Full disclosure: this meal was a total and utter freebie, hands up. I'd never heard of Soho Joe, the family-run pizza restaurant on Dean Street, but I was invited to visit their new sister restaurant Cookhouse Joe on Berwick Street, and the promise of a combination of Lebanese dishes and rotisserie chicken enticed me.
My favourite foodie moments and other random musings from the last week (or so!)...
1. I believe that this is what is known in the industry as "the money shot" (I'm not saying which industry...!) Get your ass down to FishDog's truck at Brockley Market on Saturdays or the Red Market on Fridays to wrap your lips around these bad boy "dognuts", served alongside their sexed-up fish finger sarnies. These hot dognuts are crispy on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside, coated in sweet cinnamon sugar and smothered in salted caramel sauce for an added treat...just like all the best bad boys...!
Not since Elvis was jiving in his blue suede shoes has the humble burger been such a phenomenon.
In London right now it feels like a new diner opens almost every week, promising a beef and bread combo that's bigger, better and dirtier (!) than ever before. Needless to say, with so many options on the table there's a danger of worshipping false idols, and it's hard to know where to begin on the quest for sensory enlightenment.
Crowned King of kings at Burger Monday's latest #LondonBurgerBash, Joe Grossman's Patty & Bun has certainly generated the most evangelistic response from the masses. Disciples flock to this tiny restaurant in a constant stream, waiting with the rest of the outdoor congregation until they can enter the shrine and be charmed by the infamous Ari Gold, or experience a whole new level of foodporn courtesy of the Ron Jeremy special.
Having harked on for months about taking a trip to Patty & Bun, I decided it was time to discover for myself whether Joe really is the messiah, or just a very naughty boy...
Shrove Tuesday is just a few days away, so food bloggers across Britain are currently racing to toss their recipe for the perfect pancakes to the top of the stack.
Personally, I'm a sucker for pancakes at any time of year. In fact, they were the subject of my first ever post...which I confess was far shorter and sweeter than those you're now accustomed to reading here!
December has arrived, which means the countdown has begun…no, not for Christmas, but for the end of #Project366! It’s been a long 11 months so far in my challenge to capture a food-related photograph every day for a year, so you can expect plenty of festive cheer as I focus my attention on the finish line. Here’s one last look at the end of November’s edible delights…
Day #330 – A belated Thanksgiving feast with American friends being kick-started with a fizzy cranberry and champagne cocktail. Check out the inspired use of seasonal vegetables for stylish table decorations and an excellent recreation of Shutterbean’s roasted rosemary almonds
It's been just over a year now since I started recording my favourite food experiences online. As a naturally sociable person, I'd assumed it would be easy to put down onto paper the pride I feel after successfully cooking a new recipe and my enthusiasm for top-quality produce.
However, it turns out that I'm not the wordsmith I thought I was, and that blogging is yet another part of my life where a lot of hard work and determination is required in order to succeed. I've now realised that I need to stop feeling so anxious and pressured to make every sentence fitting of a literary masterpiece, and just focus on the personal satisfaction that comes from publishing a post for anyone in the world to enjoy.
One person who understands the complex emotions involved in blogging and has always inspired me to continue is Joy Wilson, aka Joy the Baker.
I don’t have any children, but I wouldn’t blame you for mistaking me for a parent if you saw me interacting with my boyfriend in our little flat.
What is it about living with your beloved that makes a young woman suddenly morph into a mother?! Despite never previously having a particular appetite for cleaning, its feels like my life is becoming a constant cycle of washing dishes, airing clothes and tidying things away…just rinsed and repeated as required on a daily basis.
Please don’t get me wrong – I think my man is truly amazing, constantly inspiring and I wouldn’t ever want to swap him. But I do find it equally incredible that someone so hugely talented and intelligent can lose his keys within five minutes of entering our home, and appears incapable of eating a meal without spilling some of it down himself.
Before I devote my full attention on this blog to the gastronomic wonders of 2012, I thought I’d spend a few moments looking back at some of the palatable independent produce that has caught my eye since moving to the “big smoke” during the summer.
Each of these foodie finds are so outstanding that they really deserve an article from me dedicated solely to their own deliciousness (and I know you’ll find rave reviews from journalists and bloggers alike if you Google any one of their names) but as I recently confessed, a combination of time and timidity limited my writing rate in 2011. However, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spread the word on the culinary creations that have prevented my hunger pangs over the last few months, and that I predict to be even more successful in 2012!
