The Caffeine Chronicles: SPIN X LCF XMAS

It's something of an understatement to say that I don't like cycling, but I do like cycling style, especially when it goes hand-in-hand with good coffee. As such, the SPIN X LCF XMAS event, which is on in Shoreditch's Worship Street until tomorrow sounded like a good way of killing time before a big Thanksgiving dinner this evening. SPIN is Spin London, the self-proclaimed urban cycling show, and LCF is, of course, the London Coffee Festival, and SPIN X LCF is an unholy alliance of the two.

Foolishly, I had already had a big Aeropress brew at home and a post-run filter coffee from Monmouth, so I decided to walk off some of my caffeine by browsing the stands in the cycling section of the event. I particularly liked these Christmas-sweater-style cycling jackets from Hackney GT, but there were quite a few other cool products, including the panniers and other bags from Goodordering, which you can probably see in the background.

I was also tempted by some of the very cool coffee-making kit from the Brewed by Hand stand, mainly the awesome-looking grinders and the pink Hario glass drippers, but I decided to remain faithful to my Aeropress. For now.

Then it was coffee time. First, I had an espresso from Butterworth and Son, which was rich and smooth and really got me buzzing.

Next, I went to the Alchemy stand and tried out the macchiato (just the way I like it with a dash of milk). Alchemy are based near St Paul's and on my way in to work, but because they're only open on weekdays and only until 4 pm, I've never been able to try them out. A shame, because their macchiato was excellent, and I love their chic, black-and-gold style.

Finally, I ordered a macchiato from Bean About Town, a mobile coffee cart that travels between many London destinations. The macchiato was on the longer side, but by that point, I had probably had enough caffeine that dilution was probably a good thing. Also, I love the design of their cups (and their website).

SPIN X LCF XMAS. 89 1/2 Worship Street, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 2BF (Tube: Liverpool Street, or Shoreditch High Street Overground). 

"Nobody Ever Wins the Games. Period."

It's been over 18 months since the movie adaptation of the first book in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy was released, and after much anticipation, a new director and some glowing reviews, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is finally out. 

I liked the first book and really enjoyed the first film, but I was more reticent about Catching Fire, mainly because the book on which it is based, along with the third and final title in the series, Mockingjay, felt like lazy add-ons. But given the praise the new film has been getting and given the dearth of good films lately, I decided to go and see Catching Fire. Although I'll try not to spoil too much about Catching Fire, there are inevitably some spoilers for the first film (and book) below, so look away now if you need to catch up.

At the end of the first Hunger Games film, our heroine Katniss Everdean (Jennifer Lawrence), plucky huntress, manages to outwit the Panem powers-that-be to survive the titular games along with her friend Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). Panem is the seriously dysfunctional dystopian society the United States becomes in the not-too-distant future. 

Ruled by President Snow (Donald Sutherland) who, along with his fellow leaders in the Capitol, Panem is divided into 12 districts, each of which must offer up two teenage "tributes" each year to take part in the Hunger Games — a brutal fight to the death of which there can be only one winner — as punishment for attempting to rise up against the Capitol and the regime 74 years earlier.

By threatening a double-suicide at the end of the last Games, which would have left the Capitol without a victor, Katniss forced Snow to allow her and Peeta both to survive. They get to live in the victors' village in their district — occupied by the only other living victor, the often drunk and always sardonic Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) — and they never have to take part in another Hunger Games again. Hooray. All they need to do, before Katniss can go back to her life and to the guy she really loves, Gale (Liam Hemsworth), is go on a victory tour of each of the 12 districts and attend a swanky party at the Capitol. Simple, hey?

However, President Snow was not taken in by Katniss's act of being in love with Peeta on-screen and, as unrest in some of the districts starts to pick up, he warns her that she had better do a better job of convincing everyone that she did what she did for love and not as a protest against the regime, or else her family and Gale might not make it through the night. 

Katniss does her best, but even when she plays the lovesick teenager at the public visits she makes on the tour of the districts, the people salute her and whistle her trademark mockingjay tune; she wore a mockingjay pin in the first film, given to her by her sister Primrose (Willow Shields). "You never get off this train," Haymitch tells her, when she notes how much she is looking forward to the end of the tour.

Clearly, the masses have found their messiah and President Snow is not happy. Luckily for him, the next Hunger Games is a quarter quell — a particularly nasty version of the Games that takes place every 25 years. Together with Plutarch "I'm the head game maker: fun is my job" Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), he devises a solution to all of his problems: this quarter quell will involve the tributes being selected from among the living victors of each district, Katniss, of course, being the only living female victor in district 12. 

Haymitch is selected as district 12's male tribute, but naturally, Peeta volunteers instead of him, so off they go again. And we get to see the quirky Capitol characters from the last instalment: the colourful, crazy-haired chaperone Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks), slimy host Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) and Katniss's stylist Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), who, on the pre-Games show, makes her wear a beautiful wedding dress (the one she would have worn if she and Peeta had been able to get married), which catches fire (hey, that's the name of the movie) and turns into a mockingjay costume. Nice.

They are competing against a whole lot of even more bad-ass contestants from the other districts, who a) have already survived once and b) all know each other. Haymitch advises them to make some allies, but Katniss isn't impressed by the sexy-and-I-know-it Finnick (Sam Clafrin) or brooding mean girl Johanna (Jena Malone), although she is tempted by the brainier, older pair, Wiress (Amanda Plummer) and Beetee). 

And so the Games begin, and the odds are still not in anyone's favour. Or, at least, so it seems. Grudgingly making an alliance with Finnick and later Johanna, Wiress and Beetee, Katniss and Peeta do their best to steer clear of the other contestants, especially the careers from district one, Abercrombie & Fitch Cashmere and Gloss, which is no mean feat when the arena itself unleashes a different source of death and doom every hour.

Is there a way that Katniss can cheat death — and Snow — again, without putting Peeta, Gale and her family into danger? Does she care for Peeta more than she's willing to admit? And why aren't there more cute guys in Catching Fire? I enjoyed Peter Lawrence's film and was gripped right up to the twist-and-cliffhanger ending, but like the the book, Catching Fire still felt like a bridge between the first instalment (with the full focus on the Games) and the final part, where (spoiler alert) there are no Games, just a whole lot of uprisings. 

The Games don't even start until more than halfway through the 2h25 film and the outcome is less satisfying — certainly without the third part to explain and to add context. Jennifer Lawrence was excellent, again, but there were so many other characters, no one else really had time to shine. Peeta is, let's face it, a bit of a wet blanket, although a kind one, and Gale gets very little screen time, most of it he spends brooding.

Catching Fire is probably a better film than The Hunger Games, but I enjoyed the latter a lot more, not least because it has a key, central idea and its to it, rather than dabbling in too many different aspects that only make sense once you've seen the final part. Or, in this case, the final parts because yes, they've decided to split Mockingjay into two parts. I am slightly biased because I think the second two books shouldn't have been written in the first place, but there is no need for this and it stinks of greed and lazy editing. < / rant>

London Christmas Lights: 2013 Edition

Yes, I know. My blog posts about London's Christmas lights are getting earlier every year. It isn't even December and I'm not even a Christmas person, but with my birthday celebrations last weekend and my first attempts to do my Christmas shopping this weekend, I've been around the West End a fair bit. Here's what I spotted.

Covent Garden always does a good job at Christmas time, and with the lovely baubles in the Piazza, the huge Christmas tree and proudly strutting reindeer this year was no exception.

Next to the Christmas tree, there is also a giant snow globe with various iconic buildings from the London skyline constructed from LEGO bricks, which is just as cool as the huge LEGO Christmas tree they put up inside St Pancras station two years ago. There is a button to make the "snow" blow around, but it doesn't work too well, and you can even walk "inside" the globe, as long as you don't mind queuing.

Just around the corner, in Seven Dials, they are using the same decorations as last year, but I don't mind, because I like the funky neon stars and chevrons.

As usual, Carnaby Street has a fun take on Christmas with their decorations and this year a flock of robins have descended upon Carnaby Street, encouraging visitors to Tweet along with them (geddit)?

I was in Liberty two weeks ago when they turned their Christmas lights on, celebrating with a little show projected onto the shop's iconic facade. They were also handing out crackers that apparently contained nice prizes, but sadly I didn't have time to queue. Inside, the central atrium is filled with a swarm of colourful Scrabble-like tiles, which are bursting out of an even more colourful satchel. Très chic.

Less chic, of course, is the nearby Oxford Street, which was particularly hellish this afternoon, even though I stayed on the quieter side of Oxford Circus. Who needs sponsored Christmas lights when you can't take a step without being inundated with brands and logos? At least Selfridges, where I stopped by last week, adds a touch of class to the mix.

In general, the South Bank needs to up its game; they tend to use the same decorations each year. Although they aren't Christmas lights, I liked the advent calendar display that I spotted in the Southbank Centre shop on my walk home. And while I was crossing Waterloo Bridge, I had a little London-lights based fun with my camera.

Yet More Birthday Celebrations

OK, I'm now officially birthday-ed out for another year, and I feel like I've eaten enough food this weekend to last for the rest of the month. Still, Saturday started virtuously with a brief Doughnut Club run, followed by a Monmouth coffee rather than a doughnut. Since I moved to Bermondsey and have talked about my frequent visits to Maltby Street, my parents have been wanting to see what all the fuss about, so they drove in late on Saturday morning and we went to check it out.

It was really busy — even busier than I've seen it for a while — although it was a sunny, if cold, day and we were a little later than usual. After scanning our food options, most of us decided to brave the queue for Reuben sandwiches at Monty's Deli. 

We probably waited an hour in the end, and just before we ordered, they ran out of salt beef, which meant pastrami-only sandwiches. After ordering it's still another 15 minutes or so before you get your food (they really need another grill or two), and just before we got our food, they announced that the pastrami was all gone too. This at least meant the rest of us were able to find seats while we ate our lunch. The Reuben was really good — definitely worth the wait — even if I could only manage a half-sandwich.

We then went to hang out at Little Bird for some fruity gin cocktails. I always get distracted by the gin bloody mary and the berry cocktail, so today I made myself try their Perfect G and T, which comes with pink grapefruit. Perfect is quite the claim, but this G and T really was damn good.

In the afternoon, we drove with my parents into the West End, trying to work out what movie was going to be filming in St James's Square, where we parked (Theory of Everything, it turned out), and then did a little bit of shopping before heading our separate ways to get ready for dinner.

We ate at Magdalen on Tooley Street, with two of our friends joining us for dinner. In terms of service and celebration-friendly, Magdalen was the absolute opposite of Chop Shop, and we had a lovely evening with the wine flowing freely. The menu is British, but a little quirky, so after my smoked salmon and poached egg starter, I had braised shoulder of wild boar with mash for my main course. 

It was slightly out of my comfort zone but really good. I was too full for a proper pudding, but the chef etched a birthday greeting in chocolate on the plate of salted caramel chocolates we ordered for me anyway. I did also manage a glass of whiskey, figuring that at 30, it's about time I learned to appreciate it.

My parents then headed back to their hotel, while the rest of us walked down Bermondsey Street to 214, the underground gin bar at Antico restaurant. You don't have to like gin to drink there, but it helps, and I had a fab, fruity raspberry purée G and T, which meant that I was sleeping soundly within moments of lights out.

Sunday morning started somewhat more virtuously, with a trip to the gym and Turkish baths at the Royal Automobile Club, before we went for brunch at Le Caprice. I really should have had something healthy but Le Caprice's burgers are excellent: juicy, meaty and perfectly medium rare. 

And then when I saw the dessert menu, I realised I was going to have to have the iced popcorn and salted caramel bar — a sort of semifreddo with a chewy caramel base, salted caramel sauce and a popcorn garnish. Beautiful and delicious. Le Caprice also manages to be both friendly and stylish. The perfect place for a smart-casual weekend brunch.

Birthday season is now officially over in my family, so I'd better stock up on veggies and salad before Christmas rolls around.

XXX Part III: Chop Shop (CLOSED)

I've been wanting to visit Chop Shop, the new-ish steak joint on Haymarket, for quite some time and thought the occasion of my 30th birthday would be the perfect opportunity to check it out with some friends. The chocolate and peanut butter brownie sundae on the pudding menu only sealed the deal. The food was excellent and very good value, and the ambience was great, so overall, it was a good experience, although there was, unfortunately, a caveat*, of which more below.

First, we got in the drinks, and the list of house cocktails was short but impressive. I ordered the Passione Arrabiata: Calabrian chilli olmeca, reposado tequila, passion fruit and lime. It was fruity, sharp and spicy. I really enjoyed it, but the others' selections, especially the Masala Mai Tai, also looked good.

The menu has a selection of main courses — mainly steaks, but a few other options, including a patty melt and a couple of fishy and veggie options — and then for starters, you can choose from a selection of snacks, jars, planks and crocks, some of which are made for sharing. We wanted to save room for our mains and, in my case pudding, so we ordered some almonds, olives, two lots of hot wings and two portions of scotch egg, which was about enough for a group of seven.

Most of us ordered steaks for our main course, although had I not had a burger at lunchtime, I might have gone for the patty melt — at only £12, including fries, it's a steal, and the bite I tried was delicious. I went for the hanger steak, which was £16, plus £2 for some vodka peppercorn bacon sauce. The steak, which I ordered rare, was flavoursome, juicy and very good value. The sauce was nice too, but I couldn't really taste the bacon. 

We asked the waiter how many sides to get and he suggested four or five between us. As the two patty melters got their own fries, we ordered another portion of fries, some mash with crème fraîche and chives (which was yummy) and some roasted squash. The waiter then made a big deal out of how he thought that wasn't enough, and kept pushing it, even after we said it would be fine (I'd been eating all day, of course).

The service issues continued into pudding time. I had mentioned when I booked the table that it was my birthday, and many restaurants will do something nice for you, whether that is putting a candle in your pudding or giving you a little treat. It's just a nice thing to do when people are celebrating and spending a lot of money with you. 

The situation was complicated by my very thoughtful friend having baked me some brownies, which the staff put candles on and brought out; they also wanted to charge a £3 per person "cake-age" charge. Yeah, happy birthday to me, or what?! We decided to box up the brownies for later and order our own desserts. 

I had the brownie sundae, and it was excellent. One of my friends ordered two scoops of gelato and then panicked that they might serve strawberries on top (she is allergic), so went to check. When it arrived they had given her a brownie sundae too — including peanuts and peanut butter sauce and she's allergic to that too. Given it was the wait staff's mistake, they weren't particularly contrite or even nice about it.

If you are a group of eight or more at Chop Shop, you have to have a special party menu (to make life easier for the kitchen), but I didn't want to spend the run-up to my big day hassling my friends for food selections, so we were a group of seven. I feel like we were being penalised for being a large non-party group, which wouldn't have been so bad if the restaurant was rammed, but it wasn't that busy, even when we left. 

If it had just been a normal meal, I wouldn't have minded so much — this is London, after all — but it was my 30th birthday dinner, and my friends and I were made to feel like we were just a thorn in the wait staff's side. I certainly didn't feel special or treated. And, as I said, we weren't scrimping: our tab came to £300.

This is a pity, because everything else about the restaurant was really good: fab food and drinks, and a lovely style and ambiance. I'd like to think that if you go in a smaller group, you'll get better service; perhaps just try somewhere more intimate and friendly if you're celebrating a special occasion and looking for a restaurant that offers great service as well as great food.

Chop Shop. 66 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4RF. CHOP SHOP IS NOW CLOSED PERMANENTLY.

*UPDATE (25/11/13): I wrote a polite email to the manager expressing the service problems we experienced, but a week has gone by and I haven't even received a response, let alone an apology. Keeping your customers happy and eager to return doesn't cost a lot — especially if it means losing the future custom of seven potential return diners.

XXX Part II: Chocolate Tour and Grillshack

Although Thursday was my birthday, I spent it mainly at work, so the celebrations continued yesterday instead. We had an 11.45 date with Old Compton Street where a surprise awaited me: a chocolate walking tour of Soho and Mayfair. 

As a former tourist information centre employee, I've always enjoyed a good walking tour, and one that involves chocolate samples every few minutes is even more appealing. We had a great time, walking between several great chocolatiers, from Paul A. Young to Prestat and Charbonnel & Walker. The former was, I think, my favourite, with so many beautiful and tasty treats on offer.

We also stopped by the food hall of Fortnum & Mason, which had some impressive chocolates; plus, they were getting all Christmassy inside, which was nice. I tried one of the chai-flavoured chocolates, which came shaped like a tiny tea cup. Meanwhile, at Charbonnel & Walker, we tried one of the queen's personal favourites: a rose-flavoured chocolate, which reminded me of Turkish delight.

The walking tour was great fun and very informative, and you also get a 10% discount at most of the chocolatiers along the way, which was dangerous! As Christmas approaches, I've now got a few new gift ideas in my repertoire.

Although I wasn't exactly hungry after the tour, I was craving something savoury and as we were so close, we took the opportunity to visit Grill Shack, which opened on Beak Street a couple of months ago.

The concept is all-day, American-diner-style dining but with quality food and some cool techy features. You can order you food via the Grillshack app, for example, or at one of the touchscreen order-points, as well as at the counter. 

We'd hoped to use the app — just 'cause it sounded cool — but unfortunately, you can't order the specials that way and as soon as we saw that the special of the day was a cheese burger with a pulled pork topping, how could we not?

We weren't asked how we wanted our burgers cooked, but it didn't matter because it was juicy and perfectly medium rare. There was just enough pulled pork to add interest, but not to the point of being excessive.

We also got some sides: seasoned fries and grilled corn-on-the-cob with chipotle butter and cheese. Everything tasted good, and the service was very efficient. A regular cheese burger is only £5.95 and even our pulled pork burgers were only £7.95, which is pretty reasonable given how good they were.

Overall, then, Grillshack gets a hearty thumbs-up and I'm looking forward to trying some of the other main courses — and some of the puddings, which, after all the chocolate, we really couldn't manage yesterday. 

In an attempt to walk off some of our lunch, we wandered through Soho to Covent Garden, where we admired the Christmas decorations, especially the snow globe with iconic London buildings made from Lego inside. Very cool.

Update (June 2016): Grillshack is now permanently closed.

XXX Part I: Grain Store (CLOSED)

When I heard that Bruno Loubet was opening a restaurant in King's Cross, it only served to cement the gentrification of the area, even in the almost four years I've been working there. Grain Store opened its doors in Granary Square, round the back of King's Cross and St Pancras stations, next to Central St Martin's. The menu was just interesting enough for us to want to save it for a special dinner, rather than a rushed lunch. As I turned 30 today and am celebrating — initially, at least — with three dinners, with various combinations of my nearest and dearest, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to stop by.

You can't help but notice the effort that has gone into the design. From the beautiful, colourful website, to the lovely outdoor furniture that optimistically fills the restaurant's "front yard," to the stylish menus, someone with very good taste has paid a lot of attention to the look and feel of the place. We had a relatively early slot and were ushered to a table in an alcove near the front of the restaurant. To my delight, the softest, cosiest fur drape was hanging from the wall, just adding to the hints of Scandi.

The Grain Store is the kind of place where you hear the waiter say things like, "Shall I walk you through the visuals of the menu?" You can also opt for a "surprise" menu, where Bruno and his team will put together a nifty little combo. Unfortunately, I'm still slightly too fussy for this to be a viable choice, but there was no shortage of tasty dishes on the menu. 

While we considered our options, we got the cocktails in; a pumpkin and maple syrup bellini in my case (who needs Pumpkin Spice Lattes, eh?), which was sweet and delicious. The twinkle (vodka, Champagne, elderflower cordial and lemon) was quite different — much sharper — but just as good.

The menu changes regularly and read rather like a Harvest festival. We decided to share one of the specials to start — a mezze plate that included pumpkin hummus, something with yoghurt and rose petals, some spinach and ricotta pastries and something with aubergine, served with charcoal-fired flat bread. The pumpkin hummus was particularly good.

For my main course, I chose the cranberry-braised beef with wood-roasted onions and root vegetable purées — the latter involved three mini-mountains of beetroot, potato and, I think, sweet potato (or maybe carrot). The beef was was really good. I had been given a pretty serious steak knife, but the juicy pieces slipped right onto my fork and the tart cranberry marinade offered an excellent contrast.

I just about had room for pudding and ordered the "eucalyptus- and mint-poached pineapple, chocolate and peanut délice," after establishing that this was a pudding in two parts. The latter was a rich, gooey moussey cake with a peanut base; my perfect pudding. 

The pineapple was really tasty too — I particularly enjoyed the minty aftertaste — but I'm still not sure it was the perfect accompaniment to the chocolate and peanut. The waiter also brought me a tiny snifter of a rich, slightly sweet fortified red wine, which he said complemented the latter perfectly. I'm not really into fortified wines, but it was a nice touch.

Although the tables were mostly empty when we arrived at 6 pm, by the time we left, some two hours later, the place was almost full. And it's a big restaurant, with two long bars spanning the length, and more tables around the side. Given the impressive and interesting cocktail menu, it would be a nice place to come for a post-work aperitif, although there were so many intriguing combinations on the main menu, it would be a shame not to come for another meal soon. Nicely done, Grain Store!

Grain Store. 1-3 Stable Street, London, N1C 4AB (Tube: King's Cross). CLOSED