Brunch at Outsider Tart

I’m a big fan of the American baked goods sold by Outsider Tart in Chiswick. They have cookies the size of your head, gorgeous brownies and amazing cheesecakes. I don’t stop by as often as I’d like but I know it’s there, waiting for me to have a cheesecake craving. Relatively recently, they expanded their premises to take in the shop space next door (where there used to be an unsuccessful raw pizza place – I mean, why?!) and they’ve used this new space for cafe seating.

They call it Blue Plate and they offer hot breakfast, brunch and lunch dishes there. My friend and I visited on a Sunday morning and grabbed two seats at the large communal table, the smaller tables were all already full. Their menu that day (I think it changes often) read like a dream – pancakes, grits, hash, hot meaty sandwiches. Diner food galore.

Johnnycakes with blueberries (£6.50 for a short stack – 2 pancakes) were thick, fluffy, cornmeal pancakes studded with lots of the purple fruit and served already drizzled with syrup. We, of course, needed more and helped ourselves to the little pitcher set out. As with all pancakes, they fill me up something ridiculous and I have no idea how anyone can put down more than two (and if you can, they sell stacks of 2, 3, or 4).

I can’t only have sweet for brunch or breakfast though – savoury is mandatory in my books. Cheesy grits with fried eggs and sausage (£9) immediately stood out on the menu to us and a bowl of the creamy, cheesy grits, studded with sausage bits and topped with fried eggs soon arrived at our table. And a biscuit! I think this was my first biscuit in London and it was a mighty fine one it was too. The grits went down a treat, especially with a bit of hot sauce. They’re creamy and comforting and about a million times better than a bowl of oatmeal.

Blai and I went back for brunch this morning. Blai was utterly rapturous about his cheesy grits and biscuit while I decided to try something else and went for the migas (£9.50), an excellent Tex-Mex mixture of scrambled eggs here with sausage, blue corn tortilla chips, onions, jalapenos and sour cream. There was also a good chunk of excellent cornbread.

The only thing missing there? Those bottomless cups of brewed coffee – they only sold Americanos here and only by the single cup (of course). There are freshly squeezed juices and smoothies and bottled American soft drinks also available.

They’re open 8am-6pm everyday and on Thursdays they stay open until 10pm. I’ll be back…often.

Outsider Tart
83 Chiswick High Road
London W4 2EF

 

The Riding House Café

A trip to the centre beckoned – I needed to buy a new winter coat and Blai required some books from Foyles. The pressure was on me to find someplace interesting to eat. Looking at my map of places I want to try (I organise it all on a Google map accessible on my mobile), I spied the Riding House Café not too far away from Oxford Circus. That’s where we would go.

This all day eatery was absolutely packed when we arrived (usually a good sign) and as we didn’t have a booking, we sat at the bar when a couple seats freed up. After perusal of the Sunday menu, we decided to split a few small plates as well as a brunch dish between us.

The first small plate was Salt Cod Fritters, Red Pepper Aioli (£5). I can’t say I was particularly thrilled to see that all my fiver got me was three overly salty fritters, each the size of my thumb. And I have small hands.

From the cheapest price bracket came the Smoked Mackerel Pate, Horseradish, Keta (£3). This was alright, a mild smoked mackerel paste with no horseradish flavour whatsoever. I learned something new though – keta is the salmon roe on top (I think).

A Braised Rabbit, Soft Polenta, Parmesan (£5) rounded off our small plate selection and was the best of the lot with the tender, flavourful rabbit pairing well with the bland polenta. But once again, the size of the portion…

My verdict on the small plates – yeah, way too expensive for what they were. They should be called tiny plates.

Our brunch dish of Chorizo Hash Brown, Mushroom, Poached Eggs (£10.50) fared better. The giant hash brown was delicious, all studded with chunks of chorizo and I was really looking forward to the poached eggs on top. Unfortunately, our first eggs were sadly overcooked but when our attentive waitress checked how we were doing, I pointed them out to her and she swiftly replaced them for two perfectly cooked ones. It was nice to have the green spinach on the side and it had been dressed but just a little too saltily for me.

Knowing that the day wasn’t going to be particularly healthy, consumption-wise, I insisted on getting us some greens as well. The Autumn Greens, Chestnut Butter (£3.50) were fine though while I could see the chestnut bits, I couldn’t taste them.

We had our eye on one dessert (I think it was a chocolate fondant) but learned that the restaurant had run out of a few of the options including the one we wanted. I found this quite surprising – it’s a big place and surely they could have anticipated that a number of desserts were needed. We decided to skip it and have it elsewhere.

So, Riding House Café…sadly, food-wise, you were quite underwhelming. If you’re going, I’d stay away from the small plates and order the main meals instead. I like the space though and I could see myself rocking up to meet someone for a drink there.

The Riding House Café
43-51 Great Titchfield Street
London W1W 7PQ

 

A Gilead Café Sunday Brunch in Toronto

I wanted poutine, that glorious (or possibly gruesome, if you’ve never had it, I suppose) combination of French fries, cheese curds and gravy, while I was in Canada; yes, I know that poutine is Quebecois but I also know that it’s available everywhere in the country. Growing up in Vancouver, even Burger King offered it. When Renée heard of my need, she directed me to Gilead Café, known throughout the city to serve a very good, but modern, poutine. We were staying a stone’s throw from the Distillery District in Toronto and Gilead Café is a stone’s throw from that, making the café just two stones’ throws from us; yes, I could drag my colleagues there one morning.

I knew nothing about the cafe and even less so about Jamie Kennedy, the chef-owner. From what I can gather online, he’s quite a star chef in Toronto and he cares very much about where all the food he uses is sourced. I knew nothing of this when we entered Gilead Café for brunch that Sunday morning. The space is big and bright and I loved the walls lined with homemade preserves. Do come relatively early as we did and get seated immediately – there was a small queue as we were eating.

Three of us opted for the Hash with Sunny Side Up Eggs and Greens. The hash changes on a regular basis and the chalkboard indicated that today’s was going to be with succotash and bacon. Large chunks of potato were fried together with the corn and bacon mixture and served in a piping hot cast iron frying pan. It was a delicious start to the morning but I have a small quibble – I just wished the potatoes were cubed smaller, increasing the amount of fried surface area.

One colleague ordered the Howdy Pard’ner, an open faced Sloppy Joe with a poached egg served with fries. He seemed pleased with it.

And of course, the main reason I was there, a Poutine which I ordered for the table. A bowlful of well-browned fries (the way I like it) came out topped with cheese and the same meat topping as in the Howdy Pard’ner (actually they had layered the ingredients, ensuring that you always get something good with your fries). A big dollop of sour cream topped it all. It wasn’t a classic poutine by any means but it was certainly very good.

As you can see from this Flickr search, the toppings seem to change regularly. The pork confit version looks amazing.

I couldn’t leave without trying one of their sweets and so bought a little butter tart to split between the four of us. It really was a very small one and so divvying it up did look a bit silly but I’m glad of just partaking in a single bite – it was ludicrously sweet.

I’ve heard good things about their French toast for dessert though so that might be something to try if you’re there. The place is open for breakfast and lunch and turns into a bistro at night for dinner.

Gilead Café
4 Gilead Pl
Toronto, ON
M5A 3C9

And that ends my short roundup of Toronto eats – as usual, all my photos of my trip can be found in this Flickr photoset. It was a fun trip – apart from the conference I attended, I also went up the CN Tower, visited Niagara Falls (not to be missed!), and was privileged to be invited to dinner at Shayma’s (the beautiful Shayma of The Spice Spoon). And of course, the St Lawrence Market is not to be missed, especially on a Saturday when the farmers all set up stands too. I enjoyed a delicious peameal bacon sandwich from Carousel Bakery, bought mustard from Kozliks, and shared a gorgeous wild blueberry strudel from Oodles of Strudels. Toronto is yummy.

 

Empório São Paulo in Parsons Green

Close to the leafy open space that is Parsons Green sits a cafe and delicatessen called Empório São Paulo owned by Carminha de Castro. I had been invited, along with Hot & Chilli, Gourmet Chick, Greedy Diva and The London Foodie, to a bloggers night recently to visit and try their food. I had looked up their website before my visit and to my surprise, there were few (if any) Brazilian dishes on their online menu; apart from being owned by a Brazilian, it wasn’t clear yet to me what differentiated this cafe from any other cafe in London. A look at The London Foodie’s previous post on Empório São Paulo did confirm that Brazilian food was served, which just added to my confusion. What was Empório São Paulo?

Carminha answered all my questions that night. Her vision for Empório São Paulo was as a cafe that you’d find in any major city in Brazil; she wants to change poeple’s perception of Brazil and remind them that ciites such as São Paulo (her own beloved city) are very modern and cosmopolitan. And like the cafes you’d find there, Empório São Paulo sells quite a mix of things – Italian coffees, organic baby food, ingredients and products from around the world, sandwiches, salads, cakes, and yes, Brazilian products and dishes too. Most of the food served at the cafe is outsourced and they always try to find the best. I received a little tour of the place from Gizane of Branding Latin America. While there’s a little eating area on the ground floor and outside, there’s also a family playroom downstairs, a space that will also be used for events in the future.

But now onto the food. We started with snacks of mini empadas de frango, little chicken pies, …

… and mini coxinhas, fried pastries made of potato mash filled with chicken and shaped to resemble chicken drumsticks. Both delicious and normally served at the cafe.

We were also plied with many caipirinhas (well, not me – I don’t like alcohol) and also got a lesson on making the perfect caipirinha from Steve of Salto Brazil. Though I don’t drink much, it was interesting to learn the difference between traditional cachaça and newer varieties that more resemble vodka.

We moved further inside the shop where a table was laid for dinner. Wines were provided by Go Brazil Wines, with its founder Nicholas there to represent them (details of the wines served can be found here). We started with a small portion of feijoada, the classic pork and black bean stew of Brazil – it’s only served on weekends in Emporio São Paulo, a practice that reflects way it’s treated in Brazil, as a big weekend meal. It was quite tasty with its sprinkling of nutty farofa on top and I could have eaten a full portion of it!

Our main course was a moqueca de peixe e camarao, a traditional Brazilian stew of fish and prawns. This was a moqueca capixaba, made with olive oil, onions and tomatoes, and is light and quite healthy; this is in contrast to a moqueca baiana, where palm oil is the cooking fat used and coconut milk is also added. Again, this is served on the weekends and also costs £7.50. We also had a small portion of a butternut squash puree alongside. Carminha had trouble sourcing a good moqueca and in the end found the source in her own daughter!

That wasn’t all – after we cleared our plates, Carminha brought out baskets of hot mini pão de queijo which were absolutely gorgeous. Hot, chewy and cheesy, they must be one of the world’s ultimate snacks – their distinctive chewiness is from manioc flour. These can be bought frozen (it has its own freezer!) or cooked and hot in the shop.

Dessert time! A huge cake stand of the most beautiful white brigadeiros was brought out – there was one with passionfruit and coconut, another with pistachio, and a final with a surprise filling of a whole fresh grape. This last was my favourite as the tang of the grape cut through the rich sweetness of the white chocolate and condensed milk. I brought a few back for Blai and before I had even blinked, he had scoffed the balls and was to be expected, he was most enthusiastic about them!

The more traditional brigadeiro is made with regular chocolate and we tried a modern presentation of this: apparently brigadeiros in little cups like these are quite the thing in Brazil today. I was also told quite definitively that it just isn’t a party in Brazil without brigadeiros! Well, they certainly made this party.

Thank you again to Carminha and also to Gizane of Branding Latin America for the invitation. It was a great introduction to modern Brazilian food.

Empório São Paulo
197 New Kings Road
London SQ6 4SR

 

Demel, Vienna

I think Demel is classified as a Café-Konditorei – a patisserie with a café – and I don’t think there is one more grand in Vienna. Today, it still displays its title of Imperial and Royal Court Confectionery Bakery, it having supplied the Imperial palaces. Here, read this article about Demel written in the 1967 for Gourmet magazine. Fancy and exclusive! Now here’s a more recent article about the konditorei written for Saveur magazine – it explains how Demel had been purchased by a gourmet food company in 2002 and how the general riff-raff like us can now visit.

We visited on a Sunday at about brunch time and just managed to grab a table before the hoards of post-mass churchgoing Viennese descended upon the cafe. We sat upstairs, which I do recommend as one can choose one’s cakes in relative peace, without the crowds trying to order takeaway downstairs competing with you for space. There’s also more light upstairs.

There’s a menu for all the drinks and savouries and some desserts but the real fun comes in choosing your cake from the displays. How can one choose?!

First, though, drinks: a hauskaffee (brewed coffee served with whipped cream) for me and a hot chocolate for Blai. The coffee was lovely (how can you go wrong with whipped cream?) and while Blai’s chocolate seemed very sweet at first, it started to grow on us.

We also ordered a savoury dish off the brunch menu: Würsteleierspeis’ mit Schwarzbrot, deliciously soft scrambled eggs cooked with sliced frankfurters, something I sought to recreate almost immediately back home. The dark brown bread was just like the kind I avoided as a child but that I now love, all chewy and nutty.

Of course, this was the moment I was waiting for – time to choose our cakes! After a lot of hmm-ing and haw-ing, I settled for a slice Esterhazytorte, thin layers of hazelnut sponge sandwiched together with buttercream and topped with fondant. Blai had already chose his from a distance, the rather pink and flashy Elisabethschnitte, sweet strawberries embedded in light, fluffy strawberry mousse and coated in chocolate icing. They were both incredible.

We returned to Demel the following day, Monday, our last day in Vienna, to try more of their confections. I was surprised to see just as many locals as tourists there on this weekday.

Again, something savoury first (having just cakes for brunch always seemed wrong to me!) – Frische Eierschwammerl auf Tagliatelle – sauteed fresh chanterelles with tagliatelle in a delicious white wine and cream sauce, ordered off a special menu. I had seen lots of chanterelles for sale at the Naschmarkt that weekend and they must’ve been in season.

Then more sweets! Blai wanted to try their Sachertorte to see how it compared to that at the Sacher Café. The main difference seems to be in the number of layers of apricot jam – Demel’s had one while the Sacher Café’s had two. I certainly preferred that from the Sacher Café; more jam provides more moisture and their chocolate icing had a better flavour.

I chose a slice of apfelstrudel with a side of vanillesauce, like a fantastic hot creme anglais. The strudel was chock full of apples, raisins and cinnamon and was gorgeous with the sauce. I only wish they hadn’t heated up my slice as the pastry had lost its crispness.

As with all of Vienna’s cafes, you’re welcome to stay and linger for as long as you require. I could have stayed the entire day! I couldn’t leave without a little souvenir and we took home a small marmorgugelhupf, possibly the best marbled butter cake I’ve ever had. Highly recommended.

Can you tell I absolutely adored Vienna?

Demel
K.U. K HOFZUCKERBÄCKER
CH. DEMEL’ S SÖHNE GmbH
Kohlmarkt 14
A-1010 Vienna