Spring things
Belated little joys from February & March
We got married! Three weeks ago. We signed on the line in Marylebone, and celebrated afterwards here in Stoke Newington where we live. We had the best time. It truly was the most joyful day I could ever have imagined.
I was warned that I would ‘mourn’ the wedding when it’s over, which feels a strange concept after such a happy and uplifting day. I loved it, but I’m quietly happy to be back to the norm. It feels good to be less neglectful of this newsletter, less spiky to live with and less uptight about eating any foods which might cause unwanted bloating on the day (ie, most foods).
I’ll be sharing dedicated posts about our wedding and our cake (!) in due course, but right now, let’s talk about February! Yep, I’m doing my best here to style out a monthly update that’s a sweet two months late.
But silly as it may sound, I find writing these updates a good exercise in gratitude - and I know some of you find the reccos useful too. So here goes, diving into my camera roll because you best believe I can barely remember what I did this morning, let alone two months ago.
Restaurants (& at home)
February began with a delicious dinner at The French House in Soho. The restaurant, which sits above the famous pub, flits between #1 and #2 billing in my list of favourite restaurants in London. It’s a long, emotional tet-a-tet between The French and Rochelle Canteen, which I was also lucky enough to visit in February (keep reading).
The French House is truly one of the best places to eat in town. I love it the most at lunch time, when the sun streams into the little restaurant and you sit alongside the thespians, actors and artists of a time gone by, for whom lunch starts at 2 and finishes whenever the restaurant gently move them on so they can start dinner service. Make sure you get the oysters, confit garlic toast and madeleines, baked to order and served with sunny homemade lemon curd.
Also last month, we were lucky enough to be sent some Sunday morning bagels from It’s Bagels!, who turned up one hungover Sunday morning with a bag of still-warm-bagels and pots of signature schmears. It’s Bagel!, co-founded by photographer and New Yorker-cum-Londoner Dan Martensen, is the real deal. I’ve not had a bagel like that in London. Run don’t walk (or get them straight to your door on a dusty Sunday, too).
The end of February brought with it my hen do. My glorious bridesmaids well and truly nailed it. They put on my dream hen - a chic and boozy afternoon and night out in London, not a country house in sight - all starting with a riddle to lead me to Rochelle Canteen. Rochelle is such a one off, and somewhere I go back to time and time again when I need somewhere special. The seasonal dishes always delight, the house wine is absolutely delicious, and the space - set within an old school and spilling into a garden blousy with roses and blossom - couldn’t be a more peaceful place to eat. The girls hired out the inside space just for us, and we ate the most glorious blood orange and radicchio salad, tender deep fried rabbit, and the creamiest, wobbliest vanilla pannacotta with poached forced rhubarb. An unforgettable afternoon - although I drank enough margaritas afterwards to give the forgetting part a pretty good go.
In March, I *finally* made it to Luca, a restaurant that had been on my list since it opened. I went with my friend Shirley, over from the US, and we snuck in just before it was awarded its first - utterly deserved - Michelin star. I’m sure it’ll be harder to get a booking now, but definitely persevere, as the menu is a total knockout. The gold negronis, handmade pasta and fluttering mimosa tree above the conservatory were particular highlights.
Outfits
More second hand successes this month, including Rixo via eBay, charity shop men’s blazers and new-to-me vintage suede shirts and Broadarie Anglaise blouses. I promise that dedicated guide to second hand shopping is coming.
My hen outfit *had* to be the Sleeper ostrich feather pyjamas. They were everything I’d dreamed of and more - and I’ve since sold them on Vinted to another bride. They are too fabulous to hang sadly in my wardrobe, they need another moment to shine.
Reading & watching
I’m doing my best to curb my cookbook-addiction, but made a marked exception this month to welcome Alison Roman’s Sweet Enough to my collection. I love everything Alison does, from Home Movies to her love for spriggy, leafy, course herbs, vintage Texas Ware bowls (which I simply cannot find in the UK, sadly) and a perfect orange red nail. While usually more of a savoury cook, you can tell as soon as you watch Alison bake that she used to do this professionally. She knows how to bake, and I’m looking forward to trying her ‘hot takes’ on some of the sweeter classics.
And while I’m not a big cinema goer, but I thoroughly enjoyed Rye Lane, which I managed to catch last month when it opened. A modern, nuanced and joyful south-London love story told over one night and gorgeously crafted. Go if you still can.
Other delicious joys
I’ve been eyeing up Isobel Bakes postal babkas for a while now, and bread-loving friends with a new home turned out to be the perfect recipients. Isobel, who also makes gorgeous wedding cakes, has been an Insta-friend, confident and small-business sounding board for years, and her dark chocolate and hazelnut babkas are the real deal. Perfect affordable gifts (or acts of self-love).
It’s definitely too late to talk about pancake day, so I’ll save my love letter to this underrated holiday until next year. But safe to say we enjoyed it, not least because the star of the show was the first lemon to be harvested from our little tree. My heart!
And finally, two open-minded girlfriends and I delayed our usual dinner and wine (by 90 minutes, anyway) and journeyed to Dopamine Land for an evening with a difference last month. Did it fill me with feelings of pleasure and reward? I’m not sure, but I can certainly think of many worse ways to spend a Wednesday night in West London than floating horizontally in a ball pit.
