Quiet London: Food & Drink - Softcover

Wall, Siobhan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0711235589 ISBN 13: 9780711235588

Publisher: Frances Lincoln, 2014

Synopsis

London is an exciting, vibrant and often noisy city but this busy metropolis also has a quiet side. Siobhan Wall encourages Londoners and visitors to the capital to wander away from the crowds and discover calm amid the hustle and bustle.This is a guide to over 100 quiet places to enjoy a delicious meal or tasty snack, to be tempted by treats in gourmet delicatessens, to relax with a drink or enjoy afternoon tea in peaceful surroundings.With evocative photographs and a short description for each location, including travel, access and contact details, Quiet London: Food & Drink reveals hidden, tranquil places in once of the world's liveliest cities.

About this title

Review

From the Introduction

Life in London is much more pleasurable than ten years ago, with street food and small catering businesses producing delicious hot dishes and tasty cakes to eat at home. Without any fuss or big announcements, London seems to be quietly benefiting from the concept of Slow Cities, an idea that evolved from the Slow Food movement. This Italian campaign seeks to improve the ‘quality of fabric of life in . . . local areas, as well as good food and wine . . . the cherishing of local traditions, a belief in diversity as opposed to globalisation and sameness, resistance to the frenetic pace of everyday life’. Although they state that towns or cities with more than 50,000 residents can’t ever be called a Slow City, it seems that small pockets of London are turning into their ideal village-like communities, where food still has a connection to the farmer and grower. Lamb’s Conduit Street in Bloomsbury is one such example – not only can you shop at the People’s Supermarket, which has an excellent traiteur at the rear, but also visit Caroline and Friends, a shop selling clothes and jewellery from suppliers the owner knows personally and has worked with for decades.

The Knights Templar London Bridge Farmers Market Verde and Company Rasoi East London Sausage Company The Junction Tavern

The number of farmers’ markets has increased in the last few years, too, with some stunningly beautiful new sites. Perched on top of a hill with dramatic views of the city far below, Horniman Gardens Farmers’ Market is held in one of the most spectacular locations in the capital. In the centre of London, Bloomsbury Farmers’ market transforms empty Torrington Square into a colourful, lively place to find organic food, brought here by the very people who cultivate the runner beans and tomatoes you are about to buy. It is hard to deny that shopping here is a much more pleasant experience than pushing a trolley round an artificially lit supermarket where most items on the shelves are the same, day in day out. One place to try out delicious foods in a quiet location, with time to chat to the person who cooked the dishes, is the Lone Fisherman – his spicy Caribbean patties with hot pepper sauce can be found at the weekend at Merton Abbey Mills Market. .. So, after getting up early to pick up some Spanish padrón peppers from Garcia, an amazing delicatessen in Portobello Road, and a rye loaf from Sally Clarke’s round the corner, stop by for a green vegetable curry for lunch at Makan Malaysian café. After work, spend the evening with friends at the sophisticated Le Deuxième restaurant in Covent Garden and, on your way home, pick up a box of sweet yellow Indian barfi from Ambala. Quiet London: Food & Drink shows that it’s not only possible but also very pleasurable to enjoy food from all over the world without ever having to listen to someone else’s choice of ambient music.

Contents

• Introduction
• Restaurants
• Cafés & places for afternoon tea
• Small shops
• Pubs & bars
• Food markets
• Index of places by location

About the Author

Siobhan Wall is a writer and artist. She has worked as a senior lecturer, teaching photography, cultural studies, video production and fine art for over ten years at universities in London and Oxford. Her artwork has been exhibited alongside Paula Rego and at the Whitechapel Art Gallery and ICA in London. She is the author of Quiet London, Quiet Amsterdam and Quiet Paris. She lives Amsterdam. 

About this edition

• Publisher: Frances Lincoln
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0711235589
• ISBN 13: 9780711235588
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128