{"id":64830,"date":"2025-05-01T05:16:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T05:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/64830\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T05:16:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T05:16:10","slug":"vick-hopes-guide-to-london-dines-at-mountain-browses-in-brick-lane-and-loves-the-treehouse-rooftop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/64830\/","title":{"rendered":"Vick Hope’s guide to London: dines at Mountain, browses in Brick Lane and loves the Treehouse rooftop"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"STYLE\"<\/p>\n

North-west London<\/a>, where I\u2019ve lived for just over two years with my husband, Adam Richard Wiles \u2014 known professionally as Calvin Harris<\/a>. I love how leafy it is, with opportunities to get my daily dose of green on walks around Primrose Hill, Regent\u2019s Park and Hampstead Heath. Before that I was in Hackney for eight years, which was a lot of fun. <\/p>\n

Where do you stay in London? <\/p>\n

If I\u2019ve got quick changes between jobs I\u2019ll often get a room at Treehouse Hotel<\/a>, which is right next to the BBC, so I can be on and off air for my Radio 1<\/a> show and still make it to whatever I\u2019ve got going on. It\u2019s a lovely place to stay, with stunning views and really cool, earthy yet modern decor. And the tacos and margaritas at the rooftop restaurant, Madera, are excellent.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Treehouse Hotel London<\/p>\n

Where was your first flat ?<\/p>\n

When I moved down from Newcastle in 2011 I stayed with my ex-boyfriend\u2019s aunt, which was extremely kind of her, as I had absolutely no money. As soon as I could afford it, I sub-let a tiny room in a flat by Caledonian Road Tube. <\/p>\n

I was a runner at MTV News in Camden, and absolutely buzzing about it! It was such an exciting place to be: we had massive artists in and out every day and by night we were covering gigs, premieres and fashion parties. It was such a great training ground.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Broadway Market <\/p>\n

Daniel Lynch<\/p>\n

Where would you recommend for a first date? <\/p>\n

Is it extremely @real_housewives_of_clapton to say a little London Fields<\/a> picnic? A walk by the canal and through Broadway Market, settle down on the grass for a couple of refreshing canned cocktails\u2009\u2009…\u2009\u2009And if it\u2019s a bad date<\/a>, there\u2019s no bill to awkwardly fuss over and you\u2019re outside already \u2014 good to go.<\/p>\n

Where would you buy a gift for your other half? <\/p>\n

A great go-to for Adam is Labour & Wait<\/a>. There are a few stores, but the original is in Shoreditch. It\u2019s good, solid, sturdy, well-made home stuff that you didn\u2019t realise you needed. <\/p>\n

Which shops do you rely on?<\/p>\n

I go back to Ridley Road market, in Dalston, for ingredients whenever I\u2019m cooking Nigerian food, particularly if my mum\u2019s visiting. You can get everything you need \u2014 the selection of African and Asian produce is amazing. Closer to home, I\u2019m a big fan of the Hampstead Butcher & Providore for free range, organic meat, while La Petite Poissonnerie in Primrose Hill is such a gorgeous little fishmonger, with oysters if you\u2019re feeling fancy. Clothes-wise I try not to buy anything new, so I love flea market browsing and vintage emporiums in Brick Lane<\/a> and Notting Hill. Much of my work involves a lot of reading \u2014 I host the Women\u2019s Prize for Fiction podcast, Bookshelfie \u2014 and you can generally find me in a bookshop. Daunt Books is one of my favourites.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best meal you\u2019ve had? <\/p>\n

At Mountain restaurant <\/a>in Soho. It was buzzy and delicious, with this incredible Basque-inspired menu of small dishes cooked in wood-fired ovens and over open flames. I went with my friend and former Radio 1 co-host Jordan North shortly after he left for Capital FM; we had so much to catch up on we barely came up for air, but we were gobsmacked by how delicious the food was. We ate amazing raw scallops and monkfish, whole John Dory in exquisite zingy sauce, tender mutton chops, beautiful anchovies and cheeses\u2009…<\/p>\n

Who is the most iconic Londoner?<\/p>\n

Even if you\u2019re just passing through for a few years, you\u2019re still a Londoner, so I maintain we can give Jimi Hendrix that title. <\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

American rock guitarist and singer Jimi Hendrix performing at Royal Albert Hall, London in 1969<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your biggest extravagance? <\/p>\n

Hear me out\u2009…\u2009a face massage! As a special treat I love going to Guendalina The Skin Sculpter in Notting Hill. She does a brilliant Buccal facial massage. It releases so much jaw tension.<\/p>\n

What are you up to for work? <\/p>\n

It\u2019s lovely having the balance between the daily silliness of the Radio 1 Drivetime show and my weekly literature podcast. I\u2019ve recently started presenting Countryfile on BBC1, too, and I\u2019m also enjoying stints on The One Show and in Dictionary Corner on Countdown. Off-air, I\u2019ve just been appointed trustee of the V&A Museum.<\/p>\n

Great female writers and poets like Audre Lorde, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Mary Oliver, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie\u2009…\u2009they\u2019ve changed the way I see the world, as well as helping give me the words to articulate the heaviest and most beautiful of what life brings. On the subject of words, I am always in awe of Susie Dent whenever I work with her on Countdown \u2014 I always go away having learned something new, my vocabulary enriched, and to me there\u2019s nothing more valuable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North-west London, where I\u2019ve lived for just over two years with my husband, Adam Richard Wiles \u2014 known…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[33236,748,393,4884,257,33235,33237,16,15,33234],"class_list":{"0":"post-64830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-brick-lane","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-london","13":"tag-london-fields","14":"tag-radio-1","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-vick-hope"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114430881718210075","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}