London: Tea Time in Wonderland

Seeing exhibitions at the Quai Branly museum  has a price but did you know you can access the wild garden free?  On a sunny day, it it so enjoyable to rest there, oberve the birds and butterflies dancing from one branch to another, sit under the roses, see the metallic lace of the Eiffel Tower in the distance… Pause. Breathe in. Smile.

Quai Branly museum
37, quai Branly
75007 Paris

Another page turned. Good resolutions taken in the warm cocoon of the festivities. Good resolutions shaken hard by the first day back to work, sometimes even lost on the way there, we’ll pick them up again on the way back home. Sigh, cross out 2011 and write carefully, 2012 each time we write a new date. Such a feeling that everything would be brand new and be slightly surprised that nothing has changed, still lost in the magic of December.

Well, sometimes, the best resolution is to get lots of sparkles of your own, those that will make your eyes and your nails glitter, hypnotise the gaze. What a better way to shine through the day, even when wind and rain threaten to take your umbrella away?

Cheers!
* Drink to the spirit of our beloved Dickens.

Smile:
* Nothing stops a taxi driver. Not even the cold.
* Do you quidditch?
* Art beats the winter blues in the Tube.
* Chips with that?

Yummy time ahead:
* Hélène Darroze will be offering her delicious Galette des Rois, the traditional French cake eaten to celebrate Epiphany, as part of the Connaught‘s afternoon tea. It will also be for sale at the hotel for people to take back home. Give them a call!
* Have a bite at the it/eat address of the moment, the Delaunay.
* Deal. Remember The Rosendale and The Avalon -  delicious (and kids-friendly) gastropubs. You can eat there for half the usual price till the end of the month!

Out of the ordinary:
* Have a closer look at the Olympic Games area.
* Fall in love with short films.
* Disco, karaoke, bowling and garden gnomes. We’re not joking.
* Dream in a London garden.

Well if it is going to get all chilly and wet, I might as well go winter cocktails hunting. You’ll find a few celebration ideas here. Mulled ciders, toddies, buttered rums, here I come!

That’s art, baby:
* Go and see Leo. Not the one from Titanic, the other one.
* Hogarth’s house (the famous painter) is opening again to the public. Even better, entrance is free.
* Discover little secrets of your daily household objects…
* You will be in awe of this photo exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall.
* Do you have a lucky charm? There is a whole collection here.

The music touch:
* Dance, sing, play along the Thames with the Merger festival.
* Jazz it up!

A little fresh air:
* Street lights are pretty much the same from one year to another these days. Yet Carnaby street‘s always are particularly colourful. They’re switched on Nov 10. Oh, and Covent Garden has digitalised the Nativity scene. Not to be missed!
* Keep fighting and garden.

Kids-friendly:
* See (real) reindeers at Covent Garden.

Yummy time:
* Falling for cupcakes? Meet Lola’s founders Thursday at Selfridge’s.
* The Make Lounge offers lovely workshops – this week-end it is all about chutneys and jams.
* To decorate your cakes as if they were works of art, have a look here.
* Oh, a new supperclub, Spanish style…

Out of the ordinary:
* Fancy being  foxy? I mean, really?
* Express yourself and get a free haircut.
* Less known but still worth a detour: the mayor’s parade.

Psst, try your luck, we have two competitions on the blog at the moment:
*5 Time Out Eating and drinking guides for foodies.
* You live in the UK? Great – you might win £400 worth of flights to Europe.

I love walking into pubs early for lunch – you know, when they are still empty. Before the buzzing noise of conversation, the ballet of waiters, the clinking of cutlery. At that point, the room is almost all mine and I can listen to what it has to say, butterfly from one detail to another.

The Avalon had the atmosphere of a legend book – as if still asleep, ready to be awaken by a magic wand. The glass roofs brought a powdered light in, filtered by the steampunk inspired chandeliers. On the walls, the aniseed wallpaper was tempered with cream tiles. All was soothing to the gaze. Wood, leather, copper – very Parisian bistrot with its succession of small tables, its comfortable banquettes yet with an uncomparable British elegance to it. It makes you feel like being a regular there, always sitting at the same table, the waiter knowing your name…

Look around – on the walls are articles, anecdotes, games, illustrations from newspapers of the beginning of the century, when drawings were the best alternative to photography. A great way to feed conversation.

Closer to the bar, decoration is more baroque and colourful. Easy to picture yourself reinventing the world with a pint or a whisky (if you are a fan – nice selection of Japanese ones!).

And when summer days will be back, a garden awaits you at the back, ivy and bamboo, teck furniture, view on the nearby church. Suddenly, London feels miles away…

But come back to the table – our starter has just arrived. Delicate but rich slices of smoked salmon (£6.75) enhanced with stronger notes of shallots and pickled capers – those have been chopped to release their full flavour as soon as they touch your tastebuds. The Lambs’ lettuce brings a lovely peppery touch and the cream is infused with horseradish. Refreshing and suddenly very powerful: a wonderful idea I will try to recreate at home.

The wine menu is cleverly thought. Rather than boring you with a list of names and grapes, it is organised by quality: Floral & aromatic, Zesty, citrus & lively… This way, you can match your wine to your dish of choice as well as your mood. Indulge in a glass of Mud House, a New-Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (Malborough). A cheerful drink, a little oak and lovely lime aroma that re-energises you straight away.

If you consider vegetarian cuisine to be dull and bland -  think again. The Avalon has created an amazing combination of courgette and aubergine (£11) stuffed with tender lentils, a little rosemary and topped with melted mozzarella. A mouthful will just make you forget about meat. Gorgeous, just gorgeous. Add a little pureed roasted peppers, sweet and exploding in flavour or the sauteed Chinese cabbage. A beautiful range of colours and textures, very filling too. Your 5 a day in a single plate.

A seasonal dessert felt like a must, why not the apple and plum crumble (£5.50)? Just thinking of it makes you feel like being in front of a chimney fire. This one offers a rich buttery topping, nice and crunchy. Underneath are whole pieces of fruit, tinted pink by the plum, rather than just compote. On top is a huge scoop of stem ginger ice-cream, very dense so that it will only melt slowly and give you plenty of time to enjoy the marriage of the three layers. A dessert that makes you love autumn. Try it with a fresh mint (£1.50) rather than a tea -  much more aromatic.

You will also find tables on the outside terrace – well, you might as well enjoy every ray of sunshine! The team has some blankets ready if you find it a little too chilly, just ask. This is a child friendly address too with a dedicated menu – a lovely place to come with the family on Sundays.

The Avalon belongs to the Renaissance pubs (Remember we had tried and loved The Rosendale). The name is well deserved  and moves away from pubs heavy with tacky decorations or sticky tables. This is a true gastropub, with the perfect balance between elegant decoration and fine food, no showing off, just a real, pleasant atmosphere. You can let go of the daily stress here and truly relax.

The Avalon
16 Balham Hill
South Clapham (A mere 5mn walk from the Tube, same street, just turn left)
London, SW12 9EB

Well, this week-end, I will be sitting on a beach in the South of France with a glass of Sauternes in my hand. Heaven. If you are staying in London, here are a few ideas to make life sweeter, to tip your hat off, to travel in time… and many more!

* Dance in a very French atmosphere at the V&A.

* Have a look at a real space capsule.

* Try hoola-hooping again.

* Indulge in a Tolkien night.

* Rediscover the treasures of St Paul.

* Chiswick park turns symphonic.

* The best response to riots? A lot of love and a little art.

* London really is the home to strange but fun museums.

* Discover a secret garden in Spitafields.

* Beach souvenirs from London-on-sea.

* How would you recycle routemasters?

* Cycle through the city.

* Ping-pong and cocktails. Or vice-versa.

Psst: from August 24 to the 26th, Soho Square will be deliciously Swedish. Come and discover the sweetest pop-up, enjoy a cup of real coffee with one of the amazing traditional treats!

This week, London’s universe was turned upside down. There were flames and rioters. There also were strong communities and amazingly brave people. You may not have been there -  you may have been far away watching the news on a TV screen, or following the events on Twitter but your heart was with the city. Whole neighbourhoods will carry the scars of a few nights of madness. Still, walk in the centre and it is difficult to believe that anything happened at all, nothing has changed there. Surreal but this is London too -  her many lives, her many ways, her absorbing trends and events alike, just getting stronger from it all. So make the streets your own again. Go for a stroll, support the victims, join a riot cleanup, admire King’s Cross new station, adopt a Make tea not war slogan. Just… Keep calm and carry on loving London.

* Yes, you can be a fashionista and have a sweet tooth: cake pops are even cuter at Topshop.

* Comedy, yummy food, fashion and live music this week-end at Cystal Palace – quite a feast!

* Street art creations spread like mushrooms.

* Discover one of Trafalgar Square’s little secrets.

* Read aboard this floating library.

* Cheer the participants of this swimming marathon in Hyde Park’s lake.

* Urban gardens are always so charming.

* Imagine for a few seconds that you are in Morocco.

* Fancy a surreal evening? Try this pizzeria.

* Until now, stars have been launcing their perfume. Justin Bieber went a step further and has his own ice cream at Harrods. I heard a teenager comment that was pretty cool -  no pun was intended.

Hampstead may be part of London but life here is different, soothing, sweeter. It forces you to slow down. Just a couple minutes away from the high street are the most adorable houses and tiny gardens. Somes are tidy, almost combed, other offer this crafted wilderness  so caracterictic of British gardens. Breathe -  can you smell the lavender, the jasmines, the peppery rosses, the rosemary? Have you seen the figs and apples? From one door to another opens a brand new universe…

London is fascinated by empty, wasted spaces. Rooftops welcome cinemas, parkings become gardens or art spaces, deserted buildings wake up for a few days or weeks through a pop-up shop or restaurant…

A different kind of recycling, when you think of it. Crazy little ideas that bring an old room alive again.

The latest in town is an urban garden, inspired by medicinal plants. A really passionate team decided to create a bubble of quietness in the city. Don’t wait too long -  this is only for the summer!

Each part of the garden is themed by hopital ward and present herbs and flowers that can be used in treatments. If your phone can read QRs, just scan the codes to know more about them.

We loved the recycling ideas and twists on daily objects like saucepans for flower pots or turning a skip into a ping-pong table.

Always in the therapy-theme, pour the seeds of your choice in a transparent pill-capsule and plant it once home – the kids love it.

Feeling hungry? Stop at the mini-café, called Rambulance. You can even brunch there at the week-end. Long sharing table, free wifi. On chilly day, a camp fire is lit. Bring your marshamallows… The atmosphere is ever so friendly here and you will end up talking to strangers about gardening, homeopathy, organic products, cooking with herbs… Have a look on their program to know more about workshops.

Urban Physics Garden
100 Union Street
London
SE1 0NL
Until August 15, 2011 – Free
Come on the very last day to adopt the garden plants.

The Society of Garden Designers and the RHS organise, a few times a year, the opening of private gardens. They always are little treasure, pieces of paradise.

Like today – the Blue Fin Building‘s, just behind the Tate Modern.

Looking up, no sign of a tree or a single green leaf. Did we get the address wrong?

On the 10th floor is a huge terrasse and a green oasis. Multiple chairs and tables enable the staff to have their lunch under the open sky. Benches hide behind a vine, a jasmine hedge, a line of rosemary. The sun is shining hard, creating a very fragranced atmosphere. Mathew Bell added elegant curves to what could have been a simple concrete space. Urban poetry.

Just imagine taking your sandwich break here. Or sitting on this roof top for the last debriefing of the day as the sky starts to turn pink.
Country Homes & Interiors have their editorial office here and took it a step further, creating a vegetable patch, using the abundance of light to their advantage. On the menu? Runner beans, salads, peppers, herbs, blackcurrant, courgettes, strwaberries… A fabulous idea worth stealing. Maybe even a tred: the Londonist also have started theirs.

I so wish those and kids nurseries were compulsory in any new building of that size. As space on the ground gets scarcer for parks and squares, why not use those towers to their best? Not only would that be more ecological but it would tremendously change the work atmosphere. Push people to have more social time at work rather than have their sandwich in front of their computer. Talk, exhange, get a little fresh air, destress.

Mark September 25 in your agenda to discover more of those precious gardens.

I watch the rain pouring down and cannot get this word off my mind: beach.
Toes in warm sand, grains rolling on skin made golden by the sun.
Soft wave music. Listen to the lids splash, laugh, collect shells and make castles.

London seems to have a thing for it too. London-on-sea. Southbank has a mini-kids-beach for the summer. The Red Market, who is finally opening in Shoreditch this week-end after many delays, is proposing an urban version. Palmtrees, pétanque, deckchairs and cocktails. Even pop-ups go sea-food style!

Are you next holidays way too far? Look for a few London ideas here insteas:

* Come and join hundreds of musicians on Southbank this Friday.

* Peyrton & Byrnes are opening a pop-up within Kew Gardens. Dinner will be enhanced with herbs and eatble flowers foraged in the park and served with a little jazz.

* Pretend you are Sherlock Holmes at the Natural History Museum.

* Sleep at the Barbican. No kidding: cushions, duvet and breakfast included!

* Didn’t get your tickets for Wimbledon? Opt for plan B: a 360 degree-view platform at Selfridges.

* Rush to Greenwich for their extraodinary summer festival.

* Be a yogabunny in Hyde Park.

* Food party in Soho.

* Learn to be a barista.

* Did you there now is a farmers’ market every week-end at Portobello?

* Manucure and champagne? Luxury down to your fingertips.

* Discover a roof garden in Southwark -  only open to the public this Sunday. Have a look at the artist’s (Mathew Bell) other creations in London.

* Look up and hunt for hints of the Old London.

* Next stop: Murakami!

Pssst: Are you one of the bloggers chosen by #Regenttweet to tweet the fashion news this Saturday? Leave us a comment and see you on Saturday at Swarowsky’s! Don’t forget your shopping bag…