A Lady in London

In all of my exploring London, there are a few neighborhoods I haven’t spent much time in. One of those is Battersea. The neighborhood sits right on the south bank of the Thames across the river from Parsons Green. It is close, but due to sparse tube transport links, it feels strangely far away. Thankfully a new restaurant, The Fish Place, gave me an invitation to sample its fresh seafood selection and an excuse to visit the area.

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It’s that time of year. The weather is getting colder, the days are getting shorter, and my appetite for comfort food is getting bigger. It’s Christmastime in London, and there are celebrations to welcome the annual Christmas lights on high streets throughout the city.

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When Bar Boulud made its debut on the London restaurant scene in May, some friends invited me to lunch there. The excitement in the restaurant—Daniel Boulud’s first in UK—was visible not least because the chef himself was making the rounds to say hello to guests and make sure everything was running smoothly.

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When I attended the Day of the Dead Afternoon Tea at the Met Bar a few weeks ago I learned that the bar had recently revamped its cocktail menu. After my fellow bloggers and I had finished the cakes and tea, it was decided that we would all return in a few weeks’ time to sample the new drinks list.

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One of my favorite expat expressions goes something like this: “the English think 100 miles is a long way, and the Americans think 100 years is a long time.” Given that I come from a state that is celebrating its 160th anniversary this year, living in London has me in perpetual wonder—and near constant confusion—over the city’s long history and traditions.

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In anticipation of all of my globetrotting at the World Travel Market this week, I worked up an appetite for cuisine from around the world. Conveniently, I received an invitation to have dinner with a group of London bloggers at El Cantara, a new Spanish-Moroccan restaurant in Soho.

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I don’t miss much about working in finance. I don’t miss the long hours, I don’t miss the stress, and I certainly don’t miss being at my desk at 5:30 every morning. But of the few things I miss about the finance world, corporate tickets are one of them. From Coldplay concerts to Giants games, my fellow analysts and I snagged ourselves tickets to anything and everything our firm offered us. Unfortunately corporate tickets weren’t quite enough to convince me that I liked my job, and with my departure went my opportunities for 49ers tickets and Warriors games.

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Whisky is making a comeback. Or so I’m told. I’ve never been much of a whisky drinker, but for some reason it keeps coming up in conversation as the new “it” spirit. At the Met Bar last Monday I was told that the field of mixology has witnessed a return to classic cocktails like the Old Fashioned. At Hawksmoor last Thursday the drinks menu was full of Manhattans and Mint Juleps. Indeed, it seems that whisky is on the rise.

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It’s not often that the best steakhouse in London opens a new location. It’s even less often that a friend snags a reservation by following the steakhouse on Twitter. And it’s far less often that that generous friend extends an invitation for you to join them. But sometimes lucky things happen and you find yourself at the soft opening of the new Hawksmoor restaurant in Covent Garden. Last night was one of those times.

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With all the fuss over Halloween, there is another autumn holiday that often gets overlooked. Mexico’s Day of the Dead, which is celebrated on the day after Halloween, is a festival dedicated to the memory of departed souls. How do I know this? I had to give a million presentations on the Dia de los Muertos in Spanish class as a kid.

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After my press trip to Paris it was a bit of a let-down to come home and sleep in my own bed. But thankfully I didn’t have to wait long until my next hotel stay. As a bonus, this one was much closer to home. In fact, it was right in London. It was at the Hoxton Hotel.

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With all of the spa treatments, Louvre tours, and personal shopping appointments we enjoyed on our press trip to Paris’ Hotel Le Bristol, my fellow travelers and I worked up quite an appetite. Lucky for us, the hotel had no shortage of high-end cuisine on offer. Even luckier, the staff was incredibly generous in inviting us to experience all of the various culinary options.

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My press trip to Hotel Le Bristol in Paris continued to impress. The after-hours tour of the Louvre was amazing, and I couldn’t wait to see what other unique experiences the hotel could offer its guests. I didn’t have to wait long. The following day we were scheduled to meet with a personal shopper who would take us all over the Right Bank. Lacking any talent in the shopping department, I was excited to have an insider’s help in finding the best boutiques in Paris.

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Every good London neighborhood has a butcher. From the tiny ones in remote pockets of the city to the large ones in central London, they all have a shop with big cuts of meat hanging in the windows. Some are basic butcher shops that sell meat behind a glass counter in an otherwise bare room. Others have gone gourmet, incorporating organic cheeses, fine wines, and other foodie products.

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My boyfriend is an aviation expert. He’s one of those people that can look into the sky, see a speck of a plane, and know exactly what kind it is, what airline it belongs to, and what the best seat in each cabin class is.

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