Flower entrepreneur Kaiva Kymins’ hometown of Dalston is a vibrant East London district brimming with independent businesses, and she showed CNBC Travel around her favorite spots.
Florist Kaiva Cuymins was born in Australia but calls Dalston her hometown.
Kaimins lives and works in the East London enclave, where she founded her floral studio, My Lady Garden, in 2020.
This is the embodiment of the Instagram account of the same name that she started while studying at flower school in 2016. It currently has over 50,000 followers.
“Eventually I realized I wanted to work for myself full time,” Kaimins told CNBC Travel. “I had some events booked for the summer, so I decided to take the plunge and start my own studio.”
The coronavirus lockdown accelerated this process: with in-person events cancelled, Cummins focused on making weekly flower deliveries and selling flowers to customers in-store until she could ramp up her wedding and events business again.
Many of Cummins’ neighbors have similar stories of pandemic-era side hustles that have blossomed into full-time work.
In the latest episode of CNBC’s travel series “Downtime,” Cummins showed us some of his favorite places, including:
Papo’s Bagels pays homage to New York bagel shops and offers seven types of bagels, including the famous “Everything” bagel. Dead Good Coffee is a café that transforms into a bar in the evening, with a disco ball and accompanying music. Oeno Maris is a fish shop with a wine bar at the back and regular sashimi nights. Broadway Market is a hub of independent shops and restaurants, perfect for a Sunday stroll. Dan’s Wine Shop is a laid-back bar specializing in natural wines.
Check out the video above for an inside look at what to expect on a Dalston holiday.