A Million Meals in London…
This morning I woke to the sound of cocks crowing and the gas truck playing Beethoven. As Dorothy said, there’s no place like home, and after 2 months away, I’m finally back! But before I get too carried away with all things Brazilian, I thought I’d tie up a few of the loose ends from my time back in London. Depending on your viewpoint, think of this as food-gloating or a few recommendations for your next trip to London.
First of all there was the night out in fast-becoming-trendy Brixton Market.
Apparently there are loads of these stylised shop-fronts around Brixton market. As well as liking the images, I rather enjoyed the fact that Michael’s Meat is still displaying an “01” number. 01 numbers were phased out at the end of the 1980s..
We started off trying something new (well, new to me at least) – Sourdough Pizza at Franco Manca:
The original owner, Franco, started this place 22 years ago and did so well that he moved to Spain. They changed the name of the place to reflect this – Franco Manca is Italian for “Franco is missing”!
Emad, the manager, explained to me that they started making sourdough pizzas 3 years ago. Reviewers have been heaping praise on this place ever since.
The base makes or breaks a pizza, and although I think I’ll always prefer the thin and crispy variety, these were seriously good. The dough is slightly chewy (in a really good way) and has a delicious flavour.
Once my friends and I had polished off our pizzas, we move to the bar next door – Seven at Brixton:
We chose this place mainly because it was right next door to Franco Manca – after a whole pizza and more than a few glasses of wine, not having to walk far becomes a priority. But I’m glad we chose it as otherwise we wouldn’t have discovered…
…their cute little jam-jar tequila shot glasses! Nice touch right?
The next day, feeling more than a little worse for wear, a friend and I found ourselves in Farringdon, next to the legendary Smithfield Meat Market.
Smithfield Meat Market.
Of course by the time that we arrived, the market itself was closed, but nearby Smiths of Smithfield is a great place to blow away the cobwebs with a quality breakfast and a little hair of the dog.
As the hangover fades, the makings of a new one take shape!
A few days later I found myself with another old friend in another great restaurant:
During my two months in England, there were only 2 restaurants in which I ate more than once – The Anchor & Hope, near Waterloo Station, was one of them…
Asparagus, poached egg, creamy polenta. One of the reasons I went back for seconds.
(In case you’re wondering, the other place I went to more than once was an amazing pub/restaurant in Camberwell, south-east London, called The Crooked Well. Their salt & pepper squid and chateaubriand was probably the best starter-main combo I had in my entire trip.)
My final week in London was full of goodbye dinners. My sister and I went to Spuntino in Soho:
Apparently this place has a “Brooklyn vibe”, which makes it sound annoying and pretentious, but the food and drinks were amazing, and that’s what counts.
Grits with spicy sausage, pulled pork with apple, several amazing salads (we were sharing) and some delicious red wine meant that I had no room for dessert. However, I did have room for an Absinthe!
Absinthe done the right way. The teeny tap is gently twisted to allow the heavily iced water to drip down onto a sugar cube that is suspended above the fiery emerald liquor below. When the cloudy layer reaches the top, you close the tap, drink the absinthe and then try to behave. Way more fun than chocolate cake!
And so it was that my 2 months back in London drew to a close. My wallet grew lighter, the rest of me didn’t. This kind of good eating is a little harder to come by here in Rio, but I’m starting to think that it’s probably for my own good. A diet of rice, beans and early morning runs is almost certainly what the doctor would order.
I can’t resist leaving you with a shot of my final meal in London – tapas at Cigala in Holborn.
Jamon Bellota de Salamanca, Pimentas de padron, pastel de bacalao, chicken livers with caramelised onions cooked in sweet sherry, deep fried baby squid… Must. Stop. Drooling. On. Keyboard.
This is plain old, unapologetic, food porn. I’m wet. My mouth you perverts.
Hope you had a good time in London!
Alex
Yeah, guilty as charged. I’ve been hiding all these images on my laptop for a while now – I decided it was time to come out and share my dirty secret with the world… ;)
The absinthe looks evil, evil I say!
Love how, in front of The Anchor & Hope, a rope seems to be suspended halfway by one of the chairs unexisting fifth leg.
Franco was spotted, at Ford Road . . . ( I just had to go there, sorry, I promise it’s the last time) :-)
On a serious note a great and generous man died on this day: R.I.P Airton Senna.
Nice legacy in philanthropy as well.
http://senna.globo.com/institutoayrtonsenna/ingles/home/index.asp
Welcome back.
Ha ha, nice eye for detail there Gritty. One of my most momentous er, moments while in London was trying your namesake dish, Grits, for the first time while I was back. Not bad, not bad at all…
As for Old Ford Road, I got pretty close actually, dining at a Brazilian restaurant no more than 10 minutes walk away. When I suggested to my friends that we might go and knock on the door they told me I was on my own. Needless to say, I frango’d out.
I hadn’t realised it was the Ayrton anniversary. Did you see the recent documentary film (criminally overlooked by the oscar people)? It truly did him justice.
I enjoy grits as well (obviously).
They are simple to make too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofJ3v_a6UUE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXVb6APIvF4
That sure was a great documentary, about a great man.
Loved the posts from the UK, but can’t wait for more post from beautiful Brazil. Saudades!
Hi Brae! Thanks – it’s good to be back. I feel like I’m back in my element (i.e. confused, not sure what’s going on, curious to find out, etc.). Hoping to get back to regular posts, though I think my days of a post per day are probably gone for the foreseeable future :( Still, if I can find the time for 3-4 a week, that’s not so bad right? :)
You definitely will not lose me as a reader if you reduce your posts. Live life! No life = no or poor content :)
Ah, thanks Brae :)
“though I think my days of a post per day are probably gone for the foreseeable future”
I can get on board with that. It’s hard to guess how Alex will react to the news though: he can get quite upset when it comes to change.