An Insiders Guide to De Beauvoir

De Beauvoir is surrounded by some of East London’s hottest places to eat and drink from morning through to the evening. Start the day with coffee at Batch Baby in the Rose Lipman building; they know coffee better than most, and specialise in special beans from very small roasters. They’re laptop-friendly too, making it the perfect antidote to the post-lunch slump. Head to Toconoco for a casual lunch by the canal, a neighbourhood Japanese cafe with food as satisfying as its one-of-a-kind ceramics. A short walk down Regent’s Canal will lead you to Towpath Cafe, purveyors of seasonal small plates served with tumblers of natural wine, oftentimes delivered to your canalside table by Lori De Mori, who founded the restaurant with Laura Jackson. Every winter they go into hibernation and reopen come March. 

For your Saturday morning pastry, go to Quince, a bakery founded by pastry chef Anna Higham to celebrate British produce and baking traditions. Bakes change with the seasons — think quince tarts in autumn, rhubarb in winter, and apricot custard buns in summer — but the Guinness and buttermilk soda bread is always on.

Thoughtfully designed wine bars have been steadily appearing on London’s sleepier street corners for some time now, many of which are within walking distance of De Beauvoir. Husband and wife duo Jimmy Stephenson (of Hill & Szrok) and Anna Shaffer set the local scene in motion with Hector’s, an intimate wine bar and bottleshop with twenty-something seats that fill up quickly. The achingly aesthetic Goodbye Horses can be found on an old pub site just off Essex Road, and Dan’s sits on a side street off of Kingsland Road. For serious wine drinkers, Planque has a cellar list to get stuck into as well as a more approachable list for everyone else — the food and restaurant design is equally as impressive as the wine. For afternoon sun, get an outside table at Albers. Pubs are plentiful too, with the De Beauvoir Arms, The Scolt Head, The Duke of Wellington and The Talbot forming a local pub crawl of sorts.

When it comes to restaurants, there’s something for every occasion. After walking between wine bars, head to Kingsland Road for Turkish: try the daily-changing stews at Sömine, chargrilled lamb Adana at Umut 2000, or a quick lahmacun at Mangal Pide & Lahmacun. Little Duck The Picklery is the ultimate date spot, with a small number of stools placed around a large stone island where chefs prepare food by candlelight; make your way through the menu and let Rory guide you through the wine list, imparting his seemingly endless knowledge. For sushi, try mu, a bar, restaurant and live music venue from the team behind Brilliant Corners. Continue the evening with martinis at 392 Kingsland Road. During the week, head to The Baring for their constantly changing lunch special — £12 or £15 with a pint or glass of wine — which is arguably one of the neighbourhood’s greatest deals. Dishes are uncluttered yet full of flavour. A slightly longer walk will lead you to the restaurants of Newington Green: Jolene, Cadet, Perilla and the casual pizzeria Oi Vita.

De Beauvoir has its very own high street of sorts, which stretches a small way along Southgate Road, starting with The De Beauvoir Arms. Next door is a De Beauvoir Wholefoods where you can pick up organic fruit and vegetables as well as fresh blooms. The De Beauvoir Deli is across the street, with Middle Eastern dishes from Oren, bread from Dusty Knuckle, and an impressive selection of cheese and salumi; an abundance of options to serve to friends, or just yourself, when you don’t want to cook.

Oren’s labneh is best served with flatbread from Ararat, which is quite literally a hole in the wall on Ridley Road. N1 Garden Centre has outfitted most local homes with plants, you can pick up Christmas trees there come December too. Book an appointment at Ancien at Jolie to peruse their edit of modernist sculpture and 20th-century furniture. For more homewares, go to Turn, a passion project brought to life by two sisters with enviably good taste.

The Rose Garden is the best-kept secret of De Beauvoir, and makes the ideal spot for enjoying a pastry and coffee in the winter sunshine.  A short walk south leads to Museum of the Home, which traces shifts in domestic life with period interiors and an exhibition programme that explores new ways of living. Follow the Regent’s Canal east toward Broadway Market to spend an afternoon checking out independent shops, cafés, and the bustling Saturday market. A detour to Hackney City Farm in the middle of Haggerston Park will offer a dose of greenery, with vegetable gardens, resident donkeys, and a ceramic studio. A little further along, the Victoria Miro Gallery presents contemporary heavyweights and rising talent in a converted Victorian furniture factory. Across the water, Turning Earth ceramic studio hosts pottery courses for all levels and offers open-access membership — like a gym membership for potters. What was once a milliner now serves as the base of operations for Young Space, from the record label Young, behind the likes of FKA Twigs. The space is a talent incubator and salon, with recording and writing studios, listening, meeting and screening rooms as well as shared and private workspaces. Keep an eye on their Instagram for cultural programming.

Just underneath Batch Baby in the basement of the Rose Lipman Building is SALUS, a sleek fitness studio offering personal and group training as well as nutritional guidance. Their innovative small-group training programme will convert even the most dedicated treadmill-pounder to weightlifting, and PT-come-bikini athlete Rut Rehnstrom will give you the tools for getting the physique you want, and keeping it. Under the Haggerston railway arches, Momentum specialise in Crossfit and metabolic conditioning, with regular classes running from early morning to late evening. Moreno Boxing in Gillett Square delivers high-energy classes in an old-school gym setting, suited to both newcomers and seasoned fighters. 

We’ve seen wonderful success in De Beauvoir recently, with homes along many of the area’s most sought-after roads selling through Aucoot. This weekend, we are delighted to present a home nestled on one of the town’s most coveted streets, Northchurch Road. This thoughtfully curated two / three bedroom apartment unfolds across the upper floors of an imposing Victorian end-of-terrace in the heart of De Beauvoir.

Bathed in natural light, the interiors strike a balance between period charm and contemporary refinement, with carefully preserved details complementing modern functionality. Positioned on Northchurch Road, the home extends over 1,300 sq ft and benefits from a share of the freehold, along with a landscaped rear garden.

Viewings begin 28th March.

If you’re thinking about moving to De Beauvoir and want a heads-up before new homes hit the market, make sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter! Click here to get the latest listings before anyone else.