I stayed over at Annie and Jerry’s in north London after the wonderful meal at The Cinnamon Kitchen last Wednesday and the next morning they took me for breakfast in a wonderful deli, just round the corner from them, which Annie had talked to me about before and thought it was just the kind of place a Single Gourmet Traveller should check out. At this time of year, full of sparkling Christmas goodies, The De Beauvoir Deli it a bit like a magical Santa’s grotto – specialising in food of course rather than toys!

We sat down to excellent coffee and pain aux raisins and I couldn’t help being distracted by the shelves and shelves piled high with top-quality groceries. They stock both Union and Monmouth coffee, Montezuma’s chocolates; lovely home-made individual quiches, a good selection of great-looking bread – and even some very beautiful bouquets of flowers. I was sure that anything deli-wise that you could possibly want would be there; it reminded me of some of the delis I’ve seen in New York and Boston.

They source locally from small producers  – cakes and pastries, jams and sauces and have organic fruit and vegetables. You can drop in for breakfast, coffee, a light lunch or buy a ready-made meal to take away. With Christmas near there are lots of wonderful gifts here for your foodie friends and family and also a selection of hampers.

The De Beauvoir Deli is a fabulous place to have round the corner … but it’s also worth a detour if you’re in north London and want to buy some great food.