Historically, the British have really not been known for a great kitchen. Foodies  love  the Italian, the French, but the British Kitchen not so much. Fish and chips, steak and chips, meat pies, sausage rolls…not exactly what great cooks relish to make their kitchens signature dishes. So the british kitchen is not renowned for fine food.

So it was quite a surprise to find great food and great restaurants in London town. This is definitely a foodie destination. I was lucky early on to get some great recommendations from Rena Bedard a foodie and catering friend of Audrey McKinneys . Audrey and her friends were in London in late October and invited me out for dinner. We had a great time and in the following days Rena delivered on her promise to send me  details on some of her favorite food destinations.

So in the last several weeks, with friends and family visiting from Canada. ( Roger and Jean, Annette, Pat and Rachie) I managed to eat my way through quite a few of them.

And of course following Rachie’s long standing practice I took pictures of some of my favorite meals, at restaurants I would definitely recommend.

To give you a ‘taste’ of the town here they are

Hereford, Gastropub in Nottinghill

Delish Goat Cheese Beet Salad

 

Sofitels Amazing Charcuterie Plate

Amazing curry at the Boroughs

Rachie’s Favourite Food Market

BEST KITCHEN was TOM’S KITCHEN

SUPERB FOOD

And of course the traditional English High Tea. This one at Fortnum and Mason’s.

High Tea in the Jubilee Tea Room

So of course that got me to wondering about Food and England.

Naturally Jamie Oliver comes to mind. Likely THE English Celebrity Chef. Growing up in Essex son of respected pub/restaurant owners …perhaps thats where his interest in simple good wholesome food comes from…certainly several have followed and there are now’gastropubs’ throughout london town. Cool pub restaurants that serve gastronome pub food. a very popular one are the Bumpkins…very fun, nice ambiance and quite good authentic English fare. Annette tried their chicken pot pie and gave it two thumbs up… 

my local pub, the Prince Bonaparte had fabulous food. Not at all  what we had expected. worth a visit if you are in Nottinghill lots of ambiance’

Pat and Rachie at the Prince Bonaparte

A night cap at the Prince

Needless to say our exploration did not simply stop at food. we also managed to try out the cocktails on offer..but that will be the subject of another upcoming blog. So Stay Tuned for Drinking in London

For years i have heard how beautiful London can be at Christmas time..so I wanted to make sure I did a post on Christmas in London. I have been taking pictures these past few weeks to give you a sense of Christmas in London

The Lights on Oxford Street. November 5th, the lights turn on with a street party hosted by some guy called Robbie Williams…sorry no idea who he is …but the lights are pretty cool.  They seem  to be sponsored by Marmite…. Somehow I can’t  figure out what a yeasty yucky spread—yup that’s what Marmite is— has to do with Christmas..but they light up the  street.

Regent street has the 12 days of Christmas theme…now that I get and I LOVED the look. Such a great street with stunning buildings. Part of what makes Christmas in London so amazing is the beauty of the buildings and the fact that the Brits light up the buildings in a very classy way. Check out these pictures

Regent Street Twelve Days of Christmas

Covent Rudolph

Covent garden had Christmas trees and the largest red Rudolph and red Christmasballs. Check them out!!!!

So for sure London at Christmas is worth the visit!!

As several colleagues are following my blogs,  and as it is part of my life here in england, I thought I would do a blog about the KPMG Offices.

The main KPMG Office tower is at Canary Wharf  in Canada Square 15. So first of all you may wonder why is the office tower called Canada Square…well that goes back to the original developers of CanaryWharf, who were the Canadian Reichman brothers owners of Olympia and York. But more on the history shortly.

Canary Wharf Today

CW Nightime Skyline

 First off ,Canary Wharf is a major business district for London… easy to get when you step off  the underground an go up the high speed escalators out of the station with thousands and thousands of people streaming into work every morning. Really 90,000 people work in this financial district. Major banks, financial institutions, professional services firms etc. It’s definitely a business district of gorgeous modern glass and steel towers. Today of course there are also plenty of high rise condos for those who like to live where they work

Canary Wharf is really an island ..as it is surrounded by water and was built on the West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in East London. Canary Wharf takes its name from No 32 berth of the West Wood Quay where the fruit trade with the Canary Islands was conducted. The West India Docks at one time were one of the busiest shipping docks in the world. But shipping waned and by 1980 the docks had closed and the British were looking for someone to consider redeveloping this area. In 1987 the Candadian firm Olympia and York agreed to build on the site and construction began in 1988. I remember this as I worked at CIBC at the time and we were the Reichmans bankers.  The first building Canada Square One opened in 1991 . It was the tallest building in the UK and a symbol of the regeneration of the docklands.. I remember going to visit this area at the time.. it was still pretty remote and docklandish..very different today given the number of buildings there are there now!!!

However upon opening the London commercial property market collapsed and  Olympia and York Canary Wharf Limited filed for bankruptcy in 1992.  Tough times for awhile …a recession and resistance by many British firms to relocate from the traditional financial district. The long promised( by Margaret Thatcher) underground line the JUBILEE long was constantly delayed and did not open until 2000.

Nevertheless by 1995 an international consortium ( including former owners of Olympia & York) bought the investment and the new company is called Canary Wharf Group and construction commenced again

Today the 83 acre site which was one of the largest development projects in the world has 14,000,000 square feet of commercial space. Condos which one could purchase for 20,00 0 pounds ( according to colleagues here ) now go for 250,000 pounds. If only eh?

The KPMG offices at 15 Canada Square are pretty state of the art. They are all open concept. Everyone Partners, staff , admin all sit in this open office space. Lots of areas leverage an office booking concept    (office is a misnomer as what you are booking is a desk space—its pretty large though) so row upon row of desks. The dividers are also very low so you literally see your partner across the table and have people on each side of you. Even though one would think it might be noisy, it is not. Largely because everyone speaks very SOFTLY and all use headsets for their teleconversations which of course pick up your whispers better than a regular phone.

HER MAJESTY –WONDER IF SHE HAD TO BOOK A DESK

KPMG GLOBAL OFFICE SPACE

Basically you do your computer work in this space. If you have an international conference call, headset goes on and people speak quietly. However if you want to meet with people, you typically go to one of the many places to sit and chat or meet. There are a lot of conference rooms you can book…glassed in, or simply go to one of the many sitting areas spread along the centre of the building. Small tables with chairs, or booths, or more open conference style.. check out the pictures. Lots of light as it is a glass building and well lit. the open chat areas are connected by opens stairs  in 3 floor segments … and there is always a coffee station near by to grab your latte with your pass card ( remember my initial blog where I said my pass card was loaded with $ or rather Pounds every day?) It is a neat space and very much conducive to open planning. They did not just tear the walls done and make people sit together..they also have all the conversation areas that make it work.

The area where I sit is usually occupied by transient workers ( like me although I am hanging around a lot longer than most) Because of this, work colleagues don’t tend to say hello and introduce themselves…so initially I found it cold and unfriendly.. I also had a very negative experience receiving a real put down one evening for having my computer speakers on… but I have determined he is a jerk and others thought he was just RUDE. But over time I of course introduced myself and am now finding it a very collegial way to work.. and I LOVE all the conversation areas!!! As you can well imagine. It is colourful and modern…I think it is probably the way future offices will look and operate. More of us will work virtually, we will not always go to the office to work, we will drop in , book a desk, gather with our colleagues for conversation . Bottom line I like it !!! its been a good experience.

AUTOMATIC COFFEE STATIONS.

Beautiful St Paul’s

St Paul’s Cathedral for Remembrance Day. 

A beautiful crisp sunny morning.

Surrounded by men and women in uniforms. The british sure know how to do pomp and ceremony.

Men in tails, top hats, women in beautiful black coats and fancy hats

Turns out i was remembering along with the mayor and aldermen and women of the city of London.

A beautiful service in one of the most spectacular cathedrals in England..no pictures allowed during service so you will have to come and check it out for yourself

On my right a stunning young man in dark blue, with red and white….the uniform of the royal marines. On my left a handsome man dressed in long grey coat with red trim carrying a sabre..yeah it was pretty special. As always the church men in their robes of white, black and red and green.

Some of th most memorable hymns …”o Worship the King all glorious above” , ‘O God our Help in Ages Past”….and to close” God Save the Queen”

Followed the procession out to of the church to witness of course a military guard and band.
A great way to remember!!!!! 

Colourful Borough’s Tomatoes

Another Saturday morning, and off to check out another market in London town. This one is across the river past London Bridge.

According to all it is London’s most renowned FOOD  market . “It is a haven for anybody who cares about the quality and provenance of the food they eat – chefs, restaurateurs, passionate amateur cooks and people who just happen to love eating and drinking”.  So of course with this billing I had to go, even on a dreary overcast day.

Cheese Please

Mushrooms, mushrooms, mushrooms

So what did I find? Indeed an amazing food market.

Candy???

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The pictures I have included will give you a taste. Food from all over Britain and Europe. You will see a huge variety of food and drink on display…even free samples of champagne. It was really too bad I was just recovering from the flu, so I didn’t have my best taste buds with me.

And Fowl

Fish

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I I did buy food to take away with me. One an English chicken herb pie from Pieminister..which I enjoyed the following Sunday…and truthfully probably the best pie I have ever had..i wish I had taken a picture of it and the Pieminister stall where I bought it. At the stall you can purchase it hot with a dollop of mashed potatoes and mushy peas if you wish.

Best of British Brew

And CHOCOLATE!!!! Lots and Lots of Chocolate

Many of the stallholders apparently are often producers themselves, they grow, rear or bake the food they sell.  A centre of food excellence, indeed it was an interesting market to explore, see interesting food and generally savour a unique ambiance. There are about 100 individual stalls. Apparently the Borough has been a known food market as far back as 1014 as London Bridge attracted traders selling grain, fish, vegetables and livestock. So it is London’s oldest fruit and vegetable market. Worth a visit!!!

 Have been back in England now for almost a week, and have been reflecting on my trip to India. It continues to strike me with its contrasts

• ·        The beauty of the Taj Mahal and the unsightliness of the rubbish lining the highways and streets.

A ‘Yahpee Palace’ Hotel in Agra

• ·        The refined and gracious demeanor of those who served us in the hotels contrasted with the hundreds of slum children in old Delhi.

I

I began to wonder what modern India was all about.I had seen and experienced the 5 star Hotels (Palaces). I had visited our offshoring office where well educated young professionals serviced our IT desk in the UK, completed tax returns for various KPMG firms around the world. The wonders of the Moghul empires live on today. But so do ancient ways of living it seems.

Moghul’s construction

My guide had indicated that while the western world offshored to India, 45% of Indians were illiterate. My research on return found he had exagerattted somewhat…but it is still stands at over 25% and for women it remains at 36%. A significant barrier to socio-economic advancement for millions of Indians. It is estimated that by the year 2020 over 50% of the worlds illiterate population will live in India. The absence of an adequate school infrastructure is a major cause. Most schools do not have proper sanitation.

The caste system continues in India. While in the urban centres the different castes do mingle, intermarriage is not accepted and discrimination based on caste still continues.

How it’s structured

India’s Castes

Broadly speaking, a caste system is a process of placing people in occupational groups. Rooted in the Hindu religion and based on a division of labor, the caste system, among other things, dictates the type of occupations a person can pursue and the social interactions that he/she may have. It is a complex long standing part of Indian society and structure, which presents considerable challenges in modern India.

One of the questions I had when I returned centred on where and how the people of India lived. I saw so many shanty towns and slum like buildings …it turns out that 19% of Delhi’s people live in slums. No wonder I saw so many of them. Modernisation has led to massive building boom …apartments and highrises, but unfortunately, I did not get a sense for the typical home of an indian. Wikipedia says that extended families live together, grandparents children, in laws and grandchildren..all sharing the same kitchen..so brothers, sisters, cousins grow up together… the eldest woman in the house sets the menu and leads the cooking. Even with modernisation nuclear families are still a small ( but growing) section.

john check out the apartment construction techniques

In villages much of family life occurs outdoors. Men bathe outdoors ….ican attest to that as I saw men constantly on the side of the road in villages over low rise wells washing —–practicaly naked. One often saw beds outside where people napped or slept. And of course food is constantly cooked outdoors

Sanitation and hygiene is severely lacking. The population in India produces thousands of tons of garbage so the trash lying around makes an  immediate impact. Tap water is unfit for consumption…so we always drank bottled water

Lack of sanitation

One of India’s major problem is the lack of public toilets…and it turns out many homes do not have toilets either. No wonder I saw so many men relieving themselves on the side of the street…. I often wondered what women did as I  did not see them.

making cowpies

One of the unusual things I saw was women sitting at the sides of the road, and forming  cow pies from huge piles of manure…Yuup cow dung shaped into pies, which are then dried . I asked what did they do with them… they use them for fuel..yup home cooked meals prepared  over cow dung ….not my idea of the start of a great meal. But in india to care for a cow is considered a sacred duty. Researching this I found that India’s cattle—yup the ones I saw everywhere having the run of the highways, villages, markets, homes,  excrete more than 700 million tons of manure annually. Half is used as manure for the field and the other half is burned to provide heat for cooking. 9 out of 10 rural households use it for fuel.

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Bottom line for me a fascinating country and  an eye opening trip!!!

cowpie huts