A TikTok influencer’s guide to North London for ‘girls’ has sparked an online backlash from residents who aren’t impressed by ‘disgusting gentrification’.
In February, Florrie Tyler (@florrietylerrr) started a series called ‘Girls in North London’ where she revealed the restaurants, bars and shops she frequents.
‘Girls in North London on a Saturday are starting at Jolene, they’re getting a pastry, they’re getting a coffee, before heading straight to the Dalston carboot,’ Florrie informed her followers.
Jolene refers to the kitschy bakery patronised by Harry Styles that first opened in Newington Green and has since expanded to Shoreditch, Islington, and now Hornsey Road.
It’s instantly recognisable from its handwritten logo, cosy interiors and rustic-style shelves bulging with cinnamon buns and sausage rolls.
But ‘born and bred North Londoners’ rushed to the comments to tell her: ‘We’re not doing this’, while others mocked her with footage of chicken shops where ‘North London girls are actually at’.
Another pointed out that her guide featured Hackney, which is miles away in East London.
Fellow TikTok influencer Moses Combe was so ‘surprised’ by Florrie’s depiction that he went along to Jolene to try it out for himself.
‘I mean, if this is where all the North London girls come during their morning, I’d be a bit surprised because, number one, I’ve been living in North London for a lot of years and I’ve never heard of this in my entire life,’ he said.
‘And also the location. The fact that it’s right next to Andover Estate and the Holloway Police Station.’
On February 22, Florrie Tyler (@florrietylerrr) started a series called ‘Girls in North London’ as she revealed the restaurants, bars and shops she frequents
The video sparked a debate about gentrification and spawned counterposts as women from North London documented their trips to their local chicken shops instead
The Andover Estate council estate has a reputation for drugs and crime. Residents have described ‘people sitting on the stairs, smoking crack cocaine’ and a rampant issue with knife crime.
One resident told MyLondon: ‘It’s a pretty nasty estate. It’s not nice living here.’
In 2007, former Tory MP Ann Widdecombe spent three days living on the Seventies-built Andover Estate, which she described as a ‘dump’ and ‘very nasty, very threatening’ in an ITV documentary.
The comments sparked backlash as critics said the politician was ‘out to get a specific story’ and that the show was a ‘deliberate misrepresentation’ at the time.
While things have since improved, the area is still worlds away from the North London that Florrie has been posting about.
Reacting to her list of lifestyle recommendations, including a weekly shop at artisan grocer De Beauvoir Deli and enjoying chocolate olive oil ice cream at the Dreamery, Moses said: ‘London’s a funny old place, isn’t it?
‘In all of the years that I’ve been living in North London, I’ve never heard of Jolene.
‘Their experience of North is not my experience of North. It just sounds like gentrified jargon, bro. This is sounding like North Surrey, this is not sounding like North London.’
Opposite the newest outlet of Jolene sits Andover Estate, a council estate in Islington, which has long had a reputation for drugs and crime
When TikToker Moses Combe visited the newest outlet, he suggested he would be ‘surprised’ if girls from North London were actually spending any time there, considering it is located opposite a ‘pretty nasty’ council estate and Holloway Police Station
Other female creators, including @samaspeaks, countered Florrie’s recommendations with suggestions for independent bakeries and cafes as well as regional food markets in neighbourhoods like Seven Sisters
He counted borough landmarks like Somali fast food joint D’s Kitchen, Dubai Shawarma, and the Arsenal stadium as ‘the things I know’ in stark contrast to expensive pilates studios and posh bakeries like Gail’s and Jolene.
Moses followed this up with a review of the Jolene outlet on Hornsey Road, as he declared the prices are ‘giving “Gail’s Pro Max”‘ in a video that was titled ‘North Londoner tries Jolene for the first time’ in a perceived nod to Florrie’s original clip.
He ordered a £4.70 hot chocolate, a sausage roll, and a tiramisu, which cost £14.20, as Moses told his followers it’s ‘not quite Greggs’, which is known for its affordable menu offerings.
Rather than enjoying his order at Jolene, Combe decided to take it to somewhere ‘more familiar’ because he felt like ‘the odd one out’ inside the rustic-inspired cafe, where sandwiches cost £11.
The video then cut to Combe sitting on a bench in the neighbouring Andover Estate as the ambient jazz tunes change to drill music, a sub-genre of hip-hop.
Florrie has followed up her first North London guide, which racked up half a million views, with another list of activities to try – including going to ‘seasonal cafe’ Leigh’s in N1 for coffee, visiting Broadway Market and dining at Cafe Cecilia.
The Hackney hotspot was founded by Max Rocha, who drew on his experiences eating at The River Cafe, St John Bread, and Wine and Spring.
A sausage sandwich costs £9.50 while a bowl of porridge will set diners back by £12.
Reacting to Florrie’s video, dozens of TikTok users felt ‘this isn’t the North London I grew up in’.
One comment read: ‘As a born and bred north Londoner, we’re not doing this babes x’.
Another person wrote: ‘Girl we’re going to the big Tesco in Ponders end and then A10 drive-thru when we are peckish.’
A third message read: ‘It’s a very specific demographic that has this experience. But it’s their lived experience nonetheless.’
Some pointed out that Florrie’s recommendations veered east, while others said: ‘The gentrification is sickening.’
Multiple people flooded the comments section of both of Florrie’s videos with alternate ‘recommendations’ for North London in sarcastic comments.
‘I’ll probably just head to Morrisons on Holloway Road,’ one TikTok user wrote.
Another quipped: ‘Girls in north London are living in Wood Green and going [to] Asda Southgate.’
Other female creators, including @samaspeaks, countered Florrie’s recommendations with suggestions for independent bakeries and cafes as well as regional food markets in neighbourhoods like Seven Sisters.
‘I had to add my own take to the girls in North London discourse because, let me tell you, as someone who grew up in London, we did not have chocolate olive oil ice cream and money to spend at expensive gentrification-font bakeries,’ she said.
