Bier Glühwein

A little under thirty years ago, Ric - my then bandmate and to this day chum - and I were living in London, and making ends meet on our meagre salaries (mine was £9.6k). Our money mainly seemed to go on CDs, drink, and rehearsal studios but very occasionally we would go out for a meal.

We were both vegetarian at the time and our restaurant of choice was Cordon Vert in Wimbledon, not least because it was unlicensed and only charged a pound to uncork our litre of red wine. It was wonderfully shabby; nothing matched, not even the cutlery, but it was a snug and welcoming little place and the food, happily, was amazing. 

It was never going to be a huge success to be honest. It's appeal, whilst considerable, was niche, but the ladies who ran it always seemed to be very happy. I guess they were doing what they wanted and we didn't want it any other way.

I've come across a few places like that over the years and they seem to me to be one end of an axis with places like All Bar One at the other. I chose All Bar One to represent the capitalist end of the spectrum because, actually, I rather like it; I want to make the point that I'm not saying that everywhere that's driven by profit is awful. 

And as places and events become well known and fashionable, so the hostelries seem to slide along that axis. I've been going to the Northern Quarter for four years now and it's morphing steadily from the rough charm of 57 Thomas Street to the places that are out to make a buck, where a round always costs a bit more than you're expecting. I think one of the key differences comes down to whether you're being served by one of the owners or not. 

The art of it, I think, is to find places on the fringe, where the rents are lower and people can take a punt at running their own bar or restaurant. And they're by no means doomed to failure, just look at Trof. (Although, guys, Alberts Schloss needs to climb out of its own backside.) 

I mention all this because today we went for a bit of a tweet up in Manchester at the Christmas Fairs. Don't get me wrong, the company was excellent and I enjoyed both the beer and the glühwein but, Lord, the drinks seemed a bit pricey and homogenous.  Next year, I'd like to get out to the edges and maybe find some people doing their own thing.