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....

Shopping for special ingredients in London

Attention foodies, this is invaluable information. If you live in London, you've probably come across Borough Market, which I've blogged about extensively in the past. You will find most fresh goodies you will need there.

Game season at Borough market

But when it comes to dry goods, surprisingly, London can be a tad tricky, so I'm going to share a couple of the places I go to when I'm scavenging for special ingredients.

First and foremost. The Harrods Food Halls. Not only are they beautiful, art nouveau, historical, and really fun to visit (if you can ignore the hoards of tourists, of course), but they are massive, with halls and halls filled with the most exotic ingredients, all the cheese, charcuterie, breads you can imagine. They also have several little restaurants and traiteurs, if you really just want to stare and eat, without necessarily having to cook.






Harrods also do a spectacular "own brand" line of wines and bubblies. Really well priced, great quality wines. You can buy by the case and have it delivered to your door, I strongly recommend their Chablis, amazing value. They've just opened a beautiful new wine shop in the LG, well worth a visit.

Image courtesy of www.harrods.com

Whole Foods is also a pretty good option, particularly the larger stores, like the Kensington one.

Another surpisingly good place to try is the Harvey Nicks food hall. It's rather tiny, but really well stocked. I was recently on a mission to find semola di grano duro to make some pasta at home, and this was actually the only place I could find it.

Finally, Fortnum and Mason. You will find the usual array of jams, pickles, cheeses, and teas, but also, in the LG floor, a minimart with all sorts of goodies as well.

Infos

Harrods
87-135 Brompton Road,
http://www.harrods.com/

Borough Market
239 Borough High Street
http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/

Harvey Nichols Fifth Flor
67 Brompton Rd
http://www.harveynichols.com/

Fortnum and Mason
181 Piccadily
http://www.fortnumandmason.com/

Whole Foods
http://www.wholefoods.com/

Fortnum & Mason, "High Tea" indeed

Fortnum & Mason is one of those “favourite place on earth” spots for me in London. Quintessentially English, yes, best place to stock up on tea, yes, beautiful preserves, yes. But I think what really does it for me is the light teal colour that decorates the facade, and peppers all the packaging and displays. It’s like a glam Willie Wonka, a confectionery high of majestic proportions. They have indeed amassed a series of Royal Warrants, starting, surprisingly, with candles.



The history of this English institution harks back to 1705, when:

“Hugh Mason had a small shop in St James’s Market and a spare room in his house. The Fortnum family had come to London from Oxford as high-class builders in the wake of the Great Fire, helping to establish the St James’s and Mayfair areas as the most fashionable in London. William climbed another rung by taking a post as footman in Queen Anne’s household - and the room at Mr Mason’s.”

Now a footman, that’s a big effin deal in Britain. Anywho, these folks went on to ride the wave of British imperialism with bravado, and set themselves up as THE place to go for unfair trade tea. But that is all in the past now, and the blue packaging is truly delightful.



The store is now a major affair, with a little gourmet supermarket on the lower ground that is well worth the detour. On the ground floor you will find a massive catalogue of teas, herbals, green, white, oolong, you name it. These folks are suppliers to the Royal Family, so you will find a Royal Blend, and a Queen Anne blend, and you can feel all regal while you sip your cuppa.


Being partial to Earl Grey blends, always, my personal favourites are the Green Earl Grey and the Smoky Earl Grey (yes, how creative). The Smoky Earl Grey is, as the name suggests, a dense, smoky take on the classic blend. It will set you back £7.75 a tin with 250g. There is also a luxurious White Yunnan (at about four times that price). White teas are the most precious and delicately flavoured infusions, made from handpicked buds, steeped for a minute or two, just so...



The preserves and jams are also wonderful, as are the chocolates and biscuits. This is a great place to get a hamper made, and they also make the most perfect picnic baskets. The store is spread out over several stories, and you can find everything from fashion accessories to stationery, as well as a couple of restaurants. But the beautiful British fare is really the star of the show here, a true gastronomic journey. Between the infinte jars of pickles and chutney, this is a place to come and understand what British elegance and tradition really mean.

My suggestion is that you go for afternoon tea, upstairs, and sample all the goodies. That way you will get to try out the tea blends, and gorge on the scones and the clotted cream (which is churned by cherubs, I’m sure).

The shop is in Piccadilly, so if you find yourself stranded in one of the most demonic parts of town (after Oxford Street), escape the chaos and have a cuppa.


All images courtesy of http://www.fortnumandmason.com/


Oh, breaking news flash! They have just started selling their blend of London honey, which they make from the beehives they placed on the roof of the building. Now that is the ultimate chic souvenir.

You can catch up with latest London food news on my new blog, www.thenoshdiaries.com


The store is still at its address in Piccadilly, where it has been for the last 300 years:

181 Piccadilly
London
W1A 1ER
United Kingdom

Fashion's Night Out

September 8th, is Fashion's Night Out. Bit of a PR fabrication from the fashion houses, but could be good fun anyway. The event was created by US Vogue, and has been moved across the pond to benefit Kids Company, one of the coolest charities in the UK.

I'm looking forward to the Manolo Blahnik pop-up store at Liberty, my favourite place on earth. Yasmin Le Bon is said to do the honors.



Alice Dellal, the badass socialite, is playing a two-hour set at the Louis Vuitton flagship store, to be decorated with origami accessories created by artist Fiona Lee. Rupert Sanderson is having cha cha lessons, and Giorgio Armani is hosting a cocktail party (yawn).


Oh, and they'll be karaoke at Mullbery. Erdem, Christopher Kane and Martin Grant will be customise the Fashion’s Night Out charity T-shirts and tote bags at Harvey Nick's. And Artic Monkeys are playing a gig at Urban Outfitters.



So it's for charity and you can shop and not feel guilty for once. Free booze an added bonus, of course.

Images all courtesy of http://fashions-night-out.vogue.co.uk/, where you can find further info on the event, and a map of all the participating shops, except for Alice Dellal image, courtesy of http://www.dazeddigital.com/

London Markets 4 - Borough Market

There is also Borough market, but that is definitely a place where people go specifically to shop. For food, amazing, beautiful food of all types. Stalls of exotic fruit and veg, venison pies, fish and chips, olives, wine, quiches, really, you name it. It s open thursday, friday and saturday, at different times, so best to check the website: http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/



London Bridge has been a congregation stop for traders of grain, livestock and vegetables as far back as 1014. In the 13th century traders were relocated to what is now Borough High Street and a market has existed there ever since. Nowadays, this is a gourmet affair, within a big metallic structure, with stalls offering top ingredients and an with an attachment to local produce. They also host special events, and the website is packed with good recipes as well (quite handy if you get carried away buying something really odd and then have no idea what to do with it...)


Images courtesy of wwww.boroughmarket.com

Most stalls have samples to try, so do make sure you only eat AFTER making the rounds, if you have any room left in ya...

It’s quite close to the Tate Modern, so you can go have a bite and then go see the art, and do something useful with your time, you know?

London Markets 3 - Columbia Road Market

On Sundays, there is Columbia Road market (http://columbiaroad.info/), a beautiful flower market, which is sure to fill your heart with sunshine for the rest of the week. Or at least your house with freesias. Anyhow, it s still quite the same hipster crowd, maybe a bit more grown-up. It's on Columbia Road, also in East London, quite close to Old Street station. This is one of the few markets that runs on Sunday, because of the largely jewish population that used to inhabit the area.


Columbia Road Market

You can hang around the market, buy flowers of course, but also interior design, vintage fashion and specialist perfumes from Angela Flanders. For lunch, there is a lovely Sunday roast at “The Royal Oak”, which is one of the few pubs I know in London with good looking, non dorky, straight men. The roast isn’t half bad either. Book ahead, they’re always packed.


The Royal Oak

Or you can have a late brunch at Bistrotheque, near Mare Street, the bloody maries are ace and there’s a pianist playing pop tunes. The fare is “modern British”, with posh fish and chips and scrumptious eggs royale (eggs, bun, hollandaise, smoked salmon and a dollop of caviar). Wear Comme des Garcons and look artsy. You will most definitely need to book here too.


Bistrotheque

Addresses
Angela Flanders
96 Columbia Road
Shoreditch
London
E2 7QB
Tel: 0207 739 7555

The Royal Oak
73 Columbia Road
London E2 7RG
Tel: 020 7729 2220

Bistrotheque
23-27 Wadeson Street,
London, E2 9DR
Tel.020 8983 7900

London Markets 2 - Broadway Market

If you’re looking for something a bit edgier, then head to Broadway market in East London. Ugh, I hate to sound like a forty-five year old radio talk show host, but it’s “ hipster central”. Also held on Saturday, it’s a great ambiance (ugh, again), with musicians playing their instruments, people strolling around in their best “I just threw this on” ensembles, great organic farm products, and a little vintage
stall with goolljuss dresses , at twenty quid each. You can grab lunch at one of the pubs, the Cat and Mutton is particularly popular and draws a nice looking kind of crowd, or you can go sit in the park, drink a cider and bask in the intermittent sunshine.



Images courtesy of www.broadwaymarket.co.uk

Dalston Market is near by, in all its trashy, cool, and afro effervescence. For multicolored lash extensions, okra, and other basic necessities. It's a short walk from Broadway Market, just head to Dalston station and you're there.



If you’re feeling a bit more high-brow, head to Vyner Street (http://vynerstreet.wordpress.com/), with its hidden art galleries. A lot of the up and coming artists in London are on display here, and you are likely to get a much fresher perspective of London’s contemporary art scene than you would in the West’s more “establishment” joints. It's a close and lovely little walk along the Regent's Canal from Broadway Market.


Image courtesy of www.wilkinsongallery.com

Addresses

Cat & Mutton
76 Broadway Market
London, E8 4QJ

Best London Markets - Portobello

Markets in London are a full on social occasion, and not just a place to buy parsnips. The intimidating metropolis remains somewhat of a country maid. Now a sprawling, gritty and slightly intimidating metropolis, London was once, not so long ago, a jumble of small villages living in relative isolation. Londoners still enjoy remnants of village life. Boroughs are still, somehow, small towns of their own, and people tend to centre their whole life, social and otherwise, quite close to home. London’s many markets are an integral part of this tradition. People go to markets to shop, but mostly to hang out, really, to meet friends, and get wasted (it s England, it s always ultimately about getting wasted).

Perhaps the most famous London market, and certainly the touristiest, is Portobello, which was made famous by Notting Hill, you know, that perfectly lovely little romantic comedy which just about ruined that side of town (http://www.portobelloroad.co.uk/). The market is still a great way to spend a Saturday, with plenty of shops littered with kooky antiques, vintage clothes, and food stalls and restaurants. Though I always tend to eat at the Sausage and Mash under the bridge near Lancaster Gate, at the end of the market, but that’s just me and I have no imagination sometimes. I can’t resist the diner vibe, the myriad sausage options, and the creamy mash, in plain or leeky version. And then there’s sticky toffee pudding for desert, in all its buttery, “molassy” decadence. Enough carbs to make your eyes roll back in delight intheir sockets.

S& M at Portobello, image courtesy of www.http://www.sandmcafe.co.uk/portobello.php

But if you’re in Noting Hill and looking for top nosh, go to Assaggi, the Italian joint, undoubtedly some of the best grub in town. This is a truly elegant joint, with the finest ingredients this side of the Channel, beautiful, understated primi, lovely cuts of meat and fish, and delicate deserts. The ambiance is airy, classy and understated. The wine list is well stocked with Italian classics, and the waiting staff are a joy. The restaurant sits over a pub, so you can head down for a few extra drinks if you fancy. Do book ahead.

Addresses

Assaggi
39 Chepstow Place
London
W2 4TS
tel.: 02077925501

S&M Portobello
268 Portobello Road
London
W10 5TY
Telephone: 020 8968 8898
Email: portobello@sandmcafe.co.uk