Gail’s Kitchen

I will be spending New Years in London with friends  and while I am in the city I hope to go check out Gail’s Kitchen.

Gail’s Kitchen is the new restaurant (November 21st) of Gail’s, a local London bakery that has been popping out beautiful breads and other baked goods since 2005 (there are numerous Gail’s bakery locations around the city).  Their restaurant will open next door to their bakery location in Bloomsbury.  I just love it when bakeries open restaurants.  You know the food is going to be good.

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Gail’s Kitchen created a short little video (posted on Vimeo) that caught my attention showing guests what’s in store at the restaurant.  I can’t wait to have a meal there!!  I just hope they are open when I am in town. Last time I visited London, my trip fell over Christmas and a lot of places were closed (understandably!).

Has anyone been here yet?

Holly Berry Love Morse Code

I hope you had a nice weekend. I still think I am getting over jet lag. For some reason, I still feel extremely sleep deprived and groggy in the mornings but I think by tomorrow, I will be fine.  It’s a good thing too as I am heading on my honeymoon later this week.

This weekend, the weather took a turn for the colder in Prague. It was hovering between 14-18 degrees and quite dreary with grey skies and rain.  The weather certainly did not make our weekly farmer’s market shop enjoyable.  Even though the sun came out on Sunday just before dinner, I felt like taking out a blanket and curling up in front of a movie all day Saturday.

Speaking of curling up, have you seen the colourful Love-Morse Code blankets from Holly Berry in the UK?

I love her woven blankets.  They are called Love blankets because her blankets spell “love” using the Morse-code.  Her blankets are woven in Scotland and would make a beautiful addition to a living room with a fireplace.  I am a sucker for wool, what can I say?

Photo Source: Holly Berry

Snog

It seems like there are always last minute changes to make when it comes to weddings.  A change in flowers, a change in spellings, a change in event order, a change in entertainment, and a change in dresses.  In my case, I changed dresses three times! 🙂  I hope all these changes work out in the end as we are 18 days away.

Last time I blogged about ice cream in London, I found a minimalist looking shop called Polka Gelato.  Today I wanted to switch gears from gelato to frozen yogurt and from minimalist chic interiors to something  fluorescent, fun, party, bright, wild and space-like.

Enter: Snog

Snog was the answer to a gap in the frozen yogurt market.  The team behind this shop vowed to bring a bit of the frozen yogurt goodness trend that continues to blossom all over the world to London. They did so in such a wonderful and colourful way thanks to the talented Cinimod Studio.  How could you not smile looking at retail space that looked like this (see below) and has adorable mushroom stools for seating?

The other thing about Snog is its name.  Snog means to kiss. Both the company website “Ifancyasnog.com” and its packaging plays right into the double entendre.

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They currently have several shops in the UK, the Middle East, Pakistan and Brazil and even have their own music playlist on their website.

Anyone need a snog at the Olympics?

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Here Are Some Other People Who Fancy A Snog:

1. The Telegraph:  Tried and Tested: Frozen Yogurt

2. Emma McQueen: Snogging is Good For You

3. The London Insider: Snog Frozen Yogurts

4. Dezeen: Snog Frozen Yogurt Shop by Cinimod Studio

Leon and Khoo

As someone who has had the opportunity to live in different countries, I can assure you that it pays to have friends all over the world.  I mean c’mon, how else are you supposed to grow your cookbook collection if don’t have people’s bookshelves to browse?  Yes, I suppose blogs and Amazon recommendations will suffice, but sometimes browsing a REAL bookshelf is more fun than a virtual one.

A friend of mine in Prague, who shares my interest in cooking/baking, has a great cookbook shelf.  The other evening while my fiance and her were discussing her new website/editorial/writing services that she is launching in London, I decided to occupy myself by browsing her cookbook collection.

The Leon mini restaurant empire (they have multiple locations in London) is premised on buying and cooking with local ingredients, good, wholesome, high quality ingredients, low GI foods, and food to statisfy a range of dietary preferences from vegan and vegetarian to omnivore and carnivore!  I am totally going to a Leon restaurant next time I am in London (hopefully before the end of 2012).

#1 Leon: Naturally Fast Food (Two cookbooks – book 1 (Amazon.co.uk has it, Amazon.com is currently sold out) + book 2 can be pre-ordered for September 2012)

Photo Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

#2 La Petite Cuisine A Paris by Rachel Khoo.   Rachel Khoo, the English born chef and writer who now lives and cooks in Paris.  Her cookbook, highlights her cooking, and experiences of moving to Paris, enrolling in a program at Le Cordon Bleu and cooking/showing how simple it is to make French food in her tiny kitchen.

Photo Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 

I am always interested in new cookbook recommendations.  If you have any, send them over by sending me a note in the comment section below.

Polka Gelato

I think I am in gelato withdraw from my mini-getaway in Vienna.  I kid you not, I ate gelato every day I was in Vienna and on one particular day, when it was 38 degrees and I went bike riding for three hours, I ate gelato twice in one day (and it was double-delicious). The gelato scene in Prague is decent.  There are a couple spots around town that make a good cone, such as Vanille on Namesti Miru, but most gelato shops are not conveniently located in my neighbourhood, so I often don’t indulge!

Polka Gelato in London (pictures below), looks fabulous.  Vonsung, the design firm behind this space certainly created a designer-ific interior.  Nothing like poured concrete says gelato!! The branding and logo is simple and bold and the black and white works so well to make the bright hand crafted artisan ice cream pop out of the case.

Photo Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Polka Gelato has three categories of ice cream: Gelato (matcha, vanilla, coffee, torrone, chilli chocolate….), sorbet (strawberry + balsamic, mojito, pink lemonade sherbert….) and super sonic (superfood based ice cream like goji berries, and pomegranate). In addition to ice cream based treats, they also carry ice pops, gelato cakes, ice cream to go (take home tubs) and light lunch.

Has anyone tried something from Polka lately? I’m sure this place will be rammed as the Olympics gets underway in the city.

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Even Monsters Have Stylish Supplies

Even monsters need their supplies too!

How sweet is the theme of this London based supplies/general store?  It’s been around since the 1800s and every inch of store’s consumer touch points (web + product) reflects the monster theme.

Hoxton Street Monster Supplies offers a variety of everyday home goods and edible sweets tweaked and branded for your average monster, ghost or ghoul.  I love it!  I want to buy jam that says “Old fashioned brain jam.”  Next time I am in London, I am totally visiting this place!

Fridge watch day 5: The fridge has been confirmed dead.  A new one is being ordered.  It is not healthy to live without a fridge.  That is what I have learned from this experience.

Photo Source 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6