Lighting Up London Lockdown at Connected by Light, Canary Wharf

Although London is in lockdown for the foreseeable, we are at least still allowed to go out for exercise once per day and despite the cold, grey weather, I've been going for a walk, run or cycle ride every day. Well, as I'm still a fair-weather cyclist, I've mainly been walking and running, which does limit the places within a reasonable distance. Much as I love running west along the river from Tower Bridge, close to where I live, I have done the same loop about 150 times in the past year and so I've been looking for some other options.

The Caffeine Chronicles: District, Nine Elms

While the UK remains in lockdown, I have still been able to seize small moments of joy by getting a takeaway coffee while on my allotted daily exercise. Last week, my walk-of-the-day took me to Nine Elms where I was able to visit the closest of District's three Aussie-inspired cafes; the other two locations are in Parsons Green and Mayfair. Unsurprisingly, I've missed travelling a great deal over the past year, so it was nice to take the opportunity to visit a small piece of Australia rather closer to home.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Frequency Coffee, Angel

The original Frequency Coffee has long been a favourite of mine, and its King's Cross location was convenient for my office. Of course, working from home last year — and for the foreseeable — has meant I haven't been able to visit owner Justo and his team as often as usual. But when I stopped by on a staycation day in November, I found out that Justo was soon going to be opening a second branch, on Camden Passage in Islington.

At Six by Nico, a Festive Dinner in Six Parts

Before Christmas and when restaurants were still open in London, I was able to get a table at the London location of Six by Nico. Nico Simeone's small family of restaurants are currently located in six UK cities (the original was in Glasgow) and specialise in themed, six-course tasting menus priced at an extremely reasonable £35. The restaurants are currently closed but will hopefully be back again soon when restrictions ease with another exciting theme.