Crystal Palace Local

BLUE DOOR CONTINUES A CYCLING HISTORY

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POPIEL CYCLES moved into Westow Street in June 2010. Proprietor Wojtek (pronounced Voytek) Popiel says Upper Norwood is "a beautiful place." "I love it here."Very nice people, very nice place.

"We specialize in Dutch bikes that are particularly well adapted to a hilly area of Crystal Palace."Gazelle and Koga bikes are very comfortable ,reliable and durable bikes in all conditions thanks to their special design solutions and high quality components. "We hope that one day all the people of Crystal Palace will ride our lovely Dutch bikes and will discover the real pleasure of cycling." The shop is now open seven days a week.

A BIT OF SOULCIALIZING.......

SOULCIALIZE CUPCAKES is the latest mouth-watering addition to Westow Hill. The coffee (and tea) shop specialises in freedom cakes (free from gluten, wheat, dairy and / or eggs)
One of the joint partners, who rejoices in the wonderful James Bond girl-type name of January Cervantes, is no stranger to the area.

"I'm a local. I've been coming up here over the years, noticed the change and decided it was a nice place to set up. "I wanted to be part of that" she says.

Soulcialize Cupcakes at 11 Westow Hill is open seven days a week, Mondays to Saturdays 9.30am to 6pm; Sundays and bank holidays 10 am to 6pm.

GO DO SOUTH!

GO SOUTH is the quirky new furniture and furnishings shop on the corner of Westow Hill and Central Hill. The former newsagents has been taken over by Noel Douglas and his partner Freddie Oke.

Many of the items on sale in the shop have come from Noel's collection which he put together over the past 15 years while working as an interior designer.

"I think Crystal Palace is a really lovely area" says Noel. "I love the Triangle - it's really good. "I thought if we could get this place it would be really good. "There's nothing like it in south London.

"And Jasper Road has its antiques market. "That's another reason - if Jasper Road wasn't there I wouldn't have done it".

The shop has a real mix of modern and mid-20th century furniture and "anything that's art." There's also glass and china. "It's more about decorative" Noel reflected. "It's more about stuff for your home than just being antique."

TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOY!

Andrea Adjei has always worked in catering - to subsidise her fine art work.

And although she worked in Domali's cafe restaurant in Westow Street for about seven years and has run a market stall at Northcross Road, East Dulwich for the past nine years she does have a (very) small confession to make.

"I never wanted to be a chef" says Andrea. "But my mum, who was a chef, passed away the year I started this job so it seemed the right thing to do."

Andrea says her mum Comfort - hence the shop name which is partly in tribute - always enjoyed cooking. "I thought of keeping my mum's name going and Joy came with it."

Specialities include fresh salad and tortillas; and sage and chili Scotch eggs (during the winter months there's Thai chickpea curry along with fish gumbo (American style which is used in southern parts of the United States).

The restaurant is open Wednesdays to Saturdays (10am to 4pm) but Andrea eventually plans to open seven days a week.

Although Andrea's main business comes from outside catering for big events she decided to open the shop at 79a Church Road as well as continue running the stall at Northcross Road.

Andrea studied fine art at Canterbury art college and then the Slade where she gained a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking.

JULIE'S HANDMADE WORLD

There's knitted toys, wooden toys, cuddly toys, handmade knitwear for very young children and lots more at Julie's Handmade World at 3 Belvedere Road where you can find one of the area's nicest shopfronts - and nicest shop windows.

The shop, which is at the top of Belvedere Road just along from the Alma pub, also holds knitting classes on Mondays and Tuesdays from 7.30pm. The one and a half hour sessions cost £5 including tea and coffee. So if you feel like a bit of a knit, why not pop along?

IS THIS A CHEESE SHOP? - YES!!!!!

"The Triangle was always our first choice" recalls Manish Utton-Mishra, joint owner of Good Taste food and drink on Westow Hill..

"But when we saw this shop early in 2010, when it was snowing, the rent was beyond our ken. "We couldn't afford it.

"So we looked at other areas. "We were about two weeks away from signing the lease on a shop down in Rosendale Road. "But the people who were assigning the lease on that shop pulled out.

"We were going past this shop again, saw a second estate agents board up, gave therm a call and found that a third had been hacked off the rent - so we could afford it.

"We've lived around the area for 11 years so we've always had a soft spot for the Triangle. "We love it. "And what I love more is the people. "It's got a lovely vibe about it."

Every week the shop has between 40 and 50 varieties of cheese. But it's not just cheese. There's charcuterie (cured meats); beer from British micro brewers; wines from small producers and Good Taste are looking to expand into organic wines and bio dynamic wines - (wines without ANY chemicals).

"It's just what's setting a lot of small producers apart from the mass-produced stuff you get in supermarkets" says Manish.

Good Taste also serves tea and coffee: tea from small estates, coffee roasted locally by Volcano Coffee Works in West Dulwich. Future plans include a 'posh ploughman's' - cheese and charcuterie platters where you can try a variety of items with a drink.

Good Taste, jointly owned by Manish and his wife Michelle are at 28 Westow Hill. Open Mondays to Saturdays 9am to 6pm; Sundays 11am to 4pm.