the FRESH guide to: London

your introduction to the FRESH guides, the Printworks recap, nightlife, entertainment and cuisine recommendations and more

welcome to the debut of our new FRESH series, the FRESH guides! in these special issues, we shall be focusing solely on one topic in depth; giving you lots of tried-and-tested recommendations and info, and personal reflections on relevant experiences. think of these as the FRESH version of the How To… For Dummies book series, in the style of Time Out!

each guide is informed by years of my own research and experimenting - we’ll only include the cream-of-the-crop, best quality picks for you to easily and concisely digest.

given this, we have some housekeeping updates for you: we’ve thought long and hard about this, and have decided to keep the majority of these guides paywalled. we want to think of this as publishing digital mini-books here with substantial value, the same way you would purchase guidebooks at a physical bookstore.

we know you love free things, so here’s your first two weeks free to read right below!

with a paid subscription, you will have full unlimited access to all current and back-issues of FRESH guides. regular update issues and GUESTFRESH will continue to be free to read on any kind of subscription.

you can manage and upgrade your FRESH subscription right here - we appreciate your consideration dearly!

at the start of each guide, we shall include a brief intro and rundown of subtopics covered within our main topic, so you can identify particular parts of interest.

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let’s jump into the juicy parts! this London guide was originally planned for a regular update issue, but as i started writing out everything i wanted to cover, the list got longer and longer… to the point of needing dedicated coverage in a separate issue, hence our FRESH guides!

the recommendations in this guide have been informed by my most recent trip back to London this past springtime in 2023. it was my first time back in the country and city in a good 5-6 years; so much had changed about it since, and it was exciting to both revisit old haunts and discover new delights.

London wing reporting for FRESH duty

the FRESH guide to: London includes 14 separate recommendations, spanning the following topics:

• music and nightlife

• entertainment

• restaurants

• cuisine

• outdoors, nature and scenic routes

we recommend viewing this guide in your browser via this link here, as it is a considerable length and will get cut off short within your email.

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FRESH: music and nightlife

Printworks London

welcome home!

a big incentive for this trip was to finally catch a show (or five) at the infamous venue Printworks. it has been hosting legendary electronic events since its opening in 2017, but unfortunately became a victim to the Canada Water Regeneration Masterplan, a multi-billion pound gentrification project in the humble South-East London neighborhood. after announcing its immanent closure this past May and faced with an uncertain future, it fortunately is now set for a 2026 reopening, though likely in a very different physical form.

my first Printworks experiences were also my last ones (for now), and Canada Water already had a special place in my heart, which made the whole experience quite surreal and bittersweet - but i could not be happier with deciding to make the trip back over. i’ve been to a great number of impressive live music venues, but Printworks takes the cake for me. the main stage, Press Halls, is simply jaw-dropping whether crowd-deep on the floor or up on the side balconies; and the smaller Inkwells stage offers an more intimate, hypnotic experience.

some highlights from my run of shows:

• somehow ending up front and center in the crowd for my final Printworks show to see Kasablanca (for the first time!) and my favorites Above & Beyond, and getting adopted by a lovely group. A&B opened their set with this classic and it’s still stuck in my head.

• freaking out when Bonobo dropped Ariana Grande and Jasper Tygner.

• hearing vintage Brodinski and Louisahhh out of nowhere in the Inkwells - i still have no idea who was playing at the time and i love that.

• going so often to the pizza stall outside in the courtyard that the staff started recognizing me as a regular.

for a more complete tracklist, head over to my 2023 playlist and scroll down to around April-time.

Printworks London: Surrey Quays Road, London, SE16 7PJ