I don’t get it, I really don’t. Some people still think that London has lousy food. London has fabulous food. The city has seen an intense food revolution in the last 15 years or so, and cooks like Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay are stars here because of what they’ve accomplished there.
You can now find superb food of every tradition, nationality, and ethnicity in London; food that reflects every new trend, political movement, and neurotic eccentricity; food at any and every price…for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
So I was stunned the other day when I said to my friend Craig that I was going write a column on the best sandwiches in London, and he said, “There are no good sandwiches in London.” This from a man who grew up there and has only lived here for 12 years!!!
So here is the first part of my rebuttal to Craig, a man who’s clearly eaten one too many meals from a movie catering truck. And yet he might feel at home…given that you must order all of these standing outside on a line.
Spring break senior year, two months before I graduate from NYU is not
exactly a vacation even though I went to London to visit my Dad. It’s
more like preparation for my final senior project, a focused study
amalgamating EVERYTHING I’ve learned up ‘til now, split up by small
breaks of art, shopping, and of course, food. Basically, stress oozed
out of every pore the entire ten days. I tried doing yoga; I tried
going for runs; I tried a few breathing exercises, and sure, all of
that helped, but there’s really only one thing that hit the spot: chain
restaurants.
This lively bar and restaurant is situated in the towering Lancaster London Hotel opposite Hyde Park and is a ideal spot to enjoy modern European cuisine served with panache by a friendly staff who have been trained well in the art of taking care of their patrons as well as being knowledgeable about the dishes they are serving and wines they are pouring.
It may have started with the London cabbies, but the city’s new skyscrapers all have affectionate but cheeky nicknames: Can of Ham, Cheesegrater, Gherkin, Walkie-Talkie, and the Shard to name a few… They are all easy to spot; their height and outrageous design makes them obvious. It is said that the Walkie-Talkie has created scary wind patterns with its Downdraught Effect and worse, “A Death Ray” as one report called it “channeling the sun in its concave façade to temperatures capable of melting cars!” YIKES! All in all, 230 such towers are in the planning. Wow!
One thing I sadly miss living on the west coast of the USA are the Atlantic sea offerings in all their glorious whiteness and taste. So when I returned to London in September I set out to eat as much fish as I could. This led me to the