Travel tips-Restaurant reviews-Recipes
When my son and I emerged from Coffee 091 on Wednesday morning after having some breakfast there, Jonathan remarked that it was ‘a little gem’. Coffee 091 opened a few weeks ago and has slowly come together from a temporary sign by the door to permanent sign above, and the inside looking more lived in […]
Read MoreIt was one of my lovely followers, Rotwein, who recently told me about a new pastéis de nata shop about to open in Covent Garden. When heading into Covent Garden yesterday afternoon to meet my friend Annie at Cinnamon Bazaar, I did a quick online check and it seemed Santa Nata hadn’t yet opened. But […]
Read MoreI’d heard mention of a good gelateria in nearby East Sheen but it was only when I was driving through there a few weeks ago, along the Upper Richmond Road, that I saw it was a branch of Gelatorino. Wow! What a delight to find a little slice – well maybe ‘scoop’ – of Turin […]
Read MoreI was meeting my friend Nicola in Islington to see The Writer at the Almeida Theatre; a play that has divided critics from those who 4* love it (Guardian and Telegraph) to The Times who 1* hated it. We tried to go with an open mind but unfortunately the further into the play we got, […]
Read MoreMy friend Kate was treating me to a late birthday lunch and we decided to meet in Debraggio in Richmond, where we’ve met before. We’re both Italophiles. Indeed, a few years ago we used to meet up once a week to practise our Italian and made a trip to Rome together. There’s been an Italian […]
Read MoreI love spending time in cafes – from morning coffee to maybe a snack lunch, and then when in Italy to enjoy an aperitivo early evening. The name cafe is pretty interchangeable with bar and most will sell you coffee or alcohol at any time. I especially like the wonderful historic cafes you find in […]
Read MoreOnce upon a time, about twenty-odd years ago, I used to pick my children up from school and for an occasional treat we would drive to Kew and have tea in The Original Maids of Honour tea rooms. Since I began the blog – nearly 7 years ago – we have been saying that ‘we […]
Read MoreMy Italian teacher Fabio comes fortnightly and for an hour we discuss what’s been going on in our (mainly my) world for the past two weeks. We talk food a lot. He’s been a loyal follower of my blog for as long as I’ve known him and like all my Italian friends knows a lot […]
Read MoreThe Italians know how to throw a party. Masaniello was opening its new branch in Surbiton this evening and an invitation to regulars and locals went out to join the party. I arrived soon after 6pm when it was due to begin and it was fairly quiet, but a warm welcome from owner/head chef Livio […]
Read MoreYou might say we didn’t need another Italian gelateria in Richmond because after all we have the wonderful Gelateria Danieli, widely acclaimed as one of the best in London, and then we have Rome’s most famous tiramisu available to us at Pompi. But then as someone who can’t spend a day in Italy without having […]
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