Keith McNally London Home

This Month's House and Garden is a cracker.

Is it me or is this publication getting better and better

I was both surprised and delighted to find amongst it's pages photograph's

of the Home of Keith McNally

I have never seen press on any of his homes before

If you don't know who Keith McNally is then you are certainly not a New Yorker 

and if you have ever visited NYC then you have certainly eaten in one of his Restaurants

Balthazar

Pastisse

Schiller's

The list is extensive 

(for a full list and an interesting article on Keith you can go HERE)

And now he has returned to his place of birth, London and opened up a London Balthazar

Keith just gets it right every time

One of things that is mentioned in the H&G article and that I have always felt 

"it is key to his restaurants that while they are stylish they are never elite"

I think Keith changed the way we eat, the way we socialise.

He levelled the playing field in a way 

His restaurants are not inaccessible 

Ok, they may be pricey for some pockets and we're not eating there every day 

but what I mean is 

Prior to the Reign of Keith 

hip restaurants were stiff, extortionately  expensive and elite 

His restaurants changed that

 and his house is just as stylish as you would expect 

all images are from the pages of House and Garden 
Photographer Simon Upton

Also IN H&G this month is a beautiful home in London belonging to the founder of

Made.com

and a beautiful award winning home belonging to Sebastien and Lucy Fenwick

I highly recommend you hit your news stands and purchase it

just in case you are wondering 

this is my opinion and NOT at all, in any way paid for or endorsed by anyone 

as is everything I post on my blog

Dana Tanamachi

Wouldn't it be fun to reply

"chalk Letterer"

when asked at a party 

"what do you do?"

Well, that is exactly what Dana Tanamachi can say

I love the idea of a backdrop for your wedding pics 

found via  HERE

visit website  Dana Tanamachi

London, The Albion and Ottolenghi

Ok so finally sorted the technical difficulties.

***

OK Lets begin our trip to London...

Thursday

The evening of my arrival we went to The Albion in Islington 

image via the albion website

The Albion is just what one would expect from a Gastropub

and they have everything just right !

Great menu, 

friendly service, 

relaxed atmosphere,

 very reasonably priced,

oh and an incredible garden

Basically when someone tells you they are bringing you to a London gastropub this is what one expects and The Albion delivers. 

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Friday morning

 This was the day we were off to The Chelsea Flower show

First we went for breakfast.

Ottolenghi was the first highlight of the trip 

Meringues

Tarts

Lemon Meringue tarts

all images taken by my shaky hand on my iphone

The display looked like something from a Nancy Meyers movie....perfect!!

As we were leaving they were putting out the salads which were works of Art, 

colour, texture and of course taste.

My companion gave me a gift of their cookbook and I read it all the way over on the plane

The Food is Middle Eastern based (personal fave) but very modern and with

unexpected turns! 

I can't wait to get into my new apartment and start cooking up a storm

You should checkout their site and they also have a blog

If you like to cook I HIGHLY recommend this cookbook

and next time you are in London this place should be top of your list.

Stop by Monday for The Chelsea Flower Show and Egg

Have a great weekend