A City that Cooks

There is a real evolution of food occuring in London. The availability of fresh produce, seafood, and cheese makes it a great city for a home chef. We stayed just 2 blocks north of the Marble Arch in the neighborhood called Marylebone. On Sunday morning, we walked to the Marylebone farmer's market and toured Marylebone High Street's gourmet food shops, all of which were swarming with inspired chefs. The high point of this walk was the cheese room in La Fromagerie Cafe. This separate climate controlled room with a heavy sliding glass door was a vault keeping the prized cheeses safe. We walked in and stared with awe at the wheels of mostly French fromage and their hand-written descriptions. As my mouth started watering when I realized England does not ban un-aged raw milk cheeses like the US, Lou was getting in trouble for taking pictures of me and the cheese. We asked for a slice of the non-pasteurized brie wheel along with a Coeur de Lion and got the heck out of there. I'd post the pictures for you, but since they didn't want us to take them, they probably wouldn't appreciate it if they found them on the internet.

Fish eat fish at the Marylebone farmer's market. The fishmonger didn't mind me taking the picture below, although he did freak me out by putting a live lobster in my face.