Liking this American boy...

Call me a food snob (I've been called worse), but I never expected one of the best meals of my life to be in Miami. New York maybe. Or The French Laundry in the Napa Valley. But stumbling across Barton G The Restaurant made me one very happy lady indeed.

The girls and I hit Florida for sunbathing, Miami vice cocktails and general partying early in July. It was hot, hot, hot. We were perusing Time Out as to where to have dinner on Saturday night and found the recommendation for Barton G The Restaurant. It was the description of the shrimp popcorn that sold us. So we booked a table, dressed up to the nines and headed off into the sweltering Miami evening.

We arrive by taxi, sadly not by flash sports car, as many of the other clientele seem to do. The staff couldn't be sweeter, and as the garden a) looks beautiful and b) has air conditioning in the form of spray pumps, we opt to sit outside. Our menu is bought to us. On an i-pad. So cool!

The i-pad that is our menu for the evening. 

A civilised meal always starts with a cocktail. It's a known fact. And although Barton G serves 'normal' cocktails, we're in the mood for something different. So we have the nitrogen cocktails. And they are am-az-ing. The Buddhalicious is pear vodka, lychee and cranberry juice, with a nitrogenised popsicle (ice lolly in the UK!) of pear vodka. It is as delicious as it is potent. And it is served with a buddha on the side. What more could you want?

Buddhalicious, baby.

We then share a starter of shrimp popcorn - exactly as stated, it's popcorn, served in a retro cinema box, with the addition of breaded 'popcorn' shrimp. It's cute, quirky and delicious and we quickly devour the lot.

 While we are awaiting our main courses, we start to notice that very interesting things are happening at the table in front of us. Giant forks are appearing all over the place and we are fascinated. We enquire, and are told that the hen party at the table are having surf and turf, and it's served on a board with an enormous fork as the decoration. It all gets a bit Alice in Wonderland at this point as the cocktails start to take hold, and we notice that several tables are being served their food with the most fantastically presented plates. When ours arrive, we are not disappointed.

Giant forks for the surf and turf.

 I order the Lighthouse lobster because I love it and because it feels right, being so close to the ocean. Plus it's served with lobster creamed corn, lobster fritters and asparagus - just a few of my favourite things! I don't pay much attention to the 'lighthouse' element of the dish, until the lobster arrives. In a lighthouse.

 The thought and presentation that has gone into these dishes is just outstanding. Not only is the food sublime (more about that later) but the sheer imagination that has gone into creating the dishes and serving them at the table is incredible. 

Lighthouse lobster. 

The friendly waiter removes the shell from my lobster tail. 

My companions food arrives in an equally stunning fashion - though I think mine is the most impressive! Amy opts for the salt and pepper calamari, served with the most enormous salt shaker. 

Salting it up. 

More salt, anyone?

I steal a bit of the calamari and it lives up to expectations, soft on the inside (hand up, who hates rubbery squid?) and the salad is great - masses of coriander, my favourite herb, and beautifully fresh and zingy, dressed with lime and ginger. I also nab myself some of Sabine's dish of Blooming sea bass, steamed to perfection and served in a paper bag  to keep the fish perfect until the bag is cut open. Wonderful. The bass is also served with a riot of garden flowers, which leads to much debate about whether they are edible or not.

Sabine and the sea bass

So pretty! 

Back to me. I am eating the world's hugest lobster tail, cooked in butter and just perfect, fresh tasting, meaty, everything lobster should be. The croquettes are great, but the real star of the side dishes is the lobster creamed corn. It's the perfect accompaniment, sweet, creamy, and utterly moreish. I am in heaven. Writing this now, I am struggling to portray it without sounding like Anastasia Steele in 50 Shades of Grey describing an orgasm (and that is NOT a good thing). Needless to say, I stuff myself silly and can't finish it all, in fact I have to be told to STOP EATING, it's that good.

 We are asked if we want to see the desert menu. Despite the fact that I can barely move by this point, we have a look. The desserts look just as amazing as the rest of the menu, and I am particularly drawn to the Big Top Cotton Candy, but alas, can only manage a photo -  I am too full to eat another mouthful.

Declining a digestif, we ask for the bill and it is here I have a minor heart attack. The lobster was market price on the menu and has set me back $125. Ouch. The girls spend the rest of the holiday teasing me about how I spent so much money on a lobster, but it's good natured and quite frankly, it was worth every penny.

http://www.bartong.com/restaurants/

http://www.timeout.com/miami/restaurants-cafes/venue/1%3A2674/barton-g-the-restaurant

I finally get to Brixton Village

I am very good at making lists of places I want to go to eat. There is so much going on in London though, that actually getting to them is tricky. I had been meaning to go to Brixton Village, where on Thursday and Friday nights there is music and good food and general merriment. Had I actually got round to doing this? No. And then I picked up a copy of the Times one Saturday and lo and behold, in the magazine was a piece on the 'foodies favourite hangout', Brixton Market. Even the bloody Times had got there before me. So, off I went one Thursday night, with a hungry belly and the article ripped out of the magazine. The market is down a grotty road just past Brixton tube and I got told off by a big burly bouncer for attempting to walk in whilst smoking (yes, I know, filthy habit, bad for the tastebuds, will give up soon etc etc). First impressions, not good. But then we wondered around, saw how busy some of the food establishments were and the smell of the food made our bellies hungry. So, being the cheapskates that we are, we started off with some tacos for £1, from the very friendly chap manning the taco stall. Sadly, I can't give you his name or the name of his stall as his English wasn't up to much but go and seek him out and have a taco or two, he's very charming despite the language barrier.

The friendly taco man

Whetting our appetite

Having amiably ambled around for a bit, we settled on French and Grace for our supper. Mainly because they had seats outside, but also because we liked the look of what they were serving, with the added bonus of a vegetarian dish for the veggie, who I am covertly trying to convert back to meat, and who will indulge in the occasional lamb kebab when pissed.

The vegetarian.

Menus

The atmosphere

So, we settled in, eavesdropping the uber middle class conversation of the table next to us (well, even the Times has been here) and ordered up some beers and snacks.

I love wine served in a tumbler, like I'm in an old school Paris bistro. I'm easily pleased.

There's not a huge option of starters/snacks, but I'd rather that and they be top notch (as these were) than loads of mediocre dishes. Proper fat green olives and fried corn kept us happy while we awaited our main dish. It's all very relaxed and informal, people wondering by, wine to sup and even a band to keep us entertained.

Snacky treats

The evening's entertainment

And then our wraps arrived, big parcels of yumminess - soft,soft flatbread encasing grilled halloumi or spicy merguez sausage (or in my greedy case, both) with a hummus type sauce and crunchy slaw, dressed in something that we couldn't put our fingers, or rather tastebuds, on. Having played the guessing game of identify the individual flavours for a few minutes, we gave up, cheated, and asked the waitress. Nigella seeds. So there you have it. Warning: This is not first date food,  more like food for wrapping your gums around, getting sauce all over your face and dripping it from the bottom of the wrap all over you plate/self. But very, very tasty.

Halloumi flatbread 

Cheeky merguez sausage with halloumi flatbread. 

View inside the wrap! 

Suffice to say, after all that, we couldn't manage pudding, couldn't even think about it. We both rated Brixton Village highly and strolled off into the night, happily stuffed and making all sorts of promises to each other about going back every Thursday evening for dinner. And have we been back since? Don't be silly, of course we haven't. But we will. And soon.

http://brixtonmarket.net/info/market-cafes/

Lazy lady

I have a confession to make - I have been rubbish at posting blogs recently, and now have a backlog of writing, going back to early July. In my defence, and I know I tongue in cheek refer to myself as lazy in the title of this post, I have been working as a press officer in the Mayor's office during Games time, which involved lots of early starts, late finishes and, as you can imagine, mega hard work. I've also been out and about, exploring all that London has to offer during this 'summer like no other'. Anyway, enough excuses, I'm committed to getting back on it with the blog and so will be posting again over the next few days. Thank you for reading!

Fight for your rights.

The Spectator is currently an advert on trains into London. It reads "In 1952 a woman knew her place. In 2012, she's still there." At first, I thought this was some reference to the so-called 'glass ceiling' then I realised it was meant to refer to the Queen. God Bless you Ma'am, but I don't know may people (male or female) who'd want your job for love or money. And that ad got me thinking. Yes, women are so much better off in 2012 than we were in 1952. Women in 2012 go on holiday on their own, they go to the pub on their own. We earn our own money and we have free reign over our bodies.  We dress how we please and we please ourselves. To be fair,  I  consider myself a feminist (did that word even exist in the 1950's?) The word has been bandied around and used as an insult for a while. But women's rights still matter. 


 We may have never had it so good in the UK, on the first day of these Diamond Jubilee celebrations, but consider other parts of the world. In Afghanistan, there are peace talks which involve the Taliban. Is this peace at any price, and if so, is it worth it? President Obama recently said "We are better off when women are treated fairly and equally in every respect, whether it is the salary you earn or the health decisions that you make,". "Fight for your seat at the table, or better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table.". Mr Obama, does this only matter in the West? Are you really going to subject Afghan women again to a lack of education, a lack of medical care and a life of not being able to leave the house on their own. The coalition forces are desperate to get out of Afghanistan, seeing it as a war they can't win. But at what cost to the rights of women? "Men are fundamental and women are secondary," the Ulama Council said in a statement on Friday, according to a translation by the Afghanistan Analysts Network. President Hamid Karzai published the statement on his website. So what happens now? Do the Western powers pull out, having given the Taliban some form of power in the new Afghan government? At what cost to the women there? And will a million people march through the streets of London to protest against that? I would certainly. Watch this space. 

A meat-free Monday

Last night, I took my committed vegetarian friend, who sometimes lives with me, to Tibits in Heddon Street. Prior to her moving in and out of my flat (long story - not very exciting), I had always viewed vegetarians with something approaching disdain, and the food as a side dish to the main event of meat.

But I am prepared to concede that I was wrong (yes, it stings to say that). A few months of cooking veggie dishes has left me feeling fabulous and with a realisation that there's a lot more to vegetarian food than the dreaded tofu - which, to their eternal credit, I didn't see any of on the menu at Tibits.

Tibits have catered for corporate events that I have attended before, and the food has always been fresh and high quality. I was keen to see how this would translate in the restaurant. We arrived and the very lovely duty manager explained the concept to us - you are seated and peruse the menu, then are invited up to the buffet boat to make your selection of hot and cold foods, before paying by weight and ordering your beverage of choice at the bar.

The food boat

Because we are super greedy (and there's nowt wrong with that) we piled our plates high and hit the bar to order some cocktails. The food was fantastic, a real mix of flavours and tastes that dispels the myth that vegetarian food is boring. There was so much choice that we struggled, as did others around the food counter,  to decide between all the various dishes, including vegetable antipasto, Moroccan carrots, Asian glass noodle salad, karhai paneer and many others including pasta, falafel, quinoa and chickpea salads, quiche, pasta and healthy greens - a combination of sugar snap peas and edamame beans. All this, plus rice and bread for those who want to carb load. As you'll see from the pictures below, we didn't hold back.

The vegetarian piles her plate high.....

As do I.

Despite the fact that there was a mixture of hot and cold foods on the same plate (although you can choose two small plates should you be so fussy), all the flavours combined really well together, nothing was too spicy or too chilled and everything tasted sublime. A particular favourite of mine were the stuffed and deep fried jalapeno peppers, one of my all time loves and very, very good.

Stuffed jalapenos = one very happy me.

I've chosen and photographed a few of my favourite dishes below as these were the ones that really stood out for me. First up is the karhai paneer - a mildly spiced curry of paneer (take note - one million times better than tofu), vegetables and ginger. This was wonderful, warming, gentle spices and silky soft paneer cheese.

Karhai paneer

Another hit was the vegetable antipasto, which was proving popular with all the customers there, chunky vegetables, expertly cooked and dressed, exactly the sort of thing you'd find in kitchens across the Mediterranean. I think a lot of what puts people off eating vegetables is that we tend to overcook them and then serve them plain, but perfectly cooked and dressed, I reckon we could get everyone eating more vegetables!

Vegetable antipasto

And let's not forget the cocktails that we ordered at the bar. As it was a Monday we only had the one, but we definitely made the right choice - Indian summer (well, the sun did show its face in London yesterday) - Malibu, chopped coriander and mango lassi. Wow. Not too sweet, with quite a kick and the added addition of one of my favourite herbs (do other people have favourite herbs? Or am I just weird?). I'd go back for the cocktails alone!

Indian summer - here's hoping!

So, to sum up, the food was superb, the staff were friendly and helpful and the cocktail was great. If you are a vegetarian bored of being served the same old goats cheese and portobello mushroom combo that you get in most restaurants, or fancy a meat free feast, then Tibits is your place. Although I won't be giving up meat altogether, I think everyone could benefit from eating less meat (see the link to the meat free Mondays website below) for a variety of reasons and I'm converted to eating better vegetarian food on a regular basis. And for anyone who thinks vegetables aren't filling, I was stuffed by the end of the meal and I only had one, admittedly rather large, plate. Stuffed. As in so full, I was sleepy and content by the time I got home. I'll definitely be going back to Tibits (you can take away as well) and salute them for making vegetables and grains way more exciting than most people (including myself) thought possible.

http://www.tibits.co.uk

http://www.meatfreemondays.com/

'Twas the night before payday

..... and I had not a penny in my bank account. How, how do I always do this? I got home ravenous and had to raid the freezer and the cupboards to make an impromptu dinner, based on whatever was available. I didn't even have a bloody onion in the house. Fortunately, we always have loads of garlic. So, out of the freezer came the chicken livers and the frozen half tin of chopped tomatoes and into the frying pan went some olive oil and an abundance of chopped garlic.

"Ewwwwww" say several people when I mention chicken livers. But cooked properly they are divine, meaty, tender, full of flavour and very cheap - even an organic pack will only set you back around £2. 

So the garlic is happily softening away, filling the flat with that delicious smell. Into the pan go the frozen chopped tomatoes, some tomato puree, a large slug of red wine - yes, we have wine in the house, but no onions, typical - and plenty of salt and pepper. I also added some ready prepared chopped chilli, which we always seem to have in a jar in the fridge.  Let it bubble and then turn down and leave on a low heat. Put some pasta, that other store cupboard staple, on to cook, plenty of water plenty of salt. 

While the pasta is cooking away, chop the chicken livers into small pieces. (I sent the vegetarian who currently resides with me out of the kitchen at this point). Fry them until the outsides are brown over a high heat - about 2-3 minutes tops. Then add them to the tomato sauce and leave on the lowest heat. You only want the chicken livers to cook ever so slightly more, they should be still pink in the middle. Taste the sauce and see if it needs more seasoning. AT the last minute, throw in half a can of cooked canellini beans, or whatever beans you have in the house. 

Once the pasta has finished cooking, stir the sauce into it and serve. Simple, cheap and tasty. And I made enough for lunch the following day - proper austerity measures! Picture below: 

Fusili alla fegato

Welcome 2012 - doing what makes me happy.

Well, London welcomed in its Olympic Year in true style, those fireworks were just wonderful.

Picture courtesy of the Sunday Mirror! 

And now 2012 is upon us. Whilst we look forward, we also look back at the year that was. Those stories that make the news headlines always seem to contain tragedy - the earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan (and the subsequent tsunami in the latter); the Norwegian massacre; the London riots; the eurozone crisis. But 2011 also brought many good news stories - the Royal Wedding of William and Kate; the clean up campaign that followed London's riots; fledgling democracies in the Middle East

For me, 2011 was personally tumultuous, as I decided to end my long term (8 year) live in relationship. It's the main reason as to why I've been neglecting my blog for sometime. For anyone going through the same thing, keep your head held high, it's painful and horrid, but it will get better - that tired old cliche about time being a great healer really is true. The love and support of friends and family has also been incredible, and I salute you all.

So 2012 is the year I please myself. It's when I travel where I want to go, eat out where I want to eat, sleep with whomever I please and generally enjoy myself. It's the year that I take off on the round the world trip I've wanted to do since I was about 18, visiting 14 countries over 5 and half months. I will also be (trying to) concentrate more on my blog, documenting great food, fashion and what makes London such a wonderful place to live in - while I'm still here (I leave in October)!

Thank you to everyone who read my posts in 2011 and I hope you continue to do so in 2012. I wish you good health and every happiness.