Le Petit Boulanger

This is a little bakery in the Abbeville Village area of Clapham, in south London. It is a really cute place with a lovely selection of French pastries and bread. We tried all three croissants--plain, almond, and chocolate. The almond was a little bit too sweet for my taste, but the other two were delicious!

The photo on the top right shows their cookies, which look a little large--I tend to not want a giant cookie, I'll eat the whole thing, but a small one would satisfy me just as well--and perhaps a little dry looking--but I like chewy cookies rather than crumbly ones, so again that's just me.

The photo on the bottom left shows their delectable looking bread selection. I'll never get over the fact that in England they barely ever use cases or at least partitions to prevent people from touching or sneezing on the food--I think it's a little yucky, but I'm also a bit germophobic. Regardless, that's not really Le Petit Boulanger's problem and it does look lovely and works with the French countryside look of the very small cafe.

The best part is not the food or the decor, but the people. I happened to meet the chef/owner just after Le Petit Boulanger opened a few years ago. He was very nice, helpful (I was visiting and looking for cream of tartar or a substitute for it), and actually guided me to apply to the FCI--I have to that him for that. When I went back recently he wasn't there, but the staff was polite and professional. Overall a really nice experience--perhaps I should go more than once every 3 years.

Epicerie Boulud

Daniel Boulud opened Epicerie Boulud this past summer. I am very happy about this addition to my neighborhood. Basically this is a restaurant that only serves take away--they have bar height tables inside and outside under a breeze way, but no chairs. It is, like all of Daniel Boulud's restaurants, French food done right. Epicerie Boulud boasts an oyster bar, the DBGB dog from his midtown restaurant named for the famous comedy club CBGB's, some staple French pastries and bread, sandwiches, soups, salads and other vegetable dishes, a daily hot meal, some charcuterie, coffee, and gelato.

I don't particularly enjoy oysters so I can't comment on the oyster bar, but I have sampled a bit of everything else!

The DBGB dog is excellent. It's more of a beef sausage than a hot dog, but that's really not the point. The point is the toppings and the roll. The dog/sausage sits in a brioche roll and is topped with a zingy but not spicy mustard/mayo/ketchup sauce, pickled relish of a variety of vegetables, and sauteed onions. I always get a bag of the gaufrette potato chips on the side. 

The other sandwiches are more along the lines of traditional French fare. They include a wonderful ham and butter on baguette, a delicious turkey BLT club with avocado and fried egg, and an excellent lobster roll. The one problem with all their sandwiches--including the numerous other ones which I have not tried--is that they are quite expensive for the size. I know that they are pricey because they are made with high-quality ingredients, but the mark-up is a bit on the steep side. 

Their salads and cold vegetable dishes are again overpriced for the quantity, but delicious and made with quality ingredients. Their beet and blue cheese salad is one of my favorites.

The hot meal is very good, although I've only tried it once, so I can't comment on how consistent it is. The soups are delicious, both the hot ones in the winter and the chilled ones in the summer. They recently started serving quiche, which is delicious.

The coffee is excellent; their iced tea is so-so. They serve wine as well. I've only tried one or two of their reds and I was quite impressed.

Their baked goods, such as macarons and various tarts, look delicious but I've never tried them. Honestly they are very pricey and I can make fancy French bakery items at home. Their gelato, on the other hand, is completely worth the price. Firstly, it isn't much more expensive than any other ice cream place in the city and, secondly, it's delicious. I've liked every flavor I've tried, unfortunately they keep rotating out my favorites (such as mint chip). The only real problem with the gelato is that some of the staff give tiny scoops and leave off the free wafer cookie (and give you a nasty look when you ask for it) that are barely worth the price while others give nice, substantial scoops. You have to know who is at the counter and only go when the stingy people aren't there.

Speaking of the staff, some of them are wonderful, some are not. The manager (at least I think he's the manager) is snooty and unhelpful. My biggest problem is that I go very frequently and most of the staff never recognize me. I don't expect them to know my name or my usual order (especially because I don't have a usual order) but I'd like a glimmer of recognition--at least they are typically nice. Of course a few people there are very nice and not only know I'm a regular but also as about my mother (she frequents it as well, often with me) and my dog (who comes with me sometimes since they have outdoor tables.)

All in all, it's well worth a visit, just be prepared to spend quite a bit, especially for a place without chairs. 

The Big Gay Ice Cream Shop

I'd already started eating it, then remembered
I should take a picture, oops!

The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck is quite famous and has made numerous appearances on the Food Network. Recently--within the last year--they have expanded from being a food truck to being a food truck and an actual store front. That is excellent news, because it meant I could just stop by one long weekend when I was craving ice cream. I went with my mom so we got two different things and split them. I got the Monday Sundae which is similar to their famous Salty Pimp, but with more chocolate. It's a waffle cone, lined with nutella, filled with chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream, drizzled with salted dulce de leche sauce, and topped with whipped cream. The way the salty-sweet sauce mixed with the sweet vanilla ice cream and the chocolatey chocolate ice cream and nutella was perfect.

My mom got the mermaid. It is a cup of vanilla ice cream, with graham cracker crumbles and lime curd. The great thing is that the graham cracker crumbles and lime curd are mixed throughout the cup in little pockets between the creamy swirls of ice cream. You think you must have gotten the last taste of that tangy and sweet curd when suddenly your spoon hits another well of limey goodness.

Their ice cream is all--or at least mainly--soft serve. But bears no resemblance to the airy and overly sweet soft serve you get at a Mr. Softie truck. It reminds me of a slightly less rich version of the soft serve you can get in Cornwall, England where the cream is wonderfully thick, so the ice cream is incredible.

I loved both desserts I tried and will have to go back and try more. The oink-wich (as I believe it's called) sounds strange but remarkably appealing and their daily specials look like they are delicious--when I went it was a red velvet sundae, which was cream cheese ice cream with chunks of red velvet cake. I hope that have that again next time I go, because I definitely want to try it!