Eatin' it Up in London

London, like New York, has an amazing food scene. But, like all good things, it didn't happen overnight. I remember going to London as a teenager with my mom and being completely devastated by the food choices. Bangers and mash? What the heck is that? Meat pies? Yuck. I think I survived on bread, butter, diet coke, and penguin bars for the entire stay. I eventually went back as an adult and found to my surprise things had changed for the better.

As with any trip I take, I spend hours doing food/restaurant research. After consulting my sources, I sent a list of places and ideas to one of my besty's (Erica) who lives in a darling flat in central London. Erica was celebrating her birthday while I was there so it was extremely important that the birthday girl pick a birthday meal. Aside from Erica's special meal, we hit many spots that I highly recommend!

Day 1: Tired but hungry!

Borough Market --> www.boroughmarket.org.uk

This is a foodie's paradise. I literally stepped into this market and my eyes were wide and my mouth was open. I was in heaven. The stalls lined little pathways that went left and right and revealed magical places. Neal's Dairy Yard is perhaps the best cheese shop ever. Upon arrival, a cheesemonger gave us a taste of a lovely mild blue. This was what they were pushing as their special cheese deal of the day. 20 lbs later, I walked out of Neal's with their Gloucester Cheddar, a Brit version of Manchego, the mild blue I tried upon arrival, and a lovely soft goat cheese that was very rich. After tasting the Gloucester Cheddar, I became hooked. So much so that another vendor was doing grilled cheese sandwiches with this cheese and I had to buy one! What a piggy! Erica and I hit a few more stalls for some fruit and vegetables before leaving this wonderful place.

Armed with all our goodies for later, we went to Mayfair and had tea at Claridge's. What a gorgeous hotel! Erica and I met up with another besty of mine who happens to be moving to London soon. Nancy, Erica, and I all had the champagne tea. Why the heck not?! We sipped our champers while feasting on lovely tea sandwiches -- egg, cucumber, chicken, & salmon-- and the best scones with clotted cream ever. Little did I know that you can actually ask the waiter for more tea sandwiches!

www.claridges.co.uk

Day 2: Birthday Girl's Lunch & Dinner

A bit weary in the head from all the wine and cheese from the night before, we headed out to lovely Hammersmith and went to the very famous River Cafe for lunch. Sitting on the banks of the Thames, this restaurant single handily brought good food to the UK. Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers are considered pioneers in the food world. Not only did they give the UK a food scene, they gave birth to talent like Jamie Oliver and April Bloomfield. All that said, the food was truly amazing. I started with the Antipasti di Verdure that featured red peppers, spinach, fennel, and tomato with a lovely basil EVOO accent. Nancy had a lovely mesclun mix with beans and Erica had the scallop special. Both were beautiful and absolutely delicious. Our entrees were even better. I had the handmade ravioli with pesto and a shower of Parmesan. Words can't describe how good this was! Both Nancy and Erica had the ribolita. We complimented our meals with the nicest Sauvignon blanc from Italy. Since it was a birthday meal, we indulged with a piece of flourless chocolate cake called the Chocolate Nemisis. This cake was served with a tart cream that was a very interesting contrast to the rich chocolate we all enjoyed.

www.rivercafe.co.uk

The Birthday Girl's Dinner was at a really swish gastropub called The Engineer. I can't take full credit for finding. I was tipped off by the lovely Gwyneth Paltrow whose blog, Goop, I read often. There was quite a few of us--Nancy, Rich, Nina, me, and the Birthday Girl-- at the dinner so I can't recall all the dishes. I can recall that I started with a nice bean soup and then had a lovely tortellini pasta with sundried tomatoes, olives, and pine nuts. Everything was really good and really affordable. Also, the pub is in a nice location in Primrose Hill. We drank several bottles of wine...I lost count at one point! But what dinner!

www.the-engineer.com

Day 3: Canary Wharf and the Proms

Oh how I love Canary Wharf. Lots of shops, restaurants, and good walking paths parallel to the Thames. Erica and I went out to Canary Wharf with our friend Nicki who was up from Brighton to see us. I was DEAD set on trying out Jamie Oliver's new place called Jamie's Italian. I had been to Fifteen the last time I was in London and loved it so I wanted to sample other Jamie restaurants. We had to wait about 30 mins for a table but that gave us an excuse to sip some Proseco on the terrace of the restaurant. Jamie's Italian reminded me of Otto for those of you familiar with Batali's pizza joint in NYC. Lots of cheeses, meats, pastas, and most importantly, a GREAT wine list. We started off with chickpea popcorn (crunchy fried chickpeas spiced with fennel and sweet paprika), assorted brushetta's (chargrilled sourdough bread served with creamed ricotta, rustic tomato salsa, smashed roast artichoke, rocket and Parmesan pesto), Parmesan with balsamic, mozzarella w/pesto, and rice balls filled with ricotta. We also ordered up a bread basket filled with focaccia, ciabatta, sourdough country bread, and grissini sticks. For our entrees (yes, we ate more), we all shared the pasta bolognese, the truffle tagliatelle, herb polenta, cheesy cauliflower,and balsamic marinated chickpeas. My favorite was the bolognese! Alas, no dessert for us!

www.jamieoliver.com

My last evening was a real treat. A gang of us headed to Hyde Park to attend the Proms put on by the BBC. Little did I know that Barry Manilow was performing!!!! How funny to see tons of Brits walking around with t-shirts saying " I Love Barry"!!!! It was hysterical. We all brought picnic food and set-up a blanket and put out all our goodies.

We feasted on leftover cheese from Neal's, delicious guacamole Nancy made, fresh bread and meat from Whole Foods, olives, and the nicest organic wine courtesy of Nina! We ended the night singing Rule, Britannia!

Bottom line: London is the best. If I wasn't such a die-hard East coaster (and a mamma's girl), I would live there. I love the civility of town. I love the way crowds gather inside pubs like mad. I love the oldness of the city. I love all the black cabs. I love bad British TV. Most of all, I can honestly say I love the food:)