The weekend slid away. Some of my family arrived last night so I spent time with them then instead of sending this email out. I figured you’d be fine with that. 🙂
1. Starting in reverse: I went to check out Eat Genesis, a new plant based fast food place. There are so many things on the menu and of those we tried some were definitely better than others. The warm brownie was totally gorgeous though. I’d have the papaya salad and the panko avocado taco again and I’m going to go back to try the Malaysian noodle salad and the laksa.
2. On Friday I was invited to lunch at TWG, the tea boutique. I’d walked past these before but not stopped in, assuming it was mass-produced, sugary fare to accompany their tea. I was wrong. The Earl Grey Chocolate tart was wonderful and the chocolate praline bar was, too.
3. I discovered I don’t have an off button for Joe & Seph’s popcorn. I was treated to a tour of their factory on Thursday. They use special giant corn and coat it by hand in caramel. It’s insanely addictive, especially their best-selling salted caramel but I also was surprised to love the chocolate chilli version.
4. At the Countertalk Bread event on Monday the standout for me was the Dusty Knuckle focaccia, it’s a thing of heavenly, pillowy beauty.
5. There were so many fascinating things I encountered at the Speciality Fine Food Show and I didn’t even get around the whole thing. A few stand outs: Purl Pops (puffed lotus seeds), Baghi’s chocolate and hazelnut cookies (and their truffle savoury ones), the chocolate-coated liquorice balls by Lakrits, Divine Chocolate‘s new 85% with blueberry & puffed quinoa (it’s so great to have a flavoured high percentage bar), Spanakopita from Neo, Cabra del Tietar 3-star winning goat’s cheese sold by Brindisa, Nu+Cao chocolate bars (actually delicious for something that’s full of nutrients) and the Great Taste Awards’ top-award-winning Pili nuts. Jealous Sweets had low-sugar vegan gummies with stevia and they were the first stevia product I’ve tried that didn’t leave a horrible aftertaste. Impressive. I was also really impressed with the bean-to-bar chocolate from Spanish Utopick, Cornish Rio Chocolate and Canary Wharf-made London Chocolate. I’m sure there were MANY more highlights but there’s a good start for you!
