A few days in London…
…in which Bibliocook pays a quick visit in the rain to Blackheath Farmers’ Market, picking up a log of goat’s cheese on the way, has dinner in a rather nice private room at The Punter in Cambridge, eats breakfast in Baker and Spice (while admiring the enormous rectangles of butter and jars of jam for sharing in the middle of the communal table, wondering idly how long it takes before the display is irretrievably destroyed) dashes into The Hummingbird Bakery to take a peep at their cupcakes, walks all the way from Richmond train station to Skye Gyngell‘s tea house at Petersham Nurseries only to discover – oh tragedy – that it is shut on Mondays, cooks dinner (a gnocchi dish, with Gubbeen cheese and chorizo imported by Caroline, very much adapted from an idea in this month’s delicious.) for the London-based Brother and his partner, pays homage – once again – at Books for Cooks and catches up with a former Ballymaloe classmate over dark Americanos, Mushrooms and Goat’s Cheese on Brioche and a Chocolate Loaf Cake at the Grocer on Elgin. Phew!
Sounds like you packed a lot in there!! Will have to pay a visit to some of these places next time I’m in London.
Just learn from our mistakes and don’t try visiting Petersham Nurseries on a Monday! Also, as I learned on a previous visit, Books for Cooks is also closed on Mondays. I would definitely recommend checking opening hours ahead of time.
Not bad!
Sounds like you had a good but hectic time :-)There’s just so much to see and do… I’m going over this weekend and a pilgrimage to Books for Cooks is definitely in order. Along with whatever else we can squeeze into 48 hours!
Hope you have a lovely weekend, Jen. If you’re wanting to visit Books for Cooks, then it’s closed on Sundays and Mondays so Saturday – early, it gets packed! – might be the best time to call by. My brother keeps telling me that I’d love Borough Market but I missed out on that this time round, just being in London from the Saturday night. Irish Wine Contemplations has a piece about that market here – he also mentions a restaurant in Notting Hill which sounds worth investigating!