Friday 25 March 2011

Greetings from a London Pig

Hello,

So this is the food blog I've been threatening to start for ages.

I'm a bit of a pig you see, hence the trough-seeking. I'm London-based but love to travel so other places might feature if I'm fortunate to be jetsetting somewhere or other.

Needless to say, I also love pigs. Pork truly is the meat of the Gods, and criminally underrated too. But this blog won't be particularly geared towards pork, but rather general greed, combined with an at-times slavish pilgrimage to where's new and good. 

I've always found it a great shame that London has been rubbished from within and outside as a poor food city. This is simply not true - British cuisine may not be as respected or complex as other stalwarts, and we may not be able to cultivate the spiciest or spikiest fruits, but our good honest soil produces an amazing simplicity where ingredients can sing louder than spices.

And frankly, being arguably the most diverse place on Earth, we've probably got the best mix across the board - with New York as the obvious contender here (we're probably later to the foodie obsession). But would you expect to find the easy cool of Lantana in Paris, the niche udon obsession of Koya in Rome, or the buzzy, piggy delights of Brindisa in Tokyo? Maybe, but not definitely...

So that's a hint of what to expect - not dissimilar to the many other blogs I've been following for years! I'm more into the low-key and some uptown casual dining, but not really 'fine dining' although I'd dispute the term as many places have very fine service and very fine food without fuss.

I'm a big fan of the Antipodean coffee shops and cafes which are raising the coffee bar in London (Foxcroft and Ginger over Flat White for me) - and having spent some great times in Sydney, Melbourne and Wellington, I also love Asian food of all descriptions. Closer to home, tapas and pasta I could gorge myself on daily....and like any blogger these days, this pig loves a good burger. I love (almost obsessively) trying out new places, but also returning (also obsessively) to my favourites.

Quick caveats - I'm not the world's biggest seafood fan, but my equally piggy partner (now to be known as Piglet) will be no doubt coerced into ordering the fishiest things on the menu! And my camera work is a tad dodgy... And there's a danger I might enjoy the beer/wine/cocktails too much and forget the odd detail... but hopefully you'll enjoy - cheers!

TPT