Gluten Free in Rye
A friend of mine, who is not a coeliac, is having a short break in Rye.
It occurred to me that it would be rather ironic to find a good gluten-free restaurant there!
Cote Brasserie
I had lunch in Cote in Upper Street, Islington yesterday.
I had a very good leek and potato soup followed by chicken and frites from their lunch menu.
I wasn’t paying, but at £9.95 it was good value. They seemed to know what was OK for me, well.
I shall use them again.
New Gluten-Free Food Rules
I was in the new Kings Cross Station yesterday and they have a Leon restaurant, which offers quite a lot of gluten-free meals.
One of their staff told me, that new regulations mean you can’t call food gluten-free unless it is cooked in a separate gluten-free kitchen with no gluten in it.
So going in to a restaurant and saying can I have scrambled eggs and smoked salmon and expect it to be gluten-free is off the radar.
Leon get round it by saying that particular dishes are made from gluten-free ingredients.
If this new law has come in, it basically means that no restaurant will offer gluten-free food, as they can be prosecuted by the local authority, unless they go for two separate kitchens.
This new law may explain why Starbucks seem to wrap their very good chocolate brownies in a cellophane wrap and keep most of them out the back.
The New Kings Cross Opens A Day Early
I hadn’t intended to go into the new part of Kings Cross station until it opened on the 19th. But I found it was open on Sunday the 18th.
It is impressive and even has a restaurant that does gluten-free fast-food; Leon
I have added some more pictures taken on the Monday. I’ll probably add a few more as time goes on.
There is a very good article on the design here in the Evening Standard.
I’m Getting Fed Up With Carluccio’s
I should say that I have no complaint against Carluccio’s. Quite the contrary. It’s just that on my travels around London and sometimes further away they are the one place I can trust to get a light gluten-free meal at an affordable price.
Take my trip last week to the East India Dock Basin. It was either go to their restaurant in Canary Wharf, the one in Islington or go home. I chose the last option.
If anything the complaint is against other restaurants, who don’t provide a gluten-free option. In some chains like, La Porchetta, I know that some choices are gluten-free, but when I ask, they treat me like a leper and tell me to go elsewhere.
What Would Jamie Oliver Think of This Rubbish?
A report on the BBC has said that so-called ‘pink slime’ is being withdrawn from school dinners in the United States.
No wonder the country has so many problems, if this is considered an acceptable food for children.
They make the dreaded turkey twizzlers, so hated by Jamie Oliver, look perfectly edible and wonderfully nutritious.
What Do They Make Here?
This picture was taken from West Silvertown station on the Docklands Light Railway.
What Do They Make Here?
I think the answer is obvious. But how many companies advertise their products on their factories in such a manner?
Is Holland and Barrett A Health Store?
I was surprised on Sunday to see one of Holland and Barrett’s employees outside their store having a quick ciggie.
I though they were a health store?
Or have I missed something and ciggies are now healthy?
The Stepney City Farm and Crossrail
At Stepney Green, there is going to be an underground junction for Crossrail. The main line will come from the east on the Limmo Peninsular and then past westwards to Canary Wharf and Central London. It will be joined here by the more northern of the eastern branches to Pudding Mill Lane and Stratford.
Surprisingly, over the top is the Stepney City Farm.
But they both have their objectives and I think with a little bit of give and take on both sides, they have come to a compromise that suits both. The farm has lost a field for some period of time, but Crossrail have put in new fences and were starting to put up a new barn.
It is a bit of a mess in places now, as these pictures show.
But then time is a great healer and I suspect that when Crossrail opens, the farm will be as it should be. I was shown round by Richard and was impressed at the quality of the livestock, the fences and buildings. You can’t have a good farm without the latter, as why should animals not be warm and secure.
By the way, the farm sells eggs, so if you want hens or duck eggs laid in East London, is there a better place to go?
The New Kings Cross Station Opens on the 19th
On of the largest building projects in London hits a big milestone on Monday, the 19th with the opening of the new reception area at Kings Cross station. Before that though drinkers will get a new pub called the Parcel Yard, next Wednesday.
They do seem to be going to hit their target. In one of the pictures, you might just see the working destination board.
The Anonymous Widower 