Introduction - Quiet London: Food and Drink - page 3

of the city far below, Horniman Gardens Farmers' Market is held in one of the most
spectacular locations in the capital. In the centre of London, Bloomsbury Farmers'
market transforms empty Torrington Square into a colourful, lively place to find or-
ganic food, brought here by the very people who cultivate the runner beans and
tomatoes you are about to buy. It is hard to deny that shopping here is a much
more pleasant experience than pushing a trolley round an artificially lit supermar-
ket where most items on the shelves are the same, day in day out. One place to try
out delicious foods in a quiet location, with time to chat to the person who cooked
the dishes, is the Lone Fisherman - his spicy Caribbean patties with hot pepper
sauce can be found at the weekend at Merton Abbey Mills Market.
Another thing I learnt while researching Food & Drink was that ideas that we
assume to be quite new have often been done before. In 1827 Isambard King-
dom Brunel organised the world's first formal dinner underground in his new tunnel
beneath the Thames. Surrounded by candlelight, fifty guests enjoyed their feast
accompanied by the Coldstream Guards' regimental band. Those intrepid parti-
cipants were London's first pop-up diners, and they must have been delighted to
emerge into daylight after relishing their subterranean meal.
So what has changed in the last few years since the first Quiet London book
was published? There are so many interesting new places to buy groceries or sit
down to eat. Small pockets of London have been transformed from drab, nondes-
cript streets into interesting neighbourhoods. From the organic grocers on Broad-
way Market, a few minutes' walk from the Regent's Canal, to Calvert Avenue, pre-
viously undistinguished locales are now great places to visit, with attractive shops,
cafés and pubs to meet up at with friends at the weekend. Unfortunately, many of
these locations stream music or play the radio which makes the few shops and
cafés that don't even more precious and rare. After discovering that many people,
not just myself, prefer to eat and drink in quieter places, this topic only includes loc-
ations that do not play background music. Some cafés and restaurants might get
lively after dark as diners enjoy talking to their friends, but at least they won't have
to shout above someone else's choice of jazz or funk. I am also happy to say that,
despite some initial doubts, when I revisited the places I included in the previous
Quiet London book, it was clear that the muzac-free shops, tearooms and bras-
series don't get overcrowded and raucous. I think my readers tend to tread quietly
wherever they go.
So, after getting up early to pick up some Spanish padrón peppers from Garcia,
an amazing delicatessen in Portobello Road, and a rye loaf from Sally Clarke's
round the corner, stop by for a green vegetable curry for lunch at Makan Malaysian
café. After work, spend the evening with friends at the sophisticated Le Deuxième
restaurant in Covent Garden and, on your way home, pick up a box of sweet yellow