The Food Diaries

Enjoy the last of the sunset cocktails at the Boundary rooftop - such as the lovely Belle Vue Cocktail (vodka, plum jam, cinnamon syrup, lemon juice) which was created especially for this year’s London Cocktail Week. Be quick though. By the end of this week the rooftop bar will close until next Spring…..

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69 COLEBROOK ROW >

Ti Punch @ Callooh Callay

Ti Punch (pronounced Tee Paunsssh) is a traditional French-Caribbean cocktail made of rum, cane sugar and lime. It is distinctive for having no ice in it whatsoever, which makes for a very strong concoction indeed. This is a drink to be sipped slowly; a lovely choice for a later summer evening.

Although perennially popular in the hipster bars of Paris I have never come across it until now - at the Alice in Wonderland-inspired Shoreditch cocktail bar Callooh Callay.

Make sure you pay a visit sooner rather than later however - before their supply of limited edition La Mauny 55 rum (from the AOC-regulated Martinique) runs out.

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69 COLEBROOKE ROW >

LOUNGE BOHEMIA >

69 Colebrooke Row - a speakeasy bar where the nibbles shine

This is a stylish little speakeasy bar, safely tucked away off the high street in Angel Islington. The bartenders are cool, geeky lab assistants, the drinks menu original and surprising (liquorice whiskey sour or Kigo with almond and rice milk with sandalwood), and there is a fab little nibbles menu which features this wonderful little taster’s platter:

• Apple with celery and truffle oil
• Beetroot with rocket and goats cheese
• Pickled cucumber with caper and mint
• Mortadella with pistachio and lemon
• Salami with black pepper
• Lime and cocoa nib
• Polenta with aged parmesan
• Pecorino with anchovy, caper and chilli
• Rye bread with mayo and olive
• Parmesan with balsamic and saffron

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LOUNGE BOHEMIA >

HIX BAR >

Aqua Kyoto Terrace, London

A swish, hyper-central location London venue, perched high up over the city - David Yeo’s Aqua is indeed a sight to behold. The interior may be dark, glam, and even a tad scary (lots of long mirrored hallways), but the exterior roof-top terrace could instead be mistaken for sunny Ibiza (well, at least on one of those rare, warm and glowing summer evenings). There is a terrific cocktail and Japanese grazing menu (sushi, bar nibbles), however, I stuck to a sunny white Rioja and imagined myself in an altogether different location - already deep into my summer holidays.

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THE BOUNDARY ROOFTOP >

Dinner and Drinks in Shoreditch, London

Dinner at the always inspiring Saf Restaurant (a vegan restaurant where much of the menu is cooked under 48°C). Surprisingly for a vegan restaurant, the cocktails and wine menu are equally  inspired. If I had a personal chef, I would eat Saf-style vegan food everyday and would be the happiest and healthiest person on the planet!

What we ate:

- Vegetable maki (made with parsnips)

- Beetroot ravioli (see photo above)

- Pad Thai

- Pumpkin risotto (one of a very few dishes cooked above 48°C)

What we drank:

- Black Forest Martini (cherry bark infused Woodford Reserve bourbon, framboise,
cointreau, cassis)

- Jasmine Pearl Martini (Jasmine green tea vodka, organic peche, lemon juice, raw
cane sugar syrup)

Then onto Callooh Callay Bar (remember Alice in Wonderland’s Jabberwocky poem?) where the cocktails are equally inventive and the staff super welcoming and friendly.

What we drank:

- Full Marks (Maker’s Mark, walnut liqueur, dark cacao liqueur, whiskey barrel bitters, port)

- Prosecco Cobbler (Prosecco, Triple Sec, Apricot brandy, Maraschino, lemon, orange, and pineapple)

- Rockin all Clover (Beefeater 24, raspberry and Earl Grey syrup, lemon, Maraschino, egg white)