It's Now or Never

Mañana will be too late, it's now or never, it's not too late...it's now or never, I just can't wait.... It's now or never...

as TAB mourns the king of pop, here is a cover of a classic Elvis song by Robert Lopez, aka El Vez, the Mexican Elvis. he manages to throw in some Godfather and Bob Dylan too in the number.

i've had many blog posts in my head with as many blog titles. on wednesday i was walking home from soho and i saw this billboard with the line 'walking in my mind'. then on thursday i thought of the spice girl song wannabe (there i said it), you know the one which goes 'I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want...' (that's a live in paris version for TAB). today (in preparation for vegas) i saw 'hangover' with andrew and i heard the song by Lopez and i knew that was the title.

it's all been happening. we've raised all the $$$, made an offer on a dream location in soho. the moment was right. in poker, quite often you have to pull the trigger. you can't hesitate. you either shove or you fold. i guess life and business are like that too sometimes. we did our research but we moved really quickly too. this week is huge for us - we need some luck so please keep your fingers crossed.

i've not been keeping well. i'm trying my best to recover but some things just take time and i have to be patient. i fly to San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday in search of the perfect bread and then to Las Vegas, Nevada to play the World Series of Poker, Main Event. i've hardly prepared for the tournament but something tells me i'll play my A game in Vegas. and with some luck you never know...

It's Now or Never.

summer in soho

i've fallen in love again. with london. and soho.

i was at great malborough street tonight, at the intersection with carnaby street (outside Leon's most profitable store). was returning from a lovely dinner at Busaba with sid and sam (isnt their thai calamari fabulous???)

Alan Yau is pure genius. Princi on wardour is so sexy. you always feel like you are eating outside your tax bracket; punching way above above your weight (like billy bob thornton). this place is designed by the Armani designers. of course it is always packed.

ok, Wagamama sucks these days, but back in the day, it was mind blowing stuff. apparently.

nick says that the first time he went to Wagamamas it played havoc with his sense buds. in a good way that is. we hear that Wagamama was the original inspiration for david "fuck it, let’s just cook what we want" chang's cultish Mamofoku Noodle Bar in NY (apparently his Asian burritos aren't flying) . and dont even get me started on uber cool Hakkasan.

but back to falling in love. it was all a part of the sing london campaign.

there was this piano man, phil compley banging away on a piano (there is a piano at almost every location Mooli's would like to be at - we must be on the right track! ). and he played imagine. strawberry fields. wonder wall. piano man. tambourine man. in my life. and yes, i was the loudest singer. i loved every moment of it. in the end there were 20+ of us, enjoying not knowing each other, enjoying a few pints together, enjoying the music al fresco.

this reminded me of why i first loved soho. leather clad, camp harley davidson riders sipping coffee outside Cafe Nero. trendy types eating falafels at maoz. vampires @ Garlic & Shots. 24 party people at Balans. oustanding flat whites at fernandez & and wells.

people watching on frith street.

govinda cafe and hare krishna types. macchiatos at midnight from bar italia. and ronnie scots.

we might not have been able to make Summer in Soho a reality for Mooli's (because the rest of the world doesnt work on Mooli's timelines unfortunately), but we're working on it. watch this space. We're almost there.

Give us this day our daily bread

But lead us not into temptation!

Fantastic fresh fruit at new Wembley Exotics

V.B. Sons on Ealing road - what an instition!