life lately... places I have been in London

The Drapers Arms, Islington... this was our first stop of the day, for a lunch which started off as 3 plus baby and ended up as 8. one of those days which just works and people join in. I had a wonderful beetroot and pearl barley risotto which the baby loved so much she ate spoonfuls off my plate. I also had the best latte I've had in a long time. So good, that I had to have another one later on. in fact, the food was universally decried to be excellent and the selection of drinks good too. there was also plenty of room for the baby, and a lovely garden. just right for a rainy Saturday afternoon but, I imagine, lovely in summer too.

the rest of the party decamped to watch the rugby, but, such is the way sometimes with children, Pip refused to sleep in the pub after lunch and so I just couldn't take her to watch rugby over tired but not wanting to settle in her buggy either. so Pip and her godmother and I wondered idly round some of the shops of Islington, trying on a few unflattering dresses in the Whistles sale, testing out some new products in Aesop and fighting amongst the debris in the remainder of the Gap sale.

Duke of Cambridge Organic Pub, Islington ... this was our second pub visit of the day; a lovely cosy way to while away a rainy miserable Saturday evening with friends. The Duke of Cambridge is Britain's first (and apparently only) certified organic pub. We sat round a big wooden table and interspersed our Kernal beers with various items from the bar and dinner menus, which are written up on big chalk boards. I'm hesitant to review the food, as such, as I only tried a starter and pudding, but wouldn't have recommended either. that said, the other people in our party enjoyed theirs, and the drinks were excellent. there was also water in pitchers on the bar, which was nice. the nicest things though were the little things; the changing table, highchairs, welcoming to the baby (who we popped into her pram in her pjs after food, and she went to sleep, allowing us to stay for a drink or two) and all the food information.

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photo credits:

Drapers Arms here | Duke of Cambridge pub here

life lately... places I have been in London

Kipferl (Austrian and Viennese Cafe and Kitchen) Camden Passage, Islington - After a week of my own tonsillitis and then the baby developing her own illness, I was in desperate need of a couple of hours to myself this afternoon. Leaving the baby with her Dad, I popped down to Islington and met my sister and her boyfriend. We were after somewhere to sit down and have a quick chat and we ended up eating wieners with rye and mustard whilst we caught up on the week behind and ahead. They also had a variety of delicious looking cakes, but having made a chocolate and Guinness cake on Friday, I passed.



Raystitch (99 Essex Road) - Raystitch is a haberdashers and cafe set up by Rachel Hart and is just across the road from where I used to go to WI when I used to live in Islington, although it didn't open until 2011. I've been meaning to go there for ages and I finally managed to go today when I realised I had to give back the cot sheets we borrowed when Pip was born and that given I can't find any I like, that I should just make my own. Sadly, or luckily for my bank account, I didn't have much time this afternoon to browse, it was more a case of rush in, find some fabric, have a quick coffee and leave again. They sell all sorts of fabric, haberdashery, my favourite Merchant & Mills supplies and they run all sort of classes. And did I mention they serve coffee. And cake? I will be back.

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Photo credits:

Kipferl | Raystitch

life locally... Chriskitch, Muswell Hill

Rare is the day when both Marto and I both separately decide that we want to visit the same cafe on the same day. Independently we had both discovered Chriskitch last week and waited until the weekend so that we could go together. I was keen to try the coffee and cake and admire the vintage furniture; Marto told me that he came across the cafe on the wine forum he frequents and was excited that a chef who had worked with Gordon Ramsey and Alain Ducasse was serving food just down the road from us.

We were not disappointed. We started with cake. Lemon pound cake, to be exact. It was beautiful. I had a nice latte, Marto a mint tea. We were sat at a huge butchers block with vintage school chairs, in the enormous front window, full of light. Under foot, vintage floorboards from a factory in Islington. There were newspapers. (although we had the baby with us, so reading was impossible. but it would have been a lovely place to read, sans bebe). Sugar cubes in vintage tins.

The salads tempted us. A perfectly roasted chicken leg, drizzled with a teeny bit of oil and sprinkled with salt, to serve. A plate of a gorgeous selection of salads, as pretty on the plate as in the mouth. My favourite was leeks, peas, broccoli and samphire but they were all delicious. The chicken leg served with roasted vegetables. Mouthful after mouthful of sweet roasted garlic, pulled out of it's skin, crunchy slightly bitter almost charred lemon and chili falling apart and off the stalk. Roasted red onion. Better even than Marto cooks at home, and that is saying something. It has to be a good restaurant these days for the food to be better than we eat at home.

And then a pudding. How could you not when the owner comes over to discuss the food and recommends the treacle tart to finish. A macchiato and a little bit of chocolate torte with it for Marto (courtesy of Chris, the owner, because as he put it, "you've got to have a little bit chocolate with a macchiato").
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Chriskitch
7a Tetherdown, Muswell Hill

An afternoon in Alexandra Park

Last week the baby and I walked the long way home from her swimming lessons, through the park and past Alexandra Palace. The sun was blazing and although it was absolutely freezing it was a beautiful afternoon. The baby, of course, slept through it all. Which meant I had more time to pause and look at the view and take photos. The building was catching the sunlight in a way that I just couldn't catch, frustratingly, but I thought I'd share these regardless.