What’s New
Mooch
Wandering along the Fulham Road having a “mooch” we discovered this independently owned gift and card shop which has recently opened it’s fourth branch in our urban village. Beautifully laid out with a lovely selection of gifts, homeware, beauty products, fashion accessories and stocking London and Fulham themed items from metal signs, mugs and prints to London brick soap, Parsons Green coasters and tea towels. We realised how much we’ve missed having a shop that stocks local products. Remember the lovely art framers on the corner of Parsons Green Lane? We still have a treasured “Fulham” cushion cover from there! We’ve also found it frustrating having a limited selection of shops on the doorstep selling cards. We confess that there is a bit of a stationery obsession here at UVL HQ and we love to find the right card, for the right occasion that means something to the person we’re sending it to; picking up cards during lockdown in supermarkets wasn’t much fun!
Mooch was established in May 2016 by Sandra and Evelyn, both local residents in Ealing where the other three stores are located, after meeting on the school run. They started designing and making their own products, which lead to them selling at artisan craft markets around West London and meeting some of the brands they now stock. Sandra told Urban Village LDN “by chance a shop became available on our local high street, we jumped at this opportunity to have a ‘bricks and mortar’ shop to showcase our own products and all the other designer/makers products we had discovered during our time working at the markets. Our passion is to find unique, well-made but good value products that quite often have an ethical or charitable story. We filled our first shop with products and greeting cards from mostly independent small businesses like ours and thankfully it was an instant hit with the locals, we were blown away with the support and knew instantly that smaller local high streets was a space we wanted to be in.”
So, what was next? Sandra continues “the community in Ealing have been awesome and although we have been approached by numerous new shopping developments, we knew our heart was in the local high street with a community feel. What’s more, getting to know our customers was key for us. We looked in different areas of West and South West London but we kept being drawn back to Fulham. It just felt right, it had the right mix of great independent shops and was always so welcoming when we visited. On many occasions customers who were visiting from the Fulham area would say ooh we would love to have a MOOCH near us, so we decided to be brave and open our first shop outside our familiar territory of Ealing. MOOCH Fulham opened in July 2021, we knew that the summer holidays would be a quiet time, which has provided us with an opportunity to find our feet and settle in. Well, what can we say, thank you Fulham, you have been so welcoming, supportive and your kindness has surpassed all of our expectations. The feedback has been so positive, and our neighbouring shops have been truly amazing, The Hive Café making us wonderful cakes when we opened, Bloomside Florist presenting us with the most stunning flowers, and Omar at Edmundo’s/Quirky Gadgets helping in so many ways. So many local shop keepers have popped their heads in to welcome us and wish us luck. This is exactly what we had dreamed of and hoped when we ventured to SW6. We feel so welcomed by the Fulham community, and we already know that our decision to stay true and be on a local high street with a community that loves where they live has been the right one”.
When visiting MOOCH it’s easy to see why they have won numerous “Best Independent” awards, we found the customer service friendly, always love service with a smile and a bit of a chat, as well as having our purchases beautifully wrapped; Mooch unbranded blue tissue paper with a discreet sticker. We think Mooch’s ethos of bringing “quality, affordability and individuality into high streets shops, whilst providing inspiring gifts to help keep the local high streets vibrant and alive” is plain to see at their Fulham Road branch and highly recommend a visit if you’re gift hunting or fancy a mooch. https://www.instagram.com/moochealing/
Kenrick’s Wines
This independent wine merchant opened a few weeks ago on the bridge end of Wandsworth Bridge Road (275). Urban Village LDN talked to Kenrick about his shop, the ethos behind it and why he chose Fulham for the location. “I’ve been in the trade for 20 years now and have run previous businesses with partners but this is my first sole venture. I’ve taken ideas based upon my previous experience and put them into this shop”.
Kenrick’s will focus on wines that have a story and their selection includes organic, biodynamic and vegan wines and, as Kenrick is half English, half French, there are also a lot of English wines from East Sussex and Kent. So you won’t find your traditional, typical Bordeaux or Burgundy’s here but you will find a range of unique wines from £10 and less that are easily quaffable during the week through to wines that are over £100 and make a very special gift. Kenrick’s is also special in terms of its look and feel, the shop interiors have been created by Kenrick who worked with a friend of his, a set designer in Seattle who was out of work due to the pandemic to create something rather different to what you typically expect of a wine shop and you’ll find a real sense of theatre in store as well as a beautiful tasting room that fits up to twelve people. Kenrick told us “I want everyone to use our tasting room and for it to have a real community feel, for friends to gather and enjoy tastings together. We came to Fulham because I used to manage a shop in the area and have fond memories of the neighborhood. The area has a real feeling of community and we have enjoyed meeting local customers since we’ve opened and appreciated their wonderful feedback”.
We’ve loved Kendrick’s posts on Instagram @kenrickswines and the invitations extended such as “we’ve tasted some mouth watering Champagne today, we’ve got some left for you to taste so pop in this evening and tell us your feedback”. How could one refuse such an invite? We’re loving the stories behind the wines, their origins and the tasting notes so give them a follow to find out more. Kendrick’s also stocks a selection of spirits, cigars, sherry and craft beers.
Chosen Few Brewing Co
Callum Thomas, who you may remember from a previous issue of Urban Village LDN due to his connection with Drink of Fulham now renamed The Local, recently realised his dream of starting his own brewery. The Chosen Few Brewing Co are all about modern day IPA’s and stouts and they launched two craft beers this summer. First came “Wizard’s Curiosity” made from cascade and galaxy hops and passion fruit, this is a pale ale with tropical notes and has to be poured into a glass so you can appreciate the gorgeous orange hues. Their second brew called “Don’t trust the Broadcast” was launched in July, a cookies and cream stout with chocolate, biscuit and vanilla flavours. Both brews can be bought by the can, keg or cask from their online shop.
Callum told Urban Village LDN “From a young age I’ve always wanted to start my own brewery, with its own unique brand and taste flavour, though the financial investment for start up brewery’s can always be extremely large. My wife and I took over the bottle shop of Fulham, “Drink Of Fulham” and after a year of making some great friends in the industry, I was able to make this dream come to life. Currently we’ve managed to create two great beers both with its own unique flavour profile. We are only stocked in local businesses in Fulham but we are looking to branch out further into the London area and beyond”.
Instagram @chosenfewbrewingco
Honi Poke
Honi Poke is new to Jerdan Place, a local spot fast becoming a lovely foodie destination, joining relatively new additions Foxden’s (incredible burgers) and Becky Blooms (fabulous coffee and flowers). Fulham is the eighth Honi Poke location with branches, amongst others, to be found in Selfridges, Soho and Battersea. Founded by Vladimir Martynov and Kosta Varesko in 2017, after street food adventures in different markets around London and discovering poke at a simple Hawaiian beach shack, they worked with an ex Michelin Chef to recreate and bring the delicious flavours they’d found back to London.
We love a poke bowl, layers of mainly raw ingredients including colourful veggies, diced fish on a bed of rice but didn’t realise it was a Hawaiian national dish invented by fisherman who ate the off cuts from their daily catch; poke (pronounced poke-ay) means to slice or cut in Hawaiian. Honi Poke has what you’d typically expect on the menu - salmon and yellowfin tuna but they’ve also switched things up with other bowls including Falafel, Chorizo Chicken and Beef Donburi. They are a company that is also keen on sustainability and using responsibly sourced ingredients; British chicken and sustainably caught fish, like Scottish salmon and line caught Yellowfin tuna, and their packaging is compostable and made of pulp from fibres of plant origin.
We tried the Sriracha Mayo Salmon (not gifted) which came with seaweed and mango and it was delicious - a fiery but sweet combination. We’ll be back to try some of the other options on their menu.