The British Kitchen

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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’

 

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