out stepping fearlessly

what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where? RA Fold Canning Town

Rak Kalidas, managing director of Built By Levy, which installed the store.

“It adds items and subtracts them if you put them back, no matter where that is in the store.

“We’ve done weeks of testing to ensure everything works. Digital receipts are then available by scanning a QR code on the way out if required.

“ s he rs s ore of i s kind that we’ve opened and it’s really exciting to have done that at Excel in such a pivotal location.

“ he s ores s ill need s aff o replenish the shelves and ensure customers are taken through the journey and that they are comfortable with the technology, because it’s not widespread in the UK at the moment.”

Market Express joins other technological innovations such as tablet ordering in restaurants and trials of automatic bars at selected events.

“The important thing is to make sure technology enhances a customer’s experience and doesn’t become a hindrance to service,” said Phil.

“Through this store we can provide a better, faster experience for visitors, allowing them more time to network, learn and trade at the event they are attending.”

This is, of course, the dream. That technology will step in and free humans up to engage in the kinds of activities they want to, whether that’s being more e cien in business or having more leisure time.

But as the incremental advances from Amazon Fresh to Market Express show, it’s a path that’s likely to be gradual as systems are tweaked and developed to better serve customers.

The store uses Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology to track customers’ purchases so they can simply leave when they have picked up what they want

Right now, the experience of walking in o a s ore lling a bag and leaving just got a fraction more frictionless than it was before. How long before there are no gates on the stores at all? Go to excel.london for more information

Scan this code for more information about Market Express at Excel

CLUB | Tech Couture

The night returns with sets from Ste , Rene Wise, Lea Occhi, Bessie-Mae and DJ OT. Expect sexy techno that honours its roots from this line-up. Jun 16, 11pm-6am, £20, ra.co

Where?

Good Hotel Royal Victoria Dock

FILM | Modern Times: The 1930s Cinema Experience

Celebrating the history of Sweetingham’s Cinema in Silvertown, which closed in 1938, watch this Chaplin classic as part of an immersive performance. Jun 17, 1pm-4pm, free, royaldocks.london

Where? Cafe Spice Namaste Royal Albert Wharf

DINE | Practical Action Dinner

Leyla Kazim and Cyrus Todiwala host a charity fundraiser at the Royal Docks restaurant in aid of Practical Action in its mission to ght poverty. Jun 15, 6.30pm, £70, royaldocks.london crossing water

The Silvertown Partnership has unveiled plans for a new bridge over Royal Victoria Dock as part of its £5billion redevelopment of the Millennium Mills site – connecting it to Custom House for the Elizabeth Line silvertown.co.uk

Scan this code to nd out more about the plans and the wider regeneration of Silvertown want more? @wharfwhispers

by Jon Massey

British hotel lobbies are not known for their shopping options. Sure, in higher-end places there might be a gold and glass case of tasteless and astonishingly expensive jewellery. In Wales, at the mishmashed pile that is the Celtic Manor Hotel in Newport, I once saw MWs being ogged beside an unhappy looking installation of Penderyn whisky bottles.

But generally, all that is to be found in such establishments is a cheery concierge, a branded umbrella or two and sometimes a vending machine.

Not so at The Gantry in Stratford. While Grappelli Food all is cu off fro he ho el by a see-through foldaway wall, it’s very much part of the hotel building. Half Italian grocery and deli and half cafe, bar and restaurant, it’s incongruous as part of a hotel, but somehow right for Stratford.

Sitting on the imaginary border be ween Wes eld and as Village, this is a place that is very much for the locals as well as the visitors. After all, who comes to a hotel and buys fresh vegetables and meat?

“It is incongruous, but the people running the hotel came to us and said they had a space,” said Alessandro Grappelli, the man behind the new opening.

“The venue is incredible and it was a no-brainer. I look at it as a shop that happens to have a hotel above it. It’s in an area that’s been super developed, a new city built with all the experience of building the old city. For us it was an opportunity.”

Opportunities are very much Alessandro’s forte. Originally from Rome, he came to London to learn nglish for si on hs and that was 26 years ago.

“I found a job and, 25 years and six months later, I’m still here,” he said. “My family is here and I’ve spent most of my life in the UK.

“London has given me so much. There is so much meritocracy here. If you’re good at what you do, you have the chance to prove yourself – unfortunately in Italy it still doesn’t work this way, although I do miss the weather.

“I came to London with £150 in my pocket and I started out washing dishes. Then I was a salad chef, then pasta, starters and the UK for three years, some main courses. After I’d been in the UK for three years, some of my friends came over and decided to open a restaurant in Fulham.

I joined them and it was a great success.

“However, after a few months, they didn’t really want to live in London and so they told me to take the restaurant and pay the rent. That’s how I got started – I was 22. I was lucky, of course, but I also made the most of my chances because they don’t come that often in life.”

Today, Alessandro runs upmarket Roman restaurant Grappelli in Cobham, Surrey, as well as Taverna Trastevere and Pizzicheria Grappelli in Clapham.

The latter was very much the blueprint for his latest venture in ra ford offering ainly imported groceries from Italy but also making use of local produce.

Italy but also making use of

“We use Dingley Dell Pork, fro uffolk o ake our sausages fresh,” said Alessandro.

“We use Dingley Dell Pork, Alessandro

“ or us i s abou nding he right meat – the chicken and the pork – to make things fresh. The idea for he rs grocery and deli came after Covid, when we were selling produce to locals close to our restaurant in London.

“We didn’t want any other in uences us alian people loved it because it’s a beautiful experience. We have the produce people can buy and a kitchen, so customers can see how to turn the ingredients into a meal.

“Our chefs are highly skilled, but they also follow our philosophy – we make simple things but using amazing ingredients and the results are incredible.

“For me, the concept is to get as close to eating with my family at home as I can. It’s about selecting the right produce and suppliers.

“For example, we have our own brand tomato sauce that, when you look at the ingredients list, is just tomatoes and basil. There are no additives.

“When you try it you feel just like your are in Italy and that’s y passion he real avour of simple things.”

Something that will certainly appeal to hotel guests and locals alike is the dining side of Grappelli which offers an e ensive array of quick bites.

There’s a selection of pasta dishes starting at £9.50 with Gnocchi Ai Pomodoro, ranging up to a Lasagne Alla Bolognese for £11.50. Foccacia sandwiches come packed with the likes of mortadella, Parma ham and bresaola and range in price from £8.90 to £9.50.

There’s also a range of antipas i including brusche a veal ea balls and buffalo o arella alongside the canny inclusion of varia ions on a he e of avocado on toast, for the less traditionally inclined.

“ ven wi h hese dishes we make them with fantastic sourdough bread and an Italian twist,” said Alessandro. “I think people don really know wha o e pec from us yet.

“When we rs opened our doors, we had people who said ha hey couldn believe hey had just had our carbonara in Stratford. Some came back again and again.

“ ha gives e so uch satisfaction. We want people to try our food and then to go back o heir o ces heir friends and their families and say that they’d just had the best pasta.

“Across all of our restaurants we sell carbonara to thousands of customers and, according to them, it’s the best in the UK.

“That’s why the whole Grappelli ea and are really e ci ed to work alongside The Gantry on his new ven ure.

“We really pride ourselves on the research that goes into selecting our products and we hope ha his will be re ec ed in he cus o er e perience.

Grappelli Food Hall is located at The Gantry on Celebration venue and is open every day from 7.30am to 7pm. For more information go to lapizzicheria.co.uk or thegantrylondon.com what’s on things to do, places to go, people to see

Where? London Stadium Stratford

GIG | Major League Baseball

Watch the St Louis Cardinals take on the Chicago Cubs in this two-game international series as Major League Baseball action comes to Stratford, England. Jun 25-25, 6pm, 3pm respectively, from £38, mlb.com

Where?

Sub Zero Fish Island

SEE | An Evening With Anna Toni

She’s tall, hairy and all out of shaving cream. Expect a limit-breaking performance as the cabaret drag act takes on the topic of Final Fantasy Jun 22, 7.30pm, £6 rulezero.co.uk

Where?

Theatre Royal Stratford East Stratford

STAGE | Tambo And Bones

This new play follows two performers stuck in a minstrel show as they journey through comedy and hip hop to activism in Black Lives Matter. Jun 16-Jul 15, 7.30pm, from £10, stratfordeast.com ash back

This is Malcolm Grieve, founder of the Prost8 Challenge, an 8km run or walk to help ght prostate cancer, the third most lethal form of the disease. The next event takes place on July 9 at the Lee Valley VeloPark theprost8challenge.com

Scan this to read our interview with Malcolm and for more about the Prost8 Challenge in Stratford want more? @wharfwhispers