Old buildings, browsing free entry museums and loosing myself in the beautiful by-lanes of London City are things I love to do. Considering that I am either doing 2-3 part time jobs at once or a very tight schedule full time project at other times, time is always at a premium so on free days I love setting out armed with my backpack with a few home made sandwiches, a bottle of water, low cal (joke!) crisps and if I am lucky then a small piece of cake. I do try and carry a thermos with hot water for making my own tea but that only in the summer when I want to walk up Box-Hill , read a book , catch a snooze and watch the clouds make funny patterns in the sky.

Now that I am blogging from home (full-time) , I have to think hard and save lots before I allow myself even the occasional treat at a quaint cafe.

On one beautiful summer afternoon last year ,when my dear ma-in-law was visiting us ,(ma – who is also a good listener and knows how to soothe frayed nerves and lighten me up when I am hyper -which is almost always), decided to go see the British Museum. With my absolute lack at being able to use the many apps I have on my smartphone (apparently even the owner has to be a tad smart- sigh..) I managed to totally confuse her and we ended walking almost for 40 minutes before we finally reached the museum. Ready to fall dead myself and with a huge guilt conscience at the torchure I had just inflicted on my poor sweet ma (who is well into her 60’s) ,I decided to treat her to some tea and cakes. Funnily enough the only other time I had been to the London Review Bookshop nestled in a lane bang opp the British Museum was when she last visited us in 2011 – weird or what!

Back then we had ma’s foodie and very sensible friend P with us who is much more intelligent than I shall ever be. So we had managed to see a fair bit of the museum and then stumble into the bookshop after a fairly short bus ride from Kings Cross.(!!! when will I learn to navigate around London using the many apps on my phone – NEVER ?!! And to think P doesn’t even own a smartphone – yet – says a lot about how smart she is !)

Anyway, by the time we sat down at the table at the Cake Shop in the London Review Bookshop, we were severely dehydrated and needed some sugar to pump some energy back into our systems.

What better way than to order one of Terry Glover’s brilliant cakes? And yes two – yes yes you read that right two pots of Tea. To say that the London review Bookshop is neighbours with Le Cordon Bleu which has its own little cafe’ attached is no small matter. I must say the Le Cordon Bleu has a highly distinguished neighbour 🙂

Cosy reading nooks

A bookshop and a cafe’ – two of my favourite places to be in

So after indulging ourselves in a heavenly pot of tea from Sri Lanka called ”chai-tea” ( I will rant about why it irks me to see 2 words with the same meaning used to name a variety of tea and fast becoming an acceptable ways of referring to Indian tea – NO folks chai is tea in Hindi – ”simples”!!) with a generous amount of honey to sweeten it , we were ready to face the world – or win a war whichever came first.

The bookshop is a treat for any self respecting book lover and a must-visit place,they have a basement reading room of sorts which is super quiet and a great cubby hole to loose yourself in. Perfect for when you want to switch off from the world outside – which I would like to very often.

So I managed to buy this book for a friend who loves and knows her tea,Tea by John Griffiths.

And ma got herself the most amazing – Sharks Fin and Sichuan Peppers by Fuchsia Dunlop- (If you love food you MUST read this book) .Really wanted to buy ,One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore but was broke by then.

A bit of tasty tidbits about the Cake Shop owner, taken from her bio on the London Review Bookshop website :

”Her signature style fuses Japanese and French influences, clinched with a chilli kick.

Terry finds inspiration in meeting the people behind the produce – growers, suppliers or cooks – who invest love, knowledge and personality in their food.”

The perfect excuse to indulge

I love how the many floral teas are displayed in these huge glass jars in this corner , apologies to the unknown person who happens to be in this picture , I only wanted the jars but you were so lost in reading I didn’t have the heart (or the courage tehehe) to disturb you!

Cake Shop at the London Review Bookshop is another of those cafes that I would want to visit several times over and I know I would enjoy each visit like a different flavour of tea or cake perhaps.Well that’s one tick off my must see places in London for sure.

That’s ma’s happy face after her tea, by the way she has written a guest post for me in a series of posts about Irani Cafes in Mumbai,Pune and London , which you can read here and she also is the author of a blog called Retro-Reflections, which has been silent for a few months now as she had a Valve replacement Open-Heart operation back home in Bombay.She is back to her cheerful self now ,thank god and her blog will see some action real soon.

I would love to know what you thought about this review , ma’s blog and our series on Irani cafes, I love reading all comments and it makes me immensely happy to share with all of you – my love of food,travel and all the little things that make life worth while.Thanks for reading 🙂

P.S: If you are as badly technologically challenged as I am and need directions of how to get to this gem of a place click here , the website has detailed directions of how to get to cafe without breaking into a sweat after walking for 40 minutes and having to think you might actually need to dial the emergency services!

This is the first ever interview Farrah has given, she confessed, when we spoke over the phone trying to decide where we could meet. I told her that I would promise to keep it simple and conversational and I am so glad we spoke like long-lost friends exchanging ideas and chatting away. We decided on a beautiful pub called The Bolingbroke in Battersea and it was a hot, summer evening with the sunlight streaming in through open doors onto thick wooden tables.

Farrah is an especially inspiring person to meet; she seems to emit these waves of positivity around her in tiny, invisible bubbles; landing on me, they made me feel as if I could win any war I wanted to.

A high-flying lawyer by profession, Farrah divides her time between New York and London; and when she isn’t acting as legal counsel to some very big names, she is busy in her home kitchen making an extremely delicious spread called Moose Maple Butter. And yes, the recipe is a secret!

Read on to find out how she came about making this heavenly tasting, pure, wholesome goodness of butter.

(As it goes with my interviews, we shall refer to me as MJ and to my new-found friend as FM short for Farrah ‘’Moose’’; MMB is short for Moose Maple Butter)

MJ: What inspired you to create this amazing new product?

FM: Soon after a detox in France, where I spent a few weeks learning about healthy eating habits and especially learning to avoid “added sugar’’ in my diet, I was in New York for work and having breakfast at a hotel. I was looking for something sweet to spread on my already buttered, hot toast but I wanted to avoid added sugar at any cost. The jam and chocolate spread options available on the table were all laden with sugars and other artificial nasties that I really wanted to avoid! Finally, and really through a lack of choice and an insatiable desire for a sweet taste that morning, I poured some of the organic maple syrup – on the table for pancakes – over my toast. It was that ‘’Eureka’’ moment, coupled with the fact that I couldn’t find maple butter to buy in any shops, either Stateside or in England, that prompted me to experiment at home until I came up with my current recipe for Moose Maple Butter.

MJ: Great! That’s an interesting and ever so creative way to make a whole new product. Now for my old favourite trusted question, why the name Moose?

FM (With a big smile) Well I have to admit, even though it’s probably going to make me sound a bit odd, that I have been obsessed with moose for years. I have moose things everywhere! I was doodling for the maple butter logo and cute, funny images of moose kept appearing … Moose Maple Butter just seemed a natural choice, especially as there are generally moose around where maple syrup is produced!

MJ: I must mention here that Farrah has the most beautiful and neat handwriting I have ever seen and her notebook has beautiful doodles, hardly doodles really, but neat, cartoon creations of a moose which ultimately became her logo, I even managed to get this quick picture of her final drawing that is now her officially registered logo. I love it. The little black doodle near the jar at the bottom of the page is the moose’s nose; talk about perfection and practice!

MJ: So now that you have created this wonderfull product and christened it, what happens next?

FM: Well, I have only just had the brand and logo registered, both in Europe and the US, so I now feel confident about getting Moose Maple Butter out there to as many people as I can! It’s a brand awareness campaign in full swing from now until November this year, when hopefully you’ll find Moose Maple Butter on the shelves of supermarkets!

MJ: Wow, that’s good news, pity you can’t give away any names (naughty smile). Any other ways of promoting MMB then? (Moose Maple Butter = MMB)

FM: Yes! I am looking at actively promoting MMB at various food fairs, events and festivals in the run up to November. As you know, I had a stand and basically introduced MMB, at the recently concluded Food Blogger Connect (FBC5). That was wonderful for MMB! I’m so glad they found me.

(Heck, so am I Farrah, or I wouldn’t have met you and would have lived my life not knowing Maple Butter existed! No way!)

MJ: Tell me more about your ‘’Eureka’’ moment and what followed.

FM: Initially, I was really only making Moose Maple Butter for family and friends and then also supplying, on request, to family and friends of friends! Everyone kept asking for more and where they could buy it and it all got me thinking! Every time I had kids over at home, I had a little ‘’tasting’’ session and would lay out hot toast slathered with my maple butter spread along with some toast with chocolate spread on it and some with the usual butter and jam. It was always reassuring to see ALL the toast with Moose Maple Butter being gobbled up in comparison to the other offerings! That, along with lots of encouragement from everyone around me, gave me the shove I needed to sell Moose Maple Butter at a few of last year’s school Christmas fairs, in London and Los Angeles (Farrah’s second home). I have been flooded with requests ever since from a rapidly growing group of mothers and fathers alike and have been selling tubs of MMB ever since.

Of course there are all the not-so-fun things to deal with, like premises inspections and registrations and food hygiene certification and all the rest! I was so relieved when the local council left very impressed with my clean and shiny, brand-new kitchen! I think I have a bit of an obsession on the cleanliness side!

(Farrah: I totally agree – I am sure I have cleanliness OCD geee)

MJ: I notice you have a very nicely done Facebook Page for Moose Maple Butter, I love it!

FM: Thank you! I love sharing art work done by my little fans who send me their pictures. You will see quite a lot of creative ones on the page. Of late, a lot of food bloggers have asked me for samples too and have created so many beautiful and delicious recipes.

Any recipe that calls for butter and sugar is a possible one for using Moose Maple Butter instead and results in a more wholesome but equally tasty outcome!

MJ: How does MMB compare to butter and spreads in its nutritional content?

FM: I am so glad you asked this question! MMB in comparison to say a chocolate spread is much more well ‘’spreadable’’ and hence you use up much less than say a thick peanut butter. Since I only use purely organic Maple Syrup at all times, what you get is much more taste with very little MMB.

So in the case of Moose Maple Butter a little goes a long way!

So everyone looking for any alternate spread, especially to chocolate spread, Moose Maple Butter it is!

I must say I agree with Farrah here, my first bite of Maple Butter was enough to make me fall madly in love with this new find – Hook, Line and Sinker if you will!

To put this into perspective:

10 gms of average chocolate spread = 53 calories and one needs at least 30gms to properly cover one slice of toast, whereas only 10 gms of Moose Maple Butter will go a long way on that same one slice of toast! Brilliant! And tasty!

close up MMB close up shot with table details

MJ: So if I was to ask about the shelf life and nutritional contents of Moose Maple Butter what would you say?

FM: I have currently given samples of MMB to Eclipse Scien tific who will provide me with an accurate analysis of the exact shelf life and the precise nutrient content. But like any butter, it needs to be kept refrigerated.

Moose Maple Butter has no artificial additives; it has no E numbers, nothing. It is absolutely nothing but pure fresh butter and pure grade A maple syrup – with a dash of sea salt. It is a superb alternative to processed sugar-laden products. It is a great, quick and easy breakfast option and just melts into the grooves of a hot crumpet and is of course best paired with pancakes.

Wow! That mention of hot crumpets makes me want to quickly grab hold of those cute sample jars from the table and run home for some tea and crumpet time. But to avoid such madness Farrah has kindly agreed to part with a large pot of Moose Maple Butter just for me to sample and make something delicious out of! So folks watch this space, in a few days you will see some delicious recipe posted on my blog Travelsfortaste with Moose Maple Butter as the divine ingredient.

MJ: What would you like to make of this new venture Farrah? Or put it plainly where do you see yourself in 5 years time

FM: I’d just love to see Moose Maple Butter become a household name. I think the biggest kick would be when some kid I don’t know asks me if I’ve ever had Moose Maple Butter – that would be a great moment.

Our conversation becomes something of a friendly banter. The glorious sunshine refuses to go away but the shadows have shifted. The pub is filled with loads of families, kids running around; there is a buzz of activity. The usual lone ranger, armed with a net book and ale, occupies the table opposite us and looks down on me with disdain as I take some snaps of the cute jars.

(Image below is a picture of Farrah – the creator of Moose Maple Butter)

I hate to tear myself away from this happy pub and evening chat but the promise of a dinner and movie by the hubby beckon.

Just realised that, of all the entrepreneurs I have met so far, 4 in all including Farrah, three of these entrepreneurs had never been interviewed before!

(To read the older blog posts with these inspiring entrepreneurial stories just click on the links below:

I am sure Farrah is as excited as I am if not more,about her first ever interview where she has shared her story and how Moose Maple Butter was born. Now can’t wait to use her creation in my home kitchen!

Apart from the fair amount of persuasion it took to meet the two first time interviewees in India, I must admit that the one common thing amongst ALL entrepreneurs is their humility and their generosity to share their dreams, a few apprehensions and most of all, their time. I cannot thank you all enough.

Do leave your thoughts and comments about this interview and while you are at it, spread the MOOSE!

London Review Bookshop, Cake Shop – Review

Cosy reading nooks

A bookshop and a cafe’ – two of my favourite places to be in

The perfect excuse to indulge

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