Bar Nightjar

                                                                          
Fancy a drink?

Then I know the perfect place: Nightjar in Shoreditch. 
Nightjar is a cocktail and music bar with amazing live bands. The cocktails are excellent, really unique and delicious. You can see that the bartenders do their job with so much passion, every cocktail seems like a piece of art. I guess that is the reason why we waited quite long to get our drinks, but as soon as you have the first sip you forget about the long waiting time. 

The interior and the atmosphere makes you think you are back in the late 50s, early 60s: black leather sofas, almost no lights, a tin-panelled ceiling, plus the jazz, blues and swing music. Even the people there looked a bit retro, the boys wore vintage suits and had the typical James Dean haircut, the girls with pencil skirts and blouses in pastel colours. 

A really original bar, where you can enjoy delicious drinks and a nice ambience. Furthermore it is the third best bar in the world 2012.

Address:

129 City Road 

EC1V 1JB

London

Moist lemon and poppy cake

This is a really easy and quick cake recipe and it's soo delicious! I love the cracking sound of the poppy seeds, it makes the taste adventure of the cake more exciting. 
If you love the cake really, really moist add a dash of fresh orange juice.

All you need is

100g soft butter

140g flour
100g sugar

30 g poppy seeds

3 tablespoons of cream

2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons of lemons zests

One dash of fresh lemon juice

For the glaze

4 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

100 g icing sugar

First of all preheat the oven.

Now put butter, sugar, cream, the lemon zests and lemon juice in a bowl and mix well.

Stir in the eggs, flour and add the poppy seeds.

Pour the ready dough into a loaf tin. Bake at 180C for approximately 20 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the glaze: Just mix the icing sugar together with lemon juice until you get a creamy frosting.

As soon as the cake is ready, take it out of the oven and let it cool down. Once the cake is cooled down pour the glaze evenly over the top of the cake.

Give the glaze time to dry and add some more icing sugar as decoration..... ready is your cake!

mixing the ingredients

ready!

Blogroll

Blogs I can recommend...

      butter me up,Brooklyn! 

The best dessert blog

This is an inspiring food blog. I especially love the aesthetic photos and the desserts she makes…. mouth watering!



Have a look at butter me up, Brooklyn! the award winning blog and find out why baking makes friends

joy the baker

                           The best recipes blog

I want to eat everything she is posting on her blog!!! 

The selection of recipes is big and everything looks delicious, plus her recipes are very original. Like peach tomato and mozzarella crostini or honey chamomile cupcakes, if you don’t know what to cook, have a look at Joy’s blog.  

She has a great eye for food photos,  everything is perfect down to the last detail. 

Even people who eat vegan or gluten-free are spoilt for choice.

The Sartorialist ...

fashion, fashion, fashion

...is a fashion blog by Scott Schumann.
He started to take photos of people in the streets of New York, who are dressed in an eye-catching way.

I really like the way how the people are photographed. It is more than just a fashion blog, he shows the people’s personality not only their style.

This blog shows street style fashion and visual attitude of people in London, Milan, New York and other cities in a very unique way. I really love this blog!

Rachel Phipps

The good mood blog.

Fashion, recipes, beauty products, travel photos and so much more. Rachel, who lives in L.A. combines all these things in her blog. 

I like her blog, because she writes really passionately about the things she does. 

If you want to cheer yourself up, have a look at her sunny L.A. blog and how Rachel enhances her life.

A cup of Jo

                                                             
The blog for good advices.

Joanna is a magazine writer and has a great eye for fashion, art and food.

Her blog is authentic, honest and insightful. It is more than one of those superficial lifestyle blogs, her posts are deep and thought-provoking!

She also gives advices about the daily family life and how to be a good friend, like „Four things to say to a friend after a bad breakup“  and many, many other advices about the everyday life. 

Borough Market

Don't know what to do this weekend?

If you like markets, you are lucky to live in London. 

There’s Broadway Market, Columbia Road Flower Market and Brick Lane Market in East London. Borough Market in South London or Portobello Market and Chelsea Farmers Market in West London, just to name a few. 

I like markets because you can find things or food you can't find anywhere else from dutch baby pancakes to vintage bags. 

Even German bread, which I really miss and love can be bought at London's markets.

This time I went to Borough Market, a food market. 

The full market is open Thursdays from noon until 5 and Fridays until 6 and on Saturdays from 8 am until 5 pm. The market is full of traders selling fresh food products. You can find everything the heart could wish for...fresh bread, handmade cakes, pastries, sweets, chocolates and other sweet treats. Borough Market is a food-lovers heaven, you can find there products of the highest quality as dairy products like cheese milk, butter and cream. There is also fresh fish and seafood, vegetables, fruits, drinks...and of course international dishes like paella, burritos, paninis, veggie burgers and sooo much more!

delicious cupcakes and macaroons

fresh crunchy bread

fresh shrimps.... and poor lobsters, they were still alive

which pepper you like?

a big choice of tomatoes

italian focaccia

ever seen white truffle honey?

panini with prosciutto and mozerella

piadine

coconut chocolate cake

The Little Black Jacket

12 October – 4  November 2012

Only one more week...! Don’t miss the CHANEL's photographic exhibition!  

“The Little Black Jacket” exhibition features more than 100 black-and-white photographs of celebrities including Sarah Jessica Parker, Kanye West, Yoko Ono and Georgia Jagger wearing Chanel jackets that were made specifically for the photo series. 

The best thing: you get Chanel posters for free!

Address:

Saatchi Gallery
Duke of York's HQ
King's Road
London, SW3 4RY

Tilda Swinton, S.J. Parker, Elizabeth Olsen and Theophilis London photographed by K. Lagerfeld

Joan Smalls, Mrs. Wintour, supermodel Natalia Vodianova and Georgia May Jagger

Photographer and Designer Karl Lagerfeld

B-Soho

B-Soho is a new pizzeria & cocktail bar in Soho…and after all the Japanese food it was about time for a proper Italian pizza.

When it comes to pizza I’m quite picky, I don’t like every pizza, the base should be thin and crunchy and the topic should be all fresh and juicy. Nothing is worse than a thick pizza with a dry topping. So it is quite a challenge to convince me.

The interior of B-Soho is really nice, I like the old leather armchairs and sofas, the wooden tables are big and the lights create a comfortable atmosphere. It looks definitely more like a lounge bar than a restaurant…Plus, the people are young and chic.

We ordered pizza and salad. The pizza was good and really big, exactly how I like them: crunchy and baked in a stone oven. The topping was absolutely delicious! Pizza challenge: succeeded. 

One bad point: the salad was not really convincing, it was an aubergine, courgette, parmesan and avocado salad. Lots of parmesan, but almost no avocado, the vegetables were definitely too long on the grill…burnt and black. Well, it is probably more a pizza place. So if you like pizza, focaccia or other Italian specialities, go to B-Soho!

Address:

21 Poland Street,

W1F 6QG

London

Pizza Don Rocca

Pizza Capricciosa

Zuma

Shame on me, that I’ve never been to the Japanese restaurant Zuma before, I went to Roka, one of my favourite restaurants and the sister restaurant  of Zuma hundred times, but never made it to Zuma.

The food is almost the same…stunning, delicious, individual. 

But the atmosphere is slightly different, Roka is a bit smaller and therefor cosier and more relaxed. Zuma is located in South Kensington and the people who go there are definitely younger and more dressed up than in Roka. 

Tables need to be booked in advance, even if you want a table for two, especially at the weekends. 

We arrived there and got a table at the sushi bar, which is amazing, as you can watch how the sushi is prepared. The service was lovely and pleasing, plus we got some drinks and nibbles on the house.

This time I went with a proper foodie so I didn’t need hours to decide what to order, we just ordered almost the whole menu ;) Which was a good decision, because everything….and really everything was amazing. I enjoyed every single bite. The food is prepared with so much love for detail and all senses of taste are stimulated: salty, sweet, spicy or sour. I can only recommend going there and enjoy a great dinner. 

Now I posted so much about Asian restaurants...next time...another nationality, promise!

Address: 

Zuma

5 Raphael Street,

SW7 1DL London

the entrance and bar

salmon rolls....sooooo good

crispy fried squid

softshell crab

scallops tartar

a selection of fine nigiri sushi

california maki

medium beef with sesame and sweet soy. OMG, that was delicious!

chocolate cake with a liquid centre

veerryyy liquid

The Artesian Bar

”Drinks International” crowned Artesian at the Langham Hotel with the 'world's best bar' title, before the Artesian already won the prestigious “World’s Best Cocktail Menu 2011” .

A friend of mine, who is a famous bartender in Munich and running his own international beverage business, took me there to show me the best bar in the world. Plus, he loves to be inspired by new cocktails creations.

The cocktails were really amazing, it is impressing watching the bar tender’s skills, every single cocktail is made with passion and love for detail . They use small flowers, fire, gold leaves or steaming dry ice to embellish the cocktails. An unbeatable sipping experience, if you can decide which cocktail you like, the selection is large!

The service is outstanding and very friendly, the bartenders treat you like a member of the royal family. The interior is very romantic, exclusive and individual, a mix of cultures with an oriental vibe. The old-school opulence purple armchairs, the wooden massive chandeliers and an impressive bar design create a great atmosphere. I can’t say anything negative about the bar, the only thing is cocktails are £15 each so maybe go there for a special occassion, rather than a random night out.

The World's 50 Best Bars 2012 – Top 10:

1 ARTESIAN, LANGHAM HOTEL, LONDON
2 PDT, NEW YORK 
3 NIGHTJAR, LONDON 
4 CONNAUGHT BAR, LONDON 
5 AMERICAN BAR AT THE SAVOY HOTEL, LONDON 
6 DEATH & CO, NEW YORK
7 BAXTER INN, SYDNEY
8 69 COLEBROOKE ROW, LONDON 
9 CALLOOH CALLAY, LONDON 
10 BRAMBLE, EDINBURGH 

Address:

The Langham, London

1C Portland Place

W1b 1JA London 

Artesian Punch 

"Rum married in harmony with delicate orchard fruit.."

Langham Cobbler - delicate floral and fruit notes 

the impressive bar