London: Tea Time in Wonderland

Fed up with tasteless triangle sandwiches? Strolling around King’s Cross? Why not enjoy lunch on the first floor of the station, with its beautiful view on the arch, all in curves and geometric shapes, elegant and mysterious. There you will find Benito’s hat: bright colours, extra fresh products, exotic drinks. So what is on the menu? Delicious tacos and burritos. First choose your favourite meat  – all marinated, tender. Then select your fillings – we loved the melt-in-the-mouth refried beans, the lemony rice, the velvety guacamole and the perfect final touch of sour cream. All this comes with nicely seasoned tacos too. Everything is prepared in front of you and your appetite just seems to increase by the second. But be warned – the burritos is gorgeous, the tastes really matching each other – but the portions is really, really generous and I could not finish it. There is a smaller version, the burrita, if you just want to indulge and are not that hungry. Bonus points for the tamarind sodatoo, tangy, sweet, sparkly and so very original.

Benito’s Hat
King’s Cross Station
Mezzanine level
London N1 9AP
More addresses on the website

Did you know the roofs of the iconic Fortnum & Mason shelter elegant hives, painted in the shop colours? I have discovered a beautiful range of British honeys on the ground floor: Shropshire, Salisbury, Wales, Scotland… From a golden liquid nectar to a creamy ivory, you will have an irresistible urge to grab a spoon and indulge. they do have a wonderful book on honey and preserves with delicious recipes and mouth watering illustrations. Very inspirational.

Want to know more about those bees? There are some tasting sessions in store.

Fortnum & Mason honey and preserve book
Fortnum & Mason
181 Piccadilly
London
United Kingdom
W1A 1ER

A book to devour, just in case rain would decide to stay a little longer. No story but a collection of tips and anecdotes by Lucia Van der Post, one of England’s most elegant women. It reads like a conversation, offering the experience of a whole life on fashion, beauty, how to pack a case or amaze your guest with a wonderful dinner, even how to juggle work and family. Nothing complex, just pure good sense – things you can’t seee for yourself, sometimes because tou are so busy trying to keep everything together. This will save you so much time, take you to a different twist of your routine, give you a different angle. Oh and there are plenty of fab addresses in there too. Fancy more ideas for your week-end in London? Scroll down!

That’s art, baby!
* Thursday, enjoy opera on Trafalgar Square.
* Quick! Only a few days left to enjoy Babel, the immersive theater experience!
* See the Queen (well, in painting) at the National Portrait Gallery.
* Have a look at the splendid designs and cartography at the London Transport Museum. Mind the map!
* Dream of beautiful ballgowns at the V&A.
* Beautiful pictures of the past at the British Postal Museum.

Yummy time ahead:
* Brunch at Salvation Jane for their Maple french toast w crisp bacon, grilled bananas and candied pecans… their corn fritters stacked w crispy bacon, fresh rocket, slow roast tomatoes, chilli jam and crème fraiche… their toasted banana bread w honey ricotta… and so much more!
* Try The wild food kitchen – a supper club using a forager. Brilliant!
* Taste/test The Bowler, a new street food van getting more successful by the day. Their hit? Fabulous meatballs (with even a Swedish and a Thai twist).

Take the little ones along:
* Get to know everything about the stars with free workshops at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

Out of the ordinary:
* Beyond Retro celebrate their 10th birthday with burlesque (Thursday) and Hollywood 193oies style (Friday).
* Discover Stik’s latest pieces… guided by the artist himself.
* Marvel at a floating garden.
* Sport fan? Indulge in a 3 in 1 option: London +  guided tour + jogging.
* Oh! A garden party, with a liberty garden shed, music, giant floral decorations (Sunday)…

At Chin Chin Labs, ice cream is as much an art than a scientific success, the perfect equation adding taste and liquid nitrogen. This is the first address in Europe to present them in such an innovative way. And those are done on the spot, right in front of you, within a minute, a frosted fog unrolling around the machine. Look around, the decoration is inspired by chemistry labs, popping candy in test tubes, sweet equations on the white board, sugar and home made sauces in bechers. The choice is simple but so tempting. Exquisite vanilla or decadent chocolate for classics and always a couple highly creative choices. Mine was a frozen mint julep – fresh mint, cucumber, elderflower and whiskey. This comes with a topping or a sauce (homemade) of your choice (try the caramelised peanuts with a touch of green tea – I would make a detour just for this). You are told, when handed your treat, that this has the texture of snow. For a minute, you will probably struggle, trying to remember the last time you tasted a flake, not quite succeeding. It becomes clear at the first spoonful. An ice-cream, you see, tends to melt as soon as it touches the warmth of your mouth leaving you with the creaminess and sugar. But this has a much better, much more velvety consistency, giving you more time to make it roll on the tongue, enjoy the flavours fully. So much more elegant, so very refined. Even better enjoyed sitting along the canal, a few steps from there.

On the menu this week? A very refreshing and exotic sorbet, bringing rambouton, rosewater and kaffir lime zest together.

Chin Chin Labs
49-50 Camden Lock place
London NW1 8AF

Themed afternoon teas are so much more fun and adventurous. If you feel the same, get your agenda out. Damian Allsop, one of the best British chocolatier, has teamed up with Wyndham Grand for a fantastic chocolate experience that will make your mouth water… From june 1st, you will be able to bite into Eat London, a new collection of chocolate bars created to celebrate London’s rich and diverse cultural mix.  The flavours reflect the city’s different culture hubs (coffee and banana crunch for Brixton, ginger with peanut and soy for China Town…) and will also be available as an afternoon tea. Oh yes. This decadent treat will will feature exclusive recipes including Cockney scones  (crumble-topped mini scones with fresh apple jam), a Petit Pot au Chocolat representing South Ken’s French hub, a Brick Lane Mango Lassie Chocolate Pop and superb chocolate-coated pistachio ice-cream celebrating Edgware Road’s Arabic influences, which, in true Allsop fashion contains no actual cream. All this served in the hotel’s glass-fronted lounge overlooking Chelsea Harbour. A little piece of paradise.

There will also be a special two hour master-class on Saturday 9^th June 2012 (book your place now!). Allsop will share his passion and expertise in ‘cH2Ocolate’ magic – his claim to fame: removing the cream and butter and using English spring water to ensure the chocolate keeps its purest flavour. A unique occasion to learn from one of the masters if you are passionate about cacao.

Eat London afternoon tea - £28/person,  June 01-June 30 2012
Chocolate Masterclass with Damian Allsop – £40/person, June 09 2012, 11.00-13.00
Book with the hotel directly:

Wyndham Grand
London Chesea Harbour
London SW10 0XG

The culinary delicacies of Tempo are known accross the whole of London. Their Italian specialties are so melt-in-the-mouth, so fragrant that it takes just one visit to swear them fidelity and come back whithin the week. The restaurant has just added to its walls a magnificent collections of political cartoons – all originals too, and many by Peter brookes – and those will take you though history with a fascinating irony and a precise drawing skill that gets every detail just right… Another reason to make a detour to visit them!

Tempo
54 Curzon Street
Mayfair
London, W1J 8PG

More than a theater play, Babel is… a life experience, another way to conceive a show. The story – although rich, funny and moving – is almost secondary. It all begins at the entrance of a park, for yes, it all takes place outdoors. The guests step in, welcomed in a variety of languages. On each side of the path, you can glimpses little scenes through the branches, frozen minutes into someone’s world, a movement reproduced a thousand time. Here, someone is ironing in the tree, another preparing vegetables on a bench, someone is reading a book aloud, another dining alone, looking worried… 50 or so raise your curiosity. Here and there, other characters wearing white, modern angels, smile at you, explaining mysteriously “Look hard”, “See more”, “The day has come”…

Suddenly, the way opens onto a meadow. In the background, a bells tower rising high, futuristic looking tents. Impossible to guess what will happen tonight. No specific stage, no seat. You are free to wander around, talk to the actors, discover everything. You will learn to knit, make a little piece of a plasticine city, have a drink, listen to the most beautiful talk on languages, a choir, a concert. It has a village fête feeling to it, a cheerfulness.

And then the story starts, actions happen all around you, sometimes a few steps away. Froms spectator, you switch to belonging to it all, you are in the very heart of it, the actors (300) do not only speak to each other, they include you, the crowd, their crowd. No moment is static. See here on the stage and oh, wait on the towers, and there projected on the stone wall. It is a show not to be watched but to be lived, making you want to do something for the universe you are immersed in. Spectacular indeed, unforgettable. What is it about? Peopl on their own and groups, the strength of community and the bravery of individuals, communications beyond language, freedom and so much more. You just have to be there and see this.

BABEL,until May 20, 2012

Indulge yourself with a ticket £10 for Sunday May 13 by calling 020 7223 2223 or visit BABELLONDON.com promo code: Blogger.

A litterary oasis in the fashion heart of London. The Carnaby Street book exchange  offers a simple room, armchairs, vintage details here and there, shelves covered in novels, some new, some from another generation, most having had a few lives already but still having a few more to offer. Just bring a book, look around for one which will make you smile, the exchange is free. The effect is immediate – very few visitors leave immediately, most leaf through a few pages, then blindly try and find a seat, not taking their eyes from the story and plunge into another world straight away…

Carnaby Street book exchange
Ground floor, Kingly Court
Carnaby Street
London, W1

I love, in the London tube stations, look for little details. All of them have a secret to tell – maybe an art work, a beautiful mosaic, a detail from the past… What is your favourite one? Scroll down to find ideas for the week-end!

That’s art, baby:
* Indulge yourself with a ticket to see Babel – an amazing outdoors theater play of epic proportions. Get one for a mere £10 for Sunday May 13 by calling 020 7223 2223 or visit BABELLONDON.com promo code: Blogger.
* On Saturday, the London Symphony Orchestra will delight music lovers on Trafalgar Square.
* Hermès celebrate 175 years of exquisite skills with a free exhibition that will make any fashionista sigh in envy.
* Have a look at artists’ studios in Wimbledon.

Yummy time ahead:
* Until Friday, go hunting for free Ben & Jerry’s ice creams.
* So many treats to choose from at Street Feast, a night market, every Friday in Shoreditch.

Take the little ones along:
* The Punch & Judy festival in Covent Garden always is worth the detour -  even better, it’s free.
* Dream with the miniature world of doll houses -  a whole festival in Kensington.
* Add to the magic and enjoy Narnia in Kensington Gardens.

Out of the ordinary:
* Be zen and celebrate Bouddha’s birthday at Leicester square.
* Saturday, Morris dancers will make Westminster so much more cheerful.
* Another look at the jubilee but on the stamps side.

Love the 50ies? Elvis fan? Have a walnut-maple sirup or peanut butter-chocolate milkshake at the Milky Way (28 Camden Passage, Islington, N1 8ED London). This tiny ice-cream parlour lives in a different era, from music to decoration (looks right out of a magazine!) via the King’s memorabilia. The counter is loaded with cupcakes, British and American sweets. Share the moment with kids or friends. Sadly, pictures are not allowed. For more ideas for your week-end in London, scroll down.

That’s art, baby!
* The open air theatre in Regent’s Park is reopening so book your tickets!
* See quite a large collection of Picasso’s etchings at the British Museum.
* Beautiful, beautiful London illustrations here.
* Leonardo da Vinci gets a royal touch at Buckingham Palace.

Yumme time ahead:
* Make a detour via London Fields for the summer pop-up, from this week-end on. Fab barbecue, salads with fresh products from the market, DJ.

The fashion touch:
* Have a look at Marc  Jacob’s pop-up at Selfridges: 15 versions of the cute mouse ballerina shoes are on show.
* Add a touch of red to your day with the Louboutin exhibition at the Design Museum.
* Fall for the collaboration between Dr Martens and Liberty.
* Shop in red, blue and white at Selfridge’s Big British shop.

Take the little ones along:
* Sing Oliver Twist.
* Sunday, Shrek the musical is one. Meet the cast, visit the theater, join the craft workshops…

Out of the ordinary:
* On Thursday, play bingo while listening to Indie music.
* Go to Little Venice and see the canal boats festival. It’s free and there will be Morris dancers too.
* Every Friday, the rolling bridge unfolds at Paddington. Worth seeing!
* On Sunday, celebrate free comic book day at Gosh in Soho.
* Or see the crowning of the Pearly king of London. Quite something.
* Sunday still, make a detour vis Trafalgar Square to enjoy the Sikh New Year. Colour, music, dances guaranteed.