Food
for thought Beeston is currently enjoying the greatest quantity – and quality – of restaurants in its recent history. And soon they may be joined with another place where a lot of thought – a whole book’s worth, in fact – has been put into the food. Lord Beestonia had an aperitif or two with the man behind the concept.
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here are a couple of things we all, as humans, do. In fact there are around ten, but some are best not discussed here, so let’s stick with two of the main ones. We eat; we think. Patrick De Souza is fascinated by both. Originally from London, he moved up to Nottingham as an undergrad in the eighties and fell in love, “London was drab, back then, Nottingham felt much more vibrant. I fell in love with the place, and decided to make my home here.” Patrick was always a fan of food, but it took until 2002 before he experienced a culinary epiphany, “I was walking up Wollaton Road, and saw this restaurant I’d never noticed before. I felt instinctively drawn in; and I was hit by an incomparable sensory experience: its look, its aroma, its ambiance’.
shy away from the platitudes and daft, pseudopsychology trotted out in the name of ‘Self-help’. Pat writes with verve and self-deprecatory examination. Including more than 70 recipes he developed with Mattias as an added treat, it’s a multi-faceted banquet of food and thought. The book was only one element of the wider plan. Pat’s ambition is to open an utterly unique restaurant, somewhere in Beeston, which will take the stuff that provoked a reaction as strong as that he experienced on his discovery of La Toque, “Avant garde, world tapas. High quality but not high prices. Quirky service, good music: a full on sensory experience. Edgy, with surprise and delight.” They are in negotiations right now with a couple of local venues (all obviously hushhush) but the fruits of these talks could see The Veranda (Pat’s chosen moniker for the venture) delighting Beestonians, and those from further afield, very soon. LB
Waxing
lyrical
That was the bijou high-end eaterie that was the late La Toque, which went on to become The Library before latterly turning into Table 8. La Toque was a curiosity in Beeston, attracting reviews from Matthew Fort in The Guardian (who loved it), but seemingly content to be exclusive not just in its servings, but also its visibility. He befriended the Swedish chef responsible for the restaurant’s wonderfulness, Mattias Karlsson. Mattias was awarded the accolade of ‘Chef of the Year’ in his homeland in 1995, and had gone on to forge a career which took in cooking for the Queen and King of Sweden, being mentored by the Roux brothers and running kitchens in Michelin-starred restaurants. Mattias wasn’t just a chef, but an expert on the aesthetic: dining was not just about the food, but the whole experience; the service, the atmosphere, even the cutlery placing was imbued with a complex excellence. Many years later, another life-changing thought struck Patrick, “I was watching ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, and something in the film clicked a switch in my brain. I knew I had to write a book, a book about food, but also about my life and how the two intersected. I immediately sat down and wrote a book on self-development, about food, and how the two meet.” It’s a cracking read as well, even if, like me, you
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Image: candlestickpress.co.uk
n a recent trip to our capital my partner and I came across the most wonderful little pamphlets of poetry. Intrigued, we investigated and found a wonderful booklet containing ten poems about gardens, “The perfect gift for my mum”, my partner said, and so we bought one much to the approval of her mother. Who wouldn’t love to receive what seems like a greetings card only to discover that what you have actually been given is a pamphlet of beautifully compiled poetry? Little did we know that the creator of these wonderful gifts was Jenny Swann, a proud Beestonian. I had the pleasure of meeting Jenny this week to discuss how she came to own and run her very own poetry press in the heart of Beeston.
Nine years ago Jenny and her family moved from London to Nottingham, contacting a number of different estate agencies for advice and guidance on where might be most suited to their needs. After the agencies tried to show them properties in West Bridgford and Mapperley Park, Jenny decided to get back in touch with a friend of hers, Alan Baker – the man behind Leafe Press (and another Beestonian). After visiting with Alan, Jenny’s mind was set on moving to this wonderful, thriving area. It has long been the mission of all of our contributors to put into words why exactly Beeston has such an attraction, and when questioned about it Jenny also struggled to pinpoint exactly what that made her set her heart of living here. “Beeston is not a beautiful place but there is a very academic and creative atmosphere.” Simply-put, but undeniably true. Three years after settling in her new home Jenny set out to create her own poetry press, with a twist. Her mission was to use her years of experience to create something which made the world of poetry more accessible to the general public. And so Candlestick Press was born. By sifting through the plethora of poems in the various collections that line most of the walls in her house, Jenny was able to find the best of the best and group these poems together by subject matter instead of by author or period. A stroke of genius, quite frankly, because it achieved exactly what she had set out to do. By creating short collections based on basic subjects such as ‘cats’, ‘bicycles’, ‘gardening’ to name just a few, she had given the least poetry-savvy reader an easy way into this fascinating world of literature. Jenny is proud, and rightly so, of her press’ ability to reach a large audience and promote poetry to the masses. But it also provides an important platform for promoting modern poets who have until now gone almost completely unnoticed by the wider literary community. With local poets compiled into collections next to the works of such greats as Lord Byron and Carol Ann Duffy (a keen advocate of Jenny’s work), these pamphlets go beyond simply promoting poetry, they elevate the ‘nobodies’ in the literary world to a level where they are credited for great writing, not simply their credentials. Maybe this concept is also what makes Beeston a thriving community of creativity and innovation? Maybe this is why people choose to live here? Of course, Beeston is keen to celebrate the greats, but it also seeks to encourage and nurture new talent and creativity - giving opportunity, home and voice to creditable locals striking out in the world of literature, music and arts. DK Candlestick Press’ poetry pamphlets collection are available from Waterstones and other good book sellers, as well as direct from the Candlestick Press website at candlestickpress.co.uk