brixton and new Brixton all at the same time, but generally it's still not too bad. I felt that if I went on holiday and found somewhere like Brixton Village, I'd like it.
Then, I had a look at the prices at the new restaurants...and that's where it all falls apart. They're just so expensive. And I think that's what sticks in the craw most about Brixton Village and the way the area is going.
I'm sure there'll be someone along to say that the restaurants aren't really that expensive and that's what you should expect to pay in restaurants like that in London these days, and I'm sure that is true, but that's not what Brixton has been about for all these years. People came to Brixton because it was cheap, and that helped to define the area - filling it with musicians and artists and all manner of folk who couldn't afford most of the rest of London. Brixton's cheapness is, in a way, its soul. And if Brixton is suddenly just the same as the rest of London, then has its point - and its soul - been lost?
People hate hipsters not because of how they dress or what they say or what they listen to. Hipsters have always dressed stupidly and been more obscurer than thou - that was the same in the Eighties when hipsters were goths and punks and indiekids, and it's the same now it's twats in cardigans and taches. The difference, I reckon, is that most hipsters back then were broke, whereas most hipsters now are loaded. Hipsters back then, you somehow felt, had to be who they were, they meant it. Now, it's just a lifestyle choice, temporary. "And if you call your Dad, he could stop it all..."
Similarly, I don't think people hate Brixton Village for what it is - it's actually a fairly pleasant collection of bars and restaurants - but for how much it costs. It's the hatred of seeing a place you'd quite like to eat at, but can't afford. And the hatred of seeing the people who can afford it, knowing that they're not quite what you originally came to Brixton for.
Champagne And Fromage pushes it right over the edge. That place doesn't look charming but overpriced. It just looks like a magnet for rich, horrible people. And I fear it could be a Year Zero for Brixton Village like Franco Manca was a Year Zero for Market Row/Brixton in general. One day, when everywhere in BV is like C+F, maybe we'll look back on the Brixton Village of today and think, hey, it wasn't so bad after all...
I was thinking that Market Row has the balance just about right. There's old places like the cafe and Nour and various grocery stores and suchlike alongside new places like Franco Manca and Seven, and the mix doesn't feel jarring at all. In BV itself, the ratio of old to new is obviously slanted towards the new and it would be nice if it was a bit more like Market Row, with the old and the new co-existing and creating something that is old Brixton and new Brixton all at the same time, but generally it's still not too bad. I felt that if I went on holiday and found somewhere like Brixton Village, I'd like it.
Then, I had a look at the prices at the new restaurants...and that's where it all falls apart. They're just so expensive. And I think that's what sticks in the craw most about Brixton Village and the way the area is going.
I'm sure there'll be someone along to say that the restaurants aren't really that expensive and that's what you should expect to pay in restaurants like that in London these days, and I'm sure that is true, but that's not what Brixton has been about for all these years. People came to Brixton because it was cheap, and that helped to define the area - filling it with musicians and artists and all manner of folk who couldn't afford most of the rest of London. Brixton's cheapness is, in a way, its soul. And if Brixton is suddenly just the same as the rest of London, then has its point - and its soul - been lost?
People hate hipsters not because of how they dress or what they say or what they listen to. Hipsters have always dressed stupidly and been more obscurer than thou - that was the same in the Eighties when hipsters were goths and punks and indiekids, and it's the same now it's twats in cardigans and taches. The difference, I reckon, is that most hipsters back then were broke, whereas most hipsters now are loaded. Hipsters back then, you somehow felt, had to be who they were, they meant it. Now, it's just a lifestyle choice, temporary. "And if you call your Dad, he could stop it all..."
Similarly, I don't think people hate Brixton Village for what it is - it's actually a fairly pleasant collection of bars and restaurants - but for how much it costs. It's the hatred of seeing a place you'd quite like to eat at, but can't afford. And the hatred of seeing the people who can afford it, knowing that they're not quite what you originally came to Brixton for.
Champagne And Fromage pushes it right over the edge. That place doesn't look charming but overpriced. It just looks like a magnet for rich, horrible people. And I fear it could be a Year Zero for Brixton Village like Franco Manca was a Year Zero for Market Row/Brixton in general. One day, when everywhere in BV is like C+F, maybe we'll look back on the Brixton Village of today and think, hey, it wasn't so bad after all...
editor
hiraethified
*throws it back
clandestino
no llevar papel
Ah, I was wondering if it was going to be there. I saw them doing that up today. I assumed it was going to be a Faiz restaurant, because it still has the Faiz lettering. I liked the idea that the food store was going to be making good use of their own produce...
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
Looks about as out of place as the Greek ice cream yoghurt place.
Will be interesting to see what they charge for their champagne, which is poor value at the best of times.
Will be interesting to see what they charge for their champagne, which is poor value at the best of times.
madolesance
Well-Known Member
Faiz, is joining forces with the green grocers opposite to create a super store that should have Tescburys running scared. I always buy the imported bottles of 'Ting' from them.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
The 'TM' doesn't mean anything really - just that they consider it to be their trade mark.
With a fair wind they might be able to get a registration for the stylisation, but their rights would be very narrow in scope, and wouldn't enable them to stop someone else using the words in a different stylisation.
/trade mark lawyer
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
Retail prices on their website look quite reasonable (given that champagne is presently overpriced):
http://www.frenchbubbles.co.uk/cat_name/Buy_Champagne.aspx
Depends on quality of course but it's Grower stuff.
No sign of any bar prices.
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
It looks like a cafeteria. If I'm going to consume champagne and fromage, I at least want a potted plant or two nearby.
happyshopper
Well-Known Member
Faiz is the shop opposite. They ran both units.
Thimble Queen
Called away to another place
Vomaaaage? 
simonSW2
Well-Known Member
A shameless, cynical, novelty act.
It's like Rick Astley in a glittering gold jacket, clutching a kazoo, turning up to a jazz club and expecting to be taken seriously.
Just a bit of fun though right? Why so serious? Lighten up man, it's entertainment, it's only cheese, dude.
Aye, fuck off.
You need to reach astonishing levels of boredom and vacuity to feel the 'need' for champagne and cheese, or to feel comfortable sitting in a cafe selling fizz and churned milk for the bare LOLZ.
I guess it's a 'quirky and vibrant' leisure activity for unfulfilled people desperately seeking a status update or for first time buyers to take their Brixton-fearing parents to to thank them for the eye-watering deposit.
As for the business owners, chasing the money and chasing 'cool', why don't you fuck off to West London where you'll be appreciated by empty-headed full-walleted pricks who would take your arrival as a compliment rather than an insult to the intelligence?
I raise a glass of cheap vintage to you in the hope you lose money, close down and fuck off within six months. This is one strand of 'choice', 'variety' and 'diversity' we can live without.
Cheers, yeah?
It's like Rick Astley in a glittering gold jacket, clutching a kazoo, turning up to a jazz club and expecting to be taken seriously.
Just a bit of fun though right? Why so serious? Lighten up man, it's entertainment, it's only cheese, dude.
Aye, fuck off.
You need to reach astonishing levels of boredom and vacuity to feel the 'need' for champagne and cheese, or to feel comfortable sitting in a cafe selling fizz and churned milk for the bare LOLZ.
I guess it's a 'quirky and vibrant' leisure activity for unfulfilled people desperately seeking a status update or for first time buyers to take their Brixton-fearing parents to to thank them for the eye-watering deposit.
As for the business owners, chasing the money and chasing 'cool', why don't you fuck off to West London where you'll be appreciated by empty-headed full-walleted pricks who would take your arrival as a compliment rather than an insult to the intelligence?
I raise a glass of cheap vintage to you in the hope you lose money, close down and fuck off within six months. This is one strand of 'choice', 'variety' and 'diversity' we can live without.
Cheers, yeah?
Vibrant-Hubb
Active Member
It seems so sad, when the "Friends of Brixton Market" on their "Listed" site:
http://www.friendsofbrixtonmarket.org/listed/how-the-listing-happened.html
... state the reason why people fought so hard was this:
"The plans the council and developers put together initially were a violent insult to the cultures of Brixton. I felt angry and distressed that the people and living history in the markets were going to be stamped on and the people wanting this didn't even notice or care what they were about to obliterate.
Too much of real London has been swept away by a tide of 'luxury apartments coming soon'. The reality is often cultural loss, class and racial oppression and buildings without verve or style. My idea for the markets is that they should continue to provide business startups for working class Londoners and new immigrants, with the whole thing radiating out from respecting the British African-Caribbean history."
Champagne and Frommage. I honestly don't even really know what frommage is. Is it something between yoghurt and cheese? Oh well, nevermind, the whole place is such in insult now it'll probably burn when Brixton Splash loses it on Sunday night.
http://www.friendsofbrixtonmarket.org/listed/how-the-listing-happened.html
... state the reason why people fought so hard was this:
"The plans the council and developers put together initially were a violent insult to the cultures of Brixton. I felt angry and distressed that the people and living history in the markets were going to be stamped on and the people wanting this didn't even notice or care what they were about to obliterate.
Too much of real London has been swept away by a tide of 'luxury apartments coming soon'. The reality is often cultural loss, class and racial oppression and buildings without verve or style. My idea for the markets is that they should continue to provide business startups for working class Londoners and new immigrants, with the whole thing radiating out from respecting the British African-Caribbean history."
Champagne and Frommage. I honestly don't even really know what frommage is. Is it something between yoghurt and cheese? Oh well, nevermind, the whole place is such in insult now it'll probably burn when Brixton Splash loses it on Sunday night.
