Happiness isn't happiness without a violin-playing goat...

Here's a lovely list of suggestions to enjoy Notting Hill (thanks to Delta Sky Jan'09 Magazine). I love the area and when I have time, I always make it a point to trot up to Portobello Road and scope the market, wind my way down and into Notting Hill Gate for some food-stuffs. If I can live in London, I would live here.

ALICE'S
86 Portobello Rd
The place for treasure hunting for anything from antiques to reproduction pieces; sweet jars to cricket bats, and even Chintz tea pots.
[+44.20.7229.8187 www.alicesportobello.co.uk]

GAIL'S BREAD
138 Portobello Rd
18 different flours. 100 ingredients. 30 varieties of all-natural, preservative- and chemical-free loaves of nothing but BREAD! Buono come pane...the italians got that right!
[+44.20.7460.0766 www.gailsbread.co.uk]

MELT (yes, please!)
59 Redbury Rd
Palm-sized vanilla & dark chocolate caramels. "Hot chocolate blocks" for 2-quid. Solid cubes of popsicle sticks meant for dunking into hot milk, a dirty-delicious winter treat! Try the MADAGASCAR (fruity) or the VENEZUELAN (caramel-buttery goodness).
[+44.20.7727.5030 www.meltchocolates.com]

TEA PALACE
175 Westbourne Grove
More than 160 kinds of loose & whole-leaf tea. They do the classic British break from 3-6:30pm.
[+44.20.7727.2600 www.teapalace.co.uk]


Oooh, and this one's especially for the foodies in all of us!

BOOKS FOR COOKS
4 Blenheim Crescent
25-year old shop offers 8,000+ titles of cookbooks by region, by categories (ie. soups, breads, pies, etc), and by ingredients. That's one awesome way to pass the day!
[+44.20.7221.1992 www.booksforcooks.com]


If you guys go, let me know what you think!

inauguration of the epicurian chronicles

Someone once said food=love. Maybe it was me. It seems that my most favorite people in the world and my most memorable experiences revolve around food, and after a fantastic day in London visiting the Tate Modern's gift shop and browsing through Borough Market (my favorite gatronomic haven in London-town), I figured that epicurian adventures SHOULD be shared. Thus, I invite all my favorite global food-folk to join in a collaborative effort to chronicle our favorite new restaurant, favorite new cafe, favorite markets, bars, recipes.

This is my version of the Coca-Cola hand-holding commercial. I just want the world to blog-ly hold hands and sing kumbaya about dirty-delicious goodness.

Let the global epicurian collaboration commence.