Christmas Dinner anyone?

oystersandchampagne

Christmas was here, best time of year! Mistletoe and wine etc! But is Christmas dinner the best dinner that you can have?

I questioned that concept about 30 years ago and have not cooked on Christmas Day since. Even before then, I always experimented with what we would have on that special day. My first Christmas dinner ( one that I cooked rather than my Mom) I chose Suckling pig. However it, skinny little thing was too big for my minuscule oven, so had to chop it in two and I cooked the front end first. I duly stuffed his mouth with an apple and stuck him in the oven. As he roasted tears rain down his face, or so it seemed, have not cooked suckling pig since. So we have gone from various ideas, roast loin of pork, standing rib of dry aged beef, goose, duck, wild duck to…

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Dinner in Dinner!

It has been a busy time of year in London Towers and a few weeks ago we had Dinner in Dinner. And for the uninitiated , Dinner is a restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental, London. It was set up by Heston Blumenthal along with his Head Chef Ashley Palmer-Watts.

The Ladies who lunch , had lunch there, sometime last year and enjoyed it immensely , hence the decision to return, ” en famille”. We actually ate at the Chefs table in the kitchen which is in itself an experience. Ashley himself was on duty that night and treated us royally. If you have never eaten in a working kitchen, then it really is a “Must Do” . A couple of years ago on Valentine’s Day, I was treated to a morning in the kitchen at Sat Bains in Nottingham. He has two Michelin Stars and the location is very unimposing, set somewhere off the motorway in a light industrial estate ( he has to forgive me if I am wrong, but that is what it felt like!) I was the only one there with the chefs and being a very organised person in the kitchen myself, I was impressed , by the methodology, calmness, total organisation. We ( himself and I) then had a superb lunch, in the kitchen! Sat Bains motto is ” Two many Chefs, but only one Indian”! His family is from the Indian sub continent.
Anyway, back to Dinner, if there is any one Kitchen Table that you have to go to, then this is it. Very relaxed, the staff are wonderful and the fact that the head chef was there, made it extra special. He explained all of the dishes as he went along.
The menu is extremely interesting as, they have researched old recipes from as far back as 1390!

The menu was very eclectic and interesting. When booking the table I was asked if there were any allergies, or major dislikes,, but not really , # 1 daughter does not eat Mushrooms, # 2 daughter, no Hollandaise sauce, and #1 son, no beans, me? Not keen on liver or kidneys, but himself, well, he will eat anything, and he does!
#2 daughter declared, she was out of her comfort zone on some of the items on the menu, but all was eaten with great gusto, except the Pigeon. One assumes it was not shot on Trafalgar Square, but for me ( and the others ) it was the most disappointing of the dishes.
Our favourites, the Meat Fruit, (1500), which is chicken liver parfait with fois gras, made to look like a tangerine, and the Tipsy cake (1810) but all of it was wonderful, from the Earl Grey cured salmon (1730) to the Lobster and cucumber soup (1730). to the Frumenty (1390), to the roast iberico pork chop (1820) , to the strawberry tart (1560) . Frumenty reached the UK from Persia and beyond, was made with grains and Venison, or fish or even eggs., was a traditional Celtic meal and in England served on Mothering Sunday. It is mentioned in Thomas Hardys, The Mayor of Casterbridge, and Lewis Carrols, Alice through the Looking Glass. It as been said to be England’s oldest dish!
Anyway, , it appears that the Fat Duck in Bray ( the original Heston venue) is to move Lock Stock and Barrel ( staff dishes, front door )to James Packers Crown Resort Hotel, in Melbourne for 6 months, whilst the building in Bray undergoes refurbishment. After that it will return to Bray, but what will remain in Melbourne is a second edition of Dinner! I wonder if it will be traditional English, or will Heston and his team find out what the first Australians ate? Would be nice to find out!

Fischers and Kai

Fishers and Kai
We recently had a significant event in London Towers, 16,071!
Days that is, of wedded bliss! And never a cross word? Well how boring that would be. So himself, took me out to lunch, to a Michelin starred restaurant ( as he explains, ladies who lunch expect nothing less). However this came with an interesting twist, it was Chinese ! Yes, a Chinese restaurant with a Michelin star is an oddity but why not? Hidden amongst the antique shops and art galleries on South Audley Street, one finds Kai. Even the taxi driver asked if it was an Art Gallery, as the only thing to be seen from the street is an enormous blue and white Chinese vase.
The restaurant is on the ground and lower ground floors of a typical London Town house and as such is relatively small, we were taken downstairs where there was only one other table occupied, and it remained so during the course of our lunch, which was a shame really as atmospheric, it was not. Elevator, funky music blasted out, which fortunately , they did turn down, when requested.
Tapas, or small sharing plates seem to be the order of the day, in many restaurants, I assume it is the current trend, the waiter ( excuse me it is my first day, by myself) suggested 8 such dishes.
So we chose
Each dish was beautifully presented and each was really tasty, spoilt only by a fairly indifferent service and by being in the basement, otherwise it was a very nice lunch, one for the ” Ladies” to put on their list of ” must go to ” restaurants.

Corbin and King who are the masters of understated dining venues own the Delauney in Aldwych, Colbert on Sloane Square, the Wolseley on Piccadilly, Brasserie Zedal near Piccadilly Circus, and now Fischers on Marylebone High Street and also a hotel in Mayfair.
Their first venture ( after divesting themselves of The Ivy group) was The Wolseley , which is my favourite and such a great place to people watch, Brasserie Zedel is their low end venture, just off Piccadilly Circus, all day dining with a Menu du Jour for as little as £8.95 for two courses! Colbert on Sloane Square came about after the Earl of Cadogan ( the local landlord ) ate in the previous occupant of the site, The Oriel, he hated the food, the service and the prices and told them that he would not renew their lease! And he didn’t !
So now, in Marylebone there is Fischers.

So off to Fischers for breakfast we trotted one Sunday breakfast, with number 2 daughter in tow, she is probably even more picky than myself, if that is possible, so it would be a good test.
The decor is that of an Austrian inn, with wood panelling, mountain scenes and stuffed boar on the walls. Himself chose, the black pudding on top of rösti potatoes, with a poached egg, whilst the girls took the Birchermüsli, the musli was good, just how I like it and himself declared the black pudding concoction worthwhile. We will most certainly return.

A-FORAGING-WE-WILL-GO!

October 2014

A Foraging We Will Go

Almost sounds like a song from the folk mega group Bellow Head, they sing, A “Begging we will go!”
So I am not begging but sitting in a converted goods shed, next door to Canterbury West Railway Station, and surprisingly it is called the Goods Shed. It is a farmers market, that is open 6 days a week from 9 am, with a fish stall, a butchers, a general stall selling Kentish cider and beer, a bakery, a wine merchant, a fruit and vegetable stall and a couple of Cafes, they have a
chart on the wall comparing prices with the local supermarkets, so shoppers can compare .

But what am I doing here? Well I am waiting for Fergus the Forager to appear, at this point in time am not too sure of his organisational skills, as I caught an early morning train from London, to be here for 9 am and then, oops, it has turned into 10 am! Ah well we shall see!
So he has just appeared, he is over subscribed for this course, so Dave, one of the foragers has been despatched to find his car, so we can get to the woods, en masse! One look at Fergus’ car makes me wonder if it has ever passed a vehicle inspection, the front is taped together and the radiator has sprung a leak( hence an enormous plastic jerry can which came in very useful as my chair). But never mind. We are off to the woods. We begin with a talk on fungi in general and he
has lots of specimens and we learn how to identify them. Bottom line? Not so easy! Firstly one should buy a couple of books,
one or two of them slim line editions but a couple are indeed weighty tombs, but then one does need to be sure, after all it is a matter of life and death!

Many years ago, whilst living in southern Germany, we decided that we should ” do” as the locals and hunt for mushrooms.Our field guide was a bit confusing, on one side, the description was highly flavourable ,whilst on the other it read ” deadly poisonous. After much debate,and to no conclusion, we fed them to the dog! Quelle Horreur, I hear you say, well, he lived as did we!
Hence my second debut into the life of foraging!

Well we did find lots of various types of Funghi, some of which were very much edible, others
edible, but not wildly exciting and others to be avoided at all costs. Some were Rock hard and indeed looked like Rocks , whilst others felt like leather and could be mushed up and made into paper. Dave ( he of extra car)
declared that he had hunted mushrooms for years and his rule of thumb was ” if it smelt like a mushroom, then it was a mushroom, hence safe to eat” well I guess he had just been lucky over the years, as this not a good rule at all.
So our best edible find were the chanterelles, not a huge amount, but they were just beginning to
poke through the undergrowth. After discussing all of our finds, we were bundled back into the
vehicles to another wood, where some of us did wonder, if In fact this was where we were to be
“bumped off” with the headline ” Foragers gone missing” But no! Deep into the wood we found
half an oil drum hidden away, Fergus, unpacked his enormous rucksack and proceeded to cook
lunch, soup, pasta with our chanterelles and a fake crumble, with pears ( windfalls of course )
and some type of foraged berry.

Fergus did not partake of this foraged feast, as he is currently living on, chestnuts ( usually ground and made into some type of porridge) walnuts, Hawthorne berries, nettles, a type of seaweed and a couple of other berries, the names of which I can not remember.

Not a diet that I would relish I think., I think he is quiet mad, but then I also think we need more mad people, it would be very boring if we were all the same.
As for Funghi ?, maybe this weekend? Maybe I will have to test them on Himself, as we no
longer have a dog!

Head to Malaga for a fantastic Market

We are on the Costa del Sol with new old friends ( none of us old you understand) to enjoy the sunshine and the golf and some sightseeing as well ( currently it is raining” Cats and Dogs” and has been all night) The rain has curtailed our trip To Cadiz the oldest inhabited settlement in Europe .

One of the Axarquia villages, in the hills away from Malaga

However we have been to Malaga, to the old city and had a driving tour of the old villages of Axarquia . Very pretty white Peubla villages nestled in the mountains up very steep and narrow roads.

Growing up a neighbour ( and mother of an old boyfriend) used to come to this part of Spain, she had the bleached blond hair with the dark roots showing and skin like leather. My Mother ” tut tutted” and talked about the Costa Del Crime. I think over the years the area has had a bad rap. True the unfinished developments are there to be seen and from parts of the freeway one could be forgiven for thinking that one was in the outskirts of Delhi or another developing country. But away from this the countryside is beautiful and Malaga city centre is fascinating, the narrow streets, the cafés spilling out onto the streets and the Market!

The market is housed in a beautiful 19 th Century Iron Clad building in the middle of the old town with the original Moorish gate, that once connected the town to the port. and is open daily ( 8- 2 but not Sunday’s ) we were there late morning along with the rest of Malaga, but these were real people and not the tourists and ” foodies” of Borough Market fame. These were local people doing their weekend shop. And Oh I could have bought everything there, the fish, the snails, the clams, the meat, the sausages, the olives, the mushrooms, the spices, oh the list is endless! And the prices! Compared to London, as cheap as could be! Look at the pictures and decide for yourself .

The Art Deco Market Building — The Art Deco Market building

Whilst here, wehave been sampling the local food ( and wine)! Just down the road from where we are staying is a restaurant called ElJinete, there you can dine outside and have a three course meal for €17 (€22 on Thursday and Saturday when they have live music) the entrecôte steak is excellent. Further along the coast is a restaurant called Da Bruno, again eat out under the stars, the service is excellent as is the food. And the wine was extra special.

Filet of sea bream on a bed of wild mushrooms

Old friends, Chez Bruce and Borough Market

A short while ago, we were treated by Old friends ( friends that we have known for a long time, and not old at all) to a wonderful dinner at Chez Bruce in Wandsworth ( London). Not my neck of the woods at all, and in fact in all the years that I have been connected in some way or another, have never been to that part of London! After all, it is south of the river! South of the river means transportation is just that little bit more difficult. So difficult in fact, it meant we had to drive! Quelle Horreur! But the friends and the restaurant made it all worth while.

Chez Bruce is one of the three restaurants run by Chef Bruce Poole .

Chez Bruce opened for business in 1995. Nigel ( Nigel Platts Martin business partner and owner of the Ledbury and the Square) and Bruce added The Glasshouse, in Kew in 1999; and La Trompette, in Chiswick in 2001 to the London-based group.

We have been many times to La Trompette which is a very affordable Michelin starred restaurant in a back street Chiswick ( London W4). Likewise the Glasshouse in Kew ( handily next to the tube station).

However this was our first visit to Chez Bruce, and I have to say that it lived up to it’s hype as far as food was concerned. BUT himself felt that the service let it down. One time he was fiddling with his wine glass, with maybe a soupçon of very quaffable wine left in it, when the waiter descended and said “shall I take that away?” and before himself could protest, away it was gone. Later on, after dessert, again the waiter came with a “Are you done with that?” not so much the words but the tone, and then the lights went on, bright lights, I was almost expecting the chairs to be put on the table ( we were not the last by any means).

But as I said, the food was very good indeed and you can judge for yourself.

Today , we took a trip to Borough Market, which is by London Bridge Tube/Railway Station. I really like going to this markets, but then I love markets. However, this has gone really upmarket in recent years and I have not been for a while and was really surprised by how much more upmarket it has become. There are in fact less market type stalls, many specialist food stalls, especially olive oil, and truffle olive oils. Not so many fruit and vegetable type stands anymore but oodles of food stands, anything from melted cheese to bratwurst with all the trimmings to vegetarian hamburgers to venison sausages to Thai curries to Japanese noodles, the list is endless. If you are ever in London and at a loose end then it is worth the visit. It is now open Wednesday through Saturday, with Saturday being the busiest day. If you want to shop then it is almost impossible as it is now really a “destination” place for ( on the whole) standing and eating. So trying to “shop with shopping trolley in tow, pushing past punters with plates of steaming Paella is near nigh impossible. Likewise on the other open days, avoid lunch times as again it is really busy.

And now for the Shipping Forecast!

Lundy

We are on Lundy, for those of you who do not know, nor have never listened to an English shipping forecast,I suggest you Google it. The English shipping forecast goes like this,
Dover, Wight ,Plymouth Portsmouth , Lundy, Fastnet, etc etc

Lundy is described as remote, tranquil peaceful and that it surely is. It is owned by the National Trust and is run by the Landmark trust. For over twenty years they undertook the restoration of many of the buildings there which they now rent.

Lundy is recognised as an ecologically sensitive area with designations such as a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), Nature Conservation Zone and an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
During the shipping season ( April to October) the island is reached by boat from either Ilfracombe of Bideford in Devon, it is about 15 miles from either and the trip takes about 2 hours. So far all I can say is our outbound trip was calm but beware it is in the reaches of the Bristol Channel ( which has the 2 nd highest tidal rise an fall in the world) so as it is currently blowing hard I am keeping the seasick pills handy for the return journey! The landmark Trust has 20 properties to let on the island ranging from a cottage for one to the beautiful Millcombe house for 12.
During the winter months the island is only reached by Helicopter!

So why are we here? Are we Twitchers( bird watchers)? Are we crazy cold water divers? Mountaineers? Flora and fauna experts? None of those! Himself declared a few months ago that he wanted to become a hermit! ( the most unlikely person to become a hermit, .apart from me that is) so I sourced a likely location, but then he was reluctant to be a real hermit, so now we are hermits à deux,

To be fair, there is accommodation for 70 people +a camp site ( and there were 260 on our boat, as it is also possible to be a day tripper) plus the residents who run the island, the farming, the shop, the Pub (+/-28) so not totally isolated, though one could be!

The accommodation is in old, refurbished cottages/houses, some with beds for 12 or others with only one bed. Some with central heating, others with wood burning stoves and one with no electricity and gas lamps! We are in the Square Cottage, and yes it is square, small bedroom, living and kitchen upstairs and fabulous views and main bed and bath downstairs, it is a stones throw from the tavern and shop, so perfectly located.

The tavern serves breakfast from 8.30 lunch and dinner until 9 but never closes so you can spend all night there if you so wish. There is no wifi here and very spasmodic signal for your mobile and Yes, mobiles lap tops and tablets are banned in the tavern! Hermitage, uh no, but vegging out time yes!

Food in the tavern is not gourmet but has a wide menu ( just me being picky I guess) And they are very accommodating . Sunday evening menu consisted of vegetarian Lasagne, fried whitebait, scampi and chips and of course roast dinners, roast pork or roast SOAY. As we had to ask about SOAY, I am sure you will too, so for your information, it wild sheep. Himself had to try it of course, the verdict, very tasty BUT, there was so much on the plate that it need to be a smaller portion on same size plate or a larger plate. The dessert menu was fairly substantial, ranging from cheese and biscuits to treacle pudding, syllabub cheesecake, Black Forest cake to strawberries and cream. I did not see any left overs!

So in our three days, I think we saw every rock and every blade of grass on an Island 1/2 mile wide and 3 miles wide. There are three lighthouses, the first one built in the middle of the island ( hence there were lots of wreaks in the area) and now there are two modern ones, at either end of the island. Did I forget to say, there are no beaches, Lundy is a lump of granite on the edge of the Atlantic, and as such the sea pounds the rocks and the wind blows. Surprisingly there is an airstrip, properly marked out with white rocks and sheep. Apparently before landing small planes have to “Buzz” the strip, to make the sheep move on. Himself is not about to take me there for a bite to eat, on a ‘Fly Day’!

So on balance a good place to go, different maybe, but good nonetheless !

The plus point for me was that I could order some Lundy Lamb, cut and delivered to my front door ( it has not arrived yet, I hasten to add) The lambs in the flock of sheep are born and reared on the island without the pressures of modern intensive methods, on a diet of their mother’s milk and pastures of traditional grasses and herbs such as yarrow, vetches, meddick and clover which all improves the taste. So I am awaiting eagerly the arrival of my Lamb, So watch this space.

Lunch in the Country

A few weeks ago, I was taken by himself to one of my favourite restaurants, Le Manoir auxQuat’Saisons, a beautiful manor house set in the

Oxfordshire countryside. This is Raymond Blanc’s wonderful two Michelin star restaurant and hotel. I have eaten there several times and it never fails to impress. We have been there for retirement dinners as well as for the Ladies who Lunch. Once upon a time Raymond Blanc teamed up with the Royal Horticultural Society to have a lunch and view the organic gardens. It was very reasonably priced and a group of 12 of us went on a beautiful summers day, we had cocktails outside, a wonderful lunch and then tea and coffee was taken outside. I remember they, served some fantastic petits-fours, I bit into one and gasped and promptly ordered and extra 11 so that we could all enjoy the one that I had just bitten into( almost orgasmic). Strangely enough, Raymonds eldest son, Oliver, ( Olly) was in the same French class, as my eldest daughter!, when it came to “remplir les blancs” ( fill in the blanks), the teacher always thought he was being a great wit by saying “Remplir les Ollies”, Very funny Not!!
So on our recent visit, it was for lunch and again the sun shone, and again we sat outside for cocktails, before adjourning for lunch.

To start with we had a soupe à l’ail followed by either Riz de Veau ( delicious) or the oeuf de poule with asparagus, again, no faults there.

For my main course I chose the Filet of Cornish Turbot and himself the Rognons de Veau. When I saw the menu, I knew straight away that is what he would choos, it is so rare to find Veal Kidneys on a menu. All were absolutely delicious.

We skipped dessert but then a plate of goodies arrived,

Yes it was my birthday and so thank you very much!. Again we went outside for our coffee and a wander around the beautiful gardens.

There were several children in the restaurant and I was interested to see the following note on the menu page. Well done Raymond!

Another note on the Menu, there is no service charge at the Manoir, this is very interesting as there seems to be a trend in the Uk ( maybe London) of Minimum spend. I read recently of one hotel bar charging £75 for 2 glasses of water, because it was past 6 pm and the minimum spend kicked in. Well done again Raymond, go for it and set the trend!
A few years ago, himself decided that I needed to learn to cook, so he sent me to the Manoir for a class. It was great fun, not sure how much I learnt, but it was fun and I would encourage anyone to go for the day. Here you will learn that not all professional kitchens are a hotbed of shouting and swearing! At Le Manoir it is an Oasis of calm.
Next time, we go to Belgium, the home of French Fries!

A weekend in Padstow

In May we went on a weekend trip to Padstow in Cornwall. Many in the region and elsewhere call it Padstein as it would appear that Rick Stein has almost a monopoly in the town, with various restaurants, gift shops, fish shops, you name it he has it! We however, gave him a miss and honed in on Number 6, which is the jewel in the crown of Paul Ainsworth, he has a second more fun restaurant just around the corner,Rojanos, which is an affordable Italian.
However it was to Number 6 that we went, a smallish intimate restaurant where the 8 of us had small room to ourselves. Paul Ainsworth started out under the tutelage of Gary Rhodes, Marcus Wareing and Gordon Ramsey, and was awarded in 2013 his first Michelin star. He has also appeared on BBC in the Great British Menu, where he showcased his pièce de resistance, the Fairground.

Haddock with poached egg and black pudding

On the menu, there are 6 starters, 6 mains and 6 desserts, I had the oysters ( can never resist) and they were excellent. Himself, can never resist smoked Haddock, which came with a poached egg and black pudding, right up his street.Another choice was the torched cornish mackerel which came with celeriac remoulade, parma ham and cucumber. All were good choices.

For our main courses the following were chosen, Shallot Tart, Roast cod, Monkfish which came with bone marrow and wild garlic, and the lamb rump, which was roasted in hay. Again all were excellent and no complaints there.

Then we came to dessert. Two of us chose the Fairground, not sure what anyone else had ( if indeed they had anything). To my mind the Fairground dessert ( which is for 2) was something way over the top and too gimmicky for words. It was served on a miniature trolley and included peanut popcorn, toffee apples, doughnuts, marshmallows and honeycomb lollipops. For me the best part was the honeycomb lollipops, these reminded m of Crunchie bars, something that I have not eaten since I was a child!, Overall though, I wish that we had chosen something different. would not eat it again and would not recommend it to anyone.

However, if it were not so far away, I would return, even though it is on the pricey side, the cheapest main, the shallot tart came in at £28.
The next day we went on a little walk ( about 10 miles or so), around the headland , this was quiet beautiful and certainly worked up an appetite for our next dining adventure. We headed over to Rock, across the estuary, but not to Nathan Outlaws at the St. Enodoc Hotel ( where he has had 2 Michelin Stars for the past four years, but to a restaurant called The Dining Room. from the outside, we were I have to admit a little dubious about our choice, it seemed almost like a clapboard small bungalow, not a restaurant at all.

Just a little extra ” off the menu” starter!

Starter salad with asparagus morels and confit yolk

Roast fillet of cod with cauliflower dumplings and curry sauce

Roasted chump and confit shoulder of lamb

Bitter chocolate ganache with fresh mint ice cream and Greek yoghurt

Poached rhubarb confit ice cream, rhubarb ice cream and toasted vanilla marshmallow

But we were in a for a Big surprise. we had the most amazing meal, prepared by Fred, the head ( and only ) chef and served by Donna, his long suffering partner, fiancee ( they have been dating for over 10 years!) see the menu below and the prices! and a picture of Fred. We could not fault anything, the service was impeccable and the food remarkable, I wish he were nearer London, I would go every week!

and a final word, Fred marry her!

My mind is still in London ( though my body is not)

Yes, although I have decamped from London , my mind is still there.

Last week, I strolled along to Connaught Square/Connaught Village, the enclave near Marble Arch, bordered by the Edgware Road to the East, Bayswater to the West, Paddington and Sussex Gardens to the North and Hyde Park to the South. I once telephoned a real estate agent about a Des. Res that he had for sale in the area, “Where is it?” I enquired, Sussex Gardens was the reply. What? says I, the Hooker Street? well it is up and coming was the reply!

Well I guess it arrived along with the Blairs, he of Perma tan fame and their entourage of 4 policemen who guard then 24 hours a day, it was my stomping ground,my neck of the woods, my”hood” but I quickly moved on. But once in a while I go back, mainly to see the lovely Dion my hairdresser and to have a look around the old neighbourhood.

Well was I in for a surprise this visit, things have changed and for the better. Marcus, the coffee merchant is still there filling the air with coffee aroma, whilst he roasts his beans, as is the Duke of Kendal, which was our local pub, where on a Sunday night, June plays on the honky-tonk, whilst the locals take it in turn to sing their solo ” You can play with my cucumbers, but don’t touch me cabbages” being one of my favourites. Along with “My old man is a dustman” and “It is a long way to Tipperary”. Once when we were there, I wondered where all these kids who could sing came from? Well it was a Sunday night and all the cast of FAME turned out.

The Victoria ( another pub is still there) along with Noor-Jhan 2, obviously an Indian restaurant and Stuccico , a small Italian. An old favourite changed hands and is now an Argentinian called Malevo, and the wine merchant has become an Argentinian Deli called Abasto, whilst the dry-cleaners has become a Pain Quotidian and the pizza chain of Zizi has become a Japanese. This is interesting, it is labeled a IZAKYA, which apparently means “Roof of Alcohol” ( will have to check this with my Japanese friend).In Japan, many men work in the city, very long hours, and will sleep there in crowded almost dormitory type accommodation, they will drink in an izakaya, which also serves mediocre food which is usually salty and fatty.However the word izakaya has developed a different meaning in London, as Japanese casual dining with plates of food designed to share.

So KUROBUTA has arrived in Connaught Village, and the head chef is from Nobu, so it sounds good, will have to try it.

Another one to try is MaxiMini, it is owned whole or partly ( I am not sure) by Mr. Jimmy Choo. Are you surprised that there really is a Jimmy Choo? Did you think that it was Tamara Mellon who started the shoe company. Well, wrong, Jimmy Choo is alive and kicking and makes the most beautiful shoes, but custom-made for you. Somehow or other Tamara Mellon got his name and his ready to wear business but he is now Jimmy Choo Couture. So anyway he has a restaurant and it is called Maximini, it is a blend of Chinese and Malay cuisines and declares itself to be fine dining Chinese. The restaurant itself is simplistic and chic with old-fashioned colonial style and the menu looks great.

Then there is the tailors, which is now Cocomaya, a coffee shop come patisserie, it has become so successful that it has also taken over the premises of the greasy spoon next door, which shut, when the owner Mr. Singh ran off with his wife’s sister, leaving huge debts, or something like that according to local gossip.

Cocomaya the home of the Cronut, but they can not call them that as it is patented by the Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York. A Cronut is a cross between a croissant and a doughnut. It is croissant dough made to look like a doughnut and is deep-fried, and then filled and glazed. Other bakers have made similar products, the Dosants or the Doughssants, or Mister croissant Donut. Apparently at one stage these calorie filled extravaganzas were selling for over $100 each, whereas the original price tag was already hefty $5! So watch out Krispy Kremes, there are other sinful delights out there

So, from upscale Argentinian, to upscale Chinese to upscale Japanese the neighbourhood has indeed improved, but a good old faithful is till there.Colbeh is a tiny family run persian restaurant, which serves very good food, bring your own bottle and at this time of the year be prepared to wait for a table, if you come after the setting of the sun, it is Ramadan and the usual influx of people from the gulf know too well that this a great place to eat. A must have is their version of pita ? Bread, you watch it being rolled out, holes being put in and then flung against the inside of a very hot oven

Oh, I almost forgot the most exciting news, this picture tells a story, Jimmy is re-opening his shoe shop! Yippee! Not that I can afford them( but thank you #2 daughter who bought them for me)!