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Canary Wharf: How WyzePay offers discounts at MMy Wood Wharf

How the Level39-based fintech startup gets customers who use it to pay, 10%-15% off

WyzePay has teamed up with traders at MMy Wood Wharf to offer customers discounts

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Collaboration is incresingly the lifeblood of the economy – especially when there’s something in it for consumers.

Everyone loves a deal, right? And this is why Canary Wharf-based fintech startup WyzePay’s latest venture should be celebrated. 

The prepayment loyalty app has welcomed 10 traders at MMy Wood Wharf in George Street to its roster of participating local businesses (the Temple Of Art And Music basement jazz club at the venue is coming soon, too). 

That means anyone signed up for WyzePay can get 10%-15% off anything sold by them simply by paying through the platform.

It works like this. Users download the app.

They purchase credit with one of the traders using a credit or debit card with their money going straight to that business. 

As a thank-you for paying up front, the trader gives the user a discount depending on how much credit they buy. 

The more you purchase, the greater the discount.

For example, the user might pay £9 but get £10 of credit if the offer is 10%. 

That balance is then stored in a closed digital wallet and the user pays the trader by scanning a QR code on the trader’s phone through the WyzePay app on their device.

Buying credit and paying take seconds, meaning a balance can easily be topped up to cover a purchase. 

WyzePay head of business development Anya Markitanova

In essence, the system is similar to loyalty schemes, where customers get something for free as a reward for repeat business. 

“It’s basically a smarter way to spend,” said Anya Markitanova, head of business development at WyzePay, which is based at Canary Wharf’s Level39 tech community.

“You use it to get rewards for your money and for your loyalty.

“We all have cards from coffee shops in our wallets with one or two stamps from goodness knows where.

“We forget about them or lose them.

“Sometimes we get all nine stamps and a coffee for free or some other perk.

“What we’re doing is reversing the whole way that businesses interact with customers by allowing companies to reward spending up front.

“There’s no waiting to get a full set of stamps.”

This means there’s always a reward for the customer, however much they spend with a business through WyzePay, with a minimum of 10%.

While the company is already working with the likes of The Grandstand Bar, Obica, Boisdale, 640East, Seoul Bird and Brick Lane Bagel in Canary Wharf, MMy Wood Wharf is something new for the team.

“It’s one of the less well-known locations in the busy ecosystem of the estate – a lot of people do not know that this wonderful, cosy place is there and we’re on a mission to change that,” said Anya.

“It’s our first merchant group on WyzePay because it’s different to the other venues. 

“It’s a marketplace with different traders in the same space so, by definition it attracts various kinds of customer.

WyzePay users can save 10%-15% with 10 traders at MMy Wood Wharf

“That gives us access to a wider audience who might not even know what they want for breakfast, lunch or dinner – whether it’s gelato, pizza or Lebanese cuisine – but they can use WyzePay with any of the traders.”

There is a lot to choose from at MMy.

There’s Fresco La Pizza Napoletana serving, well, pizza, Dez Amore’s freshly made pasta, Bindas Eatery’s richly spiced Indian dishes, Dim Sum Lab’s Chinese dumplings, Maki And Bowl’s Hawaiian-Japanese cuisine and gelato, pastries and coffee from Badiani.

There’s also Levantine food from The Lebanese Table, craft beer from The Italian Job, cocktails from Ethika and fresh food, ingredients and supplies from MM Grocery.

A deal with the venue’s basement jazz club – The Vineyard – run by the Temple Of Art And Music, is also in the pipeline.

Anya said: “Personally, I’m a huge fan of the coffee from Badiani, the diet-friendly poke from Maki And Bowl and the Espresso Martinis from Ethika. 

“Our platform works very well for people who plan what they’re going to spend, but equally for last-minute decision makers.

“It takes a few seconds to buy credit through the app, so you can do it on the spot.

“Loyalty cards would tend to get lost or forgotten, but we all carry our phones with us everywhere so your WyzePay digital wallet is with you all the time.

“All you need is a charger and a connection to the internet.”

The key to WyzePay is that it doesn’t just work for the consumer.

Obviously Cafe Nero hasn’t just been giving away its 10th coffee for free out of the goodness of the late, crazed emperor’s heart.

“We create value for traders and retailers too,” said Anya.

“As a business, it’s always helpful to have cash today rather than tomorrow and the money goes straight to the trader when a user buys credit.

“Then their customers feel good when they spend that credit and that helps the business create a long-term relationship with consumers.

“There can be a misconception, because we operate a closed digital wallet, that WyzePay is a kind of cryptocurrency.

“That’s not the case. We trade online in Pounds Sterling, the official currency of the UK and we don’t hold any money.

MMy Wood Wharf’s sustainable food market is located in Canary Wharf’s George Street

“The digital wallet is just a representation of the balance a customer holds with a particular trader.

“When you buy credit it goes up and, when you spend through the app with the trader, it goes down. 

“The discount with all the traders who have signed up at MMy Wood Wharf is currently 10%-15%, but we actually allow all the businesses to control the level of discount and minimum spend.

“Different discounts can serve different purposes, so the traders can quickly adapt to the ever-changing landscape.

“They might, for example, offer a limited discount at a particular time if they have a seasonal offering.

“People tend to buy less gelato in the colder months, for instance, so it would be possible for Badiani to remind customers they are still there with a bigger discount.

“It’s always more tasty when you get more gelato for your money.”

With WyzePay now live at MMy, it’s hard to see why anyone would pay with a card instead. 

You can download the WyzePay app here

WHAT TO BUY FROM MMy WOOD WHARF’S TRADERS

RAJASTHANI LAMB CURRY

Bindas Eatery

This powerfully spiced dish comes with plentiful rice and will leave your mouth tingling and your soul burning for just one more rich forkful

  • Full price: £15 
  • WyzePay: From £12.75

BAKED HALLOUMI FONDUE

The Lebanese Table

One for the cheese lovers, this hot pot is a truly enormous quantity of silken, melted delight, served with plentiful flatbread and garnished with black cumin seeds. The headline halloumi retains its structure, sat in a stretch bath of cheese just waiting to be mopped up 

  • Full price: £11.90
  • WyzePay: From £10.12

PIZZA DIAVOLA

Fresco La Pizza Napoletana

Classic Naples-style pizza served with great rapidity and a wealth of fresh ingredients strewn across its surface. While spicy on the tongue, this expression of a fiery stalwart also features an endearing sweetness in the mouth

  • Full price: £14.40
  • WyzePay: From £12.24

REWIND, SIGNATURE BREW

The Italian Job

While this friendly, gluten free IPA isn’t enough to blow the bloody doors off at a comforting 4.7%, its complex blend of pine and citrus notes should satisfy – especially at up to £1 off per pint, when paying with the app

  • Full price: £6.90
  • WyzePay: From £5.87

MEDIUM CUP (TWO FLAVOURS)

Badiani Gelato

Already a Wharf favourite since its arrival on the estate opposite Waitrose, the gelato is thick and creamy and the sorbet smooth and sharp. The combination of pistachio and lemon in my cup is a winner, but then what do you expect from a brand that takes its heritage from a store in Florence that started serving top quality ices in 1932?

  • Full price: £4.80
  • WyzePay: From £4.08

TAGLIATELLE TOMATO AND BURRATA

Dez Amore

This is luxury in a bowl. It seems pasta and sauce simply wasn’t enough for the chefs at Dez Amore, who decided to dump a fat lump of burrata in the centre of this dish. If you’re already on track to ordering, adding bacon (£1.40) and Parmigiano (70p), is a natural progression and well worth it

  • Full price: £14.70
  • WyzePay: From £12.50

GNOCCHI

MM Grocery

This store is packed with all manner of fresh and dry ingredients, also offering sustainable shampoo and wine from the barrel. The fresh gnocchi is as soft as a cloud on the tongue, ideal paired with fresh pesto

  • Full price: £3.20
  • WyzePay: From £2.72

BUILD YOUR BOWL

Maki And Bowl

The poke revolution has swept through London and it’s easy to see why. The combination of raw fish and fresh ingredients is pretty hard to resist, especially when it looks like this

  • Full price: £12.50
  • Wyze: From £10.63

PRAWN DUMPLINGS

Dim Sum Lab

Dumplings are, when done well, one of those comfort foods that are far too tempting. These soft, juicy parcels fall into that category – the kind of plate that disappears all too quickly, necessitating a top-up on Wyze and a fresh visit to the counter

  • Full price: £9
  • Wyze: From £7.65

MARGARITA

Ethika

For those in the know, Ethika has long been a go-to for quality cocktails on the estate. Snuggled in a corner of MMy Wood Wharf, this excellent bar mixes a sparkling menu with the enthusiasm and charm of its staff. Its salt-rim Margarita is an ethereal, light-touch take on a classic that slips down all too easily. Expect delicate shards of lime slicing neatly through the alcohol

  • Full price: £12.50
  • Wyze: From £10.63

Find out more about MMy Wood Wharf here

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
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Canning Town: How Husk is turning on the craft beer taps in Docklands

Royal Docks brewery expands with Brunel Street Works taproom and new site at The Factory Project

Husk has opened a new taproom in Canning Town – image Matt Grayson

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Power is the thing on the mind of Christiaan Van Der Vyver.

The co-owner of Husk Brewing Ltd is a laid back, jovial man, but there’s at least mild frustration that he’s currently unable to make beer. 

Formerly located in a unit under the Silvertown Way flyover, the business has had a challenging few years.

Founded in Royal Docks in 2015, it built a passionate local following and had upgraded its taproom with a mezzanine and permanent food offering just in time for the pandemic to shut everything down.

Then the spur of North Woolwich Road outside its door was closed for work on the Silvertown Tunnel, shutting off crucial footfall and custom from passing cyclists. 

“We thought it would just be for one year and we could have survived that – but it turned out it was six and then the location didn’t make sense any more,” said Christiaan, who runs the business with his wife Marta. 

Then some good fortune.

The couple were increasingly sceptical about full relocation to The Factory Project because of its comparatively remote location on the Tate & Lyle site in North Woolwich.

However, the scheme’s CEO, Nick Hartwright, revealed he’d taken on commercial spaces at Brunel Street Works right next to Canning Town station. 

It was settled. The brewery would open at The Factory Project and supply a new taproom on a bustling street in a densely populated location.

Christiaan Van Der Vyver runs Husk with is wife Marta – image Matt Grayson

A few weeks ago, Husk opened its new taproom at the location and is very much looking to the future. 

The only catch so far is that, until the National Grid hooks up a high voltage power supply, the brewery can’t make any beer, so it’s currently having to buy in kegs from elsewhere.

Delays notwithstanding, though, the early signs are very positive and there’s a lot more to come. 

“There have been a lot of delays – but in the end we love the new taproom,” said Christiaan.

“It’s a big, open space and we’re running it at the moment as a 40-seater while we build up a bigger team.

“Then we can bring that up to 70 seats. 

“We’ve got regulars coming almost every day and we have people who have followed us from our previous location.

“We’ve always been a community-minded business and we’ve got to know everybody in the area.

“There are some amazing people here, very diverse – we attract a really mixed crowd from people in their 20s to their 70s.

“We love this community and it’s interesting to see how it’s growing and changing. When I first came here, none of these residential buildings existed.

“It was just dilapidated old warehouses. It’s been transformed – it seems like it takes only a year to build a tower these days.”

Husk serves up pints of craft beer, burgers and fries – image Matt Grayson

With the neighbouring Brunel Street Works marketing suite set to be removed, Husk will have the opportunity to expand into landscaped outdoor space with plans for an American-style smoker.

It’s also expected that TfL will open an access point to Canning Town station that’s practically at the venue’s back door, ensuring even greater footfall. 

For now, though, the focus is on serving up pints, with Marta heading operations in the kitchen to produce sustaining burgers and portions of fries, both with a multitude of toppings.

 “We make great beer but we also wanted to do food,” said Christiaan, who came to the UK from South Africa in 1996 and used to run a nightclub and late night restaurant in South Kensington.

“We wanted to offer something that complements beer, and burgers are a perfect choice for that.

“We buy all our meat from small producers who rear rare breeds of British cows, which are allowed to graze naturally.

“For our patties, we mix in 5% bone marrow to help intensify the flavour of the meat and the juiciness.

“We can run at a lower profit margin, making sure the prices are reasonable by subsidising our sales with what we make on the beer.”

While Husk is currently buying in tipples from other craft producers, Christiaan can’t wait to get making the stuff again, having acquired extra capacity from the demise of Three Sods Brewery in Hackney.

The taproom is very much a temple to its creations, with mascots of beers such as Dock Life Pale Ale, Lockdown Sour and Delivery Tax Saison adorning its windows.

Independent brewers have had a tough time lately, with Brexit and a changing marketplace seeing many close their doors.

That taproom will have a capacity of about 70 seated – image Matt Grayson

With strong demand at the new site, however, Christiaan is optimistic. 

“The whole market has changed, but making sure you’re the right size has always been a tricky one,” he said.

“Before, they used to say that you should get as big as you can, but the problem is that if you get a 10 or 20 barrel brewery, you would need to shift 200 kegs just from one batch of one beer.

“If you’re selling to craft pubs, then they want a range, so they’ll only take a couple of kegs of one beer.

“If you’re smaller, like us, you can brew more styles and it’s easier to sell the product.

“It’s also a problem if you’re selling to mainstream pubs because many are tied to breweries.

“If they’re worried about their targets, then they will close their lines to smaller producers to ensure they hit their targets for their two-year contracts.  

“These days you have to have a taproom to survive and then it becomes about how many sites you can open.

“When we’re up and running at The Factory Project, we’ll be able to produce 8,000 pints a week, so then we’ll start looking for a site for another taproom.

“That’s really what we want to do.

“We’d love that to be close by because we live in Britannia Village in Royal Docks and I love that I can cycle to work.”

With craft beer breweries increasingly being swallowed up by big business – think Beavertown, Meantime and Camden – it’s refreshing to find one that’s making it work in east London.

  • Husk is currently on the lookout for staff, including chefs for its taproom in Canning Town.

Contact details are available on the brand’s website. 

The venue also boasts a fine selection of board games

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
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Canary Wharf: How the Boisdale Music Awards showcase talent at the venue

Evening saw recognition for the Alabama 3, Mud Morganfield, Polly Gibbons, PP Arnold and more…

The Alabama 3 play the Boisdale Music Awards 2023

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What connects a single that spent seven weeks at No. 1 in the US, the voice of Muddy Waters, the theme song to The Sopranos, The First Cut Is The Deepest, celebrity gangster Dave Courtney  and Jools Holland? 

It’s Boisdale Of Canary Wharf, as the restaurant, bar and live venue celebrated its annual music awards on September 20, 2023 – showcasing the breadth and depth of the kind of artists who regularly perform there on the stage above Cabot Square.

Hosted by Jools and celebrated jazz saxophonist Yolanda Brown, the annual event brought together a host of talents – some starting out, some well established and others who’ve enjoyed whole lifetimes in the business. 

That meant an evening where two-time Grammy winner, Gregory Porter, performed Hoochie Coochie Man with Nick Reynolds of the Alabama 3 in front of Mud Morganfield – Muddy Waters’ son, Snow belted out his 1992 global platinum hit Informer and Dave Courtney’s daughter, Courtney Courtney, won the rising star award.

PP Arnold was a vibrant presence on stage

Other highlights included Mud taking the stage himself (again with Reynolds), Kid Creole And The Coconuts’ energetic rendition of Annie I’m Not Your Daddy and a potent set from the Alabama 3, making good on their promise to deliver upbeat, acid house country all night long.

In short, the atmosphere was electric, warm and wild – as unpredictable as Boisdale always is at its best under the singular leadership of owner Ranald Macdonald.

This year’s winners were as follows:

Reggae Artist

UB40 

Best Album

Suzi Quatro and KT Tunstall 

for Face To Face

Global Icon

Snow  

Outstanding Contribution 

To Music

Gregory Porter 

Scottish Artist 

The Cuban Brothers

Canadian rapper Snow performed Informer after winning the Global Icon award

Lifetime Legend

Kid Creole And The Coconuts 

Blues Artists

Alabama 3 

+ Mud Morganfield

Soul Artist

Shalamar 

Instrumentalist

Bluey

Rising Star

Courtney Courtney

Band

The Brand New Heavies 

Jazz Artist

Polly Gibbons 

Female Artist 

PP Arnold

Male Artist

Howard Hewett

UPCOMING GIGS AT BOISDALE OF CANARY WHARF
 
PP Arnold
OCT 25- 9.30pm
From £19, show only. From £69, with dinner
A living legend in the soul world and this year’s best female artist, audiences can expect hits such as The First Cut Is The Deepest, Angel Of The Morning and It Won’t Be Christmas Without You. Critically acclaimed, she’s worked with everyone from Stevie Wonder and Ike And Tina Turner to Nick Drake to the Small Faces.


Citrus Sun ft. Imaani
NOV 15 - 9.30pm 
From £19, show only. From £69, with dinner
Formed by musician Bluey in the late 1990s, this group are set to present music from their latest album with inspiration from guitarist Jim Mullen. Expect jazzy numbers such as Mais Uma Vez and Calling Mr Wolf from the rhythm section and star of Incognito, fresh from winning the Instrumentalist award at Boisdale.


Jools Holland's Boogie Woogie Spectacular
APR 24, 2024 - 9.15pm 

From £149, with dinner (there is no show-only option)


This might be a way off, but Jools Holland’s Boogie Woogie And Blues Spectacular always sells out with the band leader allowed to indulge in his great passion for tickling the ivories. The evening will also feature the talents of Neville Dickie, the hair of Axel Zwingenberger (google him) and the slick playing of Ladyva.

With unexpected collaborations, dancing on the tables and a spirited address from rapper Big Narstie, it was an event to remember.

Here’s what a few of the winners had to say:

Gregory Porter

Outstanding Contribution To Music

“It’s wonderful to win this award. The community of musicians and artists here are some of the best, so I’m really honoured. 

“Having Muddy Waters’ son in the audience and performing one of the songs that made his name was incredible – it’s the history and the lineage of the music and I’m appreciative of Boisdale for that.”

Dave Courtney’s daughter Courtney Courtney warms up during the sound check

Courtney Courtney

Rising Star

“My mind’s a little bit blown, to be honest. I’ve always sung.

“My brothers and my cousins all make music but I’ve only recently started to write my own stuff.

“I’m testing the waters. People seem to be enjoying what I’m making and so I’m going to keep creating. 

“I write with my best friend – he’s been through every major life event with me and that’s amazing. 

“At the moment, heartbreak is my inspiration – it’s one of the only emotions I’ve processed and healed from and it’s easier to write when you’re on the other side of something.”

Mud Morganfield 

Blues Artist

“It’s fantastic to be recognised in this country.

“I’ve pretty much spent my whole life in music and I’d give anyone starting out the same advice – you don’t need a drink or drugs to play better, don’t believe the hype.

“You just need what God gave you.

“The blues is everything to me, it’s life. You can run but you can’t hide. It might not catch you today, but it’ll catch you tomorrow.

“I had this music running through my head since I got to this world. A lot of my music is my father’s – a lot of people didn’t get a chance to see Muddy Waters and I just hope I can give them a glimpse of what that might have been like.

“I don’t think anyone gets the style quite like I do and I’m proud of that.” 

Gregory Porter performed Hoochie Coochie Man with the aid of Jools Holland and the Alabama 3’s Nick Reynolds

Rob Spragg aka Larry Love

Blues Artist

“When the Alabama 3 started, it was very much with this kind of awards ceremony in mind. We’d go to the Brit Awards and pretend we were from Alabama, not Brixton.

“Now we’ve risen to the heights of Boisdale in Cabot Square. I was totally spooked out by seeing Mud perform – we sampled Muddy Waters on Woke Up This Morning, which became the theme song for The Sopranos on TV.

“The blues allows for a certain raggedy-ness that the world needs alongside earthy rock and roll.

“Hopefully, this award puts us on the ladder of success after years of dirty gigs and tours – maybe we’ll wind up in some penthouse in New Jersey or something.

“For us, creating music is about the community you put yourself in and what you absorb.

“We’re very blessed by the stories that Brixton generates and all those things that come out at 4am in the pubs – then we put it all together in the studio.”

Muddy Waters’ son, Mud Morganfield in full flow

Polly Gibbons

Jazz Artist

“I’ve never won an award before so I’m very pleased. It’s lovely to have been considered and even better to have won.

“I’ve just released my ninth album, although in some ways it feels like my first, because this is the only one to feature all my own songs and arrangements.

“It’s called As It Is and the song I performed was Man Of Moderation, which is about my dad and features my family on backing vocals.

“He was diagnosed with Parkinsons but was quite a dynamic person – he played electric bass, got me into the blues and founded a festival called Green Belt.

“The disease has brought him to his knees – he was 6ft 2” and is now about 5ft 8” and it’s my observations as a daughter of a life very well lived.”

Howard Hewett

Male Artist

“I’ve been singing since I was 10 years old – inspired by my mum.

“She was a gospel promoter in Ohio and that’s how I cut my teeth.

“As an artist and lead singer of Shalamar, the thing I want to communicate to my audience is integrity.

“There’s a whole lot of crap out there right now, so it’s about quality not fads.

“Connecting with people when you’re performing is a really great feeling. That’s what we need.”

  • The Boisdale Music Awards takes place annually, usually in September.

Find out more about the venue here

Read more: Sign up for the Santa Stair Climb at One Canada Square

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
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Leamouth: How Uber Boat By Thames Clippers is cutting emissions of the river

CEO Sean Collins on the launch of hybrid vessel Earth Clipper and forthcoming cross-river services

Uber Boat By Thames Clippers CEO Sean Collins

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The passenger craft Sean Collins has been running on London’s great river have always had a futuristic edge to them.

Starting with three Hydrocats in 1999 – each able to carry 62 people from Greenland Pier in Rotherhithe into the City – the zippy little twin-hulled craft helped carve out an image of Docklands’ modernisation that boosted the area’s ongoing regeneration.

As Canary Wharf, east and south-east London have grown and developed – so too has the river bus service, now based at Trinity Buoy Wharf.

Today, the vessels in Uber Boat By Thames Clippers’ fleet are larger – long slender craft that hug the water as their engines blast them rapidly along. 

While to the untrained eye, the sleek lines of the 220-passenger vessels might appear similar, don’t be fooled.

There’s change afoot – a journey that started with the arrival of Venus Clipper in 2019 as the service targeted green improvement. 

The next step on that path, somewhat delayed by the pandemic, was the recent launch of Earth Clipper – a vessel that is aesthetically similar to the rest of the fleet, but is also completely different.

Earth Clipper runs purely on battery power in central London

Firstly, at 40 metres long, she can carry an extra 10 passengers. 

But this is a mere tweak in comparison to the main difference – the way she is propelled. Earth Clipper uses a hybrid combination of electric power and biofuel power to slice through the brown waters of the Thames.

In central London, she uses only an electric motor with a biofuel engine kicking in out east to recharge her batteries and push water through her jets.

“Earth Clipper has been just under three years in the making.

“We started working on the specification in 2019,” said Sean, CEO of Uber Boat By Thames Clippers.

“We needed extra capacity, to be able to serve our routes with the expansion down to Barking – the increasing volumes that were there and those in the pipeline, such as Battersea.

“We’d just commissioned their predecessor – Venus Clipper – and we were already focused on reducing weight and therefore power in that vessel.

“That was already a 20% emissions improvement on the core boats in our fleet for the same carrying capacity.

The boat is similar to other vessels in the fleet but produces 90% less CO2 emissions

“With that one, we were asking how we could make the boat lighter while providing an enhanced level of comfort and all the facilities our passengers expected.

“We worked on that whole design with 123 Naval Architects and came up with Venus.

“From that, we decided we had to move it on to the next level.”

The drive to do that came from the company’s goal to cut carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and to achieve net zero for the overall business by 2040.

Sean said: “Boats have to last 25-30 years – they haven’t got a similar shelf life to most other above ground vehicles. 

“With that in mind, to reach our sustainability goals, we realised we had to have a significant step forward.

“We looked at the options, took a lot of data from the operating profile of Venus and used it to establish what might be achieved by using a hybrid model. 

“From that, we realised we were not going to be able to achieve 100% battery power at high speeds, but that we could when going more slowly, as we do in central London.

“We formulated a specification and went to the shipyard that had built our previous five vessels and signed contracts to move on with building Earth Clipper.

She has a biofuel engine that charges her batteries and provides power outside the centre of London

“It does exactly what we wanted it to do.

“The model has resulted in a 90% reduction in our CO2 emissions and a 65% drop in oxides of nitrogen and sulphur.

“Those are figures based on measurements we’ve taken during actual running on the Thames.

“There are two more in build – Celestial and Mars – which will both have joined the fleet by spring 2024.

“We all have a duty of care and a duty to deliver on improving the environment.”

There are other benefits too.

Earth and its two sister ships hail from the Wight Shipyard Co on at East Cowes on the Isle Of Wight – a boost to the local economy with 65 people involved in their construction, including 14 apprentices. 

There are also other operational benefits closer to home – welcome news as passenger numbers are already exceeding levels seen in 2019.

“Earth is significantly quieter and smoother on battery and that’s even the case when the engine is running,” said Sean.

“From a noise perspective, it’s a significant improvement and there’s absolutely no compromise at all from the customer’s point of view.

“The seating is also an upgrade in design – we’ve managed to make all 230 lighter, improving the efficiency of the vessel.

“We had to add nearly nine tonnes of additional weight with cabling, batteries and the motor to enable us to use this method of powering the boat.

“So that’s a process we’ve been through with every component.

“When stepping on Earth Clipper, we feel a sense of achievement.

“We’re really inspired by feedback from the public and also the crews that are working on the boat.

“They really love it – the technical advances and the sense of having taken that step forward.”

The use of battery-only power in central London equates to an extra 16.5% reduction in emissions in comparison to using the biofuel engine alone.

In the future, Sean said hydrogen would likely provide further cuts in emissions as electrical power was currently impractical as a way to deliver high speed services on the river, given the charging times needed.

Earth Clipper can carry 10 extra passengers

A Rotherhithe – Canary Wharf Crossing

However, Uber Boat By Thames Clippers is also pressing ahead with plans for an all-electric cross-river service for pedestrians and cyclists.

The aim is to have this up and running on the company’s Rotherhithe-to-Canary Wharf route by spring 2025 and then use it as a template for similar services elsewhere.

Sean said: “We’re committed to delivering that as part of our plans to invest £70million in new boats up to 2030.

“There are also opportunities between Silvertown and Charlton as well as Thamesmead and Barking in the east.

“We’re also aiming to add more stops including a pier that has planning permission at Blackwall Yard, which the developer will hopefully build over the next few years.

“One of the things that happened over the pandemic is that more people discovered the river and we’ve had three record days this year. 

“Our figures for 2022 were higher than 2019 and Canary Wharf, for example, is thriving. The footfall at that pier is exceeding pre-Covid levels.”

Find out more about Uber Boat By Thames Clippers here

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
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Canary Wharf: How the Mandala Lab aims to transform emotions into wisdom

Installation by The Rubin Museum at Union Square on Wood Wharf is based on Buddhist philosophy

Tim McHenry of The Rubin Museum Of Art in New York

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Tim McHenry’s job is essentially to get people interested in things.

A lithe and slender man with a strong shirt game, the chief programmatic officer of The Rubin Museum Of Art in New York is an erudite guide as he takes me round the institution’s Mandala Lab in Canary Wharf.

The cylindrical installation popped up in Wood Wharf’s Union Square in September, is free to visit and opens daily from noon until 6pm (8pm on Thursdays).

It’s set to remain in place until November 25, 2023 – but what on Earth is it?

“As the name might indicate, it’s an experiment,” said Tim.

“All we do at The Rubin is inspired by the significant body of Himalayan art we have in our collection – it’s an exploration of mind and a negation of life and death, the deep stuff.

“In order to welcome people into that, we thought we might want to bring them into the shallower end of the pool until they learn to swim.

“It needs to be accessible, not only because the wheelchair ramps work, but also because if you look at a painting in the collection, you might not understand it.

“Walk inside this version of a painting that we’ve created here in Canary Wharf, however, and its meaning becomes clear because it’s a visceral journey, and it will help you see what it is about you that you have the capacity to change.

The Mandala Lab is located in Union Square, Canary Wharf

“The experience is based on a Tibetan Buddhist painting in The Rubin’s collection – a mandala, which in Sanskrit means circle.

“It has no beginning and no end, it’s all encompassing. This is a microcosm of your mind.

“Your embarkation point is on the outer rim and you’ve got to find your way to become the middle.

“At the centre is all-encompassing wisdom, but this only comes about by fully understanding what ignorance is.

“The Lab has four segments, each of which has a portal, the green room for envy, blue for anger, yellow for pride and red for attachment.

“You can enter through any of them.

“We’ve represented the mandala in the painting physically so people can step inside – it’s a metaphorical embodiment of the principles in the painting.

“All we’re doing is asking that people step inside – like Mary Poppins and Bert jumping into chalk on the pavement.”

For Envy, visitors synchronise their breathing with a pulsating light

The experience comes in four parts.

  • Envy sees visitors synchronise their breathing with a light, together with others in the same space.
  • Pride is a chance to look at oneself in a distorted mirror before deciding which of four categories one fits into.
  • Attachment is an opportunity to explore scent and memory.
  • Anger is a chance to hit a gong before lowering it into a tank of water and seeing the furious vibrations quickly dissipate in the calming liquid.

Incidentally, the gongs have been designed by various prominent individuals including celebrated percussionist Evelyn Glennie and Peter Gabriel, formerly of Genesis.

Tim and The Rubin are more than happy to call in celebrities to further the museum’s reach and expose more people to the ideas in its collection.

“Since joining The Rubin when it opened just over 20 years ago, it’s been my job to make Himalayan art accessible and popular, using many techniques including high profile people, contemporary artists and culture,” said Tim who ran events for the New Yorker magazine prior to his role at the museum.

“What was really transformative was recognising that Buddhist art is largely about an exploration of the mind and with that came the interesting idea of looking at this philosophy in comparison to what we understand about how our brains work – the latest neuroscience. 

For Attachement, visitors explore smell and memory

“We ran a series called Brainwave where we would have a scientist on stage with someone from a different walk of life and we’d try to unpack our behaviour and the choices we make by virtue of the context. 

“We had Jake Gyllenhall on dreams, for example, and Whoopi Goldberg on time, which brought The Rubin attention – particularly secular – that it might not otherwise have had given that the art is largely Tibetan Buddhist and to some degree ritualistic in that it’s an exercise of the mind.”

That’s exactly the point of the Mandala Lab and you don’t need to be famous to experience it – although, incidentally, actor Brian Cox (Logan Roy in the excellent Succession) did pop up at the launch party to bash a gong in anger.

It’s intended as a journey of self discovery – a series of activities designed to provoke thoughts about the self, our place in the world and our relationship to others. 

“Envy, for example, is devoted to this exploration of this rather sharp-elbowed, competitive thing that sometimes inhabits our minds and hearts,” said Tim.

Percussionist Evelyn Glennie performs at the Mandala Lab launch

“Why did someone else get a pay rise and I didn’t? Whatever it is, it’s something that we feel we lack in ourselves – it’s always self-centric.

“Here the exercise is super simple – if the first thing you did in your life was take a breath, then it will probably be the last, and that’s all we’re asking people to do.

“They breathe in time with a light source. 

“One of the most interesting advances in psychology and neuroscience is the idea of entrainment, where individuals sit in the same space and do something at the same pace. 

“Their heartbeats start to align and that starts to develop that subliminal bond and, over time and repeated exposure, will start to foster pro-social behaviour, because we think of ourselves as one.

“When that happens, there’s nobody left to be envious of. It’s a metaphor, but it’s an experience metaphor, and this is what Mandala Lab is all about.”

Over the course of the four segments, visitors are gently exposed to the idea that we are all connected, that we are all the same and that we are also all different and individual – that these things are all true at the same time. 

Actor Brian Cox watches his anger dissipate at the Mandala Lab

“It’s about establishing these teachings which are all about how we navigate our emotions – how we can harness the energy that we expend on maintaining them into a greater understanding of how we can deal with life,” said Tim.

“The aim is that we’re not buffeted by these reactive feelings of anger, attachment, envy and pride, which we find hard to control. Indeed, when we can’t control them, we tend to lash out and damage others and ourselves, which can lead to grief. 

“Those behaviours can become habitual patterns that are ultimately harmful.

“What we’ve experienced in New York with the Lab is a move to a more selfless nature – from the individual to the community – that’s something we could certainly do with a little more of.

“I hope this installation is a spur to understanding for people on the Wharf – it’s free to everyone so come on down.”

Find out more about the Mandala Lab here

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
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Moorgate: How London Oktoberfest offers a German party on the Elizabeth Line

Formerly on the Isle Of Dogs, the event is in Finsbury Square a short ride from Canary Wharf

London Oktoberfest will take place in Ealing and Moorgate in 2023

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I have some sympathy with TfL.

Trying to cover all the places that Liverpool Street station now connects to is no easy task, with the Elizabeth Line now meeting the Circle, Hammersmith And City, Metropolitan and Central lines as well as the Overground and National Rail at the interchange.

That there’s a direct exit from the Liz Line and connection to Moorgate, often gets lost in the mix – but it makes for a whole range of extra possibilities for those using the link, including onward journeys via the Northern line and northbound rail services.

It’s more than that too, of course. It also puts everything that part of the city has to offer within easy reach of Canary Wharf – a seven-minute ride from the estate’s station.

For Carsten Raun, this alteration in the physical infrastructure of the capital means pitching the London Oktoberfest tent at Finsbury Square makes all kinds of sense.

“We actually started in the UK at Cambridge this year and now we’re coming again to London – first in Ealing and then at Finsbury Square near Moorgate,” said the event director and organiser.

“We’ve been on the Isle Of Dogs in previous years and, in 2023, we’re a little closer to Canary Wharf again.

“The transport is really great in this location, so I think it’s easy for people to get there.

“It’s great to be back – we have been running in the capital for more than 10 years. 

“Of course, we will be offering the bratwurst, pretzels and schnitzel that people love and the beer imported directly from our brewery in Bavaria.

“They make two different wonderful draught beers for us, one is the FestBeer, which is a sweet lager and then a craft beer.”

The beer served is from Ebermannstadt in Bavaria

Specifically, the beer hails from the small town of Ebermannstadt, located to the north of Nuremberg.

Located beside the river Wiesent, the Bavarian FestBeer Brewery dates back to 1776 and originally operated as a communal facility for the local population.

Its flagship brew uses malt from Vienna and Hallertauer hops for a pleasant level of bitterness combined with floral and herbal aromas.

“We’ll be having a band from Germany again, playing throughout our run inside the tent,” said Carsten. 

“I call it Oktoberfest music – traditional music as well as songs that people can sing along with.

“The capacity of the venue is 1,800 people and that makes for a really great party. We’re very much back to pre-pandemic times, people just want to have a great night out.

“We’ll also be bringing our outstanding Halloween Party back on October 28, where people are welcome to dress up to have some spooky fun.

“The last weekend in November will be focused on a luxury experience for companies and corporate clients who would like to celebrate. 

“There will be a special lunch for businesses from noon-5pm on November 2 and 3, where they can bring clients to entertain them.

“Personally, I’m looking forward to Halloween.

“Each year we do it I’m really surprised by how much effort people put into their costumes, although you don’t need to be dressed up to get in, of course.

“Some are very terrifying. It’s also worth mentioning that any size of group can be seated together if they book at the same time and for the same package.”

Standard entry starts at £5 although there are a number of packages available as well as the option to buy or rent traditional leather lederhosen and dirndl dresses.

Bavarian Tickets cost between £25 and £32, with seating in the middle part of the tent, a 1.5 pint measure of FestBeer, bratwurst in a roll and a German snack.

Costumes are available to hire for the event

The Oktoberfest package includes the food, two beers, seating in the front part of the tent and a shot of Underberg – an alcoholic digestive distillation from Germany. These tickets cost £45-£50.

A further £15 per head buys a VIP package with seating in front of the band, a glass of German sparkling wine, two beers, Underberg and schnitzel with Bavarian potato salad.

Corporate packages are flexible with various food and drink options on offer and dedicated table service for parties of eight or more. Prices per person start at £100.

l London Oktoberfest typically runs on Thursdays and Fridays from 5pm-11pm and on Saturdays from 11am-4.30pm and 5.30pm to 11pm. Tickets for general admission start at £5.

The event runs at Walpole Park in Ealing from October 19-21, 2023, and at Finsbury Square near Moorgate from October 26-28, 2023, and November 2-4, 2023.

Find out more about London Oktoberfest

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
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Tower Hill: How The PA Show Autumn is all set for a show at Old Billingsgate

New venue for the October 17, 2023, edition allows event to grow following its debut in Canary Wharf

The PA Show Autumn is set to return following a debut event in Canary Wharf

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The PA Show Autumn is back in east London with a new location and an expanded programme of attractions, training sessions and networking.

Following an event that was so popular it tested the capacity of the East Wintergarden in Canary Wharf last year, organiser Mash Media has moved things a little further upstream along the Thames to the vaulted brick arches of Old Billingsgate’s lower ground floor.

Conceived as a more intimate, boutique edition of The PA Show at Excel, the feel is intended to be deliberately festive and seasonal as Christmas approaches. 

The new venue allows for growth and greater capacity

It’s somewhere for personal, executive and virtual assistants as well as office managers to meet suppliers and each other in warm comfortable surroundings.

“We’re really happy with the new location,” said Lisa Farnfield, sales director at Mash and the woman responsible for organising the show.

“It has a direct connection to Canary Wharf via the DLR to Bank and is easy to get to from the West End, the City and the South Bank too. 

“It fits really well with our audience in those locations but it also gives us greater capacity. The event last year was brilliant – it was rammed – but this gives us room to grow, with more exhibitors and more space for our two show theatres.”

The PA Show Autumn 2023 is set to take place at Old Billingsgate

In similar fashion to The Excel event, the boutique version is also very much focused on providing visitors with accredited continuing professional development (CPD) sessions.

“The new venue means we can have bigger theatres so more people can participate, as we were completely at capacity in Canary Wharf,” said Lisa.

“We have a fantastic programme of speakers running sessions on both key skills and personal development.”

Training on offer includes the likes of The Officials’ Lauren Bradley on next generation tech, Inspireful’s Hayley Watts on motivating yourself and others around you and Smile Box’s Donna Fisher on wellbeing in the workplace. 

“Last year showed a one-day experience was something assistants can fit into their busy schedules – attend a session and then meet the exhibitors,” said Lisa.

“With the location, they can easily come for half a day, a full day or the whole experience with networking and drinks at the end. 

“We’ll also be running speed networking sessions – one in the morning and one in the afternoon with 10 companies taking part in each.

“Those will be supported by M&S Corporate Gifts, with chocolate and wine tasting from Lindt and Ridgeview to enjoy. 

“We want the people who come to feel connected.

PAs, EAs and VAs will be able to meet a varied range of suppliers and businesses

“An assistant’s role can be isolated and many are very busy, so networking and finding suppliers can be a challenge day-to-day. Here they can find it all in one place. 

“We’ve got a lovely mix of exhibitors attending, including lots of new companies, so there will be plenty that people haven’t seen before.”

Sponsored by South Western Railway’s Business Direct platform, the show’s exhibitors include the likes of Fairgame, The Savoy, Qatar Airways, Virgin Experience Days, The Groucho Club, PA Life magazine, Harvey Nichols and many more.

“It will be a very relaxed environment with hotels, venues, hospitality, corporate gifting companies and travel supplies all represented,” said Lisa. 

“We’ll also be operating our PA Passport, where visitors collect stamps from exhibitors to receive a fantastic goody bag and be entered into our fabulous prize draw.

“We’re looking forward to a buzzing event – the demand is really strong and it’s a great time of year to bring people together in the run-up to the festive season.

“We want people to come down, meet each other and explore at their own speed.”

The PA Show Autumn is set to take place on October 17, 2023, at Old Billingsgate near Monument station from 10am-6pm with networking drinks until 7.30pm. 

Free passes to the show are available to PAs, EAs, VAs and office managers or those in similar roles.

The next edition of The PA Show will run at Excel in Royal Docks from February 28-29, 2024.

Mash Media sales director Lisa Farnfield is in charge of the event

WHAT’S ON – Theatre sessions at the 2023 show

Personal Development Theatre

  • Difficult conversations for EAs – 10.30am
  • The “WFH-battle” is on: Employee vs Employer. Who is right? – 11.20am
  • Motivating yourself and others – 12.10pm
  • The project mindset – 1pm
  • Your best is yet to come – 1.50pm
  • Assisting yourself to mental resilience – 2.40pm
  • The tactical triangle: 
  • Three perspectives from a strategic partnership – leader, chief of staff and executive assistant – 3.30pm
  • Talking anxiety – how to forge ahead! – 4.20pm
  • Be seen, be heard – create a credible, powerful voice – 5.10pm 

Key Skills Theatre

  • Do your minutes actually achieve anything? – 10.30am
  • Navigating an increasingly complex sustainability landscape – 11.20am
  • Unlock the power of ChatGPT – 12.10pm
  • Wellbeing in the workplace – 1pm
  • Skills to differentiate yourself and progress your career – 1.50pm
  • Growing your professional network on LinkedIn – 2.40pm
  • How to excel at corporate gifting and Christmas party organising – 3.30pm
  • How to stand out amongst the crowd – 4.20pm
  • Your career’s make-or-break moment: Emerging tech defining next-gen assistants – 5.10pm 
The show takes place on the venue’s lower ground floor under brick vaulted ceilings

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
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Isle Of Dogs: How The Forge Art Fair is set to fill Craft Central with vibrant creations

Carolina Kollmann has founded the week-long event to showcase contemporary artists’ work

Artist and founder of The Forge Art Fair, Carolina Kollmann

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Carolina Kollmann wants to build something.

Originally from Argentina, the artist and teacher studied in Buenos Aires and at Central Saint Martins in London in the 1990s before relocating to Asia in the early 2000s.

Having returned to the UK to live on the Isle Of Dogs in 2019, she took a studio at The Forge, Craft Central’s Westferry Road facility, where she works and runs classes (often involving a glass of wine or two).

Now she’s eager to use the former industrial building as a venue to showcase her work and that of other artists by creating an annual event – The Forge Art Fair.

“I’ve always been very independent and I never paid a penny to expose my art,” she said.

“When I was in Hong Kong, I was a member of a group and we’d find sponsors to put on exhibitions.

Detail from one of Carolina’s works

“Here it’s different – it can be very difficult and when I found that one organisation wanted to charge me £800 to have my work in an art fair, I decided to start my own. 

“It took a while to find the right artists for this.

“The main idea I had was that it should be at The Forge – it’s a great place and it needs to be known as creative and artistic.

“I thought that if I created a proper contemporary art fair here, that will create some noise and help draw people from outside the local area to come and visit.

“I knew we couldn’t do 100 artists, that we’d start small and then, if successful, we’d grow.”

The Forge Art Fair is set to take place from October 20-26, 2023, with a private view on October 19 from 6pm-8pm.

The exhibition will feature work by eight contemporary artists including Carolina herself.  

“This is not a collective – for that, the people involved would need to have something in common,” she said.

Detail from a painting by Pierre Benjamin

“For the fair, every artist’s work has to be different from what’s next to it.

“I hope it brings people into The Forge and that we amaze them with what’s on display here in east London.

“There aren’t many places where you will find a beautiful gallery with fantastic artists all together, showing you their art, that’s also free to visit.” 

Visitors to the fair will find work by painter, sculptor and NFT artist Pierre Benjamin, silkscreen printmakers and collage artists Jairo And Nicola and sculptor and designer Arturo Soto.

Also on show will be paintings by Jasmine Honor Mercer, work by painter and illustrator Tammy Walters, photographic abstraction from Het and pieces from digital artist Leah Ibrahim Sams.

Carolina herself works in a range of media, often blending painting with 3D printing to create pieces that literally burst off the canvas. 

“The Forge is a wonderful building but it’s not ready for art – it doesn’t have enough wall space, so we’ll be using display boards for the pieces,” said the Isle Of Dogs resident, who created digital collages from images of Mudchute Park And Farm during the pandemic and sold them to help raise money to feed the animals.

Detail from a work by Leah Ibrahim Sams

“I really hope that people will be able to see what I saw when I came to The Forge – that it’s a beautiful place.

“My work is inspired by my own life.

“For example, there’s breast cancer – a horrible thing like this where you lose friends, so I wondered how I could make it beautiful? 

“I mixed in fashion – Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Versace – for a series called Looking Up that’s about cancer and death.

“There are also pieces to do with the menopause, age and health. It’s all the same thing – it has to be about my life.

“When I was growing up in Argentina we had a military government. People were disappearing – there were so many horrible things all around us.

“When I was little I didn’t know what an artist was.

Detail from a piece by Tammy Walters

“My parents definitely never mentioned that I should study drawing or anything like that.

“But my grandma, who travelled a lot and loved art, said that I should be allowed to study, so I went to art school when I was 14.

“That was an amazing time in my life, when I was studying art – it was like an explosion of creativity as the military government was coming to an end.

“I met amazing artists, including Philippe Noyer, who is still alive and influenced me a lot. He showed me how to express my ideas.

“It was while I was in Asia that I had the idea of bringing my pieces more to life in relief, but I couldn’t think how.

“I couldn’t use papier mache or anything like that, because it would have been damaged by the humidity.

“Then a friend of mine – a very bright and creative person – who was one of the first people to have a 3D printer, suggested I could try using one.

Detail from a work by Jairo and Nicola

“He said he’d heard there was someone in Japan doing it.

“But I thought it wasn’t very artistic and so I said no. This is always me – I say no at first. 

“It took a while but then I had an idea and started designing what I wanted to create. The technology does have its limits but you work with it.

“First I paint on the canvas, then I put the 3D element where I want it and paint over the top in acrylic to make the finished piece.”

While the forthcoming fair is primarily about showcasing the work of the exhibitors involved, visitors are also invited to participate in various events over the course of the week.

Animal illustrator Tammy Walters will be running live drawing class I Love Dogs on October 21 at 3pm, with NFTs: Empowerment Through Art scheduled for 6pm on October 23.

Carolina will be hosting 3D Artist Exhibition Tour, covering her work and a printing demonstration on October 25 at 5.30pm and visual artists Jairo and Nicola  will lead Fairytale And Surrealist Screen Printing on October 26 at 5.30pm.

The latter costs £5 with participants taking home a finished screen print. 

Detail from an sculpture by Arturo Terraquio

Carolina is also a qualified fine art teacher and runs regular classes at The Forge – so for those unable to visit the fair, there are other ways to get involved in art.

She is currently offering Ladies Night sessions – which run over the course of a month with participants producing a finished artwork over four classes. The next begins on October 10. 

“I’d taught in Hong Kong and one of the classes which was very popular there was this concept for women,” she said. 

“We open some wine, but we learn about art too.

“Each month we do a different project – we might look at acrylics or watercolour, for example.

“We’re all busy working on our pieces but it’s also an opportunity to chat. 

“We look at painters and take inspiration from them – especially English artists as we are in London.”

The sessions cost £100, which covers four 90-minute classes over the course of a month. In October these take place on Tuesday evenings from 6pm.

You can find out more information or book the classes online at carolinakollmannartdesign.com

The Forge Art Fair runs from October 20-26 at the Craft Central venue. It will be open from 11am-8pm Friday-Sunday and from 4pm-8pm Monday-Thursday. Entry is free.

You can also find links to all the artists featured via this link.

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
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Stratford: How Bamboo Mat is bringing Nikkei cuisine to east London

Second site offers fusion of Japanese and Peruvian cooking plus options for a bottomless brunch

Padron peppers with mango miso at Bamboo Mat, £5.50 – image Matt Grasyon

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BY LAURA ENFIELD

You would not expect a Moldovan teenager to know much about Japanese food. But that is where Denis Gobjila’s story starts.

Well, like all of us, it actually started with him as a baby, but we’ll skip to the food part.

Today the 34-year-old is co-owner of Stratford’s Bamboo Mat, a rare London restaurant serving Nikkei food.

The cuisine brings together the clean simplicity of Japanese cuisine with the fiery exuberance of Peruvian food and has developed organically since the late 1800s, when a wave of east Asian immigrants arrived in South America.

“The first time I tried Nikkei it was sour and then boom, flavours in your mouth,” said Denis.

“It was so fresh and I thought: ‘This is the next level of food’.”

Bamboo Mat’s menu includes Padron peppers drizzled with mango miso, grilled octopus paired with lentil mash, crispy chicken thighs coated in anticucho sauce, yellowtail kingfish dotted with yuzu truffle soy and a smorgasboard of sushi, sashimi and nigiri.

Much like these dishes, the venue was created using a fusion of skill, patience and passion.

But it is literally hundreds of miles from where Denis started.

He grew up in Moldova helping his grandparents tend their small farm and baking with his mum.

“I followed my cousin to culinary school and my starting passion was cakes, but now I can do very little and don’t really like pastry flour,” he said.

Enter Japanese cuisine. After training, he got his first job in 2007 at Sushi Studiya in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, and over a period of three years, worked his way up to head chef.

Co-owners Denis Gobjila, left, and Victor Rosca – image Matt Grasyon

On arriving in London he then landed a job as sous chef at Vietnamese restaurant Namo near Victoria Park.

But it was a random interview at a new restaurant opening in Hackney that set his tastebuds ablaze.

“They said Jordan Sclare had created some of the dishes and they were so good I went straight home, googled him and found he was executive chef at Chotto Matte,” said Denis.

“I went there the next day knocking on the door and asking for a job.

“The sushi head chef, Keita Sato, said they didn’t really need anyone but made me an offer for, I think, less than £16,000. I said: ‘No problem’.”

Denis instantly became immersed in the world of Nikkei, learning new skills in cutting fish, cooking rice, preparing vegetables and decoration – all the while refining his techniques in sashimi, sushi and maki.

“They gave me opportunities and I was ordering ingredients all the time and creating dishes,” he said.

It was also here he met his now business partner Victor Rosca who previously worked at Sushisamba, Roka, and Lucky Cat by Gordon Ramsay.

Denis began creating his own menu in his head, but it would be another five years before he actually got to serve the dishes.

“I got married and, in hospitality, it’s hard to maintain family life, so I left the kitchen for five years and worked in my wife’s accounting company,” he said. 

“But the dream was always in my mind because, for me, an office job is boring. I kept looking for something and finally it happened.”

Bamboo Mat in Stratford – image Matt Grasyon

Fate stepped in when a friend’s seafood restaurant in Leyton collapsed after Covid.

“They were very upset and had some outstanding balance to pay to the landlords, so they were going to take that place from them but I quickly stepped in and took it over,” he said.

“I had been looking for something smaller, like a takeaway concept but, when that opportunity came up, we quickly changed our plans and designed the menu.

“I’d had it in my mind for the past five years, so it didn’t take long.”

The venue opened in May 2022 but what they did struggle with was ingredients.

“The fish was the hardest to get because we were looking at central London suppliers and they had never come East before,” said Denis.

“I used to drive to Heathrow Airport to get the fish every three days until finally we got more sales and convinced them to come out this way.”

In fact, the duo had an explosion of popularity overnight, thanks to a few carefully written paragraphs in the summer of 2022.

“Grace Dent’s review in the Guardian changed our lives because after that, it was crazy, crazy,” said Denis. 

“In a nine table restaurant, we went from doing a few a night to minimum of 60 covers a day. It was a bit of a shock but very good.

“We believed in the restaurant and knew it would be quite successful, but we definitely didn’t expect it that quick.

“Maybe we deserved it, or maybe we were lucky – I don’t know.”

Sushi and vegetarian ceviche at Bamboo Mat – image Matt Grasyon

Keen to capitalize, by August they had found the Stratford venue and this time they got to design it from scratch.

It is a much bigger space, with room for 68 people inside as well as a 10-seater private dining area and 25 seats outside.

“It is the same concept as Leyton, but because it’s bigger, it has more opportunities in the kitchen so we can create more,” said Denis. 

“It’s a good location, green and peaceful and as we are quite young as businesspeople, our budget was not too big because we don’t have any investors.

“We basically made everything here by ourselves or with friends and created it organically with our own hands.”

From the outside, it looks, dare I say it, pleasantly dull.

But inside it is joyous with a neon rope interior created by Peruvian designer Sabastian Salas.

The vivaciously colourful food includes a newly launched bottomless brunch at weekends.

This features signature sushi, seabass ceviche with aji amarillo tiger’s milk, sweet potato, red onion, chancha corn and artichoke tostada with salsa criolla and salsa verde and a brunch special- fluffy pork or nasu (Japanese aubergine) bao buns.

The restaurant opened in December last year with what was supposed to be a soft launch.

“It wasn’t at all soft,” said Denis. “I think we did 250 covers for the first four days. It was really, really hard.

“When you create something, it’s scary because you invest everything and don’t know how people will react – you only know its nice for your own taste.

“When people appreciate the food you feel really positive because people like what you’re doing.

“So it’s enjoyable to get that busy and get crazy shifts, especially because this cuisine is not well know in the industry here.

The restaurant’s interior – image Matt Grasyon

“There aren’t many Nikkei restaurants in London. I think that’s because it’s quite tricky. 

“It’s a bit sour, a bit spicy and different flavours but our menu works because it is a good balance.”

There is, however, one dish which is secretly very traditional for Denis. It pays homage to the person who gave him his love of the freshest ingredients.

“We have one salad on the menu inspired by my grandmother,” he said.

“Moldovan cuisine is very different because it is a poor country, so we cooked what we grew in the garden.

“My grandparents had a small farm and, in the summertime, she used to cook Romano peppers on charcoal and it was just amazing – so smoky.

“At Bamboo Mat, we have a fresh salad with cabbage, carrot and beetroot served with a smoked sauce.”

Family is in fact still the driving force for Denis. Many young chefs seem swallowed up by their success and struggle to have a personal life outside work. But the Romford resident is home most days by 5pm.

“I have two kids, a son aged three and a seven-month old daughter and that’s the priority,” he said.

“If you manage everything properly, and it is under control, you can have the free time. Also, my wife is a very, very good woman, very supportive.

“Sometimes she’s mad at me, but I’m trying to make life better for my family, not just for myself.”

I’d call that perfectly balanced fusion.

Find our more about Bamboo Mat here

Lamb chops in anticucho sauce, £18 – image Matt Grasyon

Read more: Sign up for the Santa Stair Climb at One Canada Square

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
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Canary Wharf: How Sweat By BXR is offering free introductory classes

Crossrail Place fitness studio’s Wharf Wellness session is booked up, but there’s another way…

Sweat By BXR trainer Gareth Thoo

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The free Sweat By BXR session – set to take place at Crossrail Place Roof Garden as part of Wharf Wellness – is now full.

But don’t let that put you off investigating what the brand has to offer.

The pay-as-you-train studio, located in Crossrail Place itself, is currently offering free sessions to those new to its offering – so anyone who wants to can try one out.

Sweat is a sister business to BXR – a boxing focused gym that takes fighter training as its jumping off point for fitness.

The Canary Wharf facility offers cardio workouts in its VersaClimber studio, strength and conditioning sessions and boxing-inspired exercise as well as Pilates-based classes.

“It’s one of the world’s first elite boxing concept gyms,” said Gareth Thoo, a trainer at both BXR and Sweat By BXR, who regularly runs sessions at the Canary Wharf facility and is set to take charge of the Wharf Wellness workout.

“The great thing about Sweat By BXR is you have three things to really focus on – cardiovascular exercise, skills-based boxing training and strength and conditioning.

“While most of our clients are not looking to become professional fighters, they are being coached by people who have fought in the ring and know what it takes to get there.

“The training techniques are very practical but they’re also accessible to everyone.

“The classes are open to all levels and people with lots of experience, or none, will get something from them.”

Sweat By BXR offers boxing-inspired classes and VersaClimber sessions for cardio

Originally from Australia, Gareth knows his stuff.

Having trained in mixed martial arts as a youngster, a passion for boxing saw him compete as an amateur and a pro for six years. 

But, following a number of injuries, he decided to use the knowledge he’d already gained to become a personal trainer and combines that with working for BXR and Sweat.

After four years working in the fitness industry in Manchester, he’s now brought his skills and expertise to London.

“There are many benefits to the training on offer here – building strength and making changes to your body composition, for example.

“Then there’s cardiovascular and the boost to your mental health too.

“For people who have desk jobs and spend a lot of time sitting down, the workouts can help counteract the effects of a long day in the office.

“Then with the skills sessions, it’s also nice to be learning something while you’re training.

“These will always start with basic footwork – how to stand and how to move around, which are such important parts of boxing.

“Then they cover techniques like basic punches – straight punches, hooks and how to implement those in combinations, while working the bag effectively, as a boxer would strike it, hard, fast and very precise.

“People might feel, especially if it’s their first time boxing, that a boxing gym could be an intimidating environment.

“But it’s our job as coaches to make sure everyone feels really welcome.

“Clients might not know initially what their goals are so we structure the classes in a way where we teach the basics very often as everyone needs to know them.

“Whether you’ve been coming for two months or two years, we’ll be drilling those in, but there will also always be new things to learn.”

In addition to boxing skills, Sweat is known for its VersaClimber sessions – a machine that mimics the motion of rock climbing and can be used in time to music.

“Those are tough classes,” said Gareth.

“Two minutes into my first one and my legs were burning, but it’s a really great session, a trademark. Climb To The Beat is fantastic.”

Music is something Gareth also relishes bringing into his sessions, putting together bespoke playlists for his workouts.

“It’s about creating a high-energy vibe when I’m picking the tracks,” he said.

“Music is such a massive part of my classes.

The VersaClimber is a piece of equipment that mimics the action of climbing

“For me there will always be a bit of hip-hop and some bassy house. In any of my classes, you can pretty much guarantee there will be something from the Notorious BIG and Kendrick Lamar.

“Another favourite is an Australian DJ and music producer called Fisher, who people may have heard of.”

In addition to the obvious attraction of the soundtrack, Gareth said the key reason to train at Sweat was the breadth of the offering.

“This isn’t just running on a treadmill and punching a bag – there are so many class concepts and you can do something different every day of the week,” he said.

“There’s a real option to mix it up, with a cardiovascular workout one day, a boxing session the next and then maybe a strength class.

“Then, on top of that, you can incorporate sessions where you learn some serious skills and that’s really what makes it a great place to train.”

Wharfers interested in having a go can download the BXR app and book a free class using the discount code CLASSONUS – terms and conditions apply.

Introductory VersaClimber classes and SweatBox sessions cost £30 for three and £40 for four respectively.

Sweat is located on Level -2 at Crossrail Place in Canary Wharf.

Find out more about Sweat By BXR here

Wharf Wellness is set to take place across the Canary Wharf estate

FIND AN OFFER

While many classes for Wharf Wellness are now booked up, the festival is also a celebration of stores and retailers on the Canary Wharf estate with the a number of businesses running offers across the four-day event from Sept 27-30, 2023. Here’s our pick…

>>Randox Health

Get 15% off all health checks at the Cabot Place clinic booked during the duration of the festival with code WHARFWELLNESS.

>> Stretch Inc

Enjoy 20% off any assisted stretch at the Canada Place facility over the four days. Just mention WHARFWELLNESS when making an appointment.

>> Pure

Recently reopened at Cabot Place, the restaurant will be offering 50% off its new Nourish Bowl range. Those with a reusable cup can also get £1 off barista-made drinks.

>> Kiehl’s

The Jubilee Place store will be offering 20% off all products as well as 25% off a £100+ spend. Offer runs Sept 22-Oct 1.

>> Farmer J

The lunchtime favourite will be offering 20% off click and collect orders on the Wharf with code FJAUTUMN20.

>> Urban Greens

Have promo code WW20 ready at the till when you visit the Bank Street store and you’ll get 20% off salads.

>> Le Chalet Cryo

The Canada Place facility will be offering more than 40% off its Cryo and Hyperbaric Therapy starter packs with code WHARFWELLNESS.

>> Atis

Challenging even the might of Farmer J as the Wharf’s most popular lunch, this salad-focused mini-chain is offering a fifth off bowls with code WHARFWELLNESS.

>> Weather And Palette

Head over to the Jubilee Place store for 10% off all skincare products and treatments for the duration of Wharf Wellness.

>> Malmin Dental

The private clinic on South Colonnade will be offering 10% off Invisalign treatments purchased during the festival.

>> Rituals

The Jubilee Place store has 25% off selected products for Wharf Wellness. The offer is valid  on a maximum of three items.

>> Get A Drip

Last but not least, the Cabot Place clinic is offering free Vitamin D testing to visitors.

Download the Canary Wharf app for full listings and updates

Read more: Sign up for the Santa Stair Climb at One Canada Square

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to our free Wharf Whispers newsletter here

- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
Subscribe To Wharf Life