My amazing foodie tour of London
I was lucky enough to head to England last week on my ‘Culinary Quickies’ book launch. I also met with a few of my students and friends that now live in the UK and we took over the beautiful library lounge at the Radisson Blu in Soho and had a little book signing to celebrate.
But with travelling comes eating, and as you know, the best way to discover a place is definitely through sampling the local food, markets and restaurants and see what the local trends are. A massive change for me was travelling not as a lowly back backer as I did through the UK as a 21 year old, but being fortunate enough to hit some of the best spots they had to offer.
One of the places I wanted to revisit was lovely Harrods. We all know that Harrods deserves it’s amazing reputation for being one of the most decadent and sublime stores in the world. The building itself is beautiful inside and out. Its floors were bustling with tourists hungry to soak up some of the ancient grandeur and sophistication that walking through it’s doors will immediately impress on you. Not only will you walk in the footsteps of kings and queens, princes and princesses, but all the celebrities that pass through those doors means that you might actually rub shoulders with one of them while shopping in store and no matter how adamant you are that of course that wouldn’t matter to you…wouldn’t it just be so much fun? But as a chef, as a passionate foodie, a trip through Harrods food halls will be an absolute delight for the senses. Catering to every taste, every culinary whim, every delectable morsel from every corner of the earth at your very fingertips, Harrods makes for a culinary adventure of epic proportions. Legend has it you can get any, and I mean any ingredient, you are after from Harrods. You’ll be sure to make delicious discoveries but beware…I managed to spend four hours walking around those gorgeous intoxicatingly blingy floors so it’s a time trap of epic proportions.
I really was impressed that their foodie offerings were fun, trendy and modern, with all of the old favourites too. Nothing old or lost in time here, very impressive that they themselves keep up with foodie trends.
I think that as the Queen of Culinary bling, they should let me teach cooking in those majestic beautiful food halls of theirs. Wouldn’t that be a dream come true.
Harrods Charcuterie
I was also luck enough to dine with friends at the funky and fun Zelman Meats in Soho. We had a fabulous meal there and the chefs were gracious enough to let a fellow chef (Moi) into the kitchen for a photo. Was very happy to see they had an Australian Wagyu on the menu as well as a Dirty Steak. A bit different to my dirty black beef, but obviously my sense of humour so was fun to meet them in the kitchen.
Some Australian Wagyu on the menu YAY!
Dirty Steak
Then on our last night of three in London we decided to visit one of the best reviewed Italian restaurants in our area and we weren’t disappointed. I loved the fun, open excitement of the kitchen at Bucca di Lupo. Although very compact, crazy at times, and a bit of a squeeze to sit at the counter and eat and order, the place was alive with fun and attitude and I was jealous of those who had the foresight to book while we simply did a walk in. The waiter we had was fabulous, and the food simple and authentic.
Our final morning in London was at the stunning Princi Italian Coffee Shop. I was so excited to discover some new Italian breads I had never heard of. First new love was Sfilatino with green olives, this salty, tacky, dense dough was salty and satisfying. And my second new love this amazing Schiacciata (Tuscan flat bread)…my new favourite thing.
Sfilatino with green olives
Schiacciata – Tuscan flat breads
Can’t wait for my next London trip, I have so many other little foodie tips for you, will be posting those soon!
Happy Cooking
Chef Mel