Favourites Trilogy | Vol.1

Just Some Stuff I've Been Digging Lately... 

We are 1/3 of the way through the year. How insane is that?!

This Sunday is a bit of a cheeky one, being the very last day of the month, so I thought I would say goodbye to the first four months of 2017 with some of my current favourites. 

Get comfortable, make a coffee and some food, and check out what I've been loving this year :)

AUTHOR | Donna Tartt

I can't recommend this book enough. The characters feel so real and the assonance is so lovely that I couldn't stop reading.

Tartt has only written three novels (as well as four short stories and three non-fiction), which came out in 1992 (The Secret History), The Little Friend in 2002, and The Goldfinch in 2013, and boy, they are worth the wait.

FILM | Nocturnal Animals | Moonlight

Nocturnal Animals stuck with me for a good couple of days after I saw the film. What an unapologetic piece of cinematic ugly-beauty. One thing is for sure, Tom Ford knows his aesthetics better than I know the back of my hand. Gritty, violent and well composed. 8/10

I've talked about Moonlight already in my monthly film review. You can read it here. A film for future generations, I felt as though Director Barry Jenkins showed me a glimpse into an otherwise unaccessible part of American culture. 8/10

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ART | Compulsive Charcoal | Aries Print

Liz Atkin doodles on free newspapers and gives them away to strangers on the tube. What might sound like something to be carried around for a bit and then put into the nearest bin is, actually, pretty cool. There is a surprising beauty in these charcoal masterpieces, and you can only get them directly from the source.

I saw this piece at Greenwich Market when I was on a mission to buy dumplings. It was March, and seeing as my zodiac sign is Aries, this made a nice birthday present to myself. I can't wait to frame it when I'm back in New Zealand. The background is matte, while the circular stars are a light metallic gold. Happy Birthday to me. 

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FOOD | Polpo | Tian | Bock Bisztro

London is home to so many differnt nationalities, the thought of only eating English cuisine is blasphemous. What I love about dining out here is that the majority of the staff are from the same country of origion as the food, and therefore they have a locals knowledge of the dishes and how best to eat them. Polpo has been my first choice for beatufiul Italian food for sharing this year. Go with a small group, order two dishes each, and make sure you try a bite of each one. The wine comes in traditional Vinentian short-stemmed glasses too. 

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If you're visiting Vienna, Michelin Star Restaruant Tian is a must-do restaruant if you want to spend your budget for the entire day on dinner. Go to the 'Bistro' location in Zone 7, it's more relaxed, in a more creative part of town, and I think the portions might just be a little bigger (these two photographs are from the Main branch). Again, sharing meals is the best idea so you get a bite of each, but if you like to eat your whole dinner yourself, maybe eat a solid lunch a few hours beforehand. 

Tian used my photo on their instagram page, check it out here.

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This is a little sneak peak of what's to come next month, when I take you to Budapest! This place has a theme every few weeks that runs through the dishes and how they are presented. When we went the book was The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. The rabbit came under a top hat, everything was delicious, and the bathroom had free shoe polish and hairspray. A fun one for the book and/or food lover!

The dinning room is made up of two walls of books, a pity they were mostly in Hungarian.

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MUSIC | Dope Lemon | The Veils | Childish Gambino

Honey Bones

Dope Lemon, 2016

Chilled, funky, revitalising.

Perfect for those summer days around the house with the doors open and a cold drink after a ball game on the lawn. No surprise the mastermind behind the music is an ozzie. The first and only album from Dope Lemon, I'm awaiting their second album with great anticipation.

Total Depravity

The Veils, 2016

Emotional, unapologetic, raw.

The latest album from The Veils is addictive and oh so amazing live. Ideal for listening to on the commute home when you're imagining in extreme detail how you will murder the person next to you on the tube who is standing on the side of your shoe. Good listening at other times, too.

Awaken, My Love!

Childish Gambino, 2016

Surprising, melodic, charged.

Good for driving too, waking up to while someone makes you breakfast (in a perfect world). Just a great album. Watch the language, this is a rap/hip hop album after all. 

Donald Glover is just lovely, how could you not love him?

Thanks for reading, see you next week,

x G x