The pleasant and often well-patronised restaurant was more than just a place for a snack: it was a bar, a space for music, theatre, cabaret and film and workshops.

Clapton vintage-media enthusiast Ciné Real used to show films at the Russet. The club is  going to show On The Waterfront, the first film it screened when it set up there in February 2013.

The opening of the Russet was a casebook example of what is pejoratively termed gentrification: a stylish venu replacing a printworks to sell fashionable food and drinks to the affluent or at least aspirant young middle class.

Now the Russet is itself a victim of gentrification: rent rises stemming partly from the area’s recent popularity have led directors Tendai Davies, Rachel Ring and James Storey to lock up for the last time.

Expect some development likely to give a better yield than a hip restaurant. Expect more collapses of coffee shops and small restaurants in northeast London.

The name Russet came from an Egremont Russet, a species of apple tree in the nearby orchard created by the Tree Musketeers.

The seed of a good idea had been planted in 2011. But as any gardener knows, even a fruitful tree can succumb to an adverse climate.

David Altheer 110516

* Backstory: Reich stuff at the Russet;  Fashion talent in Hackney; Downs up the stakes on the Ditch

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