As promised the champagne flowed and the can-apes were delicious. I have to admit I am a bit of a canapé afficionado and mark how good an event is on the quality of the tasty bite size morsels served up. On offer this evening were rare seared pepper-crusted tuna, seared scallops on black pudding, mini yorkshire puds with sausages and gravy, soft boiled quails eggs on terrine and smoked salmon and cream cheese rolls on blini. Damn fine fodder. Going on the quality of the canapés, Axis is now definitely on my hit list to return to to try for dinner.
And the awards themselves were worthy. The premise was to suppport the local independant retailer. Everyone has their favourite ickle store and this was a chance to reward and promote them. Under the chairmanship of luxury lifestyle expert Lucia Van Der Post, awards were given across 10 categories; from delis to fashion boutiques to bookstores.
I was happy to see a few of my fave stores were in the listings; fashion boutique Austique on the King's Road, La Cave á Fromage and Butler & Wilson (which has a special place in my heart as I worked there when I first moved to London).
Small indies are what make shopping in London so special and unique. But it's not an easy ride for them and awards such as this help them along their way. Hopefully this will encourage a new generation of small local businesses keeping London vibrant and thriving as the recovery gathers pace. Supporting local businessess will subsequently support community cohesion and all the quirky individualism we love about our own ‘village’, be it Hampstead, Chelsea, Pimlico or Notting Hill. Buy local guys!
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