Bistro Bardot•London, Greater London E1W 2PA

French•£26 to £40

In 2019, three months before the outbreak of Covid, Philippe and J.J. were en route to view an apartment.Philippe: French and a jewellery designer, creative one. JJ: English of a calmer disposition, an experienced PA well versed in dealing with difficult situations and challenging clients.Unfortunately neither of these attributes served them well in this instance as they got lost, missed the viewing and ended up instead on Wapping High Street. Still arguing about whose fault it was that wrong turnings had been taken they popped into an old converted pub called The Turks Head, for a coffee while they tried to get hold of the estate agent. The couple seated at the next table were in the middle of a fairly heated, intense and easily overheard conversation and it quickly became apparent that one of the people in question was the owner, and that the subject under discussion was his decision to sell the place and move on, and that’s where our story starts.