Stations Reborn As Shopping Destinations
This was a sub-headline in The Times yesterday describing the new policy of Network Rail in transforming stations. Head of Retail at the company is quoted as saying that they want to move away from the likes of McDonalds and Burger King. As a coeliac, I say good riddance to both of them. At the two stations fully redeveloped in London, they’ve got a Leon at Kings Cross and a champagne bar and Carluccio’s in St. Pancras. Both stations have proper pubs too. Next for the treatment in London is Waterloo, with Euston and Birmingham to follow. Both of the latter are terrible.
The Head of Retail also talked about removing the stranglehold of W H Smith, a shop of last resort if ever there was one. A French company, Relay, has been invited to open in Cannon Street.
Stations can’t be improved fast enough, as far as I’m concerned.
A Good Week for Coeliacs
On Tuesday in the Budget, George Osborne introduced a tax on hot takeaway food. Am I bothered? As a coeliac, who can’t eat any gluten, of course not, as most that will be taxed, would cost me a fortune in toilet paper, if I ate it!
Then today, the Government proposes a minimum price for alcohol. As coeliacs can only drink good quality wine, cider and spirits, I doubt many will be upset!
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.
A Marks & Spencer Cheese and Pickle Gluten Free Sandwich
On my way to Brighton today, I bought one of these sandwiches.
A Marks & Spencer Cheese and Pickle Gluten Free Sandwich
It wasn’t too bad, although the packaging wasn’t designed for people with a gammy left hand.
As you can see, I made a bit of a mess.
The egg salad sandwiches are much better, but all you seem to be ab;le to get is the cheese and pickle these days.
Are Lager Sales Going Down the Toilet?
I’ve never had a drink of lager in a British pub, as I’ve always drunk real beer.
Even now, I prefer one of St. Peter’s brewery’s real gluten-free beers.
But it would appear that according to this article, I am now becoming more typical as lager sales are falling.
Where’s the Gluten-Free Food at Eastfield?
I went to John Lewis today at Eastfield, to see if I could get some blinds. They were very helpful and I now have a good base price.
What I also wanted was a good late lunch to set me up for the weekend.
But could I find any gluten-free food? No! But then I didn’t check out all the restaurants. Surprisingly, I didn’t find a decent Indian restaurant, especially when you consider that a good proportion of the clients are of South Asian descent.
So in the end, I took the DLR to Carluccio’s at Canary Wharf and had an excellent meal there.
The Anonymous Widower 