Gay Camberwell

It's not quite Camberwell, of course, but it's been rather gratifying to see that a local pop-up bar/restaurant/art show is one of the most talked-about additions to the London scene. Frank's is only open Thu-Sun, and closes in September, so Roz and I cycled over to see what it was like. 

We found ourselves standing nervously outside the Multiplex, eyeing the lifts to the right of the entrance that we'd never quite noticed before. Luckily Frank's already has a bit of a following, and some more confident-looking arty locals strode up and pressed the button. Soon we were all in a rather bumpy service lift ascending to the sixth floor... but the sixth floor of where? 

Well, the multistorey carpark, it seemed. We walked out to find a few stray cars, a flickering strip light, and not much else. Fortunately the arty ones marched onwards, across the car park and up the slope to the 7th storey. Where there weren't any cars, but random art installations started to appear. 

Up again to the roof, and suddenly we were met with a rather lovely open air restaurant/bar with what might be London's best view of the skyline. Nothing was missing, from the London Eye to the Gherkin to Canary Wharf (and far beyond), all lighting up and twinkling as darkness fell. And then the sunset: the colours were glorious and the skyline was silhouetted in brightest pink. 

Drawing our attention to the bar itself, people sat at tables and benches enjoying cocktails, beers, and rather tempting-looking Mediterranean food. The vibe was friendly and smug, as though we were all part of a secret club, meeting in the most unlikely of places. We just had beer, but eyed up the corn on the cob with much envy. This might be the coolest venue I've been to in London (well, on a par with the wonderful Shunt) and all I want to do is return for that corn on the cob...