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.

Photo Sources: 1, 2 

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?

View Snog Frozen Yogurt London in a larger map

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

Simply Chocolate

Happy Monday.  I am happy to report that I had a very productive weekend.  I put the finishing touches on my wedding flowers which were inspired by the ombre flowers from a birthday shoot posted on My Sweet & Saucy‘s blog, worked with my graphic designer on the wedding program, attended a fabulous dinner party and made the Raw Pad Thai salad from My New Roots, to accompany some pan seared salmon among other tasks that aren’t as exciting as the ones I mentioned.

I hope the title of my blog post tells you what I feel like eating today.  I don’t know what it is, but I have an insatiable craving for chocolate.  I thought I would visually represent my craving with an interesting looking chocolate company in Denmark.  Simply Chocolate is an “unpretentious” chocolate company in Copenhagen with witty package and creative in-store design.

Their chocolate has funny sayings on their packages such as “Oral Satisfaction Inside,” or “Grainy Gill,” “Minty Cindy,” “The Cream Team,” and “Undercover Goji.”  Anyone of these chocolates from Simply Chocolate would have done the trick today.

Photo Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 

In other exciting news, I am almost ready to reveal the project I have been working on for the past four months.  It is a digital magazine on entertaining at home.  I’ve taken a global approach to the topics and can’t wait to hear what you think.

Lunch at Chateau Mcely

Before moving to Europe, lunch was neither a meal I would look forward to nor a meal that could last a couple of hours.  Maybe it is a Canadian thing but we don’t do long lunches.  I can eat a sandwich and salad in under 30 minutes and continue on with my day.  Not here.  I am slowly learning that long lunches are celebrated around Europe.  Long, leisurely lunches are certainly not a weekly occurrence in my life but a couple weekends ago,  some friends and I decided to dress up, and venture out of the city for a special dining experience: Lunch at Chateau Mcely.

I had afternoon tea at Chateau Mcely once before and after such a positive experience, I was curious about their non-sugary fare.  My guests and I each ordered a starter and a main (no, all the food you just looked at was not just for me!) and the consensus was that everyone enjoyed their meals.  The service was a bit slow and overly formal, however we were at a “Chateau” so I guess formal service is expected.  I ordered the carrot and sweet potato soup and fish that was sliced in half and “filled” with roasted root vegetables (see photo above)- both were fresh, flavourful and light.

Our meal + mini road trip was a really nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  If you haven’t done something like this before, I would highly recommend it.  In some cases, long lunches beat long dinners.

Shakshuka @ Neni

When asked what food I miss most in Toronto, it is usually a toss up between Chinese food and Israeli/Middle Eastern food.  For that reason, I made a beeline to  Neni, the hip Israeli cafe located in Vienna’s Naschmarkt.  I went not once for breakfast at Neni that week but twice! It also helped that the hotel I was staying at was only four blocks away from Naschmarkt, so it was a quick walk over.

Neni is a chic Israeli cafe furnished with light wood tables, modern industrial furniture and no walls, which gives it a nice outdoor cafe feel. For my first breakfast I ordered their Shakshuka.  It was spicy, flavourful, messy and everything Shakshuka should be.  It came with a bag of pitas packed into a cute cloth bag. The pita, is a necessary accompaniment to sop up all the gooey egg yolk and tomato sauce you can’t get on your fork.

The second day I sampled the muesli which was decent but not the best I’ve tasted.  I would stick to the Israeli food here!  After eating my somewhat disappointing yogurt and oats, I wish I had ordered the Israeli breakfast or the Jam breakfast but because it was so hot outside the second morning, I opted for something lighter which was probably the better decision in hindsight.

If you have never tasted shakshuka, keep your eyes open for this dish where ever you live.  You don’t have to get on a plane and fly to Tel Aviv or Vienna!  However I will warn you, for some reason, shakshuka is not one of those brunch items that pops up often enough on menus.  This is a shame because as a dish it is filling, healthy and blows your taste buds away with its winning combination of herbs, spices, tomatoes, eggs and peppers.

On the weekends, my fiance and I make one “special” breakfast and we decided, after eating shakshuka at Neni, we are going to test out replicating it at home for our Sunday morning breakfast treat.  We’ve been on a pancake run for about two months now (well he has- trying to perfect the perfect pancake recipe) and we were looking for our next experiment.  I think shakshuka is it.

For more shakshuka inspiration:

David Lebovitz just wrote a great post about Shakshuka earlier this month: Israeli Breakfast

Epicurious posted THEEEE Dr. Shakshuka recipe from the famous Tel Aviv restaurant: Shakshuka a la Doctor Shakshuka (or fly to Tel Aviv and taste the real deal yourself!)

Or if you are looking for something a bit more modern, try Yotam Ottolenghi’s version published by the Guardian: Shakshuka recipe or this one from the LA Times.

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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Corns n’ Pops (and more)!

Breakfast is my ultimate meal.  I am one of those people who could eat breakfast three times a day.  I am” mildly” obsessed with starting the day off right with a bowl of something.  Be it cereal, oatmeal, or muesli, or if I have extra time- eggs, pancakes or french toast.

While some people are happy to eat breakfast at the hotel and get their day of exploration underway, when I travel, breakfast is part of my exploration process.  You don’t have to ask me twice to forfeit the hotel menu, unless of course the hotel is known for its breakfast menu.  I tend to integrate breakfast AND city exploration into my travel itinerary.

On my recent trip to Vienna, I decided to check out Corns n’ Pops (Gumpendorfer strasse 37,Vienna’s 6th district by Saint Charles Alimentary), a cute breakfast cafe focused on serving interesting combinations of cereals and muesli!  This place had to be good, right?

Corns n’ Pops has a great menu where you can choose from a pre-mixed muesli or a mix your own concoction from their show-stopping, rather extensive cereal-muesli-goodies counter.  They also offer snacks, sweets, smoothies, coffee, tea and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream (a nice breakfast accompaniment!).

On the day I visited, I was unfortunately in a bit of a rush and did not have time to mix my own muesli at the bar so I went with their daily muesli special.  The muesli was dense, not overly sweet (they brought honey to the table to self-sweeten) and full of good things like poppy seeds, dried fruit, nuts oats and topped with lots of fresh fruit.   I would have liked to try mixing my own creative bowl but that will have to wait for my next trip to Corns n’ Pops (which I hope will be soon).

I was so inspired by the poppy seeds in my muesli, when I came home I added poppy seeds into my batch of granola.

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Here are some other bloggers who are talking about Corns n’ Pops:

1. Spotted By Locals: Corns n’ Pops DIY Cereals

2. Sushi and Strudel:  Corns n’ Pops

3. Irene’s Vienna: Corns n’ Pops

4. Jules Lazy Days: Corns n’ Pops