Saturday at Notting Hill - Sweet and Green

If you move across an ocean to another country with someone you better like them - a lot. Good thing Nate and I seem to get along quite well. But, that doesn't mean I didn't welcome a weekend all to myself. So what's a girl to do on a Saturday all alone in London? Notting Hill - full of little shops and culinary wonders. Armed with wallet and camera its the perfect neighborhood to wander alone so you can linger at the places that catch your fancy.

I haven't made much sense of the streets in London. There's multiple streets with the same name in completely different parts of town. Take Church, for example - there are at least a dozen Church Lanes, Roads and Streets. Not to mention the multiple Church Aves, Crescents, Courts, and the occasional Mews. Oh, there are also no odd or even sides of the street and some buildings even get multiple numbers! Though I had my nose stuck in a map the entire morning I managed to get lost. No matter because by some stroke of luck my internal GPS pointed me to:

Plum tarts - a feast for my eyes. I was at Ottolenghi. More eye candy...

The cupcakes:

 

The fruit slices:

 

The cheesecake, and DO NOT FORGET the brioche pretzels (the best of both worlds!):

 

The chefs were starting to bring up the lunch offerings from the kitchen below. Just as easy on the eyes as the sweet treats and smelling delicious but I'll have to save that for another day.

I continued to wander along and stopped at the Notting Hill Farmers Market. Honestly, nothing really inspired me except these fresh giant green beans.

I picked up some fresh multi-grain pasta and basil pesto and made my way home for a late lunch. Because I was sans my man I didn't have to include any meat product in my pasta.

I sliced the green beans on a bias, threw them in a hot pan with a quarter cup of chicken broth. I cooked the multi-grain pasta for a few minutes in boiling water and immediately added the pasta to the beans. Tossed with basil pesto. Simple and quick. Done in less than five minutes.

Comments

[Dee]

Traveling to London several years back I welcomed a wander on Notting Hill. The shops are wonderful. Your food shots are fabulous. What a sensory experience. Nice Blog!

[Irene]

Oh, how lovely to be able to just walk through Notting Hill like that! London is one of my favorite cities in the world!

[The Scribe of Notting Hill]

I'm not boasting or anything (honestly!) but I live near enough to Portobello Road that I can get my fresh produce from there any day I like (OK maybe not Sunday) and yes, it is a luxury :-)

[Gastroanthropologist]

Irene - The little "hamlets" in London really make this huge, overwhelming city special!

Scribe - I love Portobello Road! Access to great, fresh produce is the best luxury.

[Venny]

Hi Adrienne,

Thanks for the invite at foodbuzz. As I check out your page, I'm drooling over your pasta with green beans! So simple yet (looks) so delicious. I will try that out. Thanks for the idea.

Will also come back to your page for more London insights. Researching for worthy places to go next week :D.

[Gastroanthropologist]

Venny - As my blog is young I don't have much for London posted, but feel free to email me (on my About page) if you want any suggestions...

[kang]

Oh what lovely pictures :P , I love that little cupcake shop, think it's called hummingbird (or am I thinking about another one..)

Hope you are settling in to London well, there are LOTS to do in the city, you might want to try Borough market too.