Date Lunch: Sushi Samba

Before the arrival of Emilia this blog used to be full of things I like as well as reviews of Countries/cities I visited and places I had been to in London as well as abroad. The blog was all about my world. I suppose Emilia has now become a central part of my world, and that's why I mostly blog about her.

One of the very good things about having mum and grandmum here, among MANY others, is that Rob and I can do things that we usually wouldn't/couldn't do now that we have Emilia. So, before mum and nonna arrived we made a list of things that we wanted to do while they were here and have been taking advantage of their presence since day one! Today, Rob took me out for a date lunch. We talked about having a date night and originally, we planned to go to Locanda Locatelli. After seeing the Italy Unpacked series on tv, we fell in love with the chef Giorgio and thought it would be just lovely to try his Michelin star restaurant in London. However, a few days ago Rob had a meeting in the Heron Tower, one of the latest additions to the London skyline, and absolutely loved the roof top restaurant, Sushi Samba. So he booked a table for lunch, as it was impossible to find space for dinner. Needless to say, we loved it. We enjoyed getting ready and all dressed up (I even worn make-up today, which I NEVER do!), took a taxi and headed to the city.

The restaurant is located on the top floor of the Heron Tower, on the 40th floor. If you know me, you know that I don't particularly like lifts but this one was a glass lift and I absolutely enjoyed looking at the view - London is even more beautiful from the sky!

The menu was rather eclectic, an interesting combination of Japanese and Latin American dishes. However, our favourite things were definitely the Japanese nigiri and maki rolls - sorry, so conservative!

And after a sushi feast we opted for a refreshing (and crazy looking!) desert. Isn't it marvelous!? The yellow ball is made with sugar and was filled with lemon custard. Yum.

It was a lovely time for the two of us and we can't wait to do it again! Perhaps, next time we'll go in Summer and enjoy the bar in the outdoor terrace and its wonderful orange tree.

Wahaca and shopping

Yesterday Rob and I went to Westfield in Stratford to do some shopping. Around 11.15am we left the house with a list of things to buy and were on a mission to buy as many items on the list as possible. Yes, you guessed it right, mostly baby stuff, she is sucking all our energy and money already! 

Going to a mall is not what I would call one of our favourite pastimes, in fact, we rather hate it; however, it is convenient to shop in a place with lots of stores condensed in the same area. So, we went. Before getting wild shopping we checked The Street, the outdoor area where all the nice restaurants are, and after wandering a little we opted for Wahaca. We both fancied some good Mexican food and I had heard from friends that this was a nice place. The atmosphere is absolutely amazing, very cool, colourful and vibrant. It resembles the style of a Mexican market, where you can eat reasonably priced, fresh and tasty food.

It was our first time so everything on the menu sounded delicious. We finally opted to share black beans and cheese quesadillas and marinated chicken taquitos; we then each ordered chicken burritos. To drink, a deliciously fresh Citrus Frizz, with lime, mint and sparkling water. Everything was absolutely tasty. We definitely recommend this place and we will be back ourselves! 

Shopping with a full stomach is much easier. We weren't able to cross everything off the list but we bought some essentials, such as Avent binkis (it took us forever to choose what we thought may be the right ones...honestly, this is hard!),  nightgowns for the hospital, maternity nursing bras and a couple of big dresses for me (still not maternity, I try to avoid those!), some baby clothes and of course Sophie La Girafe, so highly recommended! Rob enjoyed some good shopping for himself too, mostly toiletries and underwear, but at least it wasn't just a day out for the girls!

We got home around 5.30pm and I was literally exhausted. I am not used to being out for so long anymore and everything tires me out. Unfortunately, I even had to take a paracetamol as I developed a bad headache. Thank God I am working from home this week!

Rob's Birthday

Today is a special day, Rob turns 38! It's the last birthday before he becomes a daddy, from next year we will be celebrating birthdays as a family. We are so excited!

For the occasion I took Rob out for dinner. There is a small restaurant very close to our flat where we have meant to go for a while. When we were in Queenstown, during the last leg of our wonderful honeymoon in New Zealand, one night we were dining at this fine restaurant and happened to be sitting next to a lovely British couple. We chatted for a bit and once they found out that we lived in Shad Thames in London they suggested a visit to this restaurant. I thought it was about time to try it and what better occasion than Rob's birthday. Magdalen is a real gem, the ambiance is very intimate and sophisticated and the food just delicious. 

I had a warm fennel soup with an amazing olive bread to start and then a very delicate veal with mixed radishes and vegetables. Rob opted for a salmon salad as appetiser and then braised lamb shoulder with white beans and the best potatoes I have had in a long time (of course I had to try them!). 

As I worked from home today, I used my lunch break to bake a chocolate birthday cake. 

Therefore, we didn't have dessert at the restaurant even if I was so tempted to try the French toast with strawberries and vanilla ice cream. Next time. As soon as we got home, we attacked the cake, which thankfully was very good and of course super chocolaty!

All in all we had a very nice evening. The celebrations, however, are not over. Tomorrow morning we finally have the 4D scan, it will be amazing to see baby O again! And I also bought tickets for this Saturday to see Wicked, it will be fun. A long birthday for a wonderful dad-to-be! Happy birthday my love!

La Porchetta

A Pizzeria in London I would definitely recommend. La Porchetta is a quite cool restaurant with five locations in London (we tried the Upper Street one) and is authentic Italian, but in a modern way, and not like a trattoria that you'd find in Little Italy. I love the chairs, the wallpaper and the artwork but more than anything else I loved the pizza! It was so very good, perhaps the best pizza I have had so far in London!

I'll go back!

The Brickhouse

I have been wanting to write a post about this place since the moment I booked a table; however, now that we have been, I am not quite sure I'll be able to write too many positive things about it.

To celebrate Rob's birthday I booked a table at The Brickhouse expecting a nice four-course meal and some good burlesque entertainment. After all these people have entertained the Arctic Monkeys! The Brickhouse is located in the ever so bustling Brick Lane; a welcoming red velvet curtain is the first thing you spot when you arrive and our taxi driver didn't fail to mention his excitement for "old style places", another word for brothels, I suspect. 

Inside the Brickhouse is anything but old style; minimalistic, black and white furniture and a very modern cocktail bar with a wide range of cocktails are there to make you feel at home. 

When I booked, I asked for a nice table, specifying that we were celebrating a birthday. They took my request quite literally and we were seated in the front row, right below the stage. This meant that Rob was quite the centre of attraction and touched and sung to from the performers. And I am not quite sure he liked that. 

The food was ok. Nothing amazing but fine. My favourite course was the appetiser; I chose a lovely chicory, walnut, stilton and pear salad. My main course, a broad bean, peas and mushroom risotto was acceptable but not great, while the pannacotta was a big disappointment. On a positive side, I really appreciated the rasberry palate cleanser and the cocktails were divine.

While dining we were entertained by Lady Beau Peep and The League of the Extraordinaire. While I enjoyed some parts of the show, I don't mind saying that this wasn't the best burlesque show I have been to. One part of the show even annoyed me, in fact, it bothered Rob too: one of the performers was dressed in a sado maso red mask and black latex trousers and was chained. I really don't like that kind of stuff and I couldn't see the connection with burlesque. Thankfully, his part didn't last long. 

Overall we had a pleasant night out and it was nice to dress up and celebrate Rob's birthday out. However, I am not sure I would recommend the Brickhouse to my friends. There are better similar places in town. 

Heading home I had a thought: how long do you think it would take to try every single restaurant in London? If only I had the time and money...

Machiavelli

Last week I tried Machiavelli for lunch with my friend Lucia and we both loved it. Machiavelli opened just a month ago in Long Acre, very close to my office, and I have been meaning to go since the day it opened.The interiors attracted my attention and I had a feeling that the food would be good too.

The cafe' is on two floors. We were seated downstairs in a lovely off-cream and very relaxing room. The food was simply delicious; we had a trio of bruschette and then we shared a mouth-watering prawn lasagna and a very good squid fregola pasta.

Machiavelli is certainly not a cheap option for lunch but I will definitely go again, perhaps for another girlie catch-up.

Date Night

Rob and I don't really have date nights but we appreciate going out for dinner from time to time and we realise how important it is to keep some sort of romanticism in the relationship. 

Last week Rob was away for work from Tuesday to Friday. On Wednesday evening I received a text from him that put me in a rather good mood. It said: Let's go out for dinner on Friday, wherever you want! So, I immediately went to consult my London file to look for the perfect spot. I chose Bistro K. We had never been there before but I trusted Glamour when it said that it is the best restaurant in town for privacy, just what we needed.

The French restaurant is in the heart of South Kensington, an area we don't go to very often. Housed within an Edwardian building, the decor throughout the restaurant is very clean and elegant making it a perfect venue for a relaxing dinner. As with every French restaurant, the menu was a bit difficult to decipher but both Rob and I managed to pick something good. I opted for the set menu (3 courses = £25) which I thought was a rather good deal. We both started with a lovely glass of champagne, we felt to celebrate! And then I had pumpkin voloute' followed by a delicious plaice accompanied with garlic risotto. Unfortunately, and this was a bit disappointing, the only thing that I didn't really enjoy was the dessert. A shame, since I always look forward to a nice dessert at the end of the meal. I had Prune and Armagnac Parfait, I ordered this without even knowing what it would be, exactly, My fault. Rob, instead, opted for pannacotta with rhubarb compote, a much better choice. 

However, even if my choice of dessert wasn't the best one, they immediately redeemed themselves when together with the bill, for Rob, they gave me a complimentary box of artisan chocolates. Such a lovely touch!

The Folly Bar

Tonight it was Girls Dinner Out. First of all, let me say, I love girls dinners out; I love hanging out with nice friends, having a drink, letting my hair down and chatting and chatting and chatting! We meet every first Tuesday of the month and we pick a different restaurant every time. It sounds like we have been doing this for ages while, in fact, we have just started. Tonight we celebrated our third girls dinner out and we could have not picked a better place. The Folly Bar, to put it simply, is just my cup of tea. The ambiance is amazing, a mixture of bohemian, shabby chic and modern all together. The venue is quite big and is furnished in a wonderful and quirky way, with a fantastic attention to detail. We were sitting at this very long picnic table with benches covered with bright pink cushions. The food was quite good too, I had a delicious lobster risotto but I want to go back to taste one of their burgers and fries, definitely fries, which they serve in terracotta vases. I will certainly go back.

One piece of advice: make sure you book a table as no matter how big this place is, it gets packed!

(Happy) Valentine's Day!

 {photo: Marks&Spencer Rose Cake}

So, this is the day many people love and many other people hate. I personally, and I am sure it doesn't sound as a surprise to you, love it! 

I have always celebrated Valentine's Day, way before I had a lover, as a sort of second birthday. I have always celebrated my *name day* with a cake and gifts and I have always been looking forward  to it. Not only my boyfriend, but also my parents, relatives and friends have always given me gifts and they still call me to wish me a happy day. So, to me, it's a wonderful day.

As anticipated in my previous post, Rob and I decided to treat each other to a lovely lunch at The River Restaurant at the Savoy this year and I am very glad we did it. It was the perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day. The Savoy really impressed me. From that understated entrance on The Strand, you would never imagine what beautiful world you'll find inside. The River Resaturant has been decorated with a very classy and modern decor, I loved the cream leather armchairs and the white orchids added a gorgeous extra touch. The service was outstanding and the food delicious. We both started with an asparagus and spinach soup, which was superb, and then Rob had fregola risotto with seafood and I had an amazing sea brass with potato pie and cucumber tagliatelle cooked in miso soup. I am still dreaming about this! 

I tried it and loved it. Can we go again, please?

Valentine's Weekend

It has been a quite busy week and I am so looking forward to a nice weekend of relaxation and fun. 

First on the agenda is the Wedding Show at Battersea Park. Rob will be all day at a rugby match with Andrew tomorrow so I have opted for a girlie day out with my friends Natalie, Emma and Steph and what better choice than a wedding show to keep us all wow and uh-oh! I am really looking forward to this. Emma got engaged a week after us, so it will be fun to share thoughts with her. And I know Natalie and Steph will be the perfect companions! I hope to get inspired and spot a lot of interesting ideas.

On Sunday Rob and I will be treating ourselves to a nice lunch at the Savoy River Restaurant as a Valentine's Day gift to each other. Revived as part of the Savoy’s grandiose restoration programme, the River Restaurant has been given a glamorous contemporary look. I am expecting a lot from this. Fingers crossed for some lovely weather to complement lunch.

 

And what are you up to? How are you celebrating Valentine's Day? 

A Tourist in London

I absolutely love acting as a tourist in London! Since I live here, I don't really get to experience all the wonderful hotels that the city has to offer, so every year I very much look forward to the end of January when Rob organises a big conference with his company and he always gets a room in the hotel they are staying. And usually, they pick very nice hotels. So far we spent the night at Claridges and the Radisson Mayfair, both very lovely options. This year they had picked the Intercontinental Park Lane and let me tell you, I was a bit disappointed. Of course I am not complaining, I didn't spend one penny to stay there but if I did, I think I would have been a bit upset. While the hall is quite welcoming and nice, with lovely chandeliers, nice sofa chairs and beautiful and modern flower arrangements everywhere,

the rooms are outdated to say the least. Mustard carpet and peach and cream striped wall-papers, thick yellow and red curtains, heavy furniture...seriously? It's nice to have a great entrance to welcome guests but it's even nicer if the upper floors and the rooms are lovely too!

Anyway, I had a very nice evening nontheless. My friend Elena joined me to the hotel at about 6.30pm, we chatted in the room for a little while and then we headed to Automat for dinner.

We kicked off with a yummy Cosmopolitan and then enjoyed some very good American food (i.e. Crab Cake with Guacamole as a starter and a great cheesburger with even better fries!). After dinner we went back to the hotel and enjoyed a cup of peppermint tea and talked and talked like only women can do! I felt on holiday for one evening and I truly enjoyed it!

Girls Night Out - Four O Nine

Last Tuesday was Girls Night Out for me and my lovely girlfriends and we had a superb time! My friend Natalie picked this very beautiful and romantic place in Clapham North and she could have not made a better choice! The atmosphere was absolutely magical and I really enjoyed the food as well. We sat at a long table since it was eleven of us but I'd like to go back with Rob to sit at one of those adorable round tables and try those super confortable chairs.

Four O Nine is the perfect venue for a special evening out and I would totally recommend it to all of you. Valentine's Day is on its way...

Once again, thank you London! I will never get bored with you!

Story Deli London

If I didn't live in London, I don't know what I would write about on this blog...

London gives me new material to write, and dream about every day. I don't make a note of everything I am attracted to as otherwise this blog would become a London tour guide, but sometimes I really cannot avoid to write a couple of lines about my old and new favourite spots in this amazing city.

Today I have finally been able to try Story Deli. I had seen this little beauty before but only today I had the chance to wander around Brick Lane and stop by to try one of their delicious pizzas. Story Deli is much more than just a pizzeria, it's also a lovely bakery and a wonderful shop where you can buy both organic products, such as oils and candles, and jewelry as well as home decorations.

I am sure it comes as no surprise to you that I absolutely loved this place! A place where you can eat and shop at the same time?! Who wouldn't love it? I was tempted to buy all sorts of things but one silver flower surely got my attention: a dry hydrangea covered with silver glitter, just amazing! Every table was adorned with a glass, milk bottle with one of these flowers inside; if only we had a nicer and bigger place to decorate, I would have totally bought a few!

And now to the pizza: I am Italian and I like my pizza to be good! And I can say, I truly enjoyed this pizza. I opted for a roast vegetables pizza, which turned out to be a very good choice. The pizza here is very (VERY!) thin and the toppings are somehow *different*. When I saw the menu I was a bit sceptical but I absolutely loved it! I would definitely recommend a visit!

Until my next discovery...

Weekend Highlights

Oh, I love beautiful weekends...they are so refreshing!

What have you been up to? Tell me...

Rob and I have had a lovely couple of days in gorgeous London. The weather has been quite nice and we have been wandering around the city enjoying the loveliness. If you live in London or are visiting or planning a trip soon, I have two nice places to recommend:

1) National Portrait Gallery Restaurant I have always been a big fan of the National Portrait Gallery, it is such a cute, little museum. But what I really love about that museum is the lovely restaurant on the 4th floor which offers breathtaking views over London. The food is also very good: I totally recommend the sweet potato and leek frittata, to die for!

2) Daylesford Organic is a group of cafe', restaurants and shops that specialise in organic, fresh, seasonal and local food. They have several stores in London; we picked the cafe' in Pimlico and went there for brunch with our friends Steph and Andrew and absolutely loved it! The decor is beautiful and so relaxing. White is the predominant colour: tables, benches, flowers, candles, glasses...everything is pure white. I fell in love with their candles but I had to resist to buy one since the smallest one was 15 GBP! A bit pricey! I was also tempted to buy their beautiful glasses but my other, more rational half made me realise that we don't really have space for new glasses, so I will have to wait until we move to a bigger space. They are on my list though, I won't forget! Before leaving we stopped at the bakery on the ground floor and bought two giant cookies for the trip back home, they were divine! We'll be back Daylesford!

Now I can start the new week, I am regenerated.

London: new to me, and already a fave!

I have said it before and I will say it again: I LOVE London! At least, this time of the year, I love it! I have been living in London for almost 6 years now and I think I have gone through all sorts of feelings for this city: excitement, fear, love, hate ... but, whatever the feeling, I cannot avoid to think that it is a very cool city and what I like about it is that after six years in this town, I still keep discovering new things about it that I love, it being a new park, a coffee shop, a colourful piazza, a gelato shop, a vintage shop or whatever else!

Two things I have discovered recently that have become already two favourite spots and that I would like to recommend to all of you:

1) Monmouth Coffee, perhaps the best coffee shop in London. I have only been to the shop in Covent Garden, which lucky me, is just a couple of minutes from my office, but they also have other two shops in Borough and Bermondsey, both very very close to where I live! The shop is simply beautiful but what is more important about this place is that the coffee tastes divine. Go try it for yourself!

2) Zucca restaurant. Zucca is a modern Italian restaurant that has recently opened in Bermondsey street, one of my favourite streets in London and conveniently just a few minutes from my flat ;) The interior is very neat, simple but sophisticated. The food is super good, everything we tried was to die for, especially the homemade focaccia. It was so good that I asked if I could buy it to take home! Unfortunately, they don't sell it at the moment, maybe in the near future...I will keep asking ;)

Circus - London

London will never bore me...

...on Friday night we went out with a couple of friends, Natalie and Dave. Natalie picked this VERY interesting place for the night. I was very intrigued, and so was Rob, quite obviously! Almost naked girls dancing on your table?? That sounds like his kinda place :)

From the outside, a simple black door in the middle of the small Endell street, you would never guessed what magical world is inside...Circus proved to be a very good choice for a Friday night out!

The performers were impressive! Beautiful and very talented women...

And despite what you may think, the performances were very tasteful with a spoon of witticism. I really really enjoyed it and would love to go back! Got a bit tipsy, but hey, that's part of the game :)

Oh London London, what else have you got in store for me??

USA trip

So, Rob and I have just got back from our annual trip to the States and as usual after a holiday, I am here to give you a report and offer some good tips!
Rob is originally from Baltimore, we therefore went there first and spent some good quality time with family and friends. We also had the opportunity to go to NYC for a couple of days and that was very nice.

I had been to New York before but I was really looking forward to this trip since Jen and Trent, two of Rob's best friends, were joining us for a double celebration of Rob and Jen's birthdays.
New York was really good, we did some shopping and ate at some very good resuarants. Among all, the one I was most impressed with is certainly The Spotted Pig, a little lovely place in the heart of Greenwich Village, definitely my cup of tea. The atmosphere there is simply beautiful and the food was really nice. I would recommend *Deviled Eggs*, they were mouth watering. We also tried the famous Del Frisco's, that didn't disappoint, The Coffe Shop and Megu. One interesting thing to tell you about Del Frisco's is that when we got back to our flat in London we found a little hand-written note from the waitress that served us there, thanking us for choosing them and hoping to see us soon. I thought that was super sweet and thoughtful! The waitresses at The Coffe Shop really were beautiful models and the presentation of the various dishes at Megu was superior.
Something else to mention about my culinary experience in NYC is definitely Magnolia bakery, the famous bakery from SATC and the Devil wears Prada. Rob and I bought two lovely cupcakes and slowly enjoyed them in the little park opposite the shop. It was a real treat!

Otherwise, we just walked around admiring the bustle and interesting architecture of the city.

Another highlight of this trip was a visit to St. Michael's, a little town on the Eastern shore of Maryland. Needless to say that I loved it: delicious seafood, small boutiques, cute cafe', fresh ice-cream shops, colourful wodden houses...what's not to like? Next time I want to go and spend at least a night in one of the fabulous inns for a total relax!

All in all it was a very nice trip. Now, it's just very difficult to go back to work...