More on the new St. Pancras

Turns out the bar will be run by Nick Strangeways, considered one of the top cocktail experts in London.

yay! been a while since I reviewed a cocktail bar! yay!

btw: i've decided to term all neogoth architecture as emo architecture. St. Pancras? Shining beacon of emo architecture...

Breast Milk Ice Cream

Sorry, that is just creepy. I admit to having tasted my sister's, because I'm just such a foodie, innit?

But I read this story on Metro yesterday and it just did not tempt me at all. Kind of gross. What do you think?

I guess the publicity stunt has worked, because I kind of want to go check out the shop, it looks like kind of a badass ice cream thing.

I will not, however, be sampling the breast milk ice cream, thank you very much (especially not at £15 a scoop!).

Here is the link to the story, and their website

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/856408-baby-gaga-breast-milk-ice-cream-goes-on-sale

http://www.theicecreamists.com/

Trullo in Islington

I've FINALLY managed to make it to Trullo, the little italian on St. Paul's Road. It's generated quite a buzz since it opened last year, and I've been dying to go.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so you will have to content yourself with this PR shot from outside the restaurant (and my humble words).


The decoration is understated, there are few tables and the kitchen is open. My kind of joint already. This is a joint venture between someone from the River Cafe and a graduate of Fifteen. So the unpretentious, friendly, italian theme would be de rigueur.

The food was outstanding. Really. Beautiful little steak tartare for starter, then pumpkin ravioli with a creamy gorgonzola sauce, set off by a judicious sprinkle of chili. The secondo, a baked seabream with lentils was impeccable.

Desert was rubbish, though. A quince and chocolate tart, boring, mousse topping over a pie crust. But the mousse was correct, and the pie crust impeccably crunchy. It was just boring and did not taste of quince. But desert is often rubbish in Italian joints, so points for authenticity.

We had a bottle of house wine (an unassuming little red from Sicily), a shared antipasto, two primi, a shared secondo a and a shared desert. The bill was £65 pounds, which is incredibly reasonable. Considering what you pay for rubbish food in this city, I will definitely be returning to Trullo on a regular basis.

The only criticism I would have, and it is unfortunately a rather grave one in my book, is that service was a bit of a mess. Granted, I arrived at 10pm, and they were just having an off night. That happens. They were extremely courteous and apologetic about screwing up my order, though. I won't hold it against them.

I've just found my new favourite local restaurant. Hurray. Adios Bistrotheque.

Infos
300 St Paul's Rd
London N1 2LH
020 7226 2733

Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House

Stunning. Indulgent, opulent. The ballerinas take their bow:

Really???

Modern British Sculpture at the Royal Academy of Arts

The most beautifully curated show in ages, at the Royal Academy of Art. Most highly recommended.


The exhibition traces the evolution of sculpture in the UK since the beginning of the 20th century. It kicks off with a room of sculptures from the British Museum juxtaposed to modern works, demonstrating the importance of the influx of foreign references to the formation of a new vision for sculpture in the 20th century. It finishes with a cleverly titled "Sculpture as Image" room, adorned with Koons and Damien Hirst (like a really good one, before he sold out and became and advertiser).



Image courtesy of John Riddy/© Tate, London 2010/© Barford Sculptures Ltd/Anthony Caro

And whilst in Piccadily, stop by Fortnum and Mason and pick up some green earl grey, will you darling?

Infos
Modern British Sculpture, 22 Jan–7 April, 2011
Royal Academy of Art
Burlington House
Piccadilly
London W1J 0BD
www.royalacademy.org.uk

Some weird kind of kinky for Valentine's?

The Natural History Museum is having a rather unique show on the mating habits of animals, with some videos starring Isabella Rosselini interpreting the mating habits of several animals.

Here, the duck. A long way from David Lynch, yeah? Actually, maybe not so much....

Normal in Shoreditch

Having lived in Shoreditch and struggled to find things that were not uber hip and designer, this website really did crack me up:

http://www.normalinshoreditch.com/

How to find normal stuff in Shoreditch. Brilliant. It all started when Alex couldn't find a nice, normal bath towel amongst all the kooky designer hubris....

Heston Blumenthal - Dinner

OOOH!!! Exciting! The real food critics have been allowed into the newly opened Dinner, at Mandarin Oriental, the latest by Herston Blumenthal.

Here is a little video from The Guardian.


Me, the not so real food critic, have been fighting it out with the other mere mortals, and have secured a reservation for early March (I booked in November).

I'm just going to watch this on repeat, I guess.

Random Street Art - Dalston