Made in Fulham

It never fails to surprise us what a talented bunch you Fulham folks are. Each month Urban Village Ldn introduces you to THe Fulham face behind an idea, product or business and asks them what they love about being a local resident.

This month we talk to Linn Hedblom Manager of Locale Fulham on Munster Road.

How long have you called Fulham home? Since 2015. I started to work in Locale in March and two months later I was a local resident. Moving to Fulham not only made me feel at home in the neighbourhood but for the first time I felt at home in London.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your family. I’m born and raised in Sweden and spent a lot of time in my father’s bar & restaurant when I was little – I might be the only one who connects the smell of old beer with happy childhood memories and my Dad and I strongly believe in restaurant ghosts. My mum is my personal adviser and mentor and I still want to be like her when I grow up. I have two younger brothers and I guess I’m the typical big sister – bossy but caring.

What's your favourite local haunt? I do love Craven Cottage and go to the home games as often as I can. We have a lot of regulars having a meal before the home games in the restaurant and they are a really lovely crowd. It all started with them giving me and the staff spare tickets now and then and it really grew on me. Now I’m regularly checking the stats and tables and I am very proud to call FFC my team.

What's your slice of Fulham heaven and why? The riverside! A perfect Sunday to me is a long walk by the river followed by a pint in one of the lovely pubs, just watching all the people passing by and the stunning views of the river and Hammersmith Bridge. Whenever I have someone visiting from Sweden I bring them there to show them “the other” London and so far none of them have said that they enjoyed the West End or Tower Bridge more.

If you could do one thing to improve Fulham what would it be? I would love to see us all come together more as a local community. To be honest I thought we Fulham people were quite good at it but when we held a local networking social a while ago it became clear we could become much better at it. We have so many brilliant local business and residents here and I’m convinced we’d all benefit from it. The recent social we held in collaboration with Urban Village LDN and The Fulham Residence Club was much more like it.

Tell us about Locale and how the restaurant came to be. The owners were keen to do a Chef led Restaurant in Fulham with a great bar attached. Somewhere the food was prepared daily, with a changing menu as an antidote to all the restaurant chains in the area where all the food was bought in. Luckily we have managed to do that.

What advice would you give to anyone going into the restaurant business? Be prepared to work hard and do take care of your staff. Nowadays most hospitality staff are young Europeans living abroad and away from their families for the first time. Some need to learn not only the job but the language as well and very often I become more like a big sister than only a boss and the workplace a family rather than only a job for them. And of course happy staff give you happy customers.