Amedama on the Go Go

Theo Randall

Late in 2006, Theo Randall opened his own restaurant in the Intercontinental and aptly named it - Theo Randall.  If you haven't heard of him before he was head chef at River Cafe (Fay Maschler says 10 years, Jay Rayner says he was there for 15 years, I'm too lazy to find out which one is right.  Suffice it to say, he played a big part in the continued success of that restaurant).  He also spent a year in the kitchen at Chez Panisse and his cooking is very much along the River Cafe/Chez Panisse vein.  This meant that I had high expectations for the food at his new place and I wasn't disappointed.

Heal's

I have a love hate relationship with Heal's.  A lot of their stuff is blah (design-wise) and overpriced.  What you can find there you are likely to find a better version of for a cheaper price somewhere else.  However, their place as a high street market leader in the UK means that they sometimes do knock offs of high design items at respectable prices and their ability to move stock at high volume means, there's usually something new to discover at the large Tottenham Court branch. 

And that is how I originally stumbled across the bed in the photo above just a little under a year ago.

Goodies

I am a big fan of St John Bread and Wine.  I love the casual atmosphere and the serious attention to produce and quality of product at this offshoot of St John in Smithfield.

Bread and Wine is located in Spitalfield (East London) and is on my regular rotation of restaurants I frequent.  They never fail to bring what is in season and best about UK terroir to the table. 

But my reason for writing about them today is not the well hung game, or their unbelievably delicious vegetables and salads, or even the interesting cuts or breeds of meat they regularly put on the menu.  It's the bakery.  I'll often stop by to pick up a loaf of sourdough or perhaps an eccles cake with lancashire cheese and a seed cake to take home and enjoy.  They also usually have various other baked goods and yesterday I saw, for the first time, custard cream donuts.  I should have taken a picture of it because one glance at the sugar coated puff ball with custard oozing out the side screamed luscious.  But it didn't even make it home.  Mr M and I devoured it in the car. 

The donut itself is perfect, not too dense but definitely substantial.  And the cream is rather heavenly.  Pale yellow, generously flecked with vanilla, thick and absolutely lovely.  Together, the combination is extraordinary.  What every custard cream donut wishes it could be.

I can't promise you that they'll have baked more today... but you can take a chance if you are anywhere near East London.  Even if they don't have these scrumptious donuts, they always have other goodies to choose from.  Just walk up to the window in the back of the dining room and choose from the selection they have laid out.  I think, not knowing what freshly baked surprise might be waiting for you is half the fun.  I just can't be responsible if stopping at this place becomes as much a habit for you as it is for me.

St John Bread and Wine 94-96 Commercial Street London,  +44 (0) 20 7251 0848 

Groom

Mr. M left this past Friday evening for this place

Which left me alone in London on a rare weekend when I had no plans of my own.  A very dangerous situation to be in because I am most likely to go shopping.

Snowy London

Its snowed overnight here in London!  It hardly ever snows enough here to actually stay white.  It probably won't last very long but when I got up this morning and looked out the back window my garden looked lovely under a layer of snow. 

It would have been a better picture if I actually went outside but I didn't want to face the cold so this was taken through the window.  Its too bad for the flowers though.  My autumn/winter cherry blossom tree was covered in blossoms and that tree in the back had just begun to bloom tiny deep pink flowers.  I wonder if they'll flower again after the snow has gone.

Condors at Sadler Wells

I obviously haven't been paying enough attention to what's going on right here in London because the Condors are dancing at the Lillian Bayless Theatre tonight, Saturday, and Sunday and I didn't have a clue.  They sell out within minutes when performing in Tokyo but there are still some decent tickets left.  Click here.

Lash Extensions

For a little over a year now I've been hearing about eyelash extensions.  First just as rumours from friends that live in Asia (It turns out that I am not the only Asian woman to be fixated with lash products.  Apparently, most of us share the curse of shorter - sparser- stick straight lashes - that gives us the lash envy- that spawns the fixation).  Then this blogger went into detail with her experience.

Bring it on!

I just got back to London yesterday and 2007 has gotten off to a whirlwind of activity.  I have a backlog of things to blog about from the first week - wonderful gampoongi and yang jiang pi (I know, I've spelled both of those wrong, if someone Korean would be kind enough to tell me how to spell these dishes, I'll correct it) from Great Seas in Chicago, my first thoughts on eyelash extensions, and snowboarding at Beaver Creek and Vail, Colorado.  I promise to get those up this week.

Mr M and I had 24 hours at home in London before he took the train to Paris this morning.  He says its rainy and windy there too.  But we did make the most of our 24 hours at home by maniacally unpacking and sorting through all the laundry from our two weeks away and then having Amber Scott come over to give us massages.

One day to Christmas 2006

Happy Christmas Eve and a Very Merry Christmas from London

(giant snowman at West India Quay, London)

Perhaps if you were very good in 2006, Santa will bring you something from Bond street

(Tiffany's window, Bond Street, London)

(Asprey's windows, Bond Street, London)

I'm not expecting anything from Bond Street but really, if you have friends , family, or a loving partner to spend Christmas with, there's not much that can compare with that. 

Happy Christmas.

Beard Papa's Update

Beard Papa's is on the Southeast corner of Oxford and Berwick streets.  They had run out of filled chou cremes when I arrived so they freshly filled, weighed, packed, and then handed me my box of five.  On immediate bite the chou pastry was a bit dry and I thought that these little parcels of deliciousness could do with some sitting around so that the cream had time to soften the inner pastry.

I was right, its a few hours from when I first bought the chou cremes and they are now perfect.  And its a good thing I went to check because I walked into the kitchen to find that Mr. M has been busy inspecting the pastries.  I had to grab one before the rest disappeared.