A perfect day in London’s West End- Nopi, Speakeasy coffee, Pitt Cue Bbq, Carnaby Street, Bob Bob Ricard

There’s nothing more frustrating when travelling than cherry picking three or four places you’d like to go and  then discovering they’re scattered across all sides of a city like stray mittens. Cue a day where you spend more time on public transport and battling with maps than actually seeing things.

There’s also nothing more frustrating that realising later that you were gallivanting through a neighborhood and missed out on one of its gems.

In the spirit of efficiency (and in the understanding that in the next few months London’s going to be host to a few more visitors than normal), here’s the first of a few posts on great things to eat, …

World’s Best (a crazy quest)

World’s Best (a crazy quest)

Last night in London lots of the world food glitterati crowded into the Guildhall to eat canapes and drink champagne and celebrate themselves.

It’s been referred to as the Golden Globes of Restaurants- perhaps for the questionable mechanics of the voting system (well explained by Cara here) but you can’t deny that the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant list has influence.

As tweeted by Rene Redzepi, chef of Noma, best restaurant for the past three years  on Saturday: “1204 people on the waiting list for this evening. Same day in 2008 (Monday 28th of april) 14 guests in all day.”

The awards have influence alright. On general bookings and on stray punters …

Brown lentils with parsley, mushrooms and peppers

Brown lentils. To be brutally honest, there isn’t a lot that’s sexy in those two words. Yet, to be fair, that’s not what a lentil is supposed to be. They’re sturdy and strong. They’re what you keep in the back of the cupboard in the event of nuclear winter or biblical weather. In this kitchen they’re most likely to be simmered with a ham hock into a soup best  consumed with a fork. Yet, continuing the spirit of getting enthusiastic (nay, evangelical even) about pulses, there has to be a way to sass these up. Adding  some lipstick to a pig  if you will. Drained out of a can, lentils can resemble shy pellets which …