The Art of the Remix

Quote of the Week - “Those with no memory insist on originality.”- Coco Chanel

Good Afternoon, London. This week, the past isn't just being remembered, it's being remixed. From the Anglo-Saxon treasures being unearthed in Barking to the historic pageantry of the Lady Mayor's Show, the city's story is being retold in surprising new ways. You can taste recipes straight from the pages of a Notting Hill cookbook. And, if you need a cash injection head to ExCel to meet a Dragon's Den mogul. Whatever you choose, this edition of The London Palette is your guide to where heritage meets the unexpected.

Snatched highlights from this edition:

1. Finally, London Has a Lady Mayor

2. Barking's Future is Buried in its Past

3. Fromage Meets Fashion on Railway Runway

4. Live Music - Dom Pipkin, Kandace Springs & lots more!

Let’s dive in.

—Bybreen Samuels

COUNCIL CANVAS

Forget Ford, Barking's Future is Buried in its Past

When you think of Barking and Dagenham, your mind probably jumps to the sprawling Becontree Estate. Or maybe the industrial legacy of the Ford factory. They’re stories of 20th century ambition and struggle. But what if that was just the last few pages in a book thousands of years old? The National Lottery Heritage Fund is wagering a portion of its nine figure sum that the borough’s true identity lies not in its recent past, but in its ancient soil. Barking and Dagenham is the only London borough selected for its Heritage Places initiative. The long-term plan is to connect its Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Iron Age history to its future.

This award offers the borough the opportunity to fundamentally rebrand itself to include the layers of its incredible history. The investment aims to spotlight treasures often overlooked, including the 7th century Barking Abbey, once a powerhouse of early English Christianity. In addition to the Grade I listed Eastbury Manor House and Valence House Museum, with its medieval moat. When you dig deeper, you’ll find the Dagenham Idol, a wooden figure from the Stone Age that's the earliest known human representation found in Britain. The council's ambition is to make this history impossible to ignore, weaving it into the fabric of the modern town with heritage trails, public art, and restored landmarks.

But Barking and Dagenham's story is also one of radical social change. The investment will equally champion the borough’s revolutionary spirit, by taking into account the 1968 Ford sewing machinists' strike that led directly to the Equal Pay Act, to the post-WWI Becontree Estate. It was once the world's largest council estate and a pioneering social housing experiment. By placing the fight for women's rights alongside Anglo-Saxon artifacts, the project argues that this rebellious, forward-thinking spirit has always been part of the borough's DNA.

Ultimately, this sizable upgrade is a strategic move to redefine a place by looking back. The goal is to create a cultural destination where visitors can trace a direct line from Iron Age settlements to industrial action, inspiring local pride and attracting new interest. It’s a powerful statement that a borough's future can be built by reclaiming its past, proving that one of London's most compelling historical narratives has been hiding in plain sight all along.

CITY PALETTE

This Season's Must Have Accessory - Camembert

There’s a disused tube carriage underneath Charing Cross and it has become the most unexpected fashion runway. On paper the idea of brie meets bias-cut to allow camembert to collide with couture, seems unimaginable. Yet here we are. On November 6, University of the Arts London students are turning French cheese into wearable art, transforming the forgotten Jubilee Line platforms into a celebration of fashion's most audacious question. What if our outfits could be as bold and full of character as a perfectly aged Roquefort?

Fashion students have created a masterclass in how heritage, craftsmanship, and storytelling can elevate the everyday into the extraordinary. Each design pays homage to the distinct personalities of iconic French cheeses from their textures, histories, and the generations of artisans who've perfected them. The designers are translating terroir into textiles, and are asking audiences to see cheese not as mere food, but as a cultural artifact worthy of runway reverence.

The venue choice amplifies the message. Holding a fashion show in a disused train carriage strips away the industry's usual polish, forcing you to focus on the raw creativity and craftsmanship. This is what fashion democracy looks like in 2025. Accessible, and playfully subversive. Your free ticket also includes cheese tastings. There are two shows at 3pm and 6.30pm which means this isn’t an exclusive industry affair. Instead, it's an invitation for everyday Londoners just like you to witness emerging talent in one of the city's hidden spaces.

However, beyond the novelty lies a deeper conversation about sustainability and resourcefulness in fashion. When young designers reimagine food as fashion, they're challenging us to reconsider materials, heritage, and the stories we wear. This November, the underground isn't just connecting commuters, it's connecting us to creativity that dares to be as deliciously unexpected as its inspiration.

Book tickets here - https://natgeofoodfestival.seetickets.com

Your Eyes Are Useless Here

Strip away sight completely and something extraordinary happens. Your mind starts building worlds from nothing but sound, sensation, and suggestion. Darkfield's returning to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park until November 2 with four shipping containers transformed into psychological playgrounds. They’ve created a place where complete darkness builds atmosphere, tension and the entire architecture. Inside these industrial shells, 360 degree binaural sound bends your perception until you're convinced you're tumbling through quantum realities. In Flight, you’re lying in a clinical facility. For Coma you’re entering a collective dream experiment. Alternatively, you’re navigating an 1980s video game apocalypse in Arcade.

Darkfield's approach is radical because together with the darkness, they weaponise your brain's desperate need to make sense of sensory gaps. Speech recognition technology in Eulogy means your answers shape the labyrinthine hotel unfolding around you. While Coma's instruction to "take your body with you" when you leave hints at the disorientation awaiting inside. These aren't passive experiences, they're neurological provocations that force you to confront how fragile your grip on reality actually is when vision disappears.

The shipping container format adds industrial poetry to the psychological intensity. There's something profoundly democratic about transforming these global commerce vessels into intimate mind spaces where 550,000 people worldwide have confronted existential questions about consciousness, free will, and mortality. With ticket prices between £12-15 per 20-35 minute experience, with a 10% multi-buy discount, Darkfield makes avant-garde theatre accessible while maintaining its unsettling edge.

This isn't entertainment that lets you stay comfortable. It's theatre that reminds you how much of your perceived reality is just your brain filling in blanks, how close you always are to losing your bearings entirely. When you emerge blinking into Olympic Park's daylight, the world looks different because Darkfield just proved how easily the one in your head can be rewritten.

Book tickets here - https://www.darkfield.org/london2025

UNDISCOVERED GEMS

The Only Bookshop Where You Can Eat the Inventory

Most bookshops sell you stories you'll consume at home, but Books for Cooks invites you to taste the narrative before you buy it. Tucked into Notting Hill since 1983, this cookbook sanctuary operates with a test kitchen at the back where four times a week, the team cooks directly from the books on the shelves and serves three-course lunches to whoever's willing to queue. It's the ultimate literary experiment by posing the question, what if you could literally taste the pages before committing to the recipe?

The concept brilliantly solves cookery publishing's central problem of how do you know if a cookbook actually works until you've invested hours and ingredients? Here, the books earn their shelf space by proving themselves plate by plate. Owner Eric Treuille, who met his wife Rose in this very shop similar to Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts’ meeting in the film, Notting Hill. Together, they maintain a strict rhythm of Tuesdays are vegetarian, Fridays are fish, and anything goes between. You don’t need to book in advance. In terms of the meals there are no substitutions, nor dietary adjustments. The focus is on pure cookbook testing in real time, with you as the lucky taster at around £10 for three courses including coffee.

The magic amplifies at the shared tables where locals and tourists bond over whatever's emerged from that day's cookbook trial. When everyone's eating from the same untested recipe, conversation flows naturally around food. Food is the universal language that transcends awkward British reserve. You're not just buying lunch, you're participating in quality control for the global cookbook industry, one delicious experiment at a time.

This culinary concept completely reimagines retail spaces. The bookshop becomes a performance space, the kitchen becomes proof of concept, and you become both audience and critic. In a city drowning in chain cafes and algorithmic recommendations, Books for Cooks offers something radically analogue. Trust is built through taste, community gathers around shared tables, and purchases are made with your palate, not just your eyes.

Find out more here - https://www.booksforcooks.com

LONDON BUZZ

After 800 Years, The Lord Mayor is a Lady

Have you ever felt like you’re walking through living history, where the past and present collide on London's streets? On November 8, you have the chance to witness exactly that as the Lord Mayor’s Show returns. But this year it’s tradition wrapped in a revolution. For the first time in its 800 year history, the procession will be known as the Lady Mayor's Show, celebrating Dame Susan Langley as the 697th Lord Mayor. She will be the very first to formally adopt the title of Lady Mayor.

So, who is the woman making this history? Dame Susan Langley is a powerhouse in finance and public service, with a CV that includes leading roles at Gallagher UK, the Home Office, and Lloyd's of London. She is only the third woman to hold this ancient office, but her decision to be styled as Lady Mayor is a deliberate and powerful statement. She say, "We must always build on history and not be held in thrall by it... today, I am setting a precedent by becoming our City’s very first Lady Mayor." Her mayoralty promises to be a modern one, focused on global leadership and ensuring the City makes a positive social impact.

On the day, you'll be swept up in a three-mile-long river of sound and colour. Imagine over 7,000 participants, 200 horses, and around 150 vibrant floats filling the streets between Bank and Aldwych. You'll see everything from the crisp uniforms of military marching bands and the centuries old regalia of the City’s livery companies. Alongside the creative displays of modern businesses and community groups. A true reflection of London’s unique blend of heritage and contemporary energy.

At the heart of this glorious transition, you’ll spot the magnificent gold State Coach, a breathtaking vehicle that’s been in use since 1757, predating the founding of the United States. This whole spectacle is rooted in a 1215 charter from King John, which demanded the newly elected mayor travel to Westminster to swear loyalty to the Crown. That ancient pledge has since blossomed into the noisy, joyful, and unforgettable parade you can witness on the day.

And the best part? This extraordinary spectacle is completely free to watch. Find a spot along the route and join the cheering crowds for a day that feels quintessentially London. As you’re swept along by the pageantry and you’re also bearing witness to an ancient tradition that’s boldly stepped into the 21st century, led by a remarkable woman. It’s history, happening right before your eyes.

Find out more here - https://lordmayorsshow.london

LONDON SOUNDSCAPE

Boisdale of Belgravia - November 5

There are singers, and then there are stylists who make every note their own. Aly Berry is firmly in the latter camp, a jazz and blues vocalist being hailed for her generational voice that channels the sultry spirit of Amy Winehouse and Melody Gardot. On Guy Fawkes Night, you can witness her captivating stage presence at the luxurious Boisdale of Belgravia. This is your chance to hear a sound that’s both timelessly elegant and thrillingly new. Aly is an artist everyone will soon be talking about.

Book tickets here - https://www.boisdale.co.uk/restaurant/belgravia

Crazy Coqs - November 2

You know those songs that are just part of your life's furniture? Fleetwood Mac’s catalogue is exactly that. Crazy Coqs is giving those classics a spectacular West End makeover, by bringing in powerhouse vocalists from shows like Les Misérables, Cabaret, and Heathers. Imagine hearing Go Your Own Way and The Chain delivered with the full force of London's finest stage talent in an intimate cabaret setting. It's the ultimate night for any fan, a chance to hear the music that defined a generation, sung with theatrical passion and flair.

Book tickets here - https://www.brasseriezedel.com/crazy-coqs

Green Note - November 4

When legends need a guitarist, they call Marcus Bonfanti. He’s shared stages with everyone from Eric Clapton to Tom Jones. Marcus is the award-winning frontman of Ten Years After, performs a rare, intimate solo show at Camden’s beloved Green Note. This is your chance to get up close and personal with a master of Rhythm & Blues, hearing his powerful vocals and spellbinding guitar work in a venue that feels like a private concert. It's pure, unadulterated musical brilliance you won't want to miss.

Book tickets here - https://www.greennote.co.uk

HERE London - November 9

What happens when London's Afroswing trailblazers team up with the city's most respected live band? On November 9, you’ll find out as chart-topping collective NSG joins forces with the phenomenal live band, The Compozers, at HERE London. They’re ready to treat you to a masterclass in modern musical fusion. This is the moment where infectious Afrobeats are elevated by world class live instrumentation. You’ll witness the sheer talent and creative energy that has made these two groups a cultural force. It promises to be a powerful and unmissable live experience. Don’t miss out!

Book tickets here - https://hereldn.com

Morocco Bound - November 7

Some music is a quiet revolution, and João Gilberto’s bossa nova was exactly that. You can experience that legacy intimately at the Morocco Bound bookshop. Acclaimed Brazilian guitarist Mario Bakuna is paying a heartfelt tribute to the father of the genre, recreating his iconic blend of syncopated samba rhythms and cool jazz harmonies. Forget cavernous concert halls, this is your chance to hear those timeless, soulful melodies in a uniquely personal setting, just as they were meant to be enjoyed. It’s pure, sophisticated musical storytelling perfect for a November evening.

Book tickets here - https://www.moroccobound.co.uk

Nightjar - November 8

You don’t need a plane ticket to get to the French Quarter this November. On November 8, Shoreditch’s stylish Nightjar transforms into a bona fide New Orleans juke joint by piano master Dom Pipkin and his All Star Trio. Celebrated as one of Europe’s finest exponents of the New Orleans sound, Dom will transport you straight to the Crescent City with the infectious funk of The Meters and the classic R&B rhumbas of Professor Longhair. This is your ticket to an authentic, high-energy night of pure musical joy.

Book tickets here - https://www.barnightjar.com

Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club - November 1, 5 and 9

Some voices don't just sing, they tell entire stories. On November 1, you have the rare chance to hear one of jazz's most captivating storytellers, Stacey Kent, in a special afternoon performance at Ronnie Scott's. The Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling vocalist will transform the legendary club into an intimate space, weaving her way through American standards, French chanson, and Brazilian bossa nova. Accompanied by her world-class trio, this is your invitation to experience a masterclass in nuanced, multilingual jazz, a truly sophisticated way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

It takes audacious talent to reinterpret a masterpiece. And on November 5, you can witness just that as Kandace Springs, the singer Prince mentored, takes on Billie Holiday's iconic final album, Lady in Satin. Kandace will reinvent classics like You’ve Changed with her own powerful, soulful voice. This is your chance to hear a generational talent, described as having "a voice that could melt snow," pay a beautiful, reverent tribute to one of music’s most profound works

If you could bottle the raw energy of an authentic blues jam, it would sound exactly like this. On November 9, Ronnie Scott’s unleashes its legendary Blues Explosion, an electrifying night led by a supergroup of musicians who’ve played with the likes of Tom Jones and the English blues rock band, Ten Years After. You’ll hear the timeless music of giants like BB King and Buddy Guy, performed with incredible power and soul in London's most iconic club. The best part is you never know which unannounced star might join them on stage. This is pure, unpredictable musical brilliance.

Book tickets here - https://www.ronniescotts.co.uk

The Pheasantry - November 6

There's a special kind of magic when soul music is backed by a full string section. You can experience it firsthand as vocalist Anouska Taylor brings her sensational 8-piece band to the stage for an evening called Soulful Symphony. You’ll hear her powerful original songs alongside stunning arrangements of classics by soul legends like Nina Simone and Al Green. With her remarkable, classically-trained voice, this promises to be an unforgettable night of dramatic ballads and infectious grooves. If you’re looking for a perfect blend of raw emotion and sophisticated musicianship, this is it.

Book tickets here - https://www.pizzaexpresslive.com

BUSINESS SCENE

Meet Your Dragon at ExCeL

If you've spent the year wondering how to take your business to the next level, your answer is waiting for you this November 12 and 13. The Business Show returns to ExCeL London, so you can join this signature pilgrimage to advance your business. As an ambitious small business owner or startup founder, you have access to resources, tools, connections and experts you could possibly need to grow your business. And they are all gathered under one roof, and completely free to access. This event directly taps into the energy of London's dynamic economy. It offers a practical toolkit for the entrepreneurs at the heart of the city's future.

The speaker lineup alone is a massive draw, featuring heavyweights like Touker Suleyman from Dragon's Den, LADBible founder Alex Partridge, and Shazam co-founder Dhiraj Mukherjee. While their keynotes are inspiring, the real gold lies in the intimate, interactive masterclasses. These small group sessions are where you can get direct mentoring from industry leaders on the topics that matter most to your business right now. This is the kind of support that aligns with the Mayor of London's London Growth Plan, which is focused on turbocharging small business productivity and creating 150,000 high-quality jobs.

The masterclasses offer a direct route to gaining the skills needed to thrive in London's competitive landscape. For instance, The Metro Bank Business Masterclass Series, is designed to demystify complex financial challenges, by offering workshops on securing funding, lean marketing strategies, and harnessing AI for a competitive edge. These sessions address key pillars of the London Growth Plan. The aim of it is to make it easier for smaller, innovation-led businesses to access capital and support. By attending, you're not just learning theory, you're equipping yourself with the practical skills the Mayor's Office has identified as crucial for the city's economic future.

Think of it as two of the most productive days you'll spend all year. You will leave not just with a list of new contacts, but with a clear, actionable roadmap and the confidence to implement it. In a city that's actively investing in its small business ecosystem through initiatives like Grow London Local, this show is your chance to get ahead of the curve. If you’re serious about growth and want to gain the financial and strategic fluency that separates thriving businesses from struggling ones, this event is an essential date for your diary.

Book your ticket here - www.greatbritishbusinessshow.co.uk

LINGUISTIC TAPESTRY - WORDS OF THE WEEK 

English Word:
Anaglypta
Pronunciation: /ænəˈɡlɪptə/
Definition:  A type of thick wallpaper with a permanent raised, or embossed, pattern that is designed to be painted over.
Cultural Note: Originally a trademarked brand name invented in 1877, Anaglypta is a classic example of a proprietary name becoming a generic term for a product. Its name comes from the Greek anagluptos, meaning "carved in relief," perfectly describing its three-dimensional texture.

Greek Word:
Kleos (物の哀れ)
Pronunciation: /kliːɒs/ (κλέος)/
Definition:  Often translated as "glory" or "renown," kleos is the Greek concept of immortal fame and glory earned through great deeds and accomplishments, particularly in battle.
Cultural Note: In Ancient Greece, kleos was the ultimate ambition for any hero. The word is related to the verb for "to hear," so its literal meaning is "what others hear about you." This fame wasn't just for personal pride, it was a form of immortality, ensuring a hero's name would live on long after their death.

Thank You!

Thanks so much for reading this edition of The London Palette! If you found something useful or interesting, I’d love to hear from you. Just reply to this email.

Plus, share this newsletter with friends and ask them to subscribe here: https://thelondonpalette.beehiiv.com/subscribe.