The Caffeine Chronicles: Salt Review (CLOSED)

Update (June 2015): Salt has closed but has been replaced by a great café called The Black Penny.

After my failed attempt to check out the coffee situation at Salt a few weeks ago, I finally made it there yesterday afternoon. It was such a beautiful sunny afternoon that it was gorgeous sitting under the shade of the awning on Great Queen Street, a relatively quiet thoroughfare at the eastern extreme of Covent Garden. I could almost pretend I was in New York.

Salt Espresso, Covent Garden

I ordered my usual macchiato — bonus points for the barista who asked how I liked it (answer: just a dash of milk and a splash of foam), and etched a little heart on top. The coffee was very good: they use Square Mile coffee and my macchiato was rich, chocolatey and flavoursome. Salt also offers a range of sandwiches, cakes and teas (ed: what is this 'tea'?), but it was too hot a day for me to order anything else. The cookies and brownies looked particularly good though.

The macchiato at Salt

Salt is slightly off my usual beaten track but I'm adding it to The Knowledge and will bear it in mind the next time I need a slightly calmer place to drink a high-quality coffee in WC2, without having to deal with the scrum at Monmouth, for instance.

Salt. 34 Great Queen Street, London, WC2B 5AA (Tube: Holborn or Covent Garden).

For You I'd Wait 'Til Kingdom Come

I arrived in Cannes the day after the Moonrise Kingdom premiere and thought it sounded quirky and interesting, so I was disappointed that if I wanted to see it in Cannes, I would have had to watch it dubbed into French. Unsurprisingly, I decided to wait until I was back in England. The only other Wes Anderson film I've seen is The Royal Tenenbaums, which I didn't like at all, although back then my taste in films was a lot less eclectic than it is now, so I didn't rush out to see any of his other movies. But I liked Moonrise Kingdom so much, maybe I will take a look at his back catalogue.

Moonrise Kingdom is set on a small island off the coast of New England in the summer of '65. Drawn together by their mutual sadness and their love for each other,12-year-old Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) decide to escape their unhappy home lives and run away together. Fresh out of khaki scout camp, Sam, clad in a coonskin cap, has plenty of useful kit and knowledge; the blue-eyeshadow-wearing Suzy, on the other hand, brings her pet kitten, a suitcase full of stolen library books, a record player and her favourite Françoise Hardy record.

Hot on their heels are Suzy's aggressive, lawyer parents (Bill Murray, whose character has a collection of colourful pull-ons to make even Johnnie Boden envious, and Frances McDormand), the glum island policeman (Bruce Willis), and a whole troop of overly militaristic khaki scouts, led by Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton). 

Sam's parents, it turns out, are dead and the couple in charge of the near-Dickensian foster home where he has been living have decided that even if Sam is recovered, he can't go back there. Oh, and there's also the mean lady from social services (Tilda Swinton), in a pre-Wonka-chewing-gum Violet Beauregard outfit, who wants to sequester Sam away in a "juveline refuge" and administer shock treatments to him. Oh, and there's also a hurricane warning in place and a potentially ill-fated performance of Noye's Fludde.

Being a Wes Anderson film, Moonrise Kingdom is very quirky and funny-odd, but it's also sweet and, at times, funny-ha-ha. Anderson's attention to detail is almost clinical throughout, but the performances are great — the two young leads, in particular, as they play bold, intelligent, idealistic kids, who often act more mature than the adults in the film, but are still ultimately kids. Their relationship is convincing and enchanting. Norton is also excellent and very funny as the scout master who doesn't want to admit that scouting is his whole life, but part of the fun of the film is seeing all the big-name stars in such random, small-town roles.

Overall, Moonrise Kingdom is well plotted, well paced and very well acted. It's funny, strange and compelling, and well worth a watch.

Wadiya Mean 'Democracy'?

It was hard to ignore Sacha Baron Cohen's presence in Cannes last week. Even though I missed his dramatic camel-tumbling red carpet stunt, the façade of the ever-showy Carlton hotel was hijacked and redecorated in honour of Admiral General Aladeen, Baron Cohen's titular character in his new film The Dictator. Classy it ain't. Still, at least no mankinis were involved. Thank goodness.

The Carlton Hotel in Wadiya Cannes

The Burger Bulletin: Mother Flipper Review

eat.st, N1's most eclectic weekday provider of street food, is now open for business on Tuesdays, as well as the latter three-fifths of the week and last week, I noticed a few new stalls. Beppino's, which sells super-fresh pasta, Mussel Men, which offers moules-frites and oysters, and, most importantly, Mother Flipper. Yes, that's right: there is finally a specialty purveyor of burgers in N1.

Last week, it was cloudy and rainy so I didn't have to wait too long for my cheese burger ("The Mother Flipper"). It was a little too much on the well side of medium for my liking but in my excitement, I did forget to ask for it medium rare. It was still very tasty: meaty and oozing with juices.

Mother Flipper at eat.st

Today, of course, it was 25 degrees and sunny and almost everyone within about a two-mile radius had descended on eat.st and the queue for Mother Flipper was much longer. As we neared the front, some 30 minutes later, we found out that one of the two grills had been broken; not ideal on one of the hottest days of the year so far! 

The staff are all super-friendly, though, and apologised repeatedly for the delay.This time, I remembered to ask for my burger medium rare but I also forgot to establish the full meaning of The Double Candy Bacon Flipper. I just heard "caramelised bacon" and ordered one. Had I realised it involved two burgers — which should have been obvious from the name, I guess— I might have held off and opted for a cheese burger instead. Still, at £6 for The Double Candy Bacon Flipper and £5 for the mere Mother Flipper, the former is much better value.

Double Candy Bacon Flipper

And today's burger was definitely medium rare. I needed several tissues to clean up the juices, which I liberally dripped all over the floor and--almost--my dress, which is a good sign. The bacon was delicious two, but then I'm a sucker for good, American-style bacon, especially when cured with something sweet and sticky. The bun, a soft, lightly toasted brioche, was also good. 

The double burger was a little too much even for me, especially with some frites, borrowed from the Mussel Men — not that this prevented me from finishing, of course.

My only slightly complaint is that Mother Flipper doesn't serve fries — you can get them from Mussel Men, but I would prefer a smaller portion included with my burger for an extra quid or so. That said, given the 40-minute wait time today, perhaps the flippers should stick to what they know and just continue to serve flippin' great burgers!

The Mother Flipper menu

Mother Flipper @ eat.st Tuesday lunchtimes (Tube: King's Cross); also at Brockley Market on Saturdays.

Rain Has Now Stopped Play

The sun finally came back out yesterday lunchtime, just after The Bro arrived from the airport. We had a quick lunch and then hurried back to change for the beach before we lost the sun. Actually, though, it was a lovely afternoon with plenty of sunbathing and a second swim for me.

In the evening, we strolled down the Croisette to take a peak at the CaFF fun before dinner. Tom Hardy's new film Lawless was on but I didn't spot him—partly because of his shaggier haircut/facial hair, and also because the new barrier system meant I wouldn't have been able to get close enough to take a good picture. Instead, we had dinner at Mesclun (great filet de boeuf, very good fruity-pistachio rice pudding), which was later populated with assorted film types. Not Tom Hardy though.

Pre-dinner posing

Today, the weather was crap. It started raining at about lunchtime and hasn't stopped since. We had planned to go to see Diamonds Are Forever at the Cinéma de la Plage, but although we are British and tough, we suspected the organisers would have cancelled the movie and so didn't bother trekking down the Croisette to find out. 

Cheryl Cole was braver, putting in an appearance as the face of l'Oréal; let's hope she was wearing lots of Elnett. We wanted to watch Diamonds Are Forever in the flat instead but it was strangely absent from the iTunes store, so we settled for Fever Pitch. Colin Firth was really not hot back then. Give me Easy Virtue or Tinker, Tailor any day. But hey; at least it's a movie.

Rain on the terrasse

Rain Hasn't Quite Stopped Play

I wasn't expecting great during my trip to Cannes but I was lulled into a sense of false security by the gorgeousness of Thursday afternoon. Yesterday, though, I woke up to rain and wind, although it was still fairly warm. Film Festival-related activities for non-ticket-holders aren't much fun in the rain and as a result, I had a rather de-CaFF-einated day. 

Of course, it's still fun to go for a morning run along the Croisette while the town wakes up, with women in fancy dresses and men in black tie, nursing hangovers, slink back to their hotel rooms after screenings, desperately seeking darkness.

Spotted on the rue d'Antibes

I did a little window shopping on the rue d'Antibes and, seizing a rare moment of sunshine, sat on the Croisette with a baguette and an éclair and soaked up the buzz. Near the Martinez, there is a little stage where last year I saw Jessie J sing a few numbers (not being particularly down with the kids, I didn't know who she was). 

This year, on Thursday, it was LMFAO's turn, although I wasn't convinced it was really them (it was a tiny stage and they seemed to perform their most famous number, Sexy and I Know It, several times but apparently it was. Now I wish I had taken some photos. Ah well. I didn't recognise the band who was playing yesterday — they sounded French. How very dare they.

Eventually, the sun came out and we went down to the rocks near the beach to watch the Croisette come to life for the evening and to listen to more random French dance music. It looks like Pete Doherty, Asia Argento and Bérénice Bejo, among others, will be there tonight. The one thing the weather can't spoil is eating delicious, rotisserie chicken with homemade mash and baguette on the (covered part of) the terrace in my parents' flat.

My kingdom for a ticket!

This morning, the weather was even more erratic, not that that stopped the hoards from queuing outside the Palais des Festivals with their brollies, hoping some kind benefactor might take pity on them and give them a ticket to a screening. The London Film Festival is certainly much more of a democracy, and if you can't even guarantee nice weather in Cannes in May, one almost wonders what use it serves. 

As I complained to the apartment block's guardienne this morning, j'en ai eu assez du mauvais temps. She, of course, replied, C'est le Festival. C'est normal. Indeed.

Cannes Film Festival 2012

I can't believe it has been a year since I was paprazzing Brangelina on the red carpet of last year's Cannes Film Festival (CaFF), but but I'm back again for another few days of vicarious movie-related enjoyment.

My flight to Nice this morning was filled with plenty of movie types. The guy sitting next to me on the plane had a pretty cool job: designing movie posters. Mainly horror, but with a big documentary at this year's festival. He gets to spend four days partying, boozing and schmoozing clients. Nice!

Queuing up for the best red carpet views

My early flight meant that by 2 pm, I was lying on the beach soaking up the sunshine, and by the time my parents got here, a few hours later, I had also been for a swim, read a book, snapped some photos on the Croisette and done a reccy of the Palais des Festivals. This year is the 65th CaFF and the star of all the posters is Marilyn Monroe, presumably because she died 50 years ago this year. If only a woman director had ever won the Palme d'Or, then she could be the poster girl...

As it is Ascension Day, the épiceries were closed here so we went to dinner at our Croisette favourite, Vesuvio. The pizza was pretty good tonight and despite how busy the place was, it only took three attempts to get the waiter to bring a carafe d'eau.

Le Palais des Festivals

Afterwards, we wandered down the Croisette to get an ice cream. We were too late for the red carpet (it was a French film premiering tonight anyway, albeit one with Marion Cotillard, De Rouille Et d'Os) but we did take a look at the ciné-plage, which was one of my favourite things about last year's festival. This year, there is a Bond theme to the movies shown on the beach, and as we missed the start of Dr No tonight, we will probably hold out for Diamonds Are Forever on Sunday (Jaws, next Thursday, would also be fun but I'll be gone by then).

The Caffeine Chronicles: Foxcroft & Ginger Review (CLOSED)

My plan for today was to check out Salt, a new-ish espresso bar and purveyor of lunch and sweet meats in Covent Garden, but silly me decided to trust the opening hours listed on the Time Out review, and when I got over there, it turned out to be closed. Plan B, then, was to check out a café on Berwick Street that has been on my to-try list for quite some time: Foxcroft & Ginger.

The basement at Foxcroft & Ginger

It was almost too nice an afternoon to sit in the main basement sitting area of Foxcroft & Ginger but caffeine needs must. The décor is bright, hipster chic — if you're lucky you can perch at one of the old pummel horses. In fact, the only thing they are missing are a few suitcases with legs. Upstairs is a little brighter but there are only a couple of tables and a few window seats, which are usually full.

Foxcroft & Ginger macchiato

Foxcroft & Ginger serve Monmouth coffee and my macchiato was very good--strong, rich and smooth--although The Bro's cappuccino came with latte art etched into the chocolate topping rather than the foam, which was a little disappointing. Bonus points for the granny chic cups and saucers, though. They also serve quite a few posh sarnies, cakes and other nibbles. 

The Bro tried the porchetta sandwich, which he said was very tasty. I will be adding Foxcroft & Ginger to my list of go-to coffee bars in Soho, although I am more likely to go there in winter or on days when the weather is less clement and when hiding away in the cosy basement will be more fun.

Foxcroft & Ginger. 3 Berwick Street, London, W1F 0DR (Tube: Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square or Tottenham Court Road).

My Top 10 London Restaurants: West End Edition

When Time Out London published a list of its top 50 restaurants in London last year, I picked out some of my own favourites from the list. I thought they might pick a new top 50 this year but so far nothing has materialised so I thought I'd put together a list of my own, which includes the go-to places I consider when organising a meal in the West End. Most of these restaurants are located in Soho and Marylebone; it's probably no coincidence that they fall on an almost straight line from NoMaRo to the BFI.

I've arranged them into two rough categories according to style and ambiance but none of these places requires a jacket; nor are they stuffy or snooty. The list is roughly in order of preference, within the two groups. 

I tried to include a variety of cuisines, i.e. burgers, ribs and steak. Just kidding, veggies: most of these places offer a good range of vegetarian dishes, although I would avoid Meat Liquor, Pitt Cue Co and Le Relais de Venise if you don't like meat. So, without further ado, here are my favourite ten restaurants in London's West End.


View London Dining Favourites in a larger map

Casual cool to casual chic

• Meat Liquor. 74 Welbeck Street, W1G 0BA (Tube: Bond Street). Website. Mini-review. In 10 words: top burgers, great cocktails, cool vibe, long queues. Go now.
• Pitt Cue Co. 1 Newburgh Street, W1F 7RB (Tube: Oxford Circus). Website. Review. In 10 words: Ribs, ribs, ribs, burnt-end mash. Worth the wait. Go early.
• La Bodega Negra. 16 Moor Street, W1D 5NH (Tube: Tottenham Court Road or Leicester Square). Review. Upstairs: casual but cool Mexican caff with cocktails. Downstairs: smarter.
• Polpo. 41 Beak Street, W1F 9SB (Tube: Oxford Circus or Piccadilly Circus). Website. Mini-review. In 10 words: Tasty Venetian small plates, erratic service, great wine list.
• Mishkin's. 25 Catherine Street, WC2B 5JS (Tube: Covent Garden). Review. In 10 words: Polpo's LES Jewish deli-inspired cousin. Salt beef, gin, meatloaf.

Smarter

• Riding House Café. 43-51 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 7PQ (Tube: Oxford Circus). Website. Review. In 10 words: cool, friendly all-day dining. Great burgers, yummy puddings, delicious cocktails.
• Le Relais de Venise. 120 Marylebone Lane, W1U 2QG (Tube: Bond Street or Baker Street). Website. Mini-review. In 10 words: perfect steak, frites and salad. Er..that's it.
• Il Baretto. 43 Blandford Street, W1U 7HF (Tube: Baker Street). Website. Review. In 10 words: friendly but stylish neighbourhood Italian. Excellent sharing plates and pizzas.
• Hix. 66 Brewer Street, W1F 9UP (Tube: Piccadilly Circus).  Review. In 10 words: terribly English, painfully cool. I love the fish fingers.
• Dean Street Townhouse. 69-71 Dean Street, W1D 4QJ (Tube: Tottenham Court Road or Leicester Square). Website. In 10 words: Classy but unfussy. Mac 'n' cheese. Mince and potatoes.

I recently rounded up the best places to eat in King's Cross, and next on my list may well be an east of EC1 eateries

Istanbul IV: Food & Drink

In some ways, Turkish cuisine isn't a bad choice for me because the main courses tend to be very similar from meal to meal (grilled meat with some combination of salad, grilled veg, flatbread and bulgur wheat), with the more interesting variations coming in the starters or meze plates. Eating out is very reasonable in Istanbul, certainly compared to London and the price of our meals didn't vary much, even between small, low-key cafes and smarter restaurants. At most places, we paid about 9-18L (about £3-6) for a main course and about 6L (£2) for a meze.

Istanbul III: Adventuring

We were in Istanbul for five days and made two day trips during that time. If we had spent more time in Topkapı Palace, we would only have had time to go on one excursion, but the weather was so nice for most of our holiday that we wanted to spend as much time as possible outdoors.

Kınalıada, the small island

Istanbul II: Crossing Continents

I didn't have time to blog while I was in Istanbul, so I'm now putting together a short series of posts that highlight some of the things we did. My initial, in-a-nutshell post is here and I will also be writing about some of our excursions outside the city and some of our eating and drinking experiences.

Sunset over the Bosphorus and SoGoHo

Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

After five days exploring Istanbul and its environs, I got home late last night. The gorgeous Turkish sunshine, meant the cold London weather was a bit of a shock to the system, although not much of a surprise. Despite feeling rather photographically uninspired during my trip, I still managed to take almost 400 photos, and I'll be sharing a few photos and experiences from my trip once I've gone through them all.

Istanbul by night, from the Galata Tower

What's in My (Istanbul) Suitcase?

Other than my brief visit to Bristol in March, I haven't managed to fit in much travelling so far this year and it's definitely time for another adventure. And today, I'm heading off to Istanbul, so I can experience two continents in one day, Turkish delight and, of course, the joys of agglutinative languages. 

I had planned to put together a proper what's-in-my-suitcase post but by the time I escaped from work, it was starting to get dark and I needed to eat dinner. Also, some of the clothes I'm taking needed a wash and aren't yet ready for packing. Instead, I've taken a few photos of some of the things I'm taking for a five-day trip to Turkey, starting with make-up and toiletries:

The Caffeine Chronicles: Ground Control Review

A few months ago, while trying to find a more interesting way of getting back to King's Cross from that no man's land between Islington and Clerkenwell, I came across a not-yet-opened espresso bar called Ground Control. I could tell from the font on the sign that it was going to be my sort of place. Its name was also reminiscent of the wonderful Ground Support in New York.

But it was only today that I finally got around to checking out Ground Control, which is the Ethiopian Coffee Company's "flagship venue." Based on Amwell Street, a surprisingly busy and quirky street filled with interesting independent shops and delis in an otherwise fairly residential neighbourhood, Ground Control is tiny, with only a few tables inside and not much room for perching outside. 

I tried the macchiato, which was very good, although I prefer my macchiatos to be on the dry side — just a dribble of milk and a splash of foam — but forgot to ask; also my macchiato bar has been raised recently by places like Prufrock, where you get extensive quizzing on your coffee choices. Ground Control does use the same blue porcelain cups as Prufrock, which I really like.

Two macchiatos

They also serve food — "breakfast, lunch and so much more" — and there were two different choices of sandwich today. It's so nice to have a good espresso bar in the vicinity of King's Cross and I'll be going back to Ground Control again soon to enjoy the lovely Ethiopian coffee!

Ground Control. 61 Amwell Street, London, EC1R 1UR (Tube: Angel or King's Cross). Website.