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Musso and Frank Grill
In London, Christmas is the whole month of December. I see that now, from a distance. It’s about mulled wines on 2nd as much as it’s about turkey sandwiches late on 25th. A mince pie after every meal. The whole kit and caboodle. You only have to go outside to feel Christmas arrest your whole […]
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Mozza2Go
We are in LA for three months. If you’re on holiday, three months is a luxurious stretch, but if you’re living, it’s nothing. It’s one third of your friends’ innumerable pregnancies. One third of the time it takes to grow a human – a little or a lot depending on how you look at it. […]
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IN PRAISE OF: EGGS
“Julia, oblivious to it all, ordered oeufs mayonnaise and a beer… She ate hers euphorically, spreading the mayonnaise on the eggs, the baguette, anything that could hold it and lifting her head now and then to look around, smiling to the kids, who smiled sarcastically back. She was in France. She was at home.” – Amanda […]
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NUMARA BOS CIRRIK II, STOKE NEWINGTON HIGH STREET
Why do we all want a barista who knows our order? Is it because of Friends? Is this the other Friends legacy, after the feathered hair one? It is tragic, honestly. But then so are we. I moved out of Clapton at the end of last year, and despite now being eight months deep into […]
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SQIRL, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Sqirl is so famous to me I can barely believe I’m here. I always have a swell in my heart when I see the Hollywood sign and I haven’t seen her yet, but I feel the swell. The LAness of what I’m doing is too much. The day is on fire before it’s started. We have […]
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LA PIE TALES
1) Du-pars is where you want to eat a pie, with its brown leather, black and white tiles, and light that’s gold like pastry. But I’m in a hurry so, regrettably, it’s coconut pie to go or no coconut pie at all. Du-Pars asks me, impatiently: “Coconut cream or coconut custard?”. “What’s the difference?” (I […]
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CREAM CHEESE CAKE
This is a cream-coloured one-layer cream cheese sponge with cream-coloured cream cheese icing (sprayed with pink lustre). It is the cakiest cake I’ve ever known, and it’s the most delicious. I love it like it’s my friend. I love that in this raucous world, where 8,000 useless recipes are published every day, we found each […]
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PEANUT BUTTER PRETZEL MALT
Here I am several moons ago at Harbour House Café, looking delirious, stupid, alive. We’d driven along Pacific Coast Highway from Long Beach and we were on our way to Huntington Beach to sip Jamba Juices with surfers. It was probably about the time that London was going hell for leather on Americana. Everyone announcing things […]
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Ten things I’ve enjoyed in the vast chasm of time that has passed since I last wrote a blog
Almond granita with fingers of brioche, on repeat, in Siracusa. This coffee granita (so into smushed ice right now). Yogurtlu cop sis (practically weekly forever and ever at Numara Bos Cirrik on Stoke Newington High Street). Mum’s sticky toffee pudding. Crêpe suzette and Grand Marnier soufflé at Bistrot Paul Bert, my favourite restaurant in Paris/ the […]
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CUSTARD TART
I love it when a food trend happens and I’ve got its number. Like how blancmange is panna cotta and pound cake is just cake, and avocado chocolate mousse is a stain on humanity. I was looking for an American pie. Oh, pie. Great and round and proud and delicious, and less intimidating to live with than a layer cake […]