Tags
friends, gastronomy, london, london getaway, sherry, sherry awards, travel, trips
So this was it! The day I’d been looking forward to and dreading in equal measure. Also it was the main reason for being in London for this particular London Getaway, to be one of the judges at the first World Sherry Awards. I say “dreading” because I had never judged anything at this level before, and wasn’t sure what would be expected. Happily my friend Owen @sherrymonster44 (another sherry educator and co-owner of four fabulous tapas bars in southern Wales) had also been invited as a judge, so I knew there would be at least one friendly face. As it turned out, I needn’t have worried. The people running the event were super friendly and I immediately felt right at home. Or as “at home” as possible at the elegant Caledonian Club, where the tasting was being held. You will have to wait until May to find out which wine was chosen as the winner, and I hope to be invited back again next year.
After the tasting Owen had to get back to Wales and I met up again with Peter, who had spent the afternoon visiting a couple of museums. As we were near Harrod’s – and as I had never been to Harrod’s – we went to Harrod’s! In fact, we decided to do a three-posh-store circuit and after Harrod’s we also stopped off at Harvey Nichols and Fortnum & Mason. I think a few years ago I would have found these places more interesting, especially the food courts. Anyhow, we stopped for a drink in the upstairs lounge at Harvey Nicks, as we still had a couple of hours to go before meeting up with John again. Then we found out John was going to be delayed, so we went off in search of a pre-pub snack in nearby Soho.
My first choice, Boca di Lupo, was already packed at 6.30 pm and we were told to come back in an hour or so to see if there was any space then. Uh… no. Then I remembered Zelman’s. This turned out to be an excellent choice. We were immediately shown to a comfy spot in front of the glass-walled “open” kitchen and our server couldn’t have been nicer. So different from the “fake-friendly” treatment elsewhere the previous day. Our snack was a massive smoked beef short rib, which we shared with a side of triple-fried chips. We honestly wished we were hungrier so we could try more dishes – Zelman is already at the top of the list for my next London visit.
By the time we met up with John I was pretty tired, so we just had a couple of drinks and a nice chat before I called an Uber to take us home.
Owen finds a secret passage behind fake bookshelf door at the Caledonian Club
cool Tudor style buildings just off Regent Street
the Egyptian escalator in Harrod’s
chillin’ and rechargin’ at Harvey Nicks
fall-off-the-bone smoked beef short rib at Zelman Meats
triple-fried chips with Holy Fuck mayo (their name, not mine)
pubbing with John and Peter
This was the only day I had actually planned both lunch and dinner meet-ups with friends. And I knew I’d be fine lunching light with Thane 
What an amazing day! It started off very promising with partly blue skies and billowy white clouds (instead of the forecasted thunderstorms) so we were cautiously optimistic as we headed over to London Fields station to meet up with Nicola 
We started off at Netil market for a light breakfast snack at the wonderful Yeast bakery, but before long it was Beer & O’clock and, after a stroll through busy Broadway Mkt we made our way over to Schoolyard and then back to Netil. Honestly, it was like being out with me, but in Hackney. Nicola knew all the best places to stop at each market, and exactly what to order. It was a delightful selection of delicious tastes: pillowy pork baos, crunchy fried chicken, spicy beef rendang and perfect pork dumplings.
Nicola with dumplings
scotch eggs at Broadway Mkt – took some home for breakfasts
spicy beef rendang at Schoolyard Mkt – a first for me
gorgeous tomatoes at Broadway Mkt
front row seats at Lardo – chef was great fun to watch and talk with
oops, second bottle of wine
spotted in Hackney – a pretty Nissan Figaro (with eyelashes)
oops… cocktails at Every Cloud
fantastic Burmese dinner at Lahpet
So remember last year when I won the 
Well, as soon as I walked in the door I was bear-hugged by Antonio Cruz (left) who was clearly still on cloud 9 after having won the Best Front of House award for 
The 2nd Gurmé Awards were held in the magnificent Portuguese Consulate, built for the 1929 Expo – a stunning building. It was an honour to be invited to the ceremony, and a thrill to watch friends being acknowledged. But the building kept diverting my attention. None of my photos did it justice.
casa azahar 