British chef and restaurateur, Stevie Parle and designer Tom Dixon have joined forces with London’s audiophile pioneers, Spiritland to create a brand new performance space at JOY for DJs, talks, live music and cabaret all exclusively programmed by Spiritland.
A spontaneous response to 2020’s cultural landscape, the project is the first of its kind from the trio, to create an unapologetically fun, energetic remedy to see out the year and ring in 2021.
Within a cavernous warehouse space (beneath JOY), sitting next to Regent’s Canal, the billing will include regular Spiritland collaborators such as DJ Bill Brewster, conceptual artist Jeremy Deller, Horse Meat Disco’s Severino, as well as names from the underground including Mafalda and the drag icon Jonny Woo who will be hosting a series of Christmas shows.
A mix of high-top and low tables for groups of two to six are pre-bookable online, with space for walk-ins in a designated lounge area.
The food’s designed to energise, and comes from Parle’s pasta brand Pastaio which will, for the first time, operate an experimental development kitchen from the venue, sending out generous brand new plates of antipasti, pastas and desserts using produce from JOY and The Goods Shed.
These include Salumi from Cobble Lane, Acton burrata and Autumn black truffle fried sandwich, Artichokes cooked a la romana with preserved lemon, honey and celery leaf, 30 yolk tagliolini, Linguine and clams.
Spiritland has created the cocktail menu in collaboration with The House of Suntory, with a focus on Japanese spirits. The list includes drinks such as Pink Pear Negroni, Espresso Martinez and a Quince Old Fashioned. A small and considered beer and wine list comes from JOY suppliers Biercraft and Uncharted Wines.
Stevie Parle, Founder, JOY, said, “I’m super excited to be adding another massive element to the madness that is JOY and bringing in Spiritland, whose amazing audio set ups and cool vibe-laden venues I have long been a massive fan of. Spiritland at JOY will not only bring Joy to our guests but will significantly help in our mission of creating jobs and outlets for musicians, DJs and producers hard hit by the pandemic. Joy all round.”
Paul Noble, Artistic Director, Spiritland, added, 'We are very excited to see this year out in a blast of joy and enthusiasm. We’ve always wanted to bring the sound of Spiritland to West London and this is the perfect opportunity to do it with Stevie and Tom in a unique space.”
This is the next installment from JOY, which started as the restaurant (Flora) and shop (Buy JOY) in July 2020. It is a reaction to the difficult-to-navigate rules and regulations for the creative industries, and a place for passionate, talented professionals to have a platform to express themselves and remain entrepreneurial.
Central to JOY’s founding ethos and intention, the project will provide well-paying jobs for those in the struggling music, and hospitality industries, as well as giving music and culture lovers a COVID-safe venue to experience some much needed escapism
