Latest news with #PhilipMarlowe
Time Out
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Ace Pizza
Stationed at the Pembury Tavern since 2018, Ace Pizza has long been in Time Out's good books (if by good books you mean our list of the best pizza in London) thanks to their giddy, stonebaked 'London-style' pizza, which combines the crispy-bottomed New York slice with the slow-fermented, bubbly crusts of the Neapolitan original. Ace are still dishing out pub pies over in Hackney Downs, but this, their first stand-alone restaurant. shows that they're finally ready to play with the big boys (if by 'big boys' you mean Yard Sale). Fried artichokes are soft inside, but tough on the outside, like a hardboiled 1940s gumshoe with a heart of gold On a sticky summer's evening, the simple primrose and terracotta-shaded storefront is popping off. There are gangs of pals tearing into pizzas and pints, sunburned couples bickering while queuing for collection, and a veritable pound of hounds curled up on the floor. Ace Pizza does a good job of breaking up the undeniable smugness of Victoria Park Village with its uber-casual attitude. There's no banging on about biodynamic wine or performative menu pointers about regenerative farming. The only real quirk about the restaurant is a moody, red-lit darkroom at the back of the space, kind of like Berghain but for aperitivo rather than fisting. But largely, this is a simple, distraction-free zone dedicated to the business of eating pizza and getting a hot-honey margarita buzz on with friends. But unlike the Pembury, there's more than just pizzas in store here, and our first dish is almost good enough to overshadow the main event. Crispy fried artichokes are soft and yielding inside, but taut and tough on the outside, like a hardboiled 1940s gumshoe with a heart of gold. The Philip Marlowe of small plates. Another pre-pizza dish, salty anchovies draped on a gooey slide of pan con tomate is the perfect nibble to match our Parmtini - a pleasingly depraved take on the classic martini made with cheese-infused vodka. Pizzas are just as good as their Pembury counterparts. The Honey Pie remains skipping merrily down the precipice between pudding and main course; the spicy salami and guindilla chillies laying down their savoury arms in the face of perky fior di latte, fennel seeds and chilli honey. Far more umami is the Funghi, a vegetarian pizza with miso and garlic-washed portobello mushrooms, basil, oregano, and confit garlic oil. Intoxicatingly earthy, it's as much a roasted veg dish as it is a pizza. Proof that there's life beyond the pub kitchen, Ace Pizza remains enjoyably, fantastically fun. The vibe Laidback pizza parlour in posh Victoria Park Village. The drink Five Points pints, great wine, and cocktails that riff on Ace's pizzas; a hot honey marg and cheese-infused martini.
Times
11-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Think you know Gen Z slang? Gen Alpha has a whole new language
W hat is the meaning of six-seven? This is the question of the hour, asked in countless Google searches by people trying to decipher the sayings of Gen Alpha, the generation born after 2010. I could Google it too, but you can't trust the engine these days. Better to make like an etymological Philip Marlowe and collar a few Alphas to see if they will talk. Then see if you can understand it. There are several in my house. 'What does sixty-seven mean?' I ask them. They have no idea but think it might be rude. I think the same thing. There's a Martin Amis novel where a teenager asks a girl for a sixty-eight. 'You do me and I owe you one,' he says. I guess it's something like that.
