Cheerio from London. I think it’s all starting to sink in.
We arrived to the flat around 9pm last Saturday. Meg booked a task-rabbit to assist with carrying our six suitcases up four flights of stairs. Brilliant move on her part, and best money ever spent. We had approximately 20 minutes to turn it around for our dinner reservation (we were already late). In that 20 minutes, (mid-cold-shower), we learned our first lesson — fully-furnished apartments in the UK do not in fact include sheets, towels, or toilet paper. But it does include an assortment of grainy English mustards. Luckily, we didn’t have time to deal with it!
Anyway, it all seemed far more frivolous and funny after a few negronis and welcome-shots at Chiltern.
The best way to beat jet-lag is to pretend it doesn’t exist.
me on the plane when asked if I would like a glass of champagne:
“No, no, no, I can't be drunk on the plane. I want to arrive stunning and impossibly fresh-looking.” SJP
In this letter :
Cookbook Volume 1 + Volume II updates
First few favorite discoveries in London
Recipe on repeat : miso salmon
Articles / podcasts that recently inspired me
COOKBOOK NEWS
While I find myself in this period of transition, I’ve decided to pick up projects that I’d previously postponed and procrastinated. It’s been some time since I’ve compiled new(er) recipes, so that is what I’m working towards. In the meantime, I’d like to gently push Volume I of my digital-cookbook.
It’s filled with 30+ recipes of simple, delicious, tried and true dishes. Very unfussy and approachable stuff. But some absolute BANGERS in there, if I do say so. The white-button-downs of cooking. The capsule-wardrobe equivalent for your recipe closet. Hot-lemon chicken and Shut-Up Mashed Potatoes are among my favorites. But also techniques on how to achieve perfectly cooked fish, or perfectly crispy bacon, every. single. time.
I do apologize though, for the vintage graphics, quirky recipe titles, and long-winded directions. But it’s so pure and earnest and reflective of the chef I was back in 2021, before cooking for celebrities and Hollywood élîtes chewed me up and spat me out today. The recipes are solid though, I can assure you that. Most of them memorized at this point, but honestly, I still flip scroll back to them to this day.
I’m excited to piece together my newer recipes, tips & tricks that I’ve acquired since I put out Volume I back in 2021. As a dear, dear, beloved paid subscriber, you will receive early access to the content, and other exciting bits I’m working on across the pond!
FAVORITE FINDS
While perusing my new neighborhood, I stumbled across a few gems that I know will become part of my routine here.
First up, Books for Cooks. Not only do they have nearly every cookbook ever made, but also a test kitchen in the back featuring dishes from the books lining the very shelves. When writer’s block or kitchen burnout kicks in, I know which shop I’m popping into.
Next up, Provenance Butcher and Notting Hill Meat + Fish. Impeccable selection of the highest quality at both vendors. My friend Emma and I popped into NH M+F around 6pm and when we were approaching the entrance, I was in disbelief that the bumping club music was in fact coming from inside the market.
While I was admiring the toro and inquiring about a chef’s discount, the staff was quite literally dancing around while restocking the snap peas, oyster mushrooms and beautiful bouquets of tardivo lettuces. It seemed gimmicky at first, like something you’d encounter on San Vicente Blvd in West Hollywood, but then I realized it was purely for the staff’s enjoyment, and quickly began to understand, appreciate, and respect the ~vibes~. Before I knew it, I was shazaming songs left and right. Come for the dry-aged-wagyu, stay for the extended house mix.
Last, but certainly not least, the chicken from Gold. I had been warned, by a few trusted friends, that I would fall in love with this dish. They were not wrong. The chicken is doused in a smoky, spicy, almost sultry? tomato sauce with both nduja and prosciutto woven into the fold. Not that it needed any more decadence, but it’s also roasted over their house sourdough, complete with crispy craggly edges to provide the perfect texture contrast. J’adore.
RECIPE ON REPEAT : MISO SALMON
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