An Open Letter to Shake Shack

 

Dear Shake Shack,

I miss you. You’ll never know how hard it is to not be able to walk 15 blocks and visit you at your Madison Square Park location. Or to go see a Broadway show, preferably Book of Mormon right now, with the hidden agenda of going to see you afterwards.

I even miss checking the shack cam but waiting in your long lines anyway. I used to love looking around at all the excited faces who haven’t gotten to know you yet. They soon would come to love you more than they had imagined.

I miss having a hard time choosing between the deliciously classic double shack burger and/or the edgier ‘Shroom Burger, then adding fries and a small vanilla shake. It’s always all or nothing for me, you know that though. During my last visit to your new Lincoln Road location I tried the Shack Stack and am surprised to say I regret it. Now I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t know why I did that to myself when I knew I wouldn’t be able to savour the heavenly goodness that is that cheesy explosion.

I read about you recently in the 101 Best Restaurants in the United States list done by The Daily Meal. The fact that you are so popular and everyone loves you makes it REALLY hard to forget you, or at least replace you. They had the audacity of naming you number 11, leaving you out of the top 10. More than 150 food critics, writers and bloggers voted based on the cuisine, region, atmosphere, level of buzz and price range. I’m sorry, but both you and I know you should be in the top 10. I think everyone knows it. I will write them an open letter soon.

Your success has allowed you to grow very quickly, and I’m very happy for you. I’ve seen it in the addition of new locations and your fancy neon green hamburger sign  on Tumblr and Pinterest pages. I even noticed you’re opening in Covent Garden, London. We missed each other by a year. I was in London for the summer last year, you know. It almost feels like you timed it this way on purpose, like you don’t reciprocate my love. So please, if this is not the truth and you really do love me prove it. Open your heart and doors to us all in Melbourne, Australia. I know you haven’t been here yet, but you’ll love it I promise. If I did it, you can too.

Patiently waiting to be together once (or 3,000 times) more,

Your biggest, hungriest fan

Here is to Friday!

Here is to Friday, the weekend and hoping this little guy never finds your breakfast.

Sunday’s at The Florist

Summer is coming to an end. I’m not having such a hard time with this fact because I do love myself a good beanie, and also because I’m going back to Australia October 24th to withstand yet another summer (the torture!).

What I am having a hard time with is being far apart from The Florist Arms in East London. I owe guaranteed fun Sundays this past summer to the one and only, The Florist Arms (nicknamed The Florist).

A group of us, or sometimes just Jack and I, or sometimes just me, would find ourselves in the conveniently centered bar, order a pint of any draft beer and scope out the situation. Getting a spot on one of their comfortable couches, or their wooden tables in the front was key for front row seats to the lovely sound coming from the jazz bands. We always tried sitting near the open windows lining the two front walls of the restaurant, but it gets packed and in the summer, that’s the preferred seating!

The best thing about The Florist is that even though the pizza is absolutely delectable, they offer many incredible deals. The one I loved was: Half Price Evenings Sundays and Mondays from 6pm.

I left London weeks ago and I still feel lucky to have been around to completely devour this deal over Summer. As you can see from the picture above, peperoni pizza was the favorite for everyone. And that wasn’t just that one given Sunday, that was almost every Sunday for 3 months.

So if you visit The Florist Arms order the hot salami, peperoni pizza. It’s thin and crispy, giving you a crackling sounds that resonates in your head. My additional suggestion would be to search for the clear bottle with olive oil and red jalapeños placed on the piano, probably, and dip your slice before biting into it.

For fear of getting hungry and sad, I will stop typing now.

Jamie Oliver

With time, but probably very quickly, you will learn about my love for all things Jamie Oliver. In my opinion he’s not only a great cook and teacher, he’s an amazing person and a true inspiration.

All of his foundations, but particularly Jamie’s Ministry of food, really resonate with me.

So when he invited me (“me” as in all his followers on Instagram) to celebrate his restaurant’s, Fifteen, 10th year anniversary, I couldn’t say no.

There was a DJ, dancing, drinking, eating, fun and speeches. I really can’t help but want to be part of anything that Jamie puts out in the world.

Now, if only I could only recreate one of his recipes…

Aloha, Jar!

When the sun is scorching hot in Fort Lauderdale, and I think I’m about to pass out, I just think of the Aloha Jar at the All Star Lanes bowling alley in London.

The Aloha Jar is made up of passion fruit vodka, pineapple and lime juice, passion fruit and almond syrup. Oh, and tons of crushed ice! It is the most beautiful, refreshing fruity drink I’ve had, and I don’t particularly enjoy fruity drinks. I’m a beer and red wine type of girl.

I wouldn’t even label it a fruity drink though, that’s not doing it justice. Every time I took a sip I felt closer to the beach. A few sips in, and I could smell the salt water; I could see me in a polca dot bikini included, laying on a lawn chair perfectlly located half in, half out half out of the water.  When I closed me eyes and took a sip, it felt as if I had lazily moved my arm over the lawn chair to touch the water.

The bowling is reason enough to visit All Star Lanes, but the Aloha Jar is a good excuse all on its own.

Side note: I’ve had the Moonshine and the Honey Pot, but neither came close to the Aloha Jar.

“You Will be Judged by Where You Eat”

What’s that old saying? “You will be judged by the restaurants you eat at.” No, that can’t be right.

The New Zealand bred cafe, Allpress Espresso, is a great place to take your mom, dad or both of them when you want to convince them that yes, you really are doing great. Because you are! And you want to show off!

Located in Shoreditch, this cafe is excellently put together. It’s brick exterior, wooden interior, and large windows a long the right wall will draw you straight in, if the strong aroma of coffee doesn’t. The big coffee roaster behind the baristas will keep your interest.

You have to order the Mixed Breakfast Plate. It comes with a hard boiled egg, avocado, tomato, cheese and ham, with bread on the side. It’s filling, delicious, healthy and comes out quick; what else could you ask for? Oh, and their coffee is delicious. Every time I’ve gone I’ve gone I’ve had two Flat Whites. One with my Mixed Breakfast Plate and one after; take away, please!

Important Additional Information: Allpress Espresso is not just for parents. It’s also a great place to go to with friends. Look, here is one now!

When Shopping Leads to Eating.

You know how sometimes you agree to go shopping with a friend even though you absolutely can’t buy anything? And then you spend an entire day keeping away from anything resembling that black leather backpack from Top Shop you want, and outside your friends dressing room saying, “yes, definitely buy it! At least you can!”

This happens to me a lot. I especially tend to hover over any book section I find, but especially in Urban Outfitters.

In Urban Outfitters was, what I assume to be, the newest, most hip and exciting restaurant guide book sharing where in London I should be eating. I immediately turned to East London, my neighborhood. There was only one restaurant listed in there that I hadn’t heard of which actually interested me: E. Pellicci.

Located in East London, the family owned E. Pellicci takes up a very small amount of place on Bethnal Green Road. It’s cozy in there, making it perfect for the atmosphere they maintain. If you like to keep to yourself during breakfast and like to have no interaction with the server other than the necessary then stay away. You will become best friends with the server by the time you take your seat. His name will most likely be Nevio Junior, and he will most likely suggest you order the freshly squeezed orange juice. You should do it, it’s delicious.

He will also suggest the breakfast sandwich. I got mine with egg, bacon, cheese, tomato and mustard. It was so good I went back the same week for another. The amount of food you get for the price and quality is astonishing. E. Pellicci is the only place in London I found that I can really say that about.

To be honest, I chose to order the breakfast sandwich out of fear. The plates being served to the patrons sitting around us were at sauce capacity. The lasagna – actually, I’m not if it was lasagna I couldn’t see the actual food.

This is truly a restaurant to visit when you’re hungry. Even our breakfast sandwichs were too much. So if you’re ever in East London and in the mood for some filling food, make your way to E. Pellicci and visit Mama Maria. She will help you leave there full, with money in your pocket, and a new friend, maybe even two.

One Person’s trash is…

a nerdy girls treasure!

Maybe it’s because I use to live in NYC or because I haven’t seen the movie Contagion, but finding little treasures on the side of the street is one of those little things I relish in.

Okay, let me be honest. By treasure I’m mostly (100%) talking about books. I love books! I love finding, reading, highlighting, collecting, talking about, writing, organizing and decorating with books.

So you can just imagine how exciting it was for me to be walking down a street, as you do, and find a stack of books just sitting there on the side walk waiting to be picked up.

These three books I found on my way to the super market in East London. The receipt from Amazon was actually still in each; $45 I would have probably spent at some point in my life anyway. Eureka!

The best thing I ever found in NYC was a small sized box filled to the top with romance novels. It felt like fate since I had an extremely long empty and high shelf in the living room of my apartment.

Now, I know some people say this is wrong or gross or weird (mostly my mom and my boyfriend) but I say I don’t care. It’s my treasure to find, not theirs!

Burger or Lobster or Both.

Sometimes you want a burger and sometimes you feel like lobster, but other times you can go to a place called Burger & Lobster and take your time to decide.

I love Burger and Lobster, in SoHo, London, for their no bullshit attitude. If you haven’t put it together by now, they only offer two food options: a burger or  lobster. I still asked for a menu; I’m not very good at math. The waitress laughed, No, no, no you silly, clueless girl, she said while petting my head in a maternal like fashion. Okay, I’m exaggerating. She just laughed a little, then explained.

The deal is that for 20 pounds you can order a lobster, a burger or a lobster roll. All 3 meals are accompanied by a side of french fries, salad and garlic/butter sauce. It’s basically the equivalent of finding out there is a Six Flags in heaven, after you’re accepted in.

Another option if you’re entire party wants lobster is to choose from a variety of lobster sizes sold by pound. That option comes with unlimited french fries and unlimited salad. It felt like I had hit the jackpot, but in reality none of us finished our first round of sides.

I didn’t try the burger, but I do have at least 5 eye witness accounts of me going nuts over the lobster. It’s hard for me to judge lobster, since I was raised in Florida, but I can without a doubt say it wins “Most Fun Food”. I get in deep no matter the costs; I scoop, scrap, suck, hammer, rip and crack. I feel powerful and in control. Our waitress spotted me eating like a 3 year old, came over and said “she knows what she’s going” to my boyfriend. It was one of my proudest moments.

I do have to admit I really liked the lobster roll as well. The grilled and buttered roll it came with was a winning touch. But because I love the appearance of food and a little bang for my buck I’d probably stick with a whole lobster.

I say, don’t just pick one meal. Get two! Share! They will split anything perfectly in half for you. Have a party! I mean, you get a bib for goodness sake.

Burger and Lobster 

Hurwundeki; The Multi-tasker

Think of the biggest multi-tasker you know. Got it? Okay, I know the restaurant equivalent.

Hurwundeki in Bethnal Green, London multitasks the shit out of their real estate. What with it’s industrial interior, and a play-groundy looking exterior.

One minute it’s a comfortable coffee shop for book worms and writing nerds to enjoy, the next minute it’s an exclusive hair salon. It’s also a vintage store, all their pieces line the walls acting as decorations. You’ll probably spot a crow statue with a top hat and wish you had one in your home. Then you’ll notice separate price tags hanging for both items; you’ll smile to yourself in acknowledgment, touche Hurwundeki, touche.

Finally, my favorite facet, Hurwundeki is a BYO(wine)B Korean restaurant. It offers four delicious, steamy, filling options for lunch and dinner. Dinner is a tad more expensive, but is served on black hot plates you could probably purchase if you asked nicely.

In London, Hurwumdeki  became my home away from my hotel. The staff is friendly, the music is funky, and you will never get kicked out. Even if your nursing the same coffee from three hours ago. Not that I would ever do that. No, not me. Never.

Plus, I saw Alexa Chung there so you know it has to be cool.