For the past two and a half weeks, The Astronomer and I have been frolicking and feasting around London and France with my mother in celebration of her 60th birthday. While our initial plans focused solely on France, airline prices dictated a jaunt through London first, and we were more than happy to oblige.
Our visit, which was sandwiched in between the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic Games, was the very definition of short and sweet. London charmed us to pieces.
We headed to St. John, Chef Fergus Henderson‘s quintessential London eatery in Smithfield, for our first dinner in the city. Opened in 1994, St. John specializes in traditional British cooking with an emphasis on “nose to tail” eating. Both the space and the plates here are sparse by design.
We were served slices of white and brown bread with perfectly softened butter just as soon as we were seated. The crust had integrity, while the innards were soft and wonderfully elastic. This was the first of many great loaves on our holiday.
