Long lazy summer afternoons ....

... in London are for riding the ...


Tube

to your favourite site ...


My friend Ben

... and strolling along the Thames with good friends.


Trudy and Cathryn, my London girls!

AND best of all, perfect summer afternoons in London are simply made for ...


Afternoon tea


With champagne of course, darhling!

We spent an evening doing some research into the history of afternoon tea and were determined to be traditional - at least in as much as choosing to go to a central London hotel (the Savoy is closed for renovations, and the Ritz requires advance bookings, Browns well, we couldn't get in there either) - but the sandwich and petits fours selection at the Four Seasons had the non-traditional twist we antipodean chicks love! And they had a spot for us at just the right time.


Three-tier platter of delights

After the vine-ripened tomato and goat's cheese tart(lette) this amazing array arrived - just gorgeous, sandwiches galore and a liberal dose of scones under the big silver dome. Honestly, it took us a good hour to get through it all, thank heavens for the tea and piano music to keep us soothed during proceedings.

And that was just the beginning! We then had a selection of cakes to choose from - we all went for the peach and pistachio roulade, and varied between Eaton crumble cake or cherry and chocolate cake with tonka bean mousse (how about that Kylie? Tonka beans again!)


Apricot palate cleanser

As if that wasn't enough, the final final round was this absolutely delightful Pim's stewed apricot with yoghurt sorbet and mint syrup - to cleanse the palate and prepare you for dinner!!!

And as we stepped back out into the late summer twilight they had the red carpet waiting ... No, not for us sadly (we didn't have the right shoes on!) - some premiere or benefit or something at the swish hotel across the road. But what a fitting reminder to us that here we were, in one of the world's most fabulous cities!

The best brunch in London

I felt that this challenge was a noble pursuit for my most recent R&R because 1) at Syama I never get to have brunch - I'm up w-a-a-a-a-a-y too early for that, and 2) it was in keeping with my overall plan to relax as much as possible after a fairly heavy-duty stint and a seriously fast-paced year-and-a-half since I left Australia.

So I settled in for 3 long weeks of sleep-ins and lined up a few London-based contenders for the weekend brunch challenge. And let me just say - thankfully - it's not hard to convince most people to head out for a breakfast-like meal at the crack of noon!

Cathryn and Trudy left their babies behind and stepped out with me for a day of it, starting with fresh produce viewing at the Borough Markets! In fact, breakfast turned out to be a takeaway cappucino and a variety of cheeses, sausages, pastries, custards and fruit that we sampled. Cathryn was bravest mixing her coffee with a stinky French cheese tasting episode - don't think she'll be sticking her hand up for that job again.


Fresh veggies anyone?

After a ramble through the markets we stopped at Brindisa for a Spanish, small platter fest. Lovely traditional tapas and rosé on a gloriously sunny afternoon in London IN September - who would have guessed! And it turns out that my discovery from last summer is everybody's favourite bar/café as well - twice more during my stay, different friends suggested we go here for a meal. Trust those Spaniards to have so many fans.

So that was Saturday - on Sunday I met Anita at the Providores and Tapa Room which I discovered after doing an internet search for the best brunch in London. Of the 3 restaurants in the Top 10 list that weren't all-american-style-diners (wasn't looking for that) I chose this one because it had the most interesting menu, and guess what? That's right, the chef is a relocated antipodean - a Kiwi in London! Again, who would have guessed?


Anita does delicious!

As expected, the meal was very good indeed, and the restaurant friendly, cosy and comfortable. I think I'd have to say that our pear and tamarillo spiced cocktail really was the most outstanding flavour combination of the day. In contrast, the corn and blueberry fritters didn't quite make it for me - I'm still recovering from the sheer joy imparted by the corn fritters at Replete in Melbourne. Hmmmmmm ... just remembering your tamarillo vinagrette, Cat!

But sometimes you want a really traditional full English breakfast to get the day going. So Cathryn and Mike and Heath and I headed up the street to 'Big Chef' in East Finchley, which is always packed, to see whether we could satisfy our appetites.


Full English £4.50

And the answer is of course yes, so long as you enjoy everything liberally greased!

So verdict? I still have to say that the best short order cook in London, by far and away the best breakfast/brunch maker - entertaining his diners with stories and amusing musings all the while - would have to be the husband of Cathryn Gifkins, Mike Buchanan!

Thanks Mike - your breakfasts rule!

A travel invitation (challenge, perhaps)?

For those of you who don't already know, yes it's true - I'm leaving my post at Syama come the end of November. It's been a wild and crazy ride and I've had a very good time, and met some wonderful people ... but Paris is calling me, loudly.

And I always like to leave the party when it's peaking!

So - my challenge to you is this: all those people who've been telling me for the last (almost) two years, "Mali Ali, wow, we'll DEFINITELY come and see you there, would LOVE to go to Timbuktu, the pays Dogon ...", now is your chance!

So is there the faintest possibility that anyone of you out there fancies a ten day trip from Bamako to Syama (where you will join me), and we will take ourselves on a roadtrip to Ouagadougou, via Bobo-Dialasso then on to Dogon country, Timbuktu, and back to Bamako along the mighty Niger? The sweetener after all that hot and dusty travel would be a couple of recovery days in Paris at the end.

Any takers?