Bye Bye Miss American Pie

No Picture Blog Post

This morning I ran over to Buena Vista Park which sort is the dividing line between my neighborhood and the Haight-Ashbury district. The park is perched high on a hill in a central part of San Francisco so from each side you can see a different view of the city. I was able to make it there while the sun was rising and see the buildings one by one get bathed in light. There was also a light sleepy haze over the city which made the whole image seem like a dream. I could see one of the suspension towers of the Bay Bridge, the dome of the Civic Center, and the bell tower of a mission church. 

This quiet and peaceful morning in the park reminded of a post I wrote awhile back about Saturday mornings in London before half eleven. This was the time I enjoyed the most because London would be this sleepy city slowly waking up from too many pints at the pub on Friday night. The streets and the tube would be empty and for a short couple hours London would be all mine. 

This morning San Francisco was all mine. I know people say this all the time but it was like a scene from a movie as I sat on a tree trunk above a huge mass of wild nasturtiums. Unfortunately when I run I only carry my iPod Shuffle, house keys, and enough cash to perhaps buy a croissant on the way home so I wasn't able to get a photo of the view to share. On the other hand, I felt like I earned that lovely morning view so I'm going to be selfish and keep that image for myself. 

Who Moved My Cheese?

That's how I felt this entire year. Everytime I stopped for a second it seemed everything around me had changed. I do take responsibility for creating a lot of the change myself though. Since I was little my mother always said that I had "chan di" (directly translated from Vietnamese as "feet go"). This meant that I could not sit still for long and always had to be actively doing something or going somewhere. How little she knew how right she really was.

If you've followed this blog then you probably already know what I mean about this year. I left the security and comfort of a job and industry I knew very well, graduated from business school, moved out of London, started a new job in a new industry, and started focusing more on my cooking. These are the major changes that I had control over but I was subject to so many other changes as well. I had two grandparents pass away, graduated business school during a terrible economy and job market (as I know many of you have), and had several people enter and leave my "urban family". With the flurry of activity and changes in 2010 at least I can say I was true to my theme for the year of doing. For those who don't know, I like to have themes for each new year versus having resolutions.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...

It was exactly 3 years ago today that I boarded a plane from San Francisco to London. It is ironic that now I am flying back on this same date but there is some symmetry to it as well. The past 3 years have been nothing short of amazing particularly because I finally felt settled with a sense of community around me. As I look back I am astonished by how many things have changed and how many new experiences I have had. I am especially thankful for all of the interesting people I have met as they really have all left a mark on my life in one way or another. I am grateful to all of you who have let me be a part of your life as well. 

As I embark on my new journey, I would like to raise a glass to all of you who have helped make the last 3 years so memorable and remarkable! Keep in touch and watch this space...

Doing by Discovering

In the spirit of doing for this year I have been trying to do a bit of discovering. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm a west London girl but I've been exploring more of the sites in east London each time daring to go a bit further past Liverpool Street Station. To me, the east side of London is like the Mission District of San Francisco. It is an up and coming area that is still rough around the edges but slowly becoming gentrified with cafes, organic food stores, and vintage clothing shops. You will typically find artists, designers, musicians and young upwardly mobile yuppies living in these neighborhoods. My favorite term for them, borrowed from Alice Waters, is ambitiously hip.

I have discovered some great finds by venturing out this way though. Authentic banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) at Broadway Market, THE burger at Hawksmoor Restaurant which I had to reserve ahead of time in case they ran out again, and a £30 dress from The Laden Showroom which features young and independent designers. Perhaps next time I will find myself discovering new finds "south of the river".

A Weekend in Food

A couple weekends ago it seemed that I traveled far and wide, for (you guessed it) food. My journey began on Friday night when I traveled all the way to the east side of London. My friends have decided that the demarcation line in my head between east and west London is Liverpool Street Station and I am definitely a west London girl. What got me to the other side of town was Galvin La Chapelle. This is the third restaurant by famed London chefs/restauranteurs the Galvin brothers and it is beautifully set in the chapel of an old Victorian school. I was amazed how Galvin La Chapelle had the closest resemblance in terms of size, space, décor, and atmosphere to a San Francisco restaurant. I really felt like I could be walking into RN74, Boulevard, or Range. The food did not disappoint either offering daring twists on French classics.

My next stop took me to Oxford where a classmate/good friend lives.

Spring has Sprung!

Why the excitement over spring? Well it has been an atrociously painful winter. I don't think that I saw the sun these last five months except when I was out of the country. Also, April and May tend to be the nicest months of the year with 'guaranteed' sun while June, July, and August are a total gamble as to whether it rains, sleets, floods or is sunny.

Last weekend we made the most of the glorious change in weather by having a picnic in Primrose Hill. Primrose Hill is a park just north of Regent's Park and is also the name of the surrounding neighborhood. It was the setting for the mock 'Sound of Music' sequence in the opening scene of Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason. It is also a chic neighborhood with many celebrity residents such as Kate Moss, Jude Law, and one of my entrepreneurship professors (perhaps London Business School professors are overpaid). More importantly though, Primrose Hill offers one of the best views of the London skyline and is a serene out of the way park.

Getting to the meat of things

Vegetarian is not a word in my vocabulary. I am a meat eater, always have been, always will be although I do try to be considerate of the meat I buy in terms of where and how it is sourced. To the shock and horror of many vegetarians, I brought a friend back from the dark side after nearly ten years by feeding her a piece of wasabi-crusted filet mignon.

Unfortunately this is one of the sore points of living in the UK. I miss meat, I miss my aged USDA prime corn-fed beef. One of the major differences between beef in the US and the UK is that US cows are grain fed while UK cows are forage fed and you can seriously taste the difference. I'm not arguing that one is better than the other but it's what I know and love. To add insult to injury you can barely get the same cuts of beef in the UK. Say goodbye to flank steak, skirt steak, and tri-tip. Even short ribs and oxtail need to be special ordered. How am I supposed to make my galbi, osso bucco, and pho?

No offense to Ginger Pig or any of my other lovely small London butchers, but I'm a bit over Aberdeen Angus.

*Note: I know those are pork ribs in the photo but this post was prompted by my inability to get some pork baby back ribs.

One Good Thing Leads to Another

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've become very interested in underground / pop-up restaurants that is a new and growing trend in the gastronomic world. An underground restaurant is hosted by a cook, typically not a professional, in a non-traditional space such as their home for a small group of people. Think of it as a really nice dinner party where you pay a suggested donation. Word gets around through emails, discussion boards, and blogs. It's a nice way to experience a good meal and meet new people. A pop-up restaurant is more of a formal event where an unusual space will be used to host a temporary or pop-up restaurant with a professional chef and waitstaff.

Going back to my experience at Rachel Khoo's underground restaurant event, not only did I meet blogger Cassie but quite a few other people with culinary interests / backgrounds. Among my fellow diners was the Belgian Francoise (there was also a French Francoise) who is a fine tableware consultant. She mentioned that the Weston family (the owners of Selfridges) had hired Chef Pierre Koffman to open a pop-up restaurant on the roof at Selfridges (high-end department store similar to Neiman Marcus). Francoise had one space available at her table and invited me to join. This was a very special invitiation since the pop-up restaurant is closing October 31st and all tables are fully booked.

Virtual Reality Meets Actual Reality

As much as I consider myself a techie, I'm much more of a hardware person than software. What does that mean? I'm more of a gadget freak than a facebook/twitter/google wave freak. So although I've kept this blog for over two years it mainly has been an outlet to keep friends and family updated on my comings and goings versus a part of my personal digital media strategy. I don't attend blogger conferences, I don't reseach ways to drive more traffic, I don't use adsense, and I've never really had an urge to meet fellow bloggers.

However, as part of the pay-it-forward gesture that I participated in, I contacted Cassie from the blog "A Girl Has to Eat". I've enjoyed reading her food-inspired blog for some time and since we both live in London I thought it would be nice to meet and learn more about the foodie world. Since visiting the Hidden Kitchen in Paris I've been really interested in underground/pop-up restaurants. There just happened to be one going on in London the night Cassie and I were meant to meet so it was the perfect venue for two foodies. 

This pop-up restaurant was organized by Rachel Khoo who describes herself as a food creative. It really is the appropriate term for her being part cook/caterer/food stylist/food writer/etc with a background in design. She's not a professional chef but dabbles in all things food. The event we attended was 'A Taste of Love' and was much more of nice dinner party than the superb gastronomic event at the Hidden Kitchen. It was good food, good company, and nice step towards moving virtual realily into actual reality.

Cassie has a detailed account of our dinner with photos on her website.

Where Did Summer Go?

I feel as though I blinked and this summer completely disappeared. My belief is that Europeans know how to enjoy summer the most with the annual festivals, cafe culture, and general laissez-faire attitude when the weather gets warm. It doesn't hurt that they get anywhere from 20 to 40 days off during the summer to vacation as well. Perhaps this is why I tried so hard to make the most of this summer and packed way too much in. Between my trip to South Africa and now I have only had one weekend in London. I've mostly been away to visit friends but the last month has included plenty of work travel as well. I was really trying to take advantage of having two months off from school. During the past two weeks alone I managed to go from Istanbul to Cork (Ireland) to San Francisco to Munich to Milan back to London for 1 night then to Paris and finally to Nice/Monaco. I'm just trying to recover now and catch up with schoolwork that I'm sorely delinquent on.

I hope to blog more soon but I'll leave you with some pictures from Istanbul, Nice/Monaco, and our welcome back to school party for now.