Last Friday I had the most fabulous foodie day. My lovely brother lives in Notting Hill, so I combined a visit with a few foodie destinations. First stop was Ottolenghi for lunch. I’ve always wanted to go to Ottolenghi as Yotam is a real veggie hero these days and his food and cookbooks are just amazing. Actually eating his food surpassed any expectations – it was a truly awesome lunch, and the shop is simply stunning too. We shared a large salad box containing aubergine with green yogurt dressing, roasted carrots, roasted broccoli with chilli and garlic and wild rice with quinoa. All the dishes were packed full of fresh flavour and were a true delight to eat. And to think I would normally just grab a sandwich. We finished off with a shared vanilla cupcake which was as light as air and not tooth-achingly sweet at all. I’m certainly going back next time to try some of the other dishes, all of which looked tempting and delicious! It was a fabulous destination for a vegetarian, maybe even a vegan, but I doubt I would have been so impressed if it had to be dairy/egg/nut and sesame free.
Next, was a visit to The Spice Shop. Wow, this place smells amazing! I was in there for ages because of so much choice. The girl working there was extremely knowledgable and very helpful in helping me choose my chillis and spices. I opted for dried thyme (yum), huge and mild ancho chillis, kashmiri chillis, roasted and ground curry spices and ground cumin. Watch out for more spiced foods to come!!!
Next, a quick trip across the road on Blenheim Terrace brought me to the truly fabulous Books for Cooks. This shop is like a temple for any cookbook fanatic, it must be my favourite shop of all time! I must have been in there for at least 45 minutes, and I could have stayed for longer… It is the ultimate shop to browse in, and even serves lunches if you’d like to linger. I’ve never eaten there but my brother says it’s fabulous food (cooked from one of the cookbooks) at very reasonable prices.
I think I must already own most of their veggie cookbooks so came away with the original Ottolenghi Cookbook and the latest Fire and Knives magazine (a brilliant foodie read). Watch this space for Ottolenghi inspired dishes to come 🙂
Finally, it was a pitstop at the Coffee Plant which must sell some of the best coffee in London – miles and miles better than a Starbucks (although that isn’t hard).
It was a great day and lovely to see my brother but probably best I don’t live there – I reckon I’d spend a fortune!!
