The Your London Website carries hygiene ratings and reports  for food businesses across London. Ratings are based on the good old Amazon style star system, zero (very poor) to five (excellent). Looking at E11, there are quite a few surprises….

• The Walnut Tree (four stars)
• Costa Coffee in Tesco (four stars)
• McDonalds (four stars)
• Singburi (three stars)
• Golden Curry (three stars)
• Meze Patisserie (three stars)
• Elche (three stars)
• Petch Sayam (two stars)
• Star of India (one star)
• Chopsticks (no stars)
• Tesco Supermarket (no stars!)

Big shock there for Tesco – their staff canteen is rated at four stars by the way. Also a big shock to see Star of India, Waltham Forest’s Restaurant of the Year in 2005 rating so poorly. Hopefully those with lower scores have now addressed any issues raised.

In Wanstead, things seem to be somewhat better…

• The George (five stars)
• Applebees (four stars)
• Loon Yee (four stars)
• Gioberti (four stars)
• Starbucks (four stars)
• Hadley House (three stars)
• Somerfield (three stars)

For more info, visit the excellent http://www.yourlondon.gov.uk/.

Currently, despite being the birthplace of one of the greatest film directors of all time, Alfred Hitchcock, E11 can’t boast a single cinema, not one. However, things were not always that way. In fact Leytonstone once boasted four large cinemas, how times have changed…

Rink Picture Palace/Rialto/Granada

Originally opened in October 1909 as a roller skating rink located next to St. John’s Church, Leytonstone. The owner, Mr. James White enlisted architect P. Cornish to convert the building into a cinema and ”The Rink Picture Palace” opened on 15th June, 1911.

Seating capacity, after some modification to the interior in 1913, was 1000 all on a single floor. The main entrance was next to Bearman’s department store on Leytonstone High Road and was reached via a long arcade.

In 1926 the cinema was purchased by Bernstein Theatres, a successful chain headed by Sidney Bernstein who, in 1921, had inherited control from his father, Alexander. The Cecil Masey and Theodore Komisarjevsky re-designed “Rialto” opened on 6th January, 1927.

Capacity had been increased to 1760, still all on one floor. Stage facilities and a cinema orchestra, including a Compton theatre organ, allowed for variety shows as well as films. The Compton from the Rialto is still in existence today – see www.wizardcompton.org.uk for further details.

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