Borough Market -OR- No Enforced Snacking Limit

No adventure voting this week! Voting will resume on Monday, when I post about my trip to the cold county of Cumbria.

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On Saturday I fulfilled my promise to you, my loyal readers, and adventured south of my normal haunts to audaciously extract every interesting snack that Borough could offer. This time I had the pleasure of TWO adventure buddies, both of whom wish to remain unnamed for the sake of privacy. Celebrity is tough, ain't it?

We started with the intention of meeting at St. Paul's tube station, but of course, London Transport being what it is (thanks Mr. Lord Mayor!) St. Paul's station was closed. So about forty-five minutes were spent wandering about near the north bank of the Thames talking on phones and trying to locate each other. But when we finally got going, we headed for the Millennium Bridge, a beautiful, pedestrian-only way of crossing the Thames.

St. Pauls.


Tower Bridge in the distance.


Fashion photoshoot on the Millennium Bridge!

This pink orchestra was interesting, but we couldn't figure out what they were shilling for. In American it would be breast cancer, but we really had no idea.


The views of Tower Bridge and St. Paul's are spectacular from the Millennium Bridge, and of course it leads directly to Tate Modern. But the only thing Tate has up right now is the Rothko, which I saw (not a fan) and the Cildo Meireles (which was amazing....oh shit, closed last week!)...well anyway we had a goal and we were sticking to it.

The walk along the South Bank is really fun as it winds and ducks. We passed through several really neat tunnels, and even saw a boat that had belonged to an explorer equally as intrepid as myself, but of course better equipped.





We assumed that this was Southwark Cathedral, but who knows? In any case it's beautiful!


Wooo, a tunnel!



Arriving at Borough we saw some fruits and veg, and thought that we had arrived. "Self," I said, "You could have seem these veg at Marylebone Farmer's Market!"




But we needed only to press on, to break through the tissue-thin veil that hid the true splendor from us, and suddenly we were saw it. And we knew.






Turkish Delight and Baklava, FREE SAMPLES!




Sausage, FREE SAMPLES!



Cheese, FREE SAMPLES!


Bread, FREE SAMPLES!



Venison Burgers! Well, not free, but I stole a nibble from one of my buddies.

The whole place was so teeming with amazing food, cooked and raw, cured and smoked, baked and breaded, mulled and mashed, hammed and baconed, brined and basted. It was truly...truly...the most amazing food experience of my young life. Those of you that really know me know that I have made food my passion, and seeking good food is one of my greatest joys. I would take Borough over Harrod's any day of the week. Granted, we ended up spending £60 between the three of us, but in the end, it was so, SO worth it.

The Winner - Harrods Food Halls - Don't Shop Hungry

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So of course the winning adventure this week was Harrods Food Halls! So I trekked intrepidly across Hyde Park with my indomitable adventure sidekick (who is that mysterious man?!), and we resolved to plumb every deep and complex mystery offered by the Halls of Food. It turns out that visiting the Food Halls has severe side effects including wallet ache and extreme lobster-lust, but we pressed on, unmindful of the risks!

The first battle was with the crowds. Who knew that Harrods would be packed and crowded on a Saturday? Certainly not me!

Being that I am such a fan of the rare and exotic, I headed first to the imported fruits.

And, as luck would have it, there was even a sale on!

But you know me, I'm way more about the vegetables. And everyone knows that it's colorful vegetables that have the most healthful vitamins and nutrients. Harrods sure is a healthy place.

But why eat yucky vegetables when there's meat around? Juicy, fortifying, heart healthy MEAT!

Jerky!

Salami!

Braised lamb shanks!

But, as the French have known for a very long time, meat is so much better when you grind it up with livers and other organ meat. Best served chilled and topped with a garish garnish.

Plenty of people would prefer a manly haggis to a sissy pate, especially my adventure sidekick. Have no fear! Harrods knows what you want, and they're ready!

After all that heavy meat, it was definitely time to take a deep breath and really dive into the snacky bits. Gorgonzola and olives anyone?

At this point I really knew it was time for a sweet, to cleanse the palate before the fish course. I might prefer a few chocolate bonbons...

But in homage to my lovely cousin Jaina, I went for the creme brulee. Unsurprisingly, storing pre-caramelized creme brulee in a refrigerated case doesn't do much to preserve the crispy top. Next time I'll hit up Claridges.

The seafood section of the Food Halls really is amazing. You can pick anything from these massive piles of fish and they cook it for you right then and there, at their seafood grill and chip shop. The queue was CRAZY though so we saved this experience for next time.

At this point the lobster-lust got really bad. All I wanted was lobster Thermidor and I had to be dragged away bodily, slavering at the mouth.

Here, as a cherry on top of this delicious tour, is what I most hungered for out of everything. I think I'll go back next week and actually buy some...

In Britain, it's important to be polite, queue properly, and follow all the rules. Even when it's most difficult.

Come back tomorrow for pictures of today's exciting trip to the Farmer's Market! Cheese and goats milk and oysters, oh my!

St James's Antique Fair

The Winner is Harrod's Food Halls!! Watch for the Adventure Post this Saturday!

On Tuesday, after several lazy, lonely days in cold, cold London, I was excited to walk down through my favorite squares to Piccadilly for the St James's Antiques Market. St James is a beautiful Christopher Wren church built in 1676. St James saw the baptism of William Blake in 1757, and lost its roof in the air raids of WWII. Twice a week it hosts an all day fair, and Tuesdays are all about antiques.

Much like the Farmer's Market, it transpired that not many sellers were wiling to trek all the way into London for meager crowds with empty pocketbooks. There were several tables of ugly glass, a lot of random imported beads and piles of crummy jewelry. A few things were pretty neat, like this collection of pins and small medals.

I've always loved nesting dolls, since we had a Leaders of Russia one when I was a kid. It had Gorbachev as the outermost and I think Lenin as the littlest one. Whether that's a political commentary I can't say. (Thanks to David for correcting my flawed childhood memory)

But then I found the silver!

But there were three or four tables of silver, and that's where I got a little excited. I spent a long time inspecting spoons for makers marks and quizzing myself on different marks or bits of decoration. There was nothing too spectacular, but since starting school collecting has obviously been on my mind, and I was very intrigued by the Duke of Bedford's collection of toast racks, which I saw on our trip to Woburn Abbey.


When I saw these toast racks I got PRETTY excited. I got a pottery one for Christmas and discovered JUST how effective they really are for keeping toast crispy and delicious. She had a sterling one, Art Deco, from the 1920's, but for £38 I couldn't really see it happening. Maybe someday when I'm a little more flush? Seeing the silver plated examples made me think thoughts that were both acquisitive and affordable. So I gave in. My tutor says that when you start collecting you have to consider how objects speak to you. You can't obsess about every little detail. You just wait for that tiny voice to say something that you can hear.

And so, I bought this one. And it is already giving me all the pleasure I could ask for from a piece of silver plated wire. Maybe next week she'll have another chatty one for me to pick up.

Farmer's Market - An Unimpressive Start

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I was so very excited to introduce all of you dear readers to my local Farmer's Market, which is honestly my favorite day of the week. Anyone who knows how much I love food, and especially getting to meet the very people who grow it, can understand my passion for this Sunday ritual. But this week, meant to be the inaugural HQ Farmer's Market Adventure, did not work out as planned. As my beef and lamb selling friend at Ladywell Organic put it, the small-time farmers who sell at our market didn't think enough people would attend this week. You can see how sparse the booth selection is.


There's usually two seafood stands, an apple specialist, a game-meat specialist, two or three more goat farmers, a hot food seller, and three bakers. But I didn't do too badly, and luckily I had one or two photos up my sleeve to pad out this posting.

This is what £32 of groceries from Waitrose, my local high-end market, looks like. Granted, £13 worth of vodka runs the cost up a bit, but since it was 22˙F outside my unsealed bedroom window last night, I certainly need something that will help keep me warm.


This, on the other hand, is what £18 of farmer's market groceries looks like. Ordinarily I only spend £10, avoiding the more expensive things you see here, such as garlic chevre and apricot ginger sausages (the two made up £7 of my bill!). The veg is only about £1 per bag, and I even got some purple sprouting broccoli, something I have heard a lot about but never tried. I intended to get goats milk, mussels, and chicken, but of course none of those booths were around. My friend the eggseller, who also runs a few nightclubs, called the icy weather today paradise compared to his childhood in Kazakhstan, which made me feel a little better.

It's Hip to be a Square - Vol. 1 - Introduction

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London is peppered with squares. Big ones, small ones, grassy ones, cement ones. They are evidence of a time when London was only beginning to grow outside the boundaries of "The City," the original walled City of London. Aristocrats and other moneyed folk realized quite early that if they could corner tracts of property near the City, they could later develop and sell or rent these areas for a very tidy profit. Many lords commissioned popular or celebrated architects to design their squares, but that is a topic for a later volume. Today I aim for a mere introduction to the sizes, types, and regulations of London squares.

So we begin at my own flat, in a neighborhood where small, private squares are nearly a dime a dozen. The closest to me, and the one I walk by most often, is Bryanston Square. It is a private square, which means that it is always locked, and only people whose homes directly face the square are permitted to have a key.
Bryanston is a small, simple square, with grass, a few benches, a path that lines the edge, and a simple Keeper's Cottage. I do not believe that a keeper in fact lives in this cottage, but only assume that it is used for storing gardening implements.



Montagu Square, also near my flat, has an even more adorable Keeper's Cottage. I must definitely write a children's book about someone living in one of these cottages...(IDEA COPYRIGHT HALEY DAVIS 2009)

Squares, both private and public, have lots of rules that must be followed. This is the most common.


Another type of square, while still private, is less calming and relaxed due to its location in the middle of a traffic roundabout. Portman Square is one of these, and being very close to Oxford Street (the biggest shopping street in London) and sandwiched between the very busy Baker Street and Gloucester Place, gets its fair share of car exhaust and vandalism. As you can see it is slightly less well-maintained than the smaller local squares.



Most perplexing is the addition of a tennis court. Does the "No Ball Games" rule apply here?



Manchester Square is large AND well-maintained, perhaps due to the existence of the Wallace Collection on its borders.


The Wallace Collection houses a massive family estate comprised most famously of Eastern and European weaponry of all kinds and of the finest quality. The collection also contains a fine collection of Boulle marquetry pieces. Some illicit photos of the interior of the Wallace Collection will be included in an upcoming piece titled "Photos from Places in Which Photography is Not Permitted."

When it comes to public squares, Berkeley Square is definitely my current favorite. It is very close to Piccadilly, the Ritz, Christie's, and Green Park, and so serves as an excellent resting place when I get lost on my way to some swanky auction preview. It has lovely benches, some nice statuary, its very own LIGHTED Christmas tree, and of course easy access to EAT and Pret a Manger, two excellent lunchtime sandwich chains.


Another square fact to note at this point might be tree variation. There is very little variation of tree species in London parks, for the simple reason that London was once so extremely polluted with fireplace soot, smoke, factory waste, and so on (remember the famous London Fog? Yup, pollution). The people who organized and built these squares knew that Plane trees could most withstand yucky, disgusting air, and so these trees flourish abundantly in the city.



Gloucester Square is important for many reasons. It is filled with some very nice statuary, especially one of my esteemed relation, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It is home to the American Embassy, an ugly and forbidding place, as well as the Canadian High Commission.

The Keeper's Cottage has in this instance grown from the tiny babies we saw before into a positive gazebo, with tables, chairs, and wisteria vines. I can't wait to have summer picnics here!


Related pieces coming soon include:

Embassy-mania!
Photos from Places in Which Photography is Not Permitted
Wyndham Place: An Introduction
Window Dressing: Cool or Creepy? You Decide!
Weekly Farmer's Market Adventure (every Sunday!)
Charming Pub Signs and Other Interesting Placards
Celebrity Restaurants (from Ramsay to Ratatouille)