The PR for new N1 club-bar-gallery-performance space, Playtime, suggests I visit on a weekend night. Rocking up on a Thursday mid-evening, I can see why. Marie. Celeste. Not the names of the only two punters present; no, that’ll be me and the mate. Playtime is from the same peeps as society mag-hag boîte, Boujis, and by the look of it - a jokey/ arty/ retro-y superficial rehash of OQO - they’re not exactly putting their money where their mouth is. The barman hopes the Boujis crowd will adopt it. ‘Because Chelsea girls are hot?’ I wonder. ‘Because they spend.’ he sighs. Dream on! To the SW7/ St Tropez set, N1 is somewhere north of Norway. What they’re missing is pink sangria, Belvedere at £100 a bottle and nicely ponced-up mojitos and margaritas - at £4 on happy hour, worth travelling for. Is the club any good? My target-age (25) coolhunter local spy rates Friday nights ‘interesting’ and tonight’s mashy soundtrack suggests she’s right. The interior will be given over to various artists to reinterpret as they will. Current chou chou is Robert Gordon Mcharg III (see pic). Plomnked in one corner, ahttp://www.playtimebar.com/n open pine coffin - ‘Art’? - bears a Hank Williams quote. ‘No matter how I struggle and strive, I’ll never get out of this world alive.’ On a slow night, that’s how I feel about Islington: fortunately, a hot date with Beth Ditto at jeweler Thomas Sabo’s Mayfair launch provides my exit visa.
4 Islington Green N1http://www.playtimebar.com/
