A Lady in London

Winter came early to London this year. November was the coldest on record in over 20 years, and December has started off on a rather snowy note. Today’s weather is overcast with temperatures below freezing. All of this means that I have one thing on my mind: comfort food.

Starting with my four Thanksgiving dinners, I embarked on a wintry quest to find comfort food in London. So far this has taken several forms, including cozy brunches, warm dinners, and weekend foodie extravaganzas. All of them serve the dual purpose of  highlighting the best of London’s winter holiday foods and saving me from impending frostbite.

I started my search for comfort food with brunch, which has always been my favorite meal. When I was in college my cousin and I used to go for weekend brunches at Brickway on Providence‘s funky Wickenden Street. Their chocolate chip banana pancakes were the ultimate comfort food. When I moved to San Francisco, I was a denizen of Marina brunch spots like Balboa Cafe. In London it has been a bit trickier, as brunch is often eclipsed by the Full English Breakfast, which—despite several sincere attempts—I haven’t managed to fall in love with.

But there are a few hidden gems in London that serve a good brunch, which in my case means an American-style brunch like the ones I was used to at home (hence the ‘comfort’ part of the phrase ‘comfort food’).

First there was Christopher’s, a classic American restaurant in Covent Garden that serves an equally classic brunch. Then came Automat, which is also famous for its American brunch. This was followed by the Modern Pantry, which, while taking a distinctly British angle on the meal, still cooks up comfort food that reminds me of home. The last of the brunches took place at the Electric Brasserie in Notting Hill, another British brunch place with a decent amount of American options.

On each of these occasions I promised myself that I wouldn’t just order Eggs Benedict. But every time I looked at a menu, I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more. So I ate Eggs Benedict. Every time. And without fail it was exactly what I needed to warm me up and shield me from the cold winter weather outside.

But the brunching hours weren’t the only ones that required comfort. No, the evenings saw me in even greater need. With daylight hours ending somewhere around 4pm, Seasonal Affective Disorder threatened.

Enter comfort food for dinner. Recently I’ve dined a number of London restaurants, including several that I’ve written about over the past few weeks. Another that was on my list was Franco Manca, a restaurant in Chiswick that was fabled to have the best pizza in London. Hot pizza on a cold night was just what I needed, and when the restaurant invited me to come try their legendary pies, I couldn’t say no.

The meal came at the perfect time. London had just received its first snow of the year, and I was ready to hole up in a warm room and eat some good comfort food. I first ordered a glass of the house wine, which was just okay. The bottle of red that my friend and I ordered next was a significant improvement, and very enjoyable. After that we shared a platter of mixed charcuterie with large slices of cheese.

That was followed by our pizzas, with my friend’s being the meat special of the night and mine being the vegetarian special. As we took the first bites, I understood why Franco Manca’s pizzas were so famous: the crust. It was light and fluffy and not overly doughy or crunchy. Topped with mozzarella, mushrooms, truffle oil, and rocket, the pizza was delicious.

After we finished our pizzas our server brought dessert menus but strangely never took our order. Instead she brought an affogato to the table. It was good, but not necessarily what I would have ordered. Afterwards she came by to ask if we wanted dessert. Hmmm. We didn’t try anything more, but I went home from dinner feeling fantastically full of the delicious pizza and completely comforted against the snow and early darkness.

With brunch and dinner covered, I was in need of comfort food to fill the gap between the two. This came in the form of a winter foodie event called Taste of Christmas. I attended the event two years ago, and also its summer counterpart, Taste of London, in Regent’s Park. I was excited to go back again to spend a day indoors in the comfort of a lot of food.

Taste of Christmas took place in the massive ExCeL Centre in east London, and featured market stalls selling everything from chocolate to wine to chocolate wine. In between there were vendors hawking hearty cheeses, organic soups, cupcakes, candies, and a plethora of other culinary goodies. Cooking demonstrations took place around the stalls, and in the center there were miniature versions of 12 London restaurants selling select dishes to those hungry for more than just samples. Of these, I visited Benares for a great paneer curry wrap and Acorn House for a plate of yummy mushrooms.

After eating my way through Taste of Christmas, I sat down with some friends at a stall shaped like a 1950′s American diner. There I tried my first ever cup of Winter Pimm’s. I had heard about the stuff before, but had never seen it sold anywhere. Given my love of summer Pimm’s, I had a feeling that its brandy-based cold weather counterpart would be equally good. It was. It tasted a lot like mulled white wine, complete with fruit and spices. As the afternoon sun gave way to the afternoon darkness, I sat happily in my faux-American eatery, comforted by good company and good British Pimm’s.

Winter is still in its early stages in London, but if I can continue to find daily doses of good comfort food, I might just make it through to spring. If not, upcoming trips to Asia and Chile should fortify my diet with a healthy dose of vitamin D. That’s comforting, too.