We have always been familiar with Brown’s and frequent their lovely rivreside location in our neck of the woods at Kingston Upon Thames.

So when I was invited to celerated their 50th Anniversary at their newly refurbished Covent Graden establishment, I knew it would be a fun evening.

With a half a million pound investment into refurbishing the grand Grade II Westend former courthouse building, this grand re-opening of Brown’s Coent Garden venue was celebrated with much pomp and fanfare.

The Grade II listed building has been transformed beautifully to highlight some of it stunning original features like the high ceilings and court cells turned into wine cellars.

The main dining area gives off a retro-mordern vibe with it’s art deco makeover. Original features like courtrooms and the judges chambers have been converted to cosy private dining rooms, all oozing an old-world charm.

The cocktails for this grand re-opning party, also paid homage to the 1920’s and 30’s.

We also enjoyed a steady stream of delicious bite-sized snacks throughout the evening to the sound of live musical performances. I thoroughly enjoyed the face-painiting part because the retro theme was maintained there to with symmetrical patterns done in shades of black and gold.

Brown’s Covent Garden is perfecly located right in the West-End and a stone’s throw away from both Leivester Square and Civent Garden tube stations. It is open late and they do an everything from an Afternoon Tea to a great Pre-theatre menu, all against the backdrop of a stunningly refurbished historic building. To Book click here

*With thanks to the PR agency and Browns Brasserie for the invite. As always all opinions expressed here are entirely my own. No monetary compensation was offered. 

Maplin Photo Walk and Afternoon Tea at Brigit’s Bakery, Covent Garden, London

Brigit’s Bakery at Covent Garden are a very popular choice for Afternoon Tea, especially the one aboard their London sighseeing bus.

Memories of my first-ever Afternoon Tea aboard a London Bus!

I had an opportunity to enjoy the lovely Afternoon Tea by BB’s Bakery, aboard their bus. It was an event organised by Friends of Glass and the theme was matching Beer with various kinds of Foods. If you would like a quick browse of my post covering this beer matching event head to my blog post here.

Maplin, the popular chain of stores which offers computing and electronics as part of their varied offerings invited me alongwith a few othere select bloggers on a Photo Walk across Central London. To guide us through how to improve our photography we had the pleasure of meeting Kaye Ford from Fortogrpahy who took us on a photo walk across Covent Graden and adjoining areas. This event concluded with us relaxing at Brigit’s Bakery and enjoying a lovely Afternoon Tea. If you would like to read in detail about the Maplin Photio Walk event I was invited to, then please do check out myblog post here.

Brigit’s Bakery, Covent Garden – Afternoon Tea Experience

Brigit’s Bakery is always busy, a great sign and why not, they serve their delicious Afternoon Tea on the very pretty floral crockery. I absolutely love collecting Vintage crockery and this was a dream table setting for me!

Talk about being insta-worthy, the whole experience is just that! I had requested a GF Tea and was very impressed with the service. The portion-sizes were very generous and desserts were very yummy. From my previous experience of their Afternoon Tea on a Bus, I remember the salmon and cream cheese blinis which I had immensely enjoyed!

We were seated in the basement so the lighting was not ideal, if you want to book into this seated indoor experience try and get a table upstairs or then carry an extra light to add that pop to your photos, Thank me later 🙂

I always enjoy a good Herbal infusion with my savoury treats during a Tea experience and I was glad that we had lovely teapot fulls of these laid out for us. Of course, after the Photo Walk and especially after walking through China Town our appetite had been whetted so we were glad to be welcomed with Prosecco and a long table heaving with treats. There was a very good selection of cakes and tarts and meringues. No prizes for guessing that my favourite savoury bite included the salmon offering. The scones with clotted cream and jam were satisfying and moreish.

Of course as it was a group of bloggers we were definitely very intrested in clicking photos and making Insta-worthy Vidoes of our pretty crockery and yummy food! And I managed to get this ”phto-within-a-photo” picture using a tip shared by Kaye on pur photo walk earlier 🙂

And this is yet another Afternoon Tea experience in London that I will enjoy reminiscing about, especially everytime I am back on the look-out for food photography props or browsing Charity Shops for Vintage finds.

Curious to explore more options for Afternoon Tea in London? Why not browse through my blog and read about my experiences in various places:

• Boyds Brasserie, Charing Cross
• The Wallace Collection – Afternoon Tea amidst Art, Westminster
• Honey Afternoon Tea at St. Ermin’s, Westminster
• Moroccan Afternoon Tea at Leila, Ealing
• Chocolate Afternoon Tea at The Landmark Hotel, Marylebone
• Beer and Food Matching Afternoon Tea with Friends of Glass

*With thanks to Maplin and the PR agency for the invite. Thanks to Kaye Ford for a memorable experience and sharing so many wonderful photography tips, also a huge thank-you to Brigit’s Bakery for a wonderful complimentary Afternoon Tea. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. No monetary compensation was offered. 

One of my hobbies has always been photography. Growing up I have always asked my Baba to gift me camera’s. I do have a few old camera’s still stashed away in a drawer at my Mum’s place back in India.

I really started exploring my way with a point and shoot camera during my college days in Mumbai. I even made a bit of pocket money selling prints from the photos that developed from film. I do wish I had continued with experimenting and developing my own film but I do plan to get into that soon!

After moving to London, I used small cameras for a while until my darling husband gifted me my first ever DSLR Camera. Armed with my Canon, I have travelled to various destinations all over the world and photographed my way through lot of foodie events, food festivals, cooking demos with leading chefs and even managed to do some paid work. Some of my most exciting meet-up’s in London have been with budding photography enthusiats and I have found some long-lasting friendships thanks to this shared passion too.

On my first visit to Mumbai after I moved to London, I went on a photo walk in the evening with my friend A who is a talented photographer himself. I love vibrant colours and open markets and India has these in abundance.The photograph below won me an prize for an online contest in India. It means the essence of Diwali for me. I was born and raised in Mumbai and for me the festival of lights Diwali is one of the best times of the year.

This photo of a flowering tea is somethig I would set-up to play around with different elements and use them to photograph food and drinks at home. I love collecting photography props. Yes, I am that crazy woman who will swoon over cool finds in charity shops and carboot sales 🙂

But like many of my hobbies, this has moved to the back burner now. Time to get behind the lens again.

And what better day to make this decision than on World Photo Day – August 19th!

A while back when Maplin invited me to join in with a select group of bloggers and freelancer for a Photo Walk through Central London, I was beyond excited!

We met up with talented professional photographer Kay Ford at Covent Garden and walked through to Neal’s Yard and then Chinatown. Kaye shared some of her top tips on clicking photos in busy areas like Central London with lots of people milling about. I loved the tips she shared about composing a photo and how to work with a DSLR camera.

Kaye encouraged us to really get into street photography, something I do struggle with. There is always so much happening in Covent Garden with so may tourists, street performers, vendors, street food and it is always alive, buzzing and full of colour. So many photo opportunities!

Though I clicked close to a 150 photos with my Canon camera during this photo walk, it seems minsicule in comparison to the massive number of photo albums I have stored on my laptop and external hard drives. This is where Maplin comes in with photo storage solutions.

Our photo walk took us just over half an hour and we walked starting from Brigit’s Bakery across Coivent Garden, Neal’s Yard and through Chinatown and via Cecil Court (the inspiration behind Diagon Alley in the famous Harry Potter series) back to Brigit’s Bakery.

To view all social media photos from this fun event look up the hashtag #maplinphotowalk

We enjoyed a delicious Afternoon Tea at Brigits’s Bakery and it was the most wonderful way to wrap up an afternoon of walking across the streets of Central London and getting top tips from Kaye.

Here I am putting into practise one of Kaye’s tips – create a ‘photo within a photo’ effect

Here is a photo of the city from Waterloo Bridge taken a few days after this photo walk.

To read my detailed post about the fabulous sit-down Afternoon Tea at Brigit’s Bakery check out my blog post here.

Looking for Travel Inspiration around London or other parts of the U.K, then have a browse through my travel posts below:

• An insider’s guide to London Bridge and the surrounding area in Central London
• Top 5 places near London for the perfect day out with family
• Borough Market, London’s iconic market steeped in history
• Portobello Market, Notting Hill, London – an insider’s guide
• Neighbourhood guide to Angel, Islington, London
• England’s largest Vineyard – Denbie’s Wine Estate, Dorking, Surrey
• Exploring Guilford town and River Wey Valley, Surrey Hills, England
• Weekend Getaway, Southampton, England
• Blog Camp at River Cottage
• Five Bells Inn, Aylesbury, Weston Turville, England
• A week in North Wales – Southstack Lighthouse and Cemaes Bay

*With thanks to Maplin and the PR agency for the invite. Thanks to Kaye Ford for a memorable experience and sharing so many wonderful photography tips, also a huge thank-you to Brigit’s Bakery for a wonderful complimentary Afternoon Tea. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. No monetary compensation was offered. 

Friends of Glass and Sustainable Living

I absolutely love a good Afternoon Tea and am always on the look out for a unqiue experiences.

So when, the Friends of Glass extended an invite for their Beer and Food matching themed Afternoon aboard a London Bus (Yes!) I was very excited.

Before we get into the experience itself, I wanted to share a little background of the wonderful folks at Friends of Glass

Lets start with:

Q) Who are the Friends of Glass?

A) They are a European-wide movement that unites those who believe glass packaging is best for health, taste and the environment.

Q) Why support Friends of Glass?

A) To support a sustianable and healthier future for everyone and promote taste.

Q) Why promote glass packaging?

A) Glass is the only packaging material available that is 100% inert and 100% recyclable. Unlike other packaging that leach chemicals that are hazardous to your health and change the way your food tastes; glass preserves and protects your food without adding anything. Not only that, glass is made from all natural materials and is infinitely recyclable without a loss in quality or purity.

Please head over the official Friends of Glass website to read through all the amazing work they have done so far and how you can support them by making small changes in your everyday life. Smart choices for a more sustainable future for us all!

Afternoon Tea aboard a London Double Decker Bus!

And now, without further ado why not hop aboard the special Brigit’s Bakery classic Routemaster London Bus with me? Guaranting you a virtual experience, of an afternoon tea that will challenge your perceptions and expand your tastes!

The theme for this afternoon was Beer and Food Matching and to take on this journey Friends of Glass had roped in Jane Peyton, the UK’s first beer sommelier of the year (2014) (in the photograph below Jane is talking us through one of the beer’s she has picked to match our afternoon tea treats)

Amongst the many facts that were shared with us during the course of the event, I was most astounded by these: While many women think beer is more of a man’s drink – it was actually invented by a woman. In fact women were the first brewers of beer and for hundreds of years beer has been brewed by women.

Wait, hang on, it get’s better! Did you know that the part of the hop used to brew beer is the female part? Hops are known to be rich in phytoestrogens. Wow! No wonder then that now beer is increasingly being reclaimed by women! And another wonderful nugget of information,the major deities of beer are female – Ninkasi and Dea Latis, being two of them.

Wow, that geuninely blew my mind! What do you think?

One of the other striking facts that will always stay with me is that unlike wine, due to its wide range of flavours and tastes, beer can complement almost any type of food. And this was something I experienced first hand by sampling various beers that we sipped while devouring our delicious Afternoon Tea.

We were served a selection of tasty sandwiches, yummy sweet treats including mini cupcakes and fruit tarts and ofcourse scones!

We started off our beer tasting with an India Pale Ale. I personally love bitter flavours and am partial to bitter beers and cocktails too. Even with savoury dishes, anyone remotely familiar with the Indian bittergourd ( and in Marathi – my mother-tongue or native language it is called a Karla) knows how versatile it is and is widely known for its healing properties.

Similarly here, the India pale ale which has juicy bitterness akin to a grapefruit and citrus notes, help to stimulate the digestive system. This explains why an aperitif is often bitter.

Wheat Beer, as shared by Jane is one of the most versatile beers and pairs well with many foods. We tried it with our cucumber sandwiches, mini veg quiches and chicken and tomato in a bun. The creamy mouthfeel of wheat beer coupled with the gentle citrusy tang, notes of clove and lovely aromas of banana , all come together quiet nicely when paired with these foods.

Porter Pair beer pairs well with puddings as it has notes of coffee, chocolate and dried aromatic fruits. These flavour lend itself well with pairings like Strawberry cupcakes, Lemon Meringues tarts and chocolate macaroons. Whereas Sour ale is the perfect companion for plain scones with clotted cream and jam as the acidity of the ale cuts through the rich cream and leaves the palate with a refreshing mouthfeel. This very same principle means a Sour Ale is a good combination with the popular Ham and Cheese finger sandwiches, with the caramelised flavours marrying well with the savoury notes and the acidity cutting through the fatty ham and cheese.

Sour Ales also pair well with fruit tarts as their acidity lends these ales a sweet and tangy fruity character that matches the fruit in the tarts, without over powering the delicate flavours.

I love my savoury food more than sweet and am huge on seafood so in an Afternoon Tea Menu am always the one who will pick a smoked salmon and cream cheese blini off the platter first. These little seafood delights find the perfect accompanimnet in Oak aged beer, which with its marmalade aromas and intensly oaky vanilla notes remonds some of the taste of whisky on their palate. Which also makes it a perfect match for the mini vanilla choux with puff pastry. The oak and vanilla flavours lending themselves beautifully to this dainty pudding.

I think all of us who shared this experience will agree that we walked away aramed with knowledge about

• How the aromas and flavours of craft beers lend themselves to sweet and savoury tastes
• Why beer not wine should be a regular feature on our dinner table
• Some insight into how we can now impress our friends and dinner guests by knowing how to match the perfect beer for every course!

This was my very first experience of any meal let alone an Afternoon Tea, aboard a moving vehicle. There was so much to experience, the afternoon tea itself, the various taste sensations afforded by the many carefully selected beers by Jane Peyton and how they felt on my palate, the wonderful sights and sounds of London city as the bus weaved through the lanes of London and ofcourse chatting with my fellow bloggers and the team from Friends of Glass. How lovely that we could actually wash it all down with some chilled and refreshing Beer 🙂

I will always treasure this amazing group photo clicked by one of the fabulous PR agency team members at the Friends of Glass event. This picture reminds me of the many amazing opportunities I have had over the years working as freelance Marketing professional and as a food, travel and lifestyle writer and blogger. It also serves as a great reminder of the many fabulous relationships that I have managed to develop thanks to such experiences, of the many professional connections and so many more cherished and treasured friendships that I have found and mainatined over the past decade and more.

I am forever grateful to how blogging opened so many doors for me when I was new to London and the U.K. Every single experince and every single person I have met since at events and virtually, am grateful for.

And just in case you are wondering, I am the one with the wide smile in the extreme left in the photograph below 🙂

Curious to explore more options for Afternoon Tea in London? Why not browse through my blog and read about my experiences in various places:

• Boyds Brasserie, Charing Cross
• The Wallace Collection – Afternoon Tea amidst Art, Westminster
• Honey Afternoon Tea at St. Ermin’s, Westminster
• Moroccan Afternoon Tea at Leila, Ealing
• Chocolate Afternoon Tea at The Landmark Hotel, Marylebone

* With thanks to Freinds of Glass for the invite. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. No monetary compensation was offered. Unless watermarked by me all images used here are provided for the PR Agency and / or the hosts. Reproducing any text in part or whole and any photographs, without my prior written permission is not permitted. I have used excerpts from the Friends of Glass website for this blog post.

Cooking with Heroes Cookbook

Cooking with Heros, published in partnership with St James House, is a fitting tribute to the Royal British Legions centenary year.

This is not just a cookbook but an ode to the 100 regions that the legion has been active in over the past century including the commonwealth and beyond. This hardbound beauty is jam-packed with deliciousness and will keep keen home cooks coming back for more. From finding inspiration for your weekday dinners to cooking to impress your guests, this cookbook will not disappoint.

In keeping with the centenary theme, Cooking with Heroes features 100 profiles of military heroines and heroes specific to each region. To honour each local hero or heroine, recipes have been created by a team of highly skilled military chefs who have delved deep into the profiles of the heroes and the regions they represent. Not only this, many celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver, Cyrus Todiwala, James Martin, Melissa Hemsley, The Hairy Bikers, Ainsley Harriot, Rick Stein, and Phil Daniels have also contributed their recipes to this amazing cookbook.

The Royal British Legion is the nation’s largest armed forces charity and worked since 1921 to support the armed forces and their families. A portion of the sale from every copy of Cooking with Heroes will help raise funds to ensure that the legion continues doing the amazing work they have been doing successfully for the past century.

Official Book Launch Party

Cooking with Heroes Cookbook’s official launch was hosted over an afternoon tea at Claridge’s in London in October. The event was well attended by military officials as well as members of the media. I was honoured to be invited to this launch event and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon tea at the beautiful Claridge’s in Mayfair, London.

I sampled a selection of artisan food and drink brands at the launch party, do check out the details coming soon in my Christmas 2021 Gift Guide here on my blog!

Author Profile and Q&A

I had the pleasure of meeting and interacting with the Author Squadron Leader Jon Pullen (retired). Get to know the Author via some interesting answers he has for my interview questions to him.

Q) How did the idea of ‘Cooking with Heroes’ take root?

A) Cooking with Heroes started with a discussion with Richard Freed of St James’s House (SJH) who asked me whether I wanted to do another book to raise money for the Royal British Legion (RBL).  I’d authored 2 previous books, ‘Food for Heroes’ that raised £50-80k for Help for Heroes and with Richard, the RAF100 Cookbook which raised around £145k for the RAF100 Appeal that raised funds for the RAF Centenary. 

The idea for the book was really a play on the RBL’s Centenary and what this charity that has supported the Military Family for 100 years means to me. So it started with a plan to write 100 entries, one for every year of the Centenary, with a focus surrounding the charity’s qualities… ideas like remembrance, tradition, integrity, strength, valour, courage, and support.  If you turned these ideas into the food they would be home-cooked honest, authentic, traditional food but brought into the 21st Century.  In terms of valour and courage, we worked with the RBL around the UK and Commonwealth to nominate someone who has made a great contribution to Defence to represent them, a ‘Local Hero’. And that’s what we have, 100 Regions across the UK & Commonwealth with a story of valour, endeavour, and often sacrifice alongside traditional, old and forgotten foods from that region. A unique idea that I believe properly captures the spirit of the RBL

Q) Inspirational stories are a great way of holding the attention of the reader what is your experience and how did you go about selecting them?

A) I pulled together a team from the Military Family to engage with the RBL across the UK & Commonwealth… this was a Tri-Service Team of serving, veterans, reserves, friends, families and youth services. These became known as our RBL Ambassadors, a role that saw them engage with the RBL Membership in their region and to work with them to select a local hero or heroine who had ‘made a great contribution to UK Defence’ and that the RBL local Membership wanted to celebrate and represent them.  The list is astonishing and whilst there are many well-known VC and MC winners in the Book, there are others much less well known like Captain John Perkins RN who was born a slave in Jamaica in the 18^th Century and rose to Captain a 32 Gun Naval Frigate; Sergeant Alfred Holmes from Gibraltar who looked after the Barbary Apes for 38 years; Sybil Kathagasu from Malaysia who gave her life standing up to the Japanese invaders during WW2 by supporting British SOE Agents and so many more amazing and courageous individuals who have been chosen as outstanding by the members of the UK’s largest Military Charity, so many of whom are veterans themselves… a wonderful mark of respect that I hope does their memory justice.

Q) Food discussions are common ways of coming together to discuss other issues too. So how was this possible to get so many people to tell their stories? How did you reach out to them?

A) We sent members of today’s Military Family to engage with the RBL Membership.  When I started the Project, these were supposed to be sit-down meetings in an RBL club, sharing stories of our service face to face with the Membership and as we say in the Armed Forces, ‘pull up a sandbag and swing a lantern’.  The reality was sadly less engaging and fun with the majority of the engagements being over Zoom or old-fashioned telephones.  Our team then took the chosen candidate and researched the individual before presenting the article to the editorial team.

I’m particularly proud of one region and that was ‘Tyne & Wear’ where we set up a competition with the County Air Training Corps Squadrons to tell a panel, chaired by me but representing the RBL, the Publisher, and the County, who should be in the Book representing their County. I spent the most wonderful evening watching and listening to presentations from young Cadets passionate about their chosen candidate before having the unenviable task of choosing one:  Kate Adie. A superlative choice of a Journalist who spent her career supporting and representing the Armed Forces, always reporting the stories as they really were and never refusing to go anywhere where British Troops were deployed.  A truly inspirational choice.

Q) In your travels which cuisine have you most enjoyed discovering and why?

A) I’m that person who leaves the group to find a back street restaurant and ask the waiter what he or she is having for tea… on occasions, this has been a truly bad idea but mostly it gives an insight into the real food culture of the region. There’s no way I can choose a favourite as there’s no experience like trying a new taste for the first time but if I had to choose one it would be the Proustian moment brought on by Cypriot food.  Having grown up in Cyprus, the memories that the fusion of Greek and Cypriot Food brings back to me is unsurpassed:  Even just a smell of Sheftalia, Dolmades, Stifado, and of course Kleftiko turns me into a sun-tanned 8-year old bare footboy with grazed knees, a voracious appetite and probably guzzling a glass of Kokinelli and Lemonade. Heaven.

Q) In your opinion, what is the single most versatile ingredient?

A) Probably Eggs, I haven’t much to add to the world’s knowledge of the million and one uses of eggs other than to say, even with all of the sweet and savoury uses of Eggs that are out there, nothing beats a properly prepared poached Egg.

Q) What is your signature dish?

A) I think that would be my favourite recipe from the RAF100 Cookbook… the Italian North African (Ethiopia today) Dora Wat. So seldom do we encounter entirely different flavours but that is why the Dora Wat is so amazing.  It starts with slowly melting 1.5Kg of Red Onions (that’s a Bag and a half that need thinly slicing so make sure you have plenty of tissues around… it’s going to get emotional) in a pot (that’s the Wat in the title).  Once they have melted to a gloop, you reconstitute them with Chicken Stock and the beautiful Berebere spice mix (available in the posh supermarkets but we published the recipe anyway) before adding Chicken and finally boiled eggs… it’s an utterly delicious fiery and sweet red chicken stew and like nothing you’ve ever tasted before… unless your Ethiopian!

Q) Breaking bread together is a great way of bonding; can you share any traditions that you have experienced while you served in the armed forces, that you will always hold close to your heart?

A) As Napoleon observed, an Army Marches on its stomach and this is never so true as after an operation when it is often the opportunity to stop and eat that provides that first chance to relax.  The same is when we used to Exercise when I was much younger where the enemy was always an un-named Eastern-Block aggressor and each 3-day scenario became astonishingly similar as the directing staff went through their scripts to check that we were operating as we should.  This was just as true with the exercise food where you could tell how well we were doing by the food that arrived. By the time we received the ‘Egg Banjos’ we knew we were on the home straight, that we could remove our respirators (gas masks), that our fictional foes were finally in retreat (again), and that we could perhaps, for a moment, get warm, dry and eat.  The Egg Banjo is a humble treat being no more than a runny fried egg between 2 pieces of thick(ish) ham held between 2 pieces of bread.  These were brought to us en-masse in hotlocks which were neither hot nor locked, but nonetheless, to this day these eggy treats still brings pangs of nostalgia as perhaps the ultimate comfort food.

But, I hear you ask, why are they called Egg Banjos… in truth it was many years before I worked out why they were so named. I was sat opposite a colleague at the end of one of these exercises, dressed in his NBC suit with dirt and camo across his face as he bit into his Egg Banjo… which subsequently exploded egg-yolk across the front of his jacket. Exasperated but not beaten, he immediately took the Banjo in his left hand, drawing it away from his body so it would drip no more before and with a flourish that any stringed instrument player would recognise as a strum, vigorously wiped the egg off the front of his jacket, looking exactly like an Air-Banjo player. Needless to say, I immediately understood why they are referred to as Egg Banjos.

Cooking with Heroes – The perfect Christmas Gift for all foodies

Why not add this amazing cookbook to your Christmas shopping list? This is bound to make for a fabulous gift for your friends and family alike. A high-quality hardcover book filled with fabulous easy-to-follow recipes and interesting stories of military heroes and heroines with a sprinkling of celebrity spice, what’s not to love?!

Cooking with Heroes is available in all major bookstores including Blackwells, Waterstones, and WH Smith, to purchase RRP £19.95 – with all profits (£5 per sale) going to support The Royal British Legion.

* With thanks to the PR agency and St Jame’s House for the invite and a complimentary copy of the cookbook. With thanks to Author Jon Pullen for taking the time to patiently respond to my questions. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. No monetary compensation was offered. Images credit E Jacobs Photography unless stated otherwise