Useless magic social salon.

A place to share things watched / listened to / cooked / read / grown.

Welcome to the first “Useless Magic Social Salon”.

A space to share things watched / heard / seen / made. A cultural roundup of sorts for things less fancy than openings or launches and probably, quite often, things that have been around for years but just being discovered by me, because I always seem to arrive late to the party. Yes, I am that person who hears a hullabaloo about the final episode of something that has been running for 8 years and then thinks “I ought to give that a try”.

What’s in a name?

The word “Salon” has multiple definition facets that perfectly describe the space that I hope to nurture. The gathering kind which conjures up visions of all sorts of people meeting in a high ceiling’d room with beautiful wall coverings (or else a hidden back room of a main street drinking establishment) to discuss ideas, art and literature - perfect. But also, the literal room for hosting people often found in townhouses and large homes (much more eloquent definitions here). “Useless magic” was sparked by a book of the same name by Florence Welch - it seems to perfectly encapsulate all the things that are good in life but seemingly, on face value, serve no actual purpose. In reality I think the arts (and anything that might fall under that title) are anything but useless, but they are magic.

But why?

I recently caught up with a friend in London in a members only club. It was down an alley that looked like it might have been a hangout for Jack the Ripper. No big sign saying what was within the building. A simple green door behind which people work, meet and gather.

It ferociously held the feeling of conversations that sparked great things, friendships, ideas, magic in the making. A spark of something-ness in the air. Someone randomly began playing the piano. I’m sure it’s had many raucous nights in its time (both club and piano). I gave him a CD (the friend, not the pianist - not a mix tape this time, though there have been those in our past). We talked about all sorts. I left happy to have caught up with my friend after far too long ( the last time I saw him was pre-pandemic times at a soirée in France, and that’s literally the only time I think I can lay claim to something so wonderfully exciting sounding so I’m saying it in hopes of manifesting more such moments - minus the pandemic part) but also feeling that I desperately want that behind the green door magic with you.

Where we can talk about movies and art and things we’ve cooked and books we have read, about the music we’ve heard and crazy ideas we want to birth. I hope you love the space and contribute to it too because this isn’t a magazine column, it’s a conversation. And so, whilst I love the title “Useless magic social salon” and all it standards for, this is going to be called “Behind the green door”. Meet me there?

And so, behind the green door recently…

The Bear.

I found The Bear thinking it was a cookery show, a behind the scenes type. And it is, of sorts I suppose. I’m late to the party, I know.

I find something new, cook it a billion times and then get bored of it, do you do that too? This show (along with good music to cook to) has been a catalyst for a cooking renaissance I’ve been undergoing. But also a lesson in people. And self respect. And never opening a restaurant if I want to stay sane.

Note: I just watched the Season 3 trailer whilst sorting the above link out - I’m not sure I can handle the anxiety levels - all restauranteurs you have my biggest respects.

Vinyl.

I’ve been re-hab-ing my brain and listening capabilities to Taylor Swift for the past 9 months and am now taking tentative steps into other new music since we got a record player at Christmas time. Ólafur Arnalds is a total joy, I’ve been re-discovering “Into the Pink” by Tori Amos since coming across a limited edition pink vinyl, Buena Vista Social Club is new to me but I know it will become a firm favourite. A long forgotten love of Agnes Obel. Most recently, The Tortured Poets Department. But mostly the Buena Vista record. It feels like a holiday happening in my kitchen whilst I cook.

Sow.

Everything. There has been a somewhat manic rush to get a recent delivery of soil onto beds and seeds into them. Most of the veg is in the ground. Except for seeds that I have bought because I like the sound of them but can’t get my brain to compute what to do to make them grow. I buy and keep seeds like some folks do shoes and am slowly becoming resigned to admiring the idea of a thing and knowing I’ll never grow it and leaving those seeds in the hands of someone who can and will.

I’m hoping this cycle of rain / shine at the moment will yield some good crops. I want them immediately is my only problem. I planted the peas over a week ago, why aren’t they here already? My brain lives for the fairytale version of crops growing overnight and producing vines so big that you can climb them to another land.

Eating.

All carbs. Carbs on carbs. Pasta on toast was actually mentioned as a dinner suggestion the other day, I don’t think anyone went through with it, but we were tempted. I blame the lack of sunshine. I’m likely to move back into stew season at this rate. Where are the warm days for eating simple salads outside? Looking forward to the days of picking from the plant and putting on the plate at the garden with a pan of sizzling new spuds, pea pods and french beans. My absolute favourite meal to cook is pretty much anything over fire.

Useless Magic.

The book that this series was almost named after. Sorry Florence.

It is a beauty. I have the hardback cloth bound version with gold foiling on the front that makes it feel rather like a book of spells. It sort of is. I’m still not great with reading long format writing as my brain struggles to take it all in and so this, is perfect.

If you’re getting the drinks in, I’ll have a Vietnamese coffee please (decaf) - I think I’m addicted to the sugar levels provided by the condensed milk. If you’ve never had Vietnamese coffee you are missing out. I found a tutorial for you here and if you’re UK based I found a fairly decent decaf Vietnamese coffee from here (I think it’s good, but I know coffee can be one of those wildly subjective and open to some very high brow opinions kinds of things). Non-decaf versions are widely available but make my brain fizz for three weeks (the caffeine and sugar combined is like an explosion in a firework factory), or at least that’s how it feels when I’m lying awake at 2am unable to sleep and feeling like a recreation of the scene in Friends with Ross and the maple candy.

What have you been watching / reading / growing / eating / listening to? If you’ve got something good that isn’t one of those, I want to hear about that too.

With love,

V.V

If you know someone who would like to join us behind the green door, please do pass the post on.