The votes have been counted and the judges have made their decisions….

Ok, not quite, but we did get lots of really great reviews last week in line with the Wedge card giveaway we ran. It was a pretty tough job trying to pick out five of the best, but as promised, we did show extra love to those of you who managed to review a Wedge card business. The Lucky winners were:

Tom H with his review of 54 Resaurant, ‘Lovely apples, nice gravy beautiful stiff but smooth mash and some nice and fresh cale rounded off a superb dish.’

Miles T with his review of The Ambassador, ‘The staff here were very attentive and the menu-to-stomach time was refreshingly short.’

Joelle M with her review of Askew Eyewear, ‘It’s only small, but their stock is so well chosen that I quickly found several pairs I liked more than any in my trawls round 2 massive high street opticians.’

Brad W with his review of Brick Lane Bikes, ‘The staff are all very helpful and knowledgeable, and all work is done on the spot by their team to guarantee you walk out with the bike in the best possible condition.’

Sarah D with her review of Sh!, ‘The staff are really nice, will answer your questions and make it a thoroughly unembarrassing experience.’

All the reviews were great - thanks guys! If you want to have a look at the full length versions of the winning reviews then just click on the name of the business (above). The shiny new Wedge cards are making their way to the winners as I type (hopefully). I hope you enjoy the lovely discounts that you can now receive - all round the capital. If you didn’t win a Wedge card this time I would strongly recommend getting hold of one of these little lovelies, they offer some really great deals, in some of London’s best independent shops.

Photo by: treehuger.com originally from the Peer Gallery

This week has been Chocolate week 2007 and believe me chocolate related things just keep popping up everywhere. It all started with the comeback of the Cadbury Wispa. The welovelocal team has been going mad for the Wispa this week, this obsession has resulted in many afternoon trips to the shop for bulk Wispa purchasing.

There have been lots of exciting  things going on across London all week, and the events are set to continue into the weekend. The Ultimate London Chocolate Tour takes place on Saturday and kicks off in Islington. Sunday offers Divine chocolate tasting and cocktails at the Sanderson Hotel. To see the full listing of events that are taking place have a look here. There has been a really great mix of involvement this year from both independent and larger businesses. One independent business that is really making the headlines and stealing the show is our local Chocolatier Paul A Young. Paul has recently opened a new store in Threadneedle Street to accompany his delightful Camden Passage shop - and it’s making quite a stir. It has landed local boy Paul the award for the ‘Best New Chocolate Shop’ - well done Paul!

If any of you have been lucky enough to sample some of what Chocolate Week 2007 has offered in London it would be great to get some reviews. We are always on the look out for great new chocolate shops!

It’s Wedge Time!

There are only two cards any Londoner needs - an Oyster card and a Wedge card!

We have five lovely Wedge cards to give away this week. The wedge card for any of you who may not know (or have not read the previous posts) is a fantastic discount card for hundreds of local shops and businesses across London. Wedge is accepted by wide variety of businesses from hairdressers to fruit and veg stalls. To find exact places to use Wedge card have a little look here.

Here at welovelocal we are, like our friends at Wedge, passionate about local shops and business and always want to know more about what is out there. So, we are giving away five Wedge cards to the five best reviews of any local shops and businesses in London. We will show extra love to those who go a little further and review a business or shop that accepts the Wedge card. So look out for the ‘we take Wedge Card’ sticker in shop windows!

Get busy!

We will announce the winners on Monday 21st October.

After browsing the web trying to find some independent shops in London, I came across a site that really deserves a mention. Independent London is a unique shopping guide book showcasing some of London’s most interesting and imaginative independent shops. As soon as I saw the site it was a no brainer that welovelocal needed to purchase the book. When it arrived in all its small but perfectly formed glory it exceeded expectations.

Every page is filled with amazing photos that capture such vibrancy and even better descriptions of what each of the shops; sell, look like, smell like and taste like (the food that is). It is also incredibly helpful as it provides maps and specific addresses for each of the shops mentioned. This book really whets your appetite for some of the great and often overlooked independent gems in London.

Independent London is also partnered with Wedge card and the great thing is most of the shops listed in the book offer Wedge discount promotions (great news for all you wedge card owners). You get a real sense of local community from the book, it really inspires you to get out and investigate the local London that is around you. So get the book, get shopping and most importantly get reviewing!

This introduction is a little late coming as I have met quite a few of you already - others may have seen me around on the site. Anyway I will formally introduce myself; I am Helen, the latest addition to the welovelocal team. I have been here for three weeks now and I must admit it is pretty damn exciting. I am really enjoying getting familiarised with the site and its great community. Speaking of community, I suppose it would be a good time to mention that I am now the first port of call for all welovelocal community related issues, and most importantly this lovely blog! I must admit I am a bit of a fan of blogging, I think it is due to the fact that I have so much to say all the time (I like to call it passion).

Ok, so here is the bit about me, I am going to attempt make this as least cringe-worthy as possible. I am a huge fan of London and a real advocate for everything local. As someone who has just moved to the city from the sleepy south coast I spend most of my free time exploring. I actually can’t believe how helpful some of the reviews that are written on here are. I plan my weekends based on the descriptions that I read in the week (thank you reviewers!). I spend all my other time crafting, baking and seeking out vintage bargains oh and I dabble in indoor skydiving. I suppose my reviews provide a good insight into what I like and don’t like.

So that’s me covered, it would be good to know a bit more about all of you out there using the site, and not just individuals. It would be awesome to get to know more about all the active local communities out there in London and across the UK. So if you’re out there it would be cool if you drop me a line and say ‘hi’.