London: Fav Bakery- Konditor & Cook

I just got back from a work/vaca trip to London and on my time off, I had the chance to explore some of London’s best bakeries.

First up is Konditor & Cook, an amazing bakery that I visited in Borough Market.  Started by ‘Konditor’, Munich trained pastry chef, Gerhard Jenne, his Konditor & Cook has grown to six locations around central London.  You find everything savoury and sweet in this bakery from mince pies, and cakes to cinnamon stars and brownies, this spot has it all, and beautifully merchandised as well. 

I was there to grab some breakfast and sampled their muesli, a cinnamon star and a cookie. Delicious!

Inside Konditor & Cook

Window display

My favourite mince pies

kitchen italia

Kitchen Italia looks delicious.  They have 100 types of fresh, homemade pasta and check out the design of the place!  The wood is very soothing.  Kitchen Italia is meant to be cheap, plentiful and innovative when it comes to pasta dishes.  Currently there are two outposts in London, one in Westfield and the other in Covent Garden. 

via fluid foundation

via a212

via kitchen italia

cool espresso bar design

Tinderbox Espresso Bar in Islington, London first seen on We Heart, a great UK based lifestyle website that reports on everything cool and hip from a culture and design perspective.  They were spot on with Tinderbox.  It looks pretty cool if you ask me.  Look at the interior of this place put together by London-based Jonathan Clark Architecture!  I would love a space like this in Toronto for coffee, for meetings, for work and for fun.  A nice alternative to ubiquitous Starbucks.  The blogger behind Designing Lives said it right about this place that even if I didn’t need coffee, and I never do because I don’t drink the stuff, that Tinderbox Espresso Bar is a  place that is inviting enough that you would want to stop in and grab something.  Enjoy the shots below and your week.

via we heart

via we heart

via hipster collective

Transatlantic Floral: UK company Mcqueens

My goal is to keep this blog as international as possible by featuring people who excel at creating beautiful events around the world. 

Today I would like to highlight UK based flower designer/company: Mcqueens.  Kally Ellis set up the company in 1991 with a mission to provide clients with simple, stylish flowers.  Not only has she more than accomplished her goal for the Clerkenwell-based shop  run with the Italian-born florist Ercole Marconi, Mcqueens has a global following, and provides arrangements for the likes of Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Vanity Fair and the Tribeca Film Festival.  She has also expanded the company to offer an education component, Mcqueens Floristry School, stores, Mcqueens Flower Shop and the ever so lovely candles, McQ.

I find Mcqueens floral designs to be modern, bursting full of colour and elegant.  If you are lucky enough to reside in London, England and are in need of a florist- Mcqueens should definitately make your short list.

Enjoy some pictures:

Mcqueens Flower Shop (photo credit Mcqueens)

Mcqueens Focal Grouping of Flowers (photo credit Mcqueens)

Mcqueens Pink Hydraengea

Mcqueens Red Calla Lily and Rose Table (photo credit Mcqueens)

Mcqueens White Calla Lily Vase

Mcqueens Candle (photo credit Mcqueens)