Le Querce, Brockley Rise, SE23

Frustrated by the fact that Lewisham's representation in the latest Time Out restaurant guide amounts to little more than the address of Nando's, reader Zoe has attempted to set the record straight by recommending a restaurant we'd not heard about before: Le Querce.

It may not be SE4, but it's only a few minutes up the road from the Brockley Jack and sounds very promising. Zoe says:

"I just wanted to let you know that you may want to add a new restaurant to any future posts about places to eat in the area. Le Querce is a family run Italian restaurant with really high quality food. They make their own gelato and serve wonderful, fresh pasta, meat and seafood. I had a fantastic fresh lobster and tagliatelle when I was last there.

"I only heard about it because I was waiting for a take away in Longtime Cafe and some women started chatting with me. They said they'd had amazing lobster (!) at an Italian just off the roundabout near St Hilda's church. I love this area to bits and try to do what I can to support local places, but even I was surprised to hear that you could get a great lobster dinner in SE4 [BC says - unfortunately, until we claim that stretch of Brockley Rise for our own, we still can't boast that accolade].

"I honestly think it's the best restaurant in our area and it's not just local pride clouding my judgment. They really care about what they serve and the prices are very fair. A comparable meal in central London could easily cost double. I want to help get the word out because I hope they are able to stay in business for a long time, like Babur Brasserie, its neighbour. I get really fed up when people take the area for a wasteland or ignore it altogether."

For more information, click here.

In our experience, the best Italian restaurants are always the worst-looking. We were recently dragged to a place in Uxbridge that looked like a 70s airport lounge but served incredible food, so Le Querce's "unassuming" decor is a plus as far as we're concerned.

Thanks to Zoe for letting us know about it. The poor quality of information about this area was one of the driving forces behind the creation of this blog, so please email us with any other recommendations.

Small site change

The blogger search facility only lets you search for things that Brockley Central has written, but since that's not even half of what gets written on this site these days, we've added Google search, which let's you search the comments sections as well. You can now track down individual pearls of wisdom from your favourite contributors, enjoy!

Litter

In recent weeks, we've been looped in to a few emails to the Council from Brockley residents disgusted by litter, particularly around Brockley Station. On Monday lunchtime, we sat outside the Broca, looking out for plastic bags rolling past like tumbleweed. But we couldn't really see any problem.

The dumping of free newspapers outside the station is a specific problem, which the Council have taken steps to remedy by adding more and more recycling bins, but they are fighting a losing battle against a rising tide. This is a London-wide problem and there is a campaign to make publishers more responsible for the waste they are generating. It's called Project Freesheet. We think that issue should be treated seperately from the wider question of street litter.

Brockley has its unloved areas and flytipping sites, like virtually any part of London outside Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea and it's right not to ignore the problems. Brockley Road is a mess, but that's more to do with the state of the shops, the street furniture and the pavement than the litter - although admittedly, it can be a problem, with fried chicken boxes a particular blight. But, by London standards, we think Brockley's pretty good, certainly around the Brockley and Telegraph Hill Conservation Areas and Crofton Park station. It's also blessed with relatively few dog lovers, which means that there is far less dog muck on the streets than we became accustomed to in Greenwich and Charlton.

What do you think of the problem and where are the worst sites?

Brockley's deli plans confirmed

Here's the news we've been promising for a long time - the details of the deli planned for Brockley.

As a (good) deli in Brockley would be as precious as a rare orchid, we didn't want to say anything which might jinx its arrival. However, the people behind it, Sandra and Peter, are now sufficiently advanced in their plans to be able to confirm the details.

Due to open in late October or early November, it will be at No. 5 Coulgate Street, as some had already speculated. The deli will become the Broca's new neighbour and should complement the cafe nicely. When we reported the news initially, we said we believed it would be the perfect location, because it will complete what is now a lovely part of Brockley, right next to the station, handy for people spilling off the trains after work. Admittedly, this isn't much use for commuters at St John's or Crofton Park, but on the basis it has to be somewhere, then being at the midway point between the two seems the best solution.

Called Dandelion Blue, it already has its own website http://www.dandeliondeli.com/although it doesn't give a lot away at this stage. The promise that it will be "dedicated to offering high quality food and drink" suggests that it won't be another Doorstep Bakery though.

Sandra and Peter, the people behind Dandelion Blue, have said that they'd welcome any feedback from people on this site about what you'd like to see from the shop, so put in your orders for sun dried tomatoes and rocket below.

Although it may seem like an age since the news got out, they've actually done pretty well to get this far this quickly. The Broca apparently took 18 months to get through the doors on Coulgate Street. From Dandelion Blue's point of view, it's just as well, since there are rumours of another upmarket fooderie on the way to Brockley before too long.

We hope to have an interview with Sandra and Peter in a few weeks.

Gabrielle reveals the truth about Brockley...

A good man is hard to find. But not in Brockley.

In an interview with Metro yesterday, Gabrielle explained the real attraction of SE4.

After a few perfunctory questions about her new release, the journalist cuts to the chase and asks the really important question:

"What’s the best thing about coming from Brockley?"

Gabrielle responds:

"There’s a lot of talent that’s come from Brockley such as Mica Paris." But it's clear that it's talent of another kind which is the major selling point: "When I was younger, there were some fit guys in Brockley."

We've long suspected as much. Whether you're after a dashing, Daniel Cleaver-style cad like Hugh, the rogueish charms of Monkeyboy or an athletic type like TelegraphJogger, Brockley has something for you. Our train platforms are like catwalks and Hilly Fields in the summer is like Muscle Beach.

Gabrielle also takes the opportunity to deliver a none-too-subtle rebuke to Plumstead bloggers when she states:

"It was a nice, safe neighbourhood to grow up in."

All change at Brockley Station

As a gateway to the community, Brockley Station is currently pretty woeful, particularly on the west side. With passenger numbers forecast to treble between now and 2011, thanks to the arrival of the East London Line, it is also in danger of becoming unfit for the task of getting people on to trains.

Access on the west side is cramped and dark late at night, while the term "ticket hall" is too grand for a portaloo on stilts. On the east side, the work of the Brockley Cross Action Group to prettify the area and the arrival of the Broca have really improved things but the Brockley Common site remains inaccessible and, we suspect, most people don't even know it's there.

However, three separate developments are set to change all of this.

Firstly, we're very excited to report that the Brockley Cross Action Group have secured £100,000 funding to make the Brockley Cross Phase 2 plans a reality. This will involve the creation of a new, landscaped approach on the east side, with a public space, where currently the site is overgrown.

Secondly, as part of the redevelopment of Mantle Road, access on the west side will be widened and given some cosmetic improvements.

Together, these two initiatives should create a much improved bridge between east and west Brockley.

Thirdly, Transport for London have confirmed that they have plans to upgrade all of the stations on the London Overground network, which includes those on the East London Line. Although they were unable to make any further comment at this stage, it's not unreasonable to expect that at least some of this work will be completed by 2010, particularly as the ELL is considered part of the new Olympic transport infrastructure.

We'll hopefully have more news about the Brockley Common project very soon.

Another Brockley Central world exclusive: Review of Tesco on Lewisham Way!

Natural light allowed through the windows? Check
Ability to process more than one customer at a time? Check
Free cash machine? Check
Articulated lorry pulling up outside the front when we happened to be there? Check...

In terms of the price and range, it seemed similar to Cost Cutters on Brockley Road - probably slightly worse on both counts. The quality of the produce was higher - salad, fruit and bagels were all a lot fresher and appetising-looking.

Shouldn't cause any specialist independent retailers nightmares.

The lorry could of course be coincidence, but frequency of delivery is something that these stores are notorious for.