Toast

No not the culinary treat of most saturday mornings (how good is english marmalade!), but in fact a australian/new zealand food festival that was on in London last weekend.

Lovely setting in Regents Park with a gorgeous summer day (I've now had about 3 months of very good weather, it really isn't that bad here, everyone is making it up) - loads of stalls for demos, wine tastings, travel etc. We didn't get into any wine sessions unfortunately (only started to try towards the end of the day) but they looked pretty well set up!

With £10 of food vouchers included in entry (quite steep at £35 but a friend from work had a 2-4-1 which made it okay), it made Michelin-starred food much more accessible! The som tham from nahm was very yummy, as was a baked cod with tamarind paste, and the strawberry bellini from the ledbury was delish! Now have three restaurants on my list of 'must visits' - nahm, the ledbury and pied a terre.

Also saw bill granger (his name looks wrong with capitals in it) do a demonstration of how to make braised chicken, chickpea salad and vanilla panacotta. When he asked who missed the ricotta hotcakes and corn fritters, it was definitely me! And he was talking about Martin Boetz (of Longrain fame) - making me miss the scene back in Sydney! Got him to sign a copy of his book and took a photo with him at the end which had me beaming - awesome meeting one of your heroes in the flesh unexpectedly :)

The som tham demonstration was quite good too - it was the end of a hot day so chef David Thompson was a little quieter than I think he would usually be. But he has an acid wit which I loved - an American in the front row asked if he shouldn't be using brown rice instead of sticky rice for the salad and he quipped that if brown vs white rice was going to make such a big difference in her diet, it must be pretty dire :)

Anyway, it was a good day out :)

A shoutout

This is what I wanted my blog to look like - not sure if I'll ever achieve it but it is quite possibly the most beautiful blog I've ever seen!! I'm using it as an inspiration for this weekends trip to Salzburg.

http://www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2006/05/08/salzburg-mozart-and-beyond/

Carluccio's

Trish owes me some photos from this restaurant, one that I'd been meaning to try for 2 months. Admittedly it is a chain (so many places in London are) but it is good quality, reasonably priced Italian in a pleasant setting both times I've been (once in St Johns Wood and once at Bicester Village).

The calamari was spot-on perfect (not too chewy or mushy, lightly fried), decent olives and salada mista. We're working our way through the mains, both the penne ligunica and spaghetti ala vongole were very tasty indeed .. and as for dessert, their bitter chocolate gelato is still the best so far!

It often feels like cheating eating out at Italian (when it is so easy to make yourself) but it's a guaranteed crowd pleaser .. even if Italy did steal the World Cup from us.

The Giraffe at South Bank

Where: Belvedere Rd, Royal Festival Hall, Riverside Level 1, SE1 8XX
Website: www.giraffe.net

George suggested this place for Saturday brunch, and it was lovely. It's right on the river, part of the Royal Festival Hall and has a nice outdoor section for sunny weekends! The brunch menu was decent and very reasonably priced (nothing over 10 pounds) with the usuals of eggs, pancakes, muesli - everything we had was yummy (not bills-quality but decent and good value!)

Tyler said this is usually overrun with families with children, and it is marketed as being family friendly, but the day I was there I didn't notice any little tykes running around, not that it would have mattered much :)

London Borough Markets

Where: 8 Southwark St SE1 1TL
Web: www.boroughmarket.org.uk

I'd heard lots about these markets from Ando and Pam but it wasn't until last Friday that I finally checked them out. What a foodie haven! Fresh coffee, loads of produce with plenty of yummy cheeses, cakes, sausages and fresh veggies, they're open on Fridays and Saturdays and only 2 stops on the tube from work!

Anthony and I found an oyster bar and spent an afternoon just sitting there drinking a bottle of muscadet and eating a dozen oysters - pure heaven! Definitely a must do for every weekend I'm in London from now on I think :)