Tag Archives: ottolenghi

An ode to Islington

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In about a month, we will be leaving my beloved N1 to go and live in E17 and this is what I am going to miss:

-going to work on the bus in 15 mins

-getting home from anywhere in Central London by cab for less than 20 pounds

-walking along the Canal to go to Angel

-walking along the Canal to go to Broadway market (i.e. Hipster central where I clearly belong…)

-walking along the  Canal to go to Victoria Park

-De Beauvoir Deli, our wedding cupcakes came from there (being all trendy by going local and all that..), they sell great coffee, great bread and BEST of all – Gelupo ice cream! Simply the best! They even sell peanut butter from Michigan. Basically everything is delicious and not easy to find elsewhere.

-Essex Road: it totally represents the mix that is Islington: betting shops, pubs you would never dare go in, pubs you are not trendy enough to go in, kebab shops, expensive Japanese restaurants in converted pubs, pawn shops, super cool barbers, expensive kitchen shops, pound shops, anything you would need basically!

-the beef bourguignon from Smokehouse

-Upper street: where to start? The amazing Everyman cinema, my beloved Aveda, Space NK, OTTOLENGHI, I repeat OTTOLENGHI where the cakes taste as delicious as they look and where the salads are out of this world, Gem, the very sweet Turkish restaurant, Islington Town Hall where we got our wedding license, and the list goes on.

– Camden Passage, again where to start? Breakfast club,  Zucono for Ice cream, the clothes at Workshop,  Chipotle and everything else!

-Living 5 mins away from my best friend and 5 mins away from my aunt, nothing beats “popping in” for a cup of tea without having to plan things in advance .

– the hairdressers on Essex road where the ladies drink white wine on a Saturday and you can hear all the local gossip

-Shepperton Road: so many stories, so many memories, life changing street I will never forget

This is why I am only moving a few stops up the Victoria Line so I can come back ALL THE TIME.

Walthamstow, you have a lot to live up to!

Laughing, laughing at me and laughing with me

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Last Sunday I went to see Wolf of Wall Street and got told off by Mister B for laughing too loud in the cinema, I actually nearly fell off my chair onto the floor. I felt like this film was totally in sync with my humour, in my opinion it was hilarious. I have no time for the whole “does it condone this type of behavior” debate, it happened, stuff like that happens (I work in the City and hardly witness anything like this but I KNOW crazy stuff happens) and will always happen. To be honest I envy the fun they had, I left the cinema wanting to go and get drunk on champagne and dance all night. There are some classic lines in that movie. My favourite scenes include the one where he is arguing with his wife in the morning and taking the piss out of her for having to deal with gardeners, house chores etc and how it must be sooo hard. not very feminist of me but so true…give me a mansion and unlimited credit card and the CHOICE not to work any day. Second favourite (a bit more feminist of me) is when they are in the nursery and she tells him how she will be wondering around the house sans  underwear and he can’t touch her, that’s power right there: apparently “used to be fun”, this is what a friend of mine told me because I’m sticking to the 4Cs,  well the one that he is thinking of is the drinking one. He was taking the piss about how I was one of those boring January people…still we’re going out anyway and I’ll make him laugh sober!

1 meter, just one little meter is apparently a lot bigger than I thought. My main point of reference is the circumference of my chest, which back in 2003 measured 1 meter. I know this because my housemates (ahhhh the good old days of house sharing at uni, no money yet so much fun! what ever ever went wrong…) at the time, took all sorts of measurements and tried to keep track throughout the year, I am sure there are plenty of apps for that kind of thing these days. We were all shocked at my “one meter” and so when I ordered a bargain mirror in the sale, I did not think it would be that big when it was delivered Saturday morning. Apparently circumference and diameter are not the same thing….so this beauty is now on gumtree:

Indeed it really is too big:

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Saturday evening was an improvement, much more about laughing with me that at me and my issues with meters/centimeters/geometry…

I went to a great girls dinner round the corner, we were 6 girls in total(I only knew the hostess) and she spoilt us with Ottolenghi food from start to finish, fresh his shop up the road, she even created menus. I nearly cracked and had some champagne but I was good and only drank boring old juice.

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I had a girl crush on one the girls at the dinner, she was so funny and had an amazing attitude to life. She was single until recently when she went on a match.com mission and eventually after nearly 40 dates found a great man. He’s taking her to the Waterside Inn and Coworth park this weekend, indeed not bad !!!

I love strong, funny, successful, smart women, hopefully we’ll meet up again. Out of 6 of us, I was the only one married, 1 is dating and the others all single, why they have not found any nice men is beyond me.  Oh wait, they’re not on match.com doh!