Design: Home byKirsty

I’ve been meaning to do a post on this lovely boutique for a while, but until now I just hadn’t got down to it. I mentioned about this store briefly in my post about RSD ’15

Home by Kirsty opened in 2014, by trendsetter and designer Kirsty Patrick, who’s by Kirsty  brand had garnered her big press in the interior design world. Located in the trendy Castle Arcades, where tiny boutiques are squashed next to each other. As you step through the door, you step into a world of Scandinavian design inspired loveliness. With chipboard strewn walls, and pegboards filled with well designed objects, this is the contemporary space that Cardiff needs.

Stocked with pieces from my favourite brands, namely; Eastwick candles, Plumen, Pirrip Press and Mini Moderns, it alleviates having to go to London/Bristol for them and is a main reason to visit Cardiff. The place is chockfull of locally designed pieces too, with the wall on the far right lined with Welsh greeting cards.

It of course stocks the famous byKirsty pendant light. A plywood spherical light fitting that made waves when she first came on the scene. Proving her worth as an interior designer, the pendants suit the space perfectly, with the diffused light glimmering on the geometric items below.

I left the store with a stunning print by Rolfe & Wills of a dramatic lake scene and some great black & white gift wrap (at only £1.70)- perfect for my monochrome/Scandinavian Christmas scheme for 2016. The place also does click + collect available from her online store. I’m not the only one who appreciates the store with it winning the Entreprenur Wales Awards 2015 and Cardiff Life Awards 2015.

This shop is a must if you visit Cardiff! Its staff and owner are friendly and its filled with stunning contemporary design you’d normally have to visit London for.

Find them at:

16 Castle Arcade, Cardiff, CF10 1BU

http://www.homebykirsty.com/

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Food: Canna Deli

After a late breakfast at Brød in Pontcanna, Cardiff (which I’ve wrote about before, you can read here) with my friend Nia. We strolled around the corner on to Kings Road and next to a Co-Op was an open gate. Intrigued by its modern signage, myself and Nia went to investigate and found there to be a strip of local businesses, one of them being the Canna Deli.

 

A reclaimed wooden bench sat outside the double fronted entrance, with its big windows and dark green metal frame providing a perfect industrial image for this eatery. Inside, the warm parquet flooring mixes with white tiles and pendant lights from IKEA’s SINNERLIG collection (designed by Ilse Crawford) with more reclaimed wood panelling. A pipe shelf display is lined with Welsh artisanal products for sale, such as Halen Môn salt, Welsh ciders and beers, Falcon enamel cookware and slate serving ware. What dominates the space is the deli counter filled with their award winning cheeses (made in Anglesey), pastries and cakes. Looking for something small to eat we sat down, and were greeted warmly in Welsh – Great!/Grêt! I hadn’t used my Welsh in a while, so this was a prime opportunity to practice.

When you walk in you’re greeted by Elin and/or one of her super friendly team (yn Gymraeg, no less). Their menu, albeit a bit on the pricey side, is filled with a great selection of lunch options with great quality ingredients such as salmon from the Old Billyo Smokehouse. Looking at the specials  board our eyes were grabbed by the brie, cranberry and rocket sandwich. We ordered one to share and drinks – a tea for Nia and a cloudy lemonade for me. They do outstanding coffee I’ve heard but I was craving something cold and sweet as we’d just had two coffees in Brød!  As I went to order, I couldn’t stop looking at the cakes at the top of the counter and after asking their flavours I simply couldn’t resist getting lemon tart (topped with red currants and a pink macaron)!

It wasn’t long before they were both brought to our table, the sandwich in what looked like half a boule, all crispy and melty from the cheese and the lemon tart on a slate platter with their awesome logo carved into it. Needless to say the cloudy lemonade really went with the sharp, sweet flavours of the tart. It was simply delicious. This place is a proper hidden treasure. Gwych!

 

Find them at:

200, Kings Road, Cardiff,

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Food: Calabrisella in Canton

After getting my Mac fixed and a trip to Ikea (why not, like) instead of having the usual köttbullar at Ikea,we were on the way to this unassuming place in Canton on Cowbridge Road East, following the review from Gourmet Gorro. The aesthetics of the place, make the place even more special to me, with its slightly tacky brick effect wallpaper and clocks with a mug of coffee on them, you’d expect to see at B&M Bargains, it totally adds to the charm of the place. Beneath the Ikea bistro chairs and the ropey Italian power ballads playing on the stereo, this joint is serving phenominal food.

Walking in at around 7ish, it was already packed with families celebrating birthdays, couples celebrating new jobs, luckily we were able to get a seat.

The staff (all Italian) greeted us and asked what would we like to drink, Myself and the Mr ordered two bottles of Peroni Rossa whilst we perused the menu (and taking a note from Gourmet Gorro’s book I also ordered a can of Chinotto – the amazing bitter Italian soda.

Scanning the menu, we quickly knew what we wanted and ordered…

To start we had the Aranccino Bolognese. Amazing deep fried, pockets of risotto, ragu and cheese (so much cheese!) in a golden crispy jacket, they were huge! At first we thought we screwed up by ordering two, but I’m a greedy bugger and we managaged to finish them.

Next, was the main.

Pizza, the signature dish of the place.

I ordered the Campagnolo, an earthy mix of mushrooms, Italian sausage, peppers and weirdly cooked iceberg lettuce (it worked, somehow). Tom ordered the Milano, punchy and creamy with mozzarella, Milano salami and Strachino cheese.

Whilst we waited for the pizzas to be made, the lads entered the restaurant. Presumably family of the owners or friends, or something, but they came in chatted, one charged his phone next to us, then left… you couldn’t have made it up, was imagining they’d sit outside chatting and eating like they were at Satriale’s.

Our 14” pizzas (they don’t some in any other size) came shortly afterwards and oh my! They were so big, and thin, and mmmmm. The fennel seeds in the sausage popping, with each bite releasing their anise-tinged goodness and the lettuce, giving a nice bitterness, we had to ask to ‘doggy bag’ it up for us, so we had room for dessert!

Too full for a dessert each, we decided to share one. With my love for pistachios, when an opportunity arises to have something made from the nut of the Gods, well I just had to 😉

A pistachio mille feuille, the buttery flaky pastry, the gorgeous pistachio and mascarpone filling topped with chantilly cream and chopped pistachios. It was almost a Meg Ryan moment, I tell ya!

With some time for our food to settle we decided on a little something to cap off our lovely evening. Tom ordered a latte, and myself a digestivo of Limoncello (again- pistachos & lemon anybody 😉 ) Having a sip of Tom’s coffee. It was amazing, so deep and smooth. I could tell this was good coffee not some burned crap from Starbucks (and this is coming from a guy who historically has hated coffee)….well I’m growing to like it now, but I’d still say I’m a tea man, myself.

When we asked for the bill we thought it would be at least 50 quid for the quality of food, but £36 quid is all that it came to!

We really need to go here again, and if anybody is near here, it would be silly not to pop in.

Design: RSD ’15 & Cardiff

Carrying on from my last post from Friday, my brother picked me up to queue in Cardiff for Record Store Day. With a quick stop to Tesco to pick up the essential energy drinks and a snack (or two!) we were off! The roads, were pretty clear, as one would imagine at 1am!

Arriving at 2, we parked up at an NCP and tried to rush to the queue (spurred on by a tweet from Spillers Records that the queue had started at 8:30) we thought it would be huge by now, thankfully it wasn’t. We were third in the queue, next to my old friend Nia, and her boyfriend, Jonathan.

The tweet wasn’t lying though, the queue had truly started at 8:30, albeit by one guy, a regular at RSD at Spillers. This year me and Ryan (the bro) got talking to him and found out he’s a very interesting, lovely guy.

Time went relatively quick, probably because Nia and I hadn’t seen each other in ages, so we had lots to talk about…although there was the 6am slump, where all you could hear were the groans of the tired coming from the queue, which at this point had gone around the street. Plenty of coffee runs were needed!

With 9am finally approaching, light piercing through the arcade, it was nearly time, just a bit more waiting and it would be over! We then received tickets, so we could each go in order, rather than it be a huge free-for-all. Ashli then gave the go ahead. I was number 3, and my brother number 2.

Card at the ready I asked for the Warpaint/Daughter crossover remix 12”, ‘Put your arms around me 12”‘– a collaboration between Norwegian electo master Hans-Peter Lindstrøm/ also known simply as Lindstrøm, Swedish American musician Todd Rundgren, and Norwegian musician/producer Emil Nikolaisen. I had also asked for the RSD exclusive from the record label Finders Keepers, ‘Moomin Theme’ 7”. Limited to only 900 copies, the 7” has the theme from the 1983 televison series of The Moomins. It’s also housed in a fuzzy felt style sleeve, all factors which decided for me, haha! You know how much I love the Moomins, anything Moomin related, plus it’s great timing considering The Moomins on the Riviera movie is soon out in the cinemas. I’m sure fellow Moomin/Scandiphiles will totally snatch this up! As with my copy, Finders Keepers were hand delivering the record to its chosen record shops. Sadly they hadn’t got there in time for RSD, so I ordered it to pick it up next time I was in Cardiff. All was well.

The total of my spend, came under £20, which seemed peanuts compared to the bro, which was about £80-ish. As we were in Cardiff, we decided to get some things in Tiger, my second home, some German mustard in Wally’s and a surprise for Tom’s birthday (which is next week). While we were looking for a board game shop for the bro, I spotted a little shop that seemed just up my street. Home byKirsty, which opened in 2014, by trendsetter and designer Kirsty Patrick, who’s by Kirsty brand had already started to make waves. The place is an amazing little nook in Cardiff, and I adore the place so much, I will devote a whole blog post to it soon!

With a piece of lemon cheesecake from Patisserie Valerie to go, it was time to return home. All in all, a great day!

After being in Cardiff, I still had yet another shift to get through (yay!) and I didn’t end up sleeping until 11ish that night, it’s crazy how the body works, haha!

Thanks brawd (brother) xxx

-Also check out Nia’s blog, its worth a read 🙂