La Tavola In Geneva

I arrived in my hotel about 19:00 on the Friday and despite the excellent meal in Jamie’s Italian at Gatwick, I was peckish. The hotel recommended two local Italian restaurants, which meant I didn’t have to walk, as it was raining hard. The first was full, so I settled on the second and after a bit of negotiation, I got a table at 21:00. It was called La Tavola and here are a few pictures.

The first course was vitello tonnato, which is one of my favourites and properly made it is gluten-free. The second was salmon, leeks and mash potato. It looked slightly unappetising, but like the vitello tonnato, it was excellent.

I would certainly return to La Tavola again. One point was that being Italian, they knew their gluten-free well. My pronounciation too of celiachia  is getting better each year.

I sometimes believe that most Italians believe that good food is the healer of all ills.

I don’t think, I’ve had a bad meal, either  in Italy or cooked by Italians, for some years. The only one that stands out for awfulness, was one in Housto, about thirty years ago.

Pizza Express’s Professional Approach To Gluten-Free

If they’ve got it right, which I suspect they have as it’s a big pitch, Pizza Express have taken a bold approach to adding gluten-free to their menus. You open their web site and on the right is a large block labelled GLUTEN FREE.  Click it and you learn that they talk about 100% taste, risotto, brownies and even gluten-free Pilsner. They even reverse the usual dishes you can have to ones you should avoid.

They also say that their approach has been endorsed by Coeliac-UK.

I shall definitely be trying them out in the next few days.

At least it gives me somewhere to have lunch in Ipswich, when I watch the football!

A Bus Stop With A Carluccio’s

The Carluccio’s in Upper Street, Islington, is a uniquely convenient restaurant.

A Bus Stop With A Carluccio’s

Today, I had to get a snack lunch and then go on to Kings Cross station to pick up some rail tickets for my trip to Burnley for the last day of the football season.

So I got a 30 bus to this bus stop, had my lunch at Carluccio’s and then after lunch got on another 30 bus to the station. It really, is a conveniently placed restaurant, at one of those mini-bus interchanges, you get all over London. And Carluccio’s is not the only restaurant in walking distance of this bus stop.

I do think sometimes, that those who open restaurants forget about the buses and don’t think to place their hostelries, where passengers change buses. I can think of a couple of bus interchanges, where the cafe offerings are distinctly poor.

Giles Coren On Pistachio Doughnuts

This was a classic comment from his restaurant review  in The Times on Saturday.

Oliphant, who had been here before, insisted I try the pistachio doughnuts and honey syrup, but all puddings taste like mashed sugar cubes to me and I ate it only out of politeness. For all I know, it may be the greatest pudding ever made. You’d need to ask a fat girl.

I feel like that about puddings too!

A Leon Built Like A Tardis

This Leon in Carnaby Street looks very small.

A Leon Built Like A Tardis

But inside it is rather spacious, with seating for a hundred or so. So it’s a true tardis, which of course we know is larger on the inside than it looks from the outside. i had gone for breakfast before I did some shopping.

My Leon Breakfast

This restaurant is ideally placed for Oxford Circus, so like today is a good place to start your shopping.

Note the tea mug, that would satisfy the most fussy builder.

leon may do real food, but they also do real mugs in quite a few of their restaurants.

A Disastrous Attempt At A Meal

I tried to eat in Nuremberg and found it difficult.  Eventually, I was served a meal, but as you can see it was cooked in flour.

A Disastrous Attempt At A Meal

I’ll say this though, they didn’t charge me.

What seemed lacking in all my searching was a restaurant that was serving something like a salad Nicoise.

Eventually, I bought a good fruit salad from a stall.

it Salad From Nuremberg

At least I got a fork with it.

Inside And Around Le Meridien, Budapest

I stayed in Budapest at Le Merieden.  Not the cheapest hotel, but I got a reasonable deal and I could trust the food for breakfast.  These pictures show the hotel in its very central location, on the major interchange of the Budapest Metro.

They even offered to bake some gluten-free bread, as I left. That sounds late, but I suspect they hadn’t realised I was coeliac before.

They did find me an excellent restaurant though called Rezkakas. I did take a Hungarian celiac travel card.

I’d certainly stay in the hotel again.

Jamie’s Italian At North Terminal, Gatwick Airport

I was surprised to see a branch of Jamie’s Italian at Gatwick and that it had the full gluten-free menu as well.

Wild Rabbit Tagliolini

I had a wild rabbit tagliolini.

The only problem was the texture on the table, that made it difficult for me to write. But food, wine and especially the service were all very good.

It was also good to see a decent gluten free offering in an airport.

I do like to see rabbits working!

Blankets At Carluccio’s In St. Pancras Station

Carluccio’s in St. Pancras Station has started issuing customers with blankets.

Blankets At Carluccio’s In St. Pancras Station

I’m not sure, but I’ve used that restaurant for some years now and I’ve never seen the blankets before. A few customers outside had the blankets wrapped snuggly over their laps and around their legs.

Has this winter been that bad?  Or are we all getting soft and feel the cold more?

I did find the blankets mentioned in Trip Advisor for March 20th this year.

A Beagle Comes To Hoxton

One of my Internet trawls found this restaurant, called Beagle, that is opening in Hoxton. I paid it a visit today.

It is conveniently situated underneath the railway arches of the East  London line at Hoxton station, just behind the Geffrye Museum.

One of the staff said they would be doing gluten-free food, so I think I’ll give it a try after it opens on Monday the eighth and when I return from my travels to Budapest.

The designers seem to have done a good job.

I wonder if it will set a precedent for stylish restaurants in stations on the London Overground!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to eat  and drink your way in a complete circle around London!