Anise

My friend and flatmate Emily works at Costa and she invited me to go out with her and her coworkers one Friday night. We went near their work place to a place called Anise near Liverpool Street Station. By the time I got there everyone was already a little buzzed and I soon found out why. All Friday night the cocktails are 2 for 10 pounds. And these cocktails are amazing, different, unique, and obviously delicious. 

The venue is a little bit Moroccan themed with dimmed lanterns as lights, and coffee tables and comfortable couches for the customers to enjoy. They also have a DJ there on Friday and Saturday nights, and the staff working at the bar really like to dance. Everyone seems to be having a good time. Its the type of place where normally only business men (and women) would go for a slightly high class drink but they let me in wearing jeans and a t-shirt so as long as you're buying they'll be happy to see you. 

Its a great place for a girls' night out and making yourself feel better. I had a lot of fun and I want to go back, just for those wonderful spiced martinis. Here's their website: http://www.cinnamon-kitchen.com/Anise

Zedel

Just off of Piccadilly Circus there is a sign for a "Brasserie", this is where you find Zedel. Zedel is a very special eating experience especially if you care about aesthetics. You walk into a dark bar room and follows signs and arrows leading you down a staircase. When nearing the end of the staircase you see a huge glass chandelier. It really catches you by surprise. 

At the bottom of the stairs you have to choose a room, we chose the Brasserie room but the other options are the "Bar Americain", "The Crazy Coqs" and the "ZL Cafe". Each one has different ambiances and different food and drinks. When walking into the Brasserie we got a little nervous, because after passing the door the room opened up into a huge marble ballroom filled with people dining. And we hoped we didn't need a reservation. The Concierge gave us a card and told us to wait at the bar until a table would be ready for us. So we joined the crowded bar and ordered some wine for the wait. Feeling a little under dressed we looked around trying to catch a glimpse of the food. After about an hour or so we were seated. 

The menu was very French, and I overheard a woman say that they change it every time she's there. We decided it was worth getting a starter and a main because how often are you in a beautiful ballroom having dinner? I got some paté as my started because its one of my guilty pleasures. I just love how good paté tastes. And as a main I got duck confit with lentils.

I think what I enjoyed the most about this dinner was that I had food which I love and it was up to my standards. Of course we didn't pass on dessert therefore we each ordered a creme brule. This was when we should have stopped, and maybe gotten one to share. The creme brule was delicious but it left us feeling much too full, uncomfortably so. Other than leaving the restaurant with the impression I was about to explode it was an incredible meal. It wasn't even too pricey, I think I spent around 35 pounds for the whole meal and the wine at the bar. I will definitely go there again, I just need a new food-loving buddy.

Here's their website: http://www.brasseriezedel.com/

Belmacz Gallery

The Belmacz gallery is a tiny little gem in Mayfair. My friend Kristin's cousin showed his work there so she was invited to the opening of their new show. The gallery is tiny, with one room on the ground floor and a smaller one below but the space is used well. The pieces are shown in the window and one along each wall, except for two smaller pieces on the largest wall. Sculpture is also well integrated into the exhibit and it is set up in a way that you can truly only focus on one piece at a time, which I really liked.

One of the organizers of the gallery (Julia Muggenburg) has her own jewelry brand and make-up brand. Her necklaces and other items are shown throughout the gallery in a metal glass display hanging from the ceiling on the ground floor and in a wall display on the lower floor. Also, when arriving on the lower floor you can peak into their offices which gave me a bit more understanding of the process behind it. 

The night itself went really well, we drank a few whiskey sodas and mingled with a few artists trying to understand their thought process behind their work. The more traditional pieces were by artists who had very strong technical skills whereas the most controversial piece (Kristin's favourite) was done by a man who programmed the whole image on a computer. He was able to create a person in 3D form digitally and then map out the shape. His friend then drew the whole image that was then mapped back onto the digital body. The other layers in the piece were also created by the artist using digital software. This was really interesting to us because it shows how much the world is changing with technology, and it was really great to see what we could create. 

Here's the gallery's website: www.belmacz.com

Pisa

The closest big city to my Dad's hometown is Pisa, and since that's the only airport nearby too we decided to spend the day there. We took the train there and arrived around lunch time. We stopped at a few stores on the way to lunch. I love going to Zara there because its really big, well organized and I always find something I like.We then stopped at a student bar for lunch, having typical Italian food and enjoying being in the shade. After our insanely cheap meal we followed the tourists to the leaning tower of Pisa and the cathedral that is in the square next to it.

There's a legend that says that if you walk up to the top of the tower before you finish your studies you will not pass your exams, so obviously Charlotte and I didn't visit it inside. Unfortunately Italians are quite focused on making as much money as possible, and therefore they charge you for every little thing. Just to visit the town alone costs 15 euros, and in the square there are three other buildings that everyone should see, but they're all expensive.

At this point Charlotte and I just sat down to read in the shade, and then we spent the late afternoon walking around and getting drinks at a couple of different bars. Because in Italy, everything is called a bar, even if its only a café, they just don't ever use the word café.

I don't really like Pisa, but if you're in Tuscany for more than a week, its worth a visit because after a while you get bored of lying on the beach all day. 

Hermes at the Saatchi Gallery

In May 2013 there was a craft fair at the Saatchi Gallery. The craft people showing their work were people from the Hermes workshops in France. There were many different different mini studios set up showing the craftsmen at work. There was a leather worker, a tie maker, a print maker, a bag maker and a watch maker. It was incredible to see all the work behind one item which we then get to hold. 

There was a live show showing the silk printing of the silk Hermes scarfs. The presentation had a man explaining the process and the actual person doing the printing. The man explained that yes Hermes do use machines but "Hermes has found the perfect balance between man and the machine" for all of their products. The work surface in the Gallery only had enough space to print two scarfs at a time being a table of about 4 meters in length. In their workshop (they do not like you calling it a "factory"), the table is 100 meters long, so that they can print more scarfs at once. 

The technique has very many steps, each colour has to be printed on in different layers, starting with the darkest and then going to the lightest. However if the darkest colour takes up a lot of space on the silk then it must be printed last because it will remain wet longer than the lighter colours. In their workshop their tables have heaters underneath so that the ink dries faster. Also everything in their workshop is monitored, the temperature of the silk is measured so that it can be the perfect humidity and the ink stays on the silk the longest possible. 

Every year they come out with 10 prints for the fall and 10 prints for the spring. Out of these prints the colourists must come up with 20 different colour combinations on the same pattern where then only 10 get selected. All the heads of the international branched of Hermes then come together in Paris and select the coloured prints that will sell the most in their countries and make their order for the factories. Occasionally certain prints are brought back in new colours to update the old designs.

Each of the Hermes designs are meant to show a story, every image they print they collected from around the world. Culture is a very important thing in the Hermes family. After seeing into the way Hermes works at this work shop, I was inspired to try to work with them. Companies who have a story mean a lot to me, and I think its important to cherish tradition as well as bringing in modern things and they are able to do this with their scarfs. 

Here's the Saatchi Gallery website: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/

and here's the Hermes site: http://uk.hermes.com/

Frock Me!

On the 19th of May I went to the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair in Chelsea Town Hall. When I was a kid I remembered going to this town hall to see many different things. I think there was one time I remember really well because I was surrounded by like pink and beige clothes, it was a Burberry sample sale. This time I recognized traits of the building but not much else. 

We paid our 2 pound entrance fee, and walked inside, astonished by the number of stands selling clothes from different eras. I'm very picky with vintage clothes, they need to actually be old and represent something from the past to me, instead of being something from a few years ago with a label I recognize. Both my friend and I were able to find something we liked that wasn't incredibly expensive. However there was this one princess chiffon dress which I would have loved to own but it was a little out of my price range (280 pounds). 

Everyone selling things was really friendly allowing us to try things on, and when we didn't have enough cash, to go to the machine across the street to get money for the item we wanted. We got to hold a phone-bag which was used in the film "An Education", and see clothes that could have been featured in the Marie Antoinette film. Overall, it was like a little fairy tale. The next Frock Me! event is on the 8th of September, but there is also one on the 20th of October too. 

Here's their website: http://www.frockmevintagefashion.com

Nails at Swapaholics

At the Swapaholics event there was also a Nail Salon. It was just a little table with a lot of nail polish and two really fun women. I chose to get my nails done because I had a date that evening and the nail polish I had on was really badly chipped. It took me forever to choose the colours I wanted painted, because I knew I wanted to have an accent nail that would have more detail than the others. 

I ended up choosing a bright pink and a gold glitter. Lately I've been really into pink and purple more, maybe its because most of my winter clothes are blue and I'd like to think the weather should be warm now. Anyways, these two hilarious women entertained my friend Kristin and I for well over an hour and our nails turned out really well. 

Kristin is a nail biter, so we were hoping that putting nail polish on her would make her stop (sadly, it didn't). 

The nail artists are: ColourRiotNails and Lalafornailart, they both are reachable on twitter and instagram under those names!

Sadler's Wells

On the 16th of May my friend Daniella and I were lucky enough to go see the ballet at Sadler's Wells in London. We chose to see this ballet because it was advertised all over the tube, and it was based on a story we both know very well, The Great Gatsby. With the release of the film this year we thought it was only appropriate to see the ballet as well for a full cultural immersion. 

Even though there was a huge struggle getting everyone to stand so that we could get to our seats everyone attending the ballet was super friendly, the couple sitting next to Daniella recommended we go to a cute french style restaurant near Piccadilly Circus which I still intend to go to. Once the music starts everyone goes silent and the ballet begins. After each scene the whole crowd claps every dance move is elegant, graceful, and perfect. 

It was like a community of art lovers, the art just happened to be movement. Everyone was so friendly and happy to be there and its rare to find moments like that around London where everyone happens to be in a hurry to do their own thing. I really enjoyed going to Sadler's Wells and it was worth the money I spent on the ballet (36 pounds). I'm going to constantly check their website until they show something else I'd love to see. Here's their website: http://www.sadlerswells.com/

Genesis

Genesis Cinema is in between Whitechapel and Stepney Green stations. Its an independent cinema and it only has 5 viewing rooms. The fifth room is special because its set up as the viewing experience from your home, they have couches for groups of two, where you sit with a coffee table in front of you and you can look at the big screen. I've only seen one movie in this "studio" (as the cinema calls it) and it was a really good experience. I didn't really like the movie but I was comfortable and not distracted throughout the whole film. 

Usually I get easily distracted when its a long film, I hate when people stand up to go to the bathroom and when people eat really loudly. I tend to talk to myself a bit when I see films, but I'm trying to do it less and less. Obviously it depends on the film, some action movies are alright to talk in because of the explosive sounds and other loud scenes, but I know it gets on everyone's nerves when someone is talking throughout the whole film. 

I really like Genesis, its a cheap cinema, its 5.50 pounds for students, and 7 pounds for a standard ticket. But on Wednesdays its even better because its only 3 pounds for everyone. Also their food isn't as crazy expensive as bigger chain cinemas in the UK. Its not as cheap as getting the food at a supermarket, but you can get a deal of large popcorn and a large drink for 5 pounds so its worth it. Also, in the upstairs waiting area there is a bar, so you can purchase alcoholic drinks to bring into the studio with you which is generally not allowed. I'm going to this cinema again soon, and I'm really looking forward to it! 

Here's their website: http://www.genesiscinema.co.uk/

Fortnum & Mason's

In early March I went to eat at Fortnum & Mason's with my friend Tatiane. We booked a table for two online for their Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon. Arriving in the shop was great, the doorman explained to us which direction we needed to go, what floor it was on, and which elevator to take. The doors opened for us on the 5th floor and we walked into a room with a small reception desk and a huge grand piano. It was really special. After a few minutes wait we were seated to our table with a huge white table cloth and plates and cutlery set out for tea. 

Looking over the menu we couldn't pass up the chance of having something savory as well as having cakes. Sadly, in the end we weren't able to have tea because we were so full, and we both still had wine in our glasses. I had an onion tart, and Tatiane had a dish with fish which she very gracefully devoured. I later got a huge slice of maple cake, and it was incredible. I loved every second of it. 

Its an expensive place to go eat, and you need to dress well to be taken seriously but once in a while everyone deserves a treat, and this is really an amazing treat. We might make this dinner an annual thing, I hope because I still dream about this food. 

Here's the Restaurant's website: http://www.fortnumandmason.com/c-54-diamond-jubilee-tea-salon-afternoon-tea-london.aspx

Delilah

On Friday I went to Nottingham to visit two of my close friends from high school. Upon arrival we went to lunch, and Katie suggested a place called Delilah. From Nottingham station you have to walk towards the nicer part of the city or as I called it the "suburbs". This place is really nice especially for lunch.

Walking in, it looks like an organic food shop but upstairs on a balcony there are tables for you to enjoy your food there.Depending on what time you arrive you can make you order at the bar below and pay while doing so, or a waiter will approach your table. I think one of the main reason I enjoyed this place was because there was a lot of light, and some how you had the comfort in knowing that all the food was well put together as well as looked after carefully when grown. 

I ordered the same thing as Katie, a roquefort sandwich with red onion chutney and pine nuts. It was incredible. They served 3 sandwiches made with toasted baguette and the onion chutney was on the outside so you can taste it even more. Tatiane ordered a potato raclette type dish which was served in a bowl with small new potatoes and a lot of cheese and ham. Everything smelled delicious and of course we all devoured our meals. 

I might have to drag them back there the next time I visit them because I ate so well. 

Here's their website: http://www.delilahfinefoods.co.uk/

The Deli Downstairs

The Deli Downstairs is a really cute organic shop in Hackney, near Victoria Park. In the summer they have red stools and tables to eat outside. Its decorated really well, with space for all the different types of food, the meats, sauces, cheeses, vegetables and even other food. 

Its not cheap, cause no organic store in London is. Its just the kind of place that give you a really good vibe, and makes you want to buy their food. There are loads of different organic brands that they carry as well as having un-labelled fresh fruit and vegetables, but pretty much anything you need or want is there, and you definitely leave without any guilt. 

What I really liked about it is the amount of fresh cheeses they had as well as their own pesto, hummus  and tapenade. All their food really looks incredible. I want to go back to buy fresh pesto, cause I hate hate hate eating pesto from a jar. 

Here's their website, if you want to go enjoy their incredible food: http://www.thedelidownstairs.co.uk/