A spectre is haunting London: the spectre of the mission-style burrito. But fear not! This is a friendly ghost! Like Casper..with a sombrero..and a choice of salsas. Oh the years I have dreamed of being able to purchase one of the most perfect foods in the world in my adoptive city..and now merchants of these beautiful foil-wrapped bean bombs seem to be popping up slowly but surely. A new era is upon us! I post this in the hopes that all will contribute to chronicling locations, details and reviews of these burrito mavericks.

Click below for the ones I've found so far.

» Read More

As any connoisseur of late-night London delicacies knows, the difference between a falafel in a gooey pitta and a falafel wrapped like a yule log in a toasted..um..wrap is vast. I like how the wrap is slightly crisp and the way they smash the falafel into the hummous. Some of these guys are really good at tearing the top part of the wrapping paper off with flair. The falafel wrap is like the UK answer to the burrito and we should celebrate it and sing its praises as such. Where would you get one of these beauties in the States? You wouldn't. So I call upon all of you to add locations where they can be acquired and savored. Any notes or comments on the kebab joints you know of are encouraged. The two I know of are:

Woody Grill (Camden Rd-right by tube station on crackhead corner & Kilburn High Street-near The Luminaire, perfect for post-gig snackin)
These are great, but I came to realize they're slightly on the thin side compared to...

City Kebab (Stoke Newington High St)
My number one at the moment. These falafel wraps are a full meal in a tube. I envy those who live near this place. Although they do this weird thing where they wrap a plastic carrier bag around the bottom part of the wrap in addition to the paper--pretty unnecessary.

Are there more? I've heard rumors of another in Camden, but not sure which. I don't wanna wander around testing the waters. Nothing is worse than going into a kebab place and ordering a falafel only to find they're just tossing the falafel and salad into a doughy pocket. I don't even know how I'm supposed to eat those things without the contents falling in my lap.

» Read More

well ... it's factually margarine.
bought in king of prussia, pennsylvania
this photo is not doctored whatsoever.

quote from my friend:
"update 1: my brother just scooped out the butthole to make a grilled cheese sandwich.
update 2: update 1 is the worst thing i have ever typed."

Been putting a lot of uh... effort into this recipe. Enjoy.

Two bottles of red wine
1 cinnamon stick
a few cardamom pods
a good chunk of fresh ginger (sliced)
An orange (sliced)
a couple of pinches of cloves
Orange juice (to taste)
Brown sugar (to taste)

Chuck (no "plunging" or "tossing" here) everything into a saucepan and simmer. (Be sure not to bring this wonderful concoction to the boil and risk losing essential alcoholic content!)

Sometimes it's pretty if you stick the cloves into the peel of the orange.

Keep an eye on the pan and stir/taste/add as you go. It's impossible to put a timescale on these things - as a general rule, when you can smell the spices from any room in the house, it's done....

If you have spent any time around me in the past few months, you'll probably have heard me blather on about how this is my favorite restaurant in London right now.

» Read More