Pierre Victoire

This French place is brilliant, a absolut gem. Pierre Victoire is a small and cosy restaurant in Soho, perfect for a cosy winter night when it's getting cold outside.

The food is delicious and well priced, the wide choice of food includes French food and Mediterranean delicacies, like Italian Pasta and also Lebanese dainties. The atmosphere is nice, a perfect place for a dinner with friends but also for a romantic date. Make sure you make a booking! For lunch and early dinner they have a two course set menu for only ₤9 / ₤12.90.

Address:

5 Dean Street, Soho

London W1D 3RQ

As a starter we had a maze platter to share, with stuffed wine leaves, hummus, tatziki, falafel, eggplant salad, crostini and olives....excellent!

The starter goes perfectly with the smooth red wine

The Rib-Eye steak with mashed potatoes and beans

And a lovely salad with chicken, dried tomatoes, potatoes and an amazing mustard dressing

The steak was perfectly tender and the sauce delicious....oh boy...I want to eat that again.

And even the espresso macchiato was perfect...all Italian...

Circus of Soho

Chris Bracey lights Soho. The famous neon artist opened his Pop-Up gallery in London. After working with film, music and fashion icons like Tim Burton (Gotham City), Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood or David Lachapell his art pieces can now be viewed and bought in his current exhibition "Circus of Soho".

Bracey's art pieces which are usually bought by celebrities as Kate Moss, Jude Law or Elton John and start at £400.

Chris Bracey's exhibtion

Circus of Soho

at 27 Beak Street

runs until 15th January 2015

Visit his website 

the world-famous Marylin Monroe

His cult pieces are created by hand and encompass sculptures, old movie props, vintage and new neon signs.

bubbledogs

Bubbledogs, nomen est omen: Champagne meets hotdog! This new concept works...people are queuing to get a hotdog here. The crowd outside the restaurant during the weekend is unbelievable, I thought a new night club openend when I walked past there. I came back another day to see if it is really worth queuing...First of all the interior is lovely. Brick walls, ancient stools, big wood tables and a nice Champagne bar, reminded me of those hip cafés in NewYork. Everything with a touch of coolness.

They have a wide range of hotdogs..."José" with avocado, the "Trishna Dog" with mint and coriander or another one with bacon and caramelized lettuce. It takes quite a while to decide which one to take, you can choose between 13 gourmet hotdogs!

Champagne starts at £6 a glas, which is a good price considering that the hotdog (£6 - £8) is more expensive than the Champagne.

The " Buffalo Dog" was really good and the service was super friendly, probably the queu is too long and the prices are too high to go there regularly. But is definitely worth trying!

"Buffalo Dog" served in a red plastic basket with Champagne 

hip interior

Fancy some Champagne?

The gourmet hotdogs

Address: 
70 Charlotte Street
W1T 4QG London 

The Perfect Buffet

Buffets are the easiest way to please your guests and are the perfect idea if you want to give a party...New Year's Eve is coming soon!

Here are some snapshots from my buffets...everything is super easy and quick to make (especially if you have awesome helpers as I do)

In general you should prepare things which are easy to eat even without cutlery. Doesn't mean you have to serve pizza or chips!
You can't go wrong with that:

• fresh bread and grissini
• cheese (cream cheese, mozzarella balls, parmesan, goats cheese) 
• Italian prosciutto and salami 
• olives, green and black olive paste, hummus, walnuts
• vegetables and fruits (tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, radishes, grapes)
• artichoke hearts and basil 

Or what about self-made calzoini?


And don't forget the drinks

Plain and parma ham-wrapped grissini, fresh artichokes and rosmarin as deco

cheese platter with strawberries, grapes and walnuts

tomato-mozzarella skewers, green & black olives, artichoke hearts and bread with pesto& cheese cream

The pesto & cheese cream is an recipe from my mom and easy to make. Mix a package of cream-cheese, fresh herbs like basil, oregano and thyme with some pieces of parmesan. Flavour it with salt and pepper. Spread it on bread or use as a dip.

parma ham and salami-wrapped grissini in the background and sweet macaroons

bread with pesto cream, green olive paste, avocado cream and normal cream cheese, decorated with radishes

fresh hummus with oil, chaat and chili powder

cucumber and carrot stripes

Sweet little things...it is nice to make e.g. home-made cupcakes but sometimes it's great to go shopping! Especially when its about the best doughy cookies in the world from Ben's Cookies, French Macaroons from Ladurée and cupcakes from Hummingbird Bakery.

Red velvet cupcakes and macaroons 

honoured place

If there are any queries, where to buy those delicacies or how to prepare them, just leave a comment

The Breakfast Club

...good morning lazy Sunday, I could really need a good breakfast right now.

A good place to have breakfast is definitely The Breakfast Club. I have been there quite often so far, there are several branches, one in Soho, Liverpool Street, Hoxton and an other one in Angel. I mostly go to the one in Soho and here you need a lot of patience. At the weekends the waiting time can be really long, people are queuing round the corner. The things we do for a good breakfast.
Although it is called The Breakfast Club, they are not only serving breakfast. They have delicious burgers, wrap and sandwiches.

Here are some of my favourites: Apple and cinnamon french toast, smoked salmon with scrambled eggs, avocado with poached egg, pancakes with berries and vanilla cream...and even the classic eggs florentine are great.

The place itself looks quirky and retro...photos on the wall, toys on a shelf and vintage street signs. It is definitely not chic! I heard that some people where not very happy about the staff, but I only had friendly waiters so far...

If you like good good breakfast and don't mind waiting...let's go!

Address:
33 D'Arbley Street, Soho
W1F 8EU London

the breakfast club during the week, rather empty

fruit bowl and avocado with lime and poached egg on a multigrain toast

scrambled eggs on toast (eggs florentine in the background)

Control the rain - Rain Room

Did you ever want to control the rain? Or even better, did you ever walk in the rain without getting wet?

With an installation called "Rain Room" the art studio rAndom International made it possible.

Where? In the Barbican's Curve gallery.

It is an amazing experience walking in the rain, feel the moisture around you and hear the sound of tear drops without getting wet.

How does it work? 3D cameras are installed around the room, which detect every move you do. In this way it is possible to turn off the rain streams around you. But actually I don't want to reveal too much, as it's an experience exhibition.

It is a really impressive experience standing in the downpour without getting wet. My friend got a bit wet though. Maybe she was moving too fast, so that the cameras couldn't detect her.

Times: The Rain Room will run until March 2012 (admission free).

The waiting time can be up to two hours. Depending on which day and time you go, avoid weekends! I waited only half an hour on a Wednesday early evening.

Opening times are daily 11.00 am - 8.00 pm, on Thursday until 10 pm.

The Rain Room

Being in the rain without getting wet