Lent

Goodness, I can't believe it is Shrove Tuesday today!! Easter is really early this year (mid March) and as a result Lent will start tomorrow! What better time to decide to make some changes to your diet than now. Lent lasts about 6 1/2 weeks, so it is definitely a great way to test your will power and try and make some positive changes. Classic things to give up include chocolate, alcohol, coffee, crisps, takeaways etc. which would all be a great way to give yourself a bit of detox before Spring is upon us. Good luck - and enjoy the pancakes tonight!

Leon

Mmmmmm... I've just had my first Leon lunch of 2007 and reminded me that I should mention it on my blog. Leon is an excellent, newish chain of restaurants who definitely live up to their strapline 'naturally fast food'. Check out their website to look at their menu. Everything is delicious and I would particularly recommend the Leon Gobi to keep you warm (and super healthy) in February! Yum!

Did you know...

... that your hair grows more slowly in February that in any other month of the year? Very curious, but it kind of makes sense as it's one of the lowest times of the year. Christmas is a distant memory, all the new year's resolutions have gone out of the window and everything feels a little grey and dreary! With that in mind I am going to make a concerted effort to get blogging again so I can provide plenty of tips for keeping healthy, happy and full of beans (maybe literally) throughout the month when all we feel like doing is going into hibernation!

Dans le Noir

On Tuesday night I paid a visit to Dans le Noir in Farringdon. I didn't know quite what to expect, but it was a fantastic experience. After a surprise cocktail in the (lit) bar, we were led to our table by our guide for the evening, Carl. All the waiters are blind and were amazingly adept at getting us all into the restaurant and seated at our table. He then looked after us exceptionally well all night as we tucked into our food and wine (which we had to pour ourselves - tricky!). You don't know what you are going to get to eat so have to try and guess, which is harder than it sounds. Especially when you are having difficulty even getting the food on your fork! Overall it was a great night and a real experience to be completely robbed of your vision (it is completely pitch black) for so long. My only criticism would be that the menu was slightly unimaginative - roast beef for main course - esepcially considering it is a French restaurant. I would thoroughly recommend the experience though and if I were to go again I would suggest going for the blue or green menu and not the white!

Jamie at Home

I just managed to catch the first episode of Jamie Oliver's new tv show Jamie at Home last week (while frantically trying do all the cooking for a dinner party!) and thoroughly enjoyed it. The focus was on tomatoes and all the different varieties had had grown in his garden. Some fantastic recipes and it's great to see lots of British food cooked in season. I definitely recommend tuning in tonight and checking it out. There is a book out too which will no doubt be packed full of yummy recipes, so I'm hoping to get my hands on it soon!

Fresh Tuna!

At the end of July I spent a fabulous week in Sicily, cruising around the Aeolian Islands on a yacht with a group of friends. Al, the budding fisherman among us, launched his line from the back of the boat and to our amazement caught a small tuna fish within about 10 minutes! He then bravely gutted and filleted it before cooking it up on our tiny boat stove for us all to tuck in to. It was really delicious and probably about as fresh as you can get! Yum! Shame it was the only thing we caught all week.....

Konstam

At the end of July I paid a visit to Konstam at the Prince Albert, near Kings Cross. I had been very excited about eating there as I had heard lots about the restaurant from the TV series The Urban Chef which followed the head chef/ owner Oliver Rowe in his quest to source all his ingredients from wihtin the M25! The restaurant is relatively small, with an open plan kitchen so you can see your food being prepared.

In the spririt of having a totally British meal we started with a glass of English sparkling wine before moving on to our starters of cuttlefish from the Thames and chicken liver and bacon pate which was absolutely delicious. We then washed our amazing main courses - steak with fresh horseradish, beetroot and onion and pork with goosberry sauce and seasonal veg - down with a lovely bottle of Chapel Down wine! The food was so tasty and fresh and it was great to know that everything had been sourced from so nearby. I would definitely recommend a visit, especially if you are lucky enough to have Oliver himself in the kitchen as we did!