What’s New

BarreFly London

Parson’s Green recently welcomed its newest boutique fitness studio, BarreFly London located at the junction of the New Kings Road and Munster Road. We spoke to Founder and long time Fulham local Hilary “Nesse” Cannon (@thebarrebetch on Instagram) who told Urban Village LDN “BarreFly London is at once barre studio, PT space, and girl-powered feminist community, where the instructors are fabulous, the playlists are filthy, and the burn is REAL. And yes, there is an actual bar at reception”.

Nesse was a trainer at Slice Urban Fitness, a local community and fitness space that, sadly, was forced to close its doors during the first lockdown. Nesse is a certified nutritionist and barre instructor, she is also a 4-time cancer survivor, and regularly gives corporate talks on how achieving ‘flow state’ (specifically through being a barre instructor) helped her not only to fight back against cancer, but stay mentally fit whilst doing so.

Barre, for those who don’t know, is an exercise form that brings ballet, yoga, Pilates, and functional (strength) training together in a low-to-no impact full-body workout which is suitable for all ages and ability levels. “The focus is on isometric strength training, posture and core work, and improving flexibility, and the exercises are easily modified for beginners and/or ‘kicked up a notch’ for those who’ve been at it for a while”.

Nesse told us “The problem with most barre studios is that they take themselves wayyyy too seriously. They often require trainers to use weird, ‘g-rated’ language, and to play boring music, and generally not express themselves or have any fun with their clients. Not here. I want my trainers and my clients to bring their entire selves to the studio. In all of their silly, weird, inappropriate, sweet, wild, WHATEVER glory. And to know that – whoever they are and however they look and feel that day… it’s just great with us.”

BarreFly London classes run 7 days a week and there are three class formats: BARRE – the signature fan favourite, BEND – a slower, stretchier, more balletic version, and BOUNCE – a signature barre class with a hint of HIIT to satisfy the cardio-lovers in the room. Take advantage of their October offer: £50 unlimited classes for 30 days.

Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/barreflyldn/

Fin + Bone

The most stylish butcher and fishmongers just opened in our urban village. What a sight to behold as you’re ambling down the Munster Road towards the New Kings Road; without a doubt the most impressive upgrade on the bookies that used to be located there. Fin + Bone opened at 303 New Kings Road last month and, although they are still in a soft opening phase, this month sees the team selling their full range of fresh fish, dry aged and fresh meat.

We spoke to Alex Taylor who told us how the business was born out of lockdown. “We set up online meat and fish deliveries during the first lockdown using local What’s App groups, next came a two month pop up in South Kensington and we thought we’d go back to doing our day jobs but the business developed a life of it’s own. We had various Fulham customers, including some regulars that we delivered to on a weekly basis in Cortayne Road. We kept seeing the empty site and thought why not”. After five months of “torturous” building works Fin + Bone has their first bricks and mortar location with a lobster tank incoming.

Alex told us that Fin + Bone offers the convenience of meat and fish in the same shop all displayed on the counter in front of you. The vast majority of their fish is from the South Coast of the UK “we made a conscious decision that freshness, sustainability and quality were all of equal importance. Our fish is super fresh and of the highest quality supplied by day boats and small trawlers. Our meat is all grass fed and we have close relationships with famers who have small herds of cattle and our chicken, pork and lamb are all free range. We dry age our beef for a minimum of 28 days sometimes longer, 60-100 days, and we can age to our customers specification. We want quality to be accessible to everyone so we offer a range of quality cuts at various price points. You won’t just find sirloins, rib eyes and tomahawks, we also have onglet and bavette steaks and you’ll find mackerel as well as turbot. Our range covers everything from special occasions to mid week suppers”. Fin + Bone also stock deli items to compliment their meat and fish offer. Since they’ve opened Alex told us that they’ve had “a very good reception. We were pleasantly surprised, we’ve met some really nice people, had genuinely wonderful feedback and already have some great regulars”. We love the look of the shop and what a logo. Welcome to the neighbourhood Fin + Bone!

Neighbourhood Pantry

Neighbourhood Pantry is a brand new personal shopping and delivery service. They are on a mission to make shopping local, at independent shops, as convenient as possible for neighbourhoods across the country. As it’s been created by two SW6 neighbours, Elena and Poppy, Fulham is first up.

Elena Phillipson told us “the idea was born out of lockdown, when so many small, local businesses pulled together to ensure people in the community got what they needed when the supermarket queues were endless and no one could get a delivery slot online. Many people discovered just how good the produce was from these independent stores. It prompted us to think about what was going to happen after lockdown – we must continue to enjoy and support these places, but it needs to be easy and convenient to do so, particularly as our lives get busier again”.

Elena and Poppy visited local producers and sellers “we tried their exceptional produce and have developed trusted relationships built on a shared passion for the very best quality food and drink. We want more people to discover what we have on our doorstep, but know it’s not always convenient to zig-zag between lots of individual shops to get everything you need”.

Neighbourhood Pantry, just launched this week, has brought together some of the best independent food offerings in our neighbourhood so you can shop for high quality essentials and artisan produce, conveniently, on one website, rather than using the default of a big supermarket. Elena told us “you can get what you need, all in one go, whilst shopping more sustainably and supporting small, local businesses. Once you’ve placed your order online, the Neighbourhood Pantry team will visit each local store - from the greengrocer, the butcher and the bakery to the deli and the florist - to handpick your items, before we pack everything up and deliver it all together, straight to your door”.

Their partner stores so far include Bridge Baker, Randalls Butcher, Cocomelon Greengrocer, Planet Plenty, Ta’mini Lebanese Bakery, La Pizzica Deli, Tacco, Nature’s Delight, The KAF Larder and the Bottle Shop and we’re told there are more to come! Delivery is on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays whilst they build the business and they’ll start delivering daily as they grow. Get 15% off your first order by entering SHOPLOCAL15 at checkout. Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/neighbourhoodpantry/