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[title]For as long as people have been clubbing, punters have been dreaming about the end-of-night snack. This is no exception for the electronic musical duo Bicep, for whom late-night munch has always been a core part of their ritual. ‘I always try and slope off early if food places are in the back of my mind,’ says one half of Bicep, Andy Ferguson.
It’s part of the reason why the duo has teamed up with their favourite London pizzeria, Chiswick’s Napoli On The Road, to create ‘Carbs & Clubs for Charity’, a club night with unlimited Neapolitan slices. ‘Some of the best clubs we went to in America offered pizza and snacks in the club,’ says Andy. ‘It’s something we wanted to try ourselves.’ All proceeds will go to Refettorio Felix, charity that works to combat social isolation and food poverty.
The night should be a proper party. ‘We played an Italian restaurant in New York about 10 years ago and it was meant to be a chill night, but by 10pm everyone was dancing on the tables,’ says Andy. Inevitably, Italo disco will be on the soundwaves as well as some heavier stuff later on.
Here, Bicep’s Andy Ferguson shares four of his favourite late night food spots.
Antepliler
‘Eighty percent of the time I go out, I’ll get Turkish. We’ll go for a big sit-down meal at one of the places on Green Lanes – my favourite is Antepliler. They’ve got four restaurants so you can choose what you want: the posh sit-down restaurant or the doner place. They’ve got a sweet restaurant out the back for baklava and tea. Most people in there are taxi drivers and local Turkish people and it’s a really chill vibe. I always have the ezme and a halloumi wrap.’
Lanzhou Lamian Noodle Bar
‘The first time I toured in China, after every night we’d be pretty pissed and go to the hand-pulled noodle joint. All they would sell was chicken broth with chicken, hand-pulled noodles and fresh coriander. Every single day we woke up without a hangover and we were like: ‘this is the magic’. You can get the same soup at Lanzhou, which you can go after being out at the pubs in Soho.’
Billingsgate Cafe
‘Back in the day when there were after parties at Cable [club] near Canary Wharf, we would go to Billingsgate Cafe. We’d also go via there on the way home from Corsica Studios because it would be so late. The go-to is to get bacon and scallops in a bap with garlic butter and parsley. It’s a proper rough and ready, old school caff and feels like a missing part of London.’
Gelupo
‘Gelupo on Archer Street is a proper traditional Italian gelateria. It’s a cool place to hang out after the theatre or when all the restaurants have closed and it will still be lively. It’s not boozy so you can go there to get away from the madness of Soho. They always have weird Italian, or sometimes Korean, music on. My favourite flavour is always the ricotta with amarena cherries. The last time I was there I also tried the mango sticky rice ice cream and it was absolutely insane.’
‘Carbs & Clubs for Charity’ is at Napoli on the Road, W4 2EU. Monday July 15, 6.30pm-10pm. £60.