BRICK LANE has been named London’s Curry Capital for 2012, a move designed to placate locals fed up that the Olympic marathon event has been re-routed away from east London.
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Games organisers were accused of betraying the East End, but have now made peace with the local Tower Hamlets council, which had planned legal action over the route change.
“The Olympic Games gives the opportunity for Tower Hamlets and Brick Lane to be showcased in an extraordinary way,” said Olympic chief Lord Coe at a ceremony announcing the Curry Capital award yesterday.
“This is a great street, a great community for people to spend time between all the fantastic sporting competitions.”
As well as sucking up some curry flavoured humble pie, Coe and the Olympics team have also offered extra free tickets to east London school children in a deal that has seen Tower Hamlets council end its legal challenge to the change in marathon route.
But that political fix in favour of Brick Lane risks alienating London’s other famous curry areas, like Southall and Tooting.
Both districts regularly outscore their east London counterparts in the various annual curry restaurant awards and usually feature a more varied selection of regional south Asian dishes.
