Pen portrait: Nasia, Broadway Market

One Saturday morning in January.

I meet Nasia while visually sampling naughty baked goods at Broadway Market. I can't help but admire her arresting presence, scarcely contained within her pearly mocha skin, bouncy blond-streaked curls and radiant smile. She talks boisterously about her love of London, amply reassuring me that there is no need to diminish one's passion for life once you're in your 50s. Her journey thus far has been a global one. As such she is a beacon of London's multiculturalism. She has variously embraced Denmark, London, New York, Melbourne. I can only guess where her forefathers originated from. We bond over my Antipodean accent. I say I like Melbourne. It has an enviable art and the coffee culture. She agrees. But as a musician – a black musician no less – she says there's no place like London. It's where she is able to riff off other musicians making her kind of music. She says that she prefers New Zealanders to Australians. “Much friendlier” she said of the former. I agree. Nasia and her daughter (also a looker) run an artisanal bakery stall on Saturdays at Broadway Market in London Fields. Otherwise, she is busy writing music.