Jago proves just how far the East End has come since Jews first arrived from the old country. But Ashkenazi it ain’t
68-80 Hanbury Street, London E1 (020 3818 3241). Meal for two, including drinks and service: £80
A decade or two back a friend of a friend who, like me, is Jewish, bought a warehouse apartment on Brick Lane in London’s Shoreditch. He was part of the first wave of young thrusting types who could see the potential in the area and, being shown around the open-plan space, so could I: who would not want this expanse of copper-coloured floorboard, these ancient brick walls with their stories to tell of its time as a tailor’s workshop? His octogenarian grandmother, however, was less thrilled. “We struggled and we fought and we strived to get out of the East End,” she said (I précis).” And now, after all that, you choose to go back?”
Continue reading...