Day 53 of 80 — Babel Art House

Around London in 80 days

In these uncertain times, I need a lifeline and a horizon so I  have — somewhat arbitrarily I’ll admit — set a date. April 1st will be  my horizon ; my lifeline will be the 80 days separating me from it.
And as I cannot go around the world right now, I give you A Mad Belgian’s “Around London in 80 Days” : eighty impressions of London, eighty stories, places, thoughts from my experience of this wonderfully mad and maddening city.

Day 53: Babel Art House

In Stoke Newington there’s a Turkish restaurant where British people eat Belgian biscuits with their tea. But that’s not the only reason I like Babel Art House: the food is delicious, the atmosphere chilled, the staff is friendly and the background music groovy. The place feels like a home away from home, even more so when eating one of their authentic Lotus “Speculoos”.

I played there regularly in my early years in London. It’s there that my collaboration with Rupert Gillett’s solo act “One Voice, One Cello” turned into what is today my main musical project: “One Voice, One Cello & A Mad Belgian”. In the corner of this Turkish restaurant/bar/café, we played our first tunes, got our first fans, had our first drunken nights making crazy plans for the future.

We met all sorts of interesting people at “Babel”: a local musician, a comedian, a poet, a magician, an opera singer, an artist and more serious types, too. The gigs weren’t always very well organised nor did we make much money but every single time we went we had a great night.

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