The day I discovered the deliciousness of cauliflower leaves changed my life. Ok, that’s not true at all. But the buttery, nutty flavor hidden in a silky cabbage texture did surprise me. It also didn’t happen very long ago, leaving me with some shame over all the cauliflower leaves that went thoughtlessly into the trash.

I grew up, as I’m sure we all did, hearing about how we shouldn’t waste food. I didn’t think about it much, especially if it was something I didn’t particularly like eating. But I realized as I got older (and lived with other people) that maybe those lessons had sunk in. It’s traditionally been ‘uncool’ to eat the tougher cuts of meat, or save onion ends for the stock pot. Why is wastefulness cool?

Did you know that the world wastes 33% of human edible food? It’s in every part of the food chain, from farmers plowing extra cauliflowers back into the field to you discovering moldy mystery food in the back of the fridge. Besides the obvious, food waste contributes to global warming and local and international food crises. Every food we buy, whether it’s homemade or ordered, has an impact on the world.

Sometimes it feels like problems are so big there isn’t much we can do about them. It’s easy to ignore them because the negative impact seems much greater than any of our positive actions.

But sometimes, when issues are tackled from all sides, there’s a real opportunity to make an impact. Whether it comes from chefs, policy makers or us consumers and home cooks, tackling food waste doesn’t seem so impossible. I have some suggestions about cutting food waste at home … after all the pretty pictures of the wastED pop up.

wastED, the food waste pop up

wastED was in residence at the Rooftop at Selfridges in London. New York chef Dan Barber, the creator, wanted to draw attention to the wastefulness in our food system, and how with practical and creative choices, even we can make a difference. Every dish on the sharing plates menu highlighted a food waste product and put it to good use. From the tender leaves on top of a kale to the mounds of fruit and vegetable pulp leftover from juice bars…  the menu included lots of inventive dishes with a conscious twist.

A sneak peek of what to expect from the wastEd menu.

His and her’s dippers. Veal nuggets with 3 sauces, charcoal mayonnaise, tomato relish and smoky ketchup.

Bread made with spent bran and barista milk (a-maazing), and pea-skin crackers served with three spreads, including Napoleonic butter (the OG margarine), ricotta and whipped jamon drippings.

Even the decor was accented with upcycled waste products and salvaged wood. The tables, crafted from artichoke thistle and lamps made of seaweed and mushrooms looked like they could have come straight from a Scandi boutique.

We even got to meet the chef! Dan Barber, in residence.

Trendy cod cheeks (…and the rest) with a broken rice kedgeree.

Beet and vegetable pulp burger, made with the leftovers from juicing machines. Topped with bacon from waste fed pigs, it was nestled into a bun made with leftover bread. On the side? Beet runoff ketchup and picalilli. The vegetables came straight from local juice bars.

A kale tree! Tender and sweet, these young leaves get left behind in the field because it’s too labor intensive to harvest them. These trees came from Riverford, the organic veg box provider. We trimmed the delicate leaves to eat alongside a fantastic delicately flavored crab shell broth, with crab noodles and zucchini ends.

What can we do to reduce food waste?

Obviously, opening a sellout pop up restaurant in Selfridges is probably a bit out of the reach for most of us. The lessons from it, though, are pretty easy to try at home.

Many vegetables also more edible bits than we’ve been conditioned to recognize. You can save vegetable scraps for stock, cook up cauliflower leaves (they’re really good!), and save your broccoli stems for stir fries or veggie bakes. Celery leaves, by the way, are totally edible and can go in with regular celery. Chop up herb stems and add them in while you’re cooking, or add them to the stock pot.

Here’s a controversial one. Stop buying so many spices. If a recipe calls for an unusual spice that you’ve never before used and you’ll probably never use again, why bother? You probably aren’t going to notice it’s missing, and most spices are easy to substitute. Otherwise, start researching recipes to use that sumac that’s been going stale in the back of your spice rack.

If you’re a meat eater, try different cuts, or different meats altogether. Have you ever slow cooked lamb breast? (By far, the cheapest cut of lamb you can get.) What about oxtail? Make yourself a big pile of home-cooked chicken wings — they are dirt cheap outside of the States. There are plenty of cuts that don’t get attention, especially on supermarket shelves. Some cuts, like lamb breast, require longer cooking times, but the reward is lower-cost, rich and flavorful food that would otherwise go to waste.

Male goats are slaughtered early on in an economy where goat cheese is prized, but many see goat meat as weird. If you eat goat cheese, it’s worth thinking about what that means for the goats. Some great entry foods are goat curry (if you like curry, that is) or goat Merguez sausages.

Deep freeze

Freezers are our friends, too. Bread freezes well, especially if you’re going to toast it. Instead of buying bread crumbs, take the sandwich-unworthy ends and blitz them up. They freeze well, too.

You can turn bones and wilted vegetables into stock and then freeze it if you can’t use it all. Store those bones and less-than-lovely veggies in the freezer until you’re ready to boil them to smithereens.

Other foods you can freeze:

• nuts
• tortillas
• eggs, outside of their shells
• milk, just shake it up once defrosted
• chilli peppers – chop them after a few minutes out of the freezer, before they fully defrost
• berries and bananas (peeled!) for baking, smoothies, oatmeal (porridge) or eating frozen
• half-cans of food like tomatoes, coconut milk, refried beans – just make sure to take it out of the cans and store in an air-tight bag

I could go on with even more suggestions on how to cut down on food waste, and if you want more ideas, just ask! (Or Google, because there are lot of great suggestions out there.) No one is perfect, but making a conscious decision to change your habits is a good first step to saving money and helping fix the food imbalance.

Here’s another throwback story. Last July, instead of lazing at a balmy beach resort, we went north to Denmark. Copenhagen is the place to be. Have you heard?

Cycle lanes, pared down design, new Nordic cuisine and experimental beer are everywhere. There’s something about the friendly modernity in Copenhagen. The quality of life you read about in every lifestyle article.

The city offers quiet residential neighborhoods, warehouses-turned-hangouts and lots of waterfront views. It’s also known for surprise rain showers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

It’s an expensive place, like most Scandinavian cities, but if you come prepared for big city prices you won’t have too much sticker shock. Airbnb is big in Copenhagen, and compared to central Copenhagen hotel prices, generally a money saving option. The convenience of a ‘home’ away from home is the biggest draw. Somewhere to have breakfast, sleep in late if we want to, or come back early and watch old movies in the living room with bottles from the local beer shop.

Nørrebro – Northern Copenhagen

We stayed in the north of the city — Nørrebro — which is like the Hackney or Brooklyn of Copenhagen. Mostly trendy, occasionally rough around the edges. This is a good place to pretend you live in Copenhagen, even if only for a few days.

The former workers’ neighborhood has been home to anti-establishment (and WWII anti-Nazi) protests, immigrant communities trying to make a life in the Danish capital, and restauranteurs who couldn’t afford to open anywhere else. Now it hosts a mix of warehouses turned to organic restaurants, third wave coffee shops and solid kebab and shawarma.

One tourism highlight of the district is Assistens Cemetery, which doubles as a park. (Hans Christian Andersen and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard are both buried there.) Apparently the Danes aren’t too freaked out by dead people underfoot, so a cemetery that’s also a public use greenspace is no big thing. It isn’t the slightest bit creepy, and joining the locals for a picnic with Hans Christian feels right. Just watch out for joggers.

Tivoli Gardens

An amusement park in the middle of the city? Across the road from the main train station? That’s Tivoli Gardens. Retro in the strictest sense, it’s a step back in time, but without the rickety structures and loose definitions of safety. This, the second-oldest amusement park in the world, was opened in 1843.

Tivoli Gardens closes for winter, so if you want to ride the Alpine mountain, you’ll have to visit between April and September. And trust me, it’s worth it.

Nyhavn – Central Copenhagen

I’ll just let the photos do the talking for this canal-side neighborhood.

What we ate and drank in Copenhagen

Three and a half days in the city is not enough for a comprehensive culinary tour, but here are some of the highlights in Norrebro, and the rest of Copenhagen.

Baest

Baest is an organic and local product focused Italian restaurant in a fantastic corner of Nørrebro. They make wood fired pizza that’s heavy on toppings. There’s a micro-dairy on site, meaning fantastic freshly made mozzarella and burrata.

Locally cured meat from animals of one specific Danish farm are also ready for sampling. It is a pizza place, but honestly I don’t feel that’s the main draw. You could even skip it and stick to the charcuterie and cheeses. They’re the real stars. We had a lean bresaola bursting with meatiness and creamy, rich burrata.

If I were to go again, I’d go all in on the charcuterie and cheese. Maybe it’s because my mushroom and pesto pizza was a bit heavy on the toppings?

Beer (and food)

Just across from Baest is Tapperiet Brus, a bar and bottle shop from the team behind (brilliant) gypsy brewery To Øl and the Mikkeller bar Mikropolis. (More on them below.) Housed in an old iron foundry and train factory, it’s a modern, airy space with plenty of brushed steel and great beers and cocktails. The people working there are friendly and knowledgeable, the drinks selection was so good, and they’re branding is pretty great. What can I say, I’m a To Øl fangirl.

Brus shares a home with Restaurant Spontan, whose chef won a Michelin star at his previous residence. Spontan offers carefully considered dishes, the freshest and most beautiful ingredients, plus a distinct lack of fussy white tablecloth service meant this was the culinary highlight of our time in Copenhagen. Oh, I can’t forget their beer pairing menu, including a range of styles from around the world.

Mikkeller is probably the second-best known brewery from Copenhagen. (You’ve heard of Carlsberg, right?) Experimental flavors and styles are a signature of Mikkel Borg Bjergsø’s brews. You probably won’t find Black, their 18.8% imperial stout, at your typical local bar.

But getting your hands on a Mikkeller beer is easy in Copenhagen. If you’re there for beer, it would be hard to avoid, in fact. They currently have 8 bars, 3 restaurants and a bottle shop dotted around the Danish city, including a brand new spot called Haven.

Some of the highlights include their old-timey looking sour beer bar Koelschip, a “tribute to Belgian beer” and the neighboring Mikkeller & Friends, and the bright, colorful Mikkeller Bar in Vesterbro, I’m kicking myself that we didn’t try Øl & Brød (beer & bread), their smorrebrød-focused spot.

Speaking of Mikkeller and food…

Ramen tu Bíiru (Ramen and Beer)

Mikkeller also has a spoon in the city’s ramen trade. Modeled after quirky ramen spots in Japan, at Ramen tu Biiru you place an order via a “ramen vending machine”. It then prints a receipt that you take to the counter. It’s a little labored, but bear with it.

Bench seats in a small and very popular spot mean this isn’t the place to dawdle over your slurpy noodles. The ramen, by the way, are actually good. It’s not at the level of choosing the tenderness of your noodles, but they do offer rich, satisfying bowls of umami and warmth. Considering this is technically a brewery doing ramen, it was hard to know what to expect.

The menu includes shio, shoyu and miso ramens – so both meat-lovers and vegetarians are accommodated for – and a range of Mikkeller beers chosen for their ramen matching abilities. Mikkeller also has an eponymous beer specially created to complement the soupy noodle bowls.

The original is in Vesterbro. We didn’t stop in, so I can’t say if it’s less busy than the Norrebro outpost.

Smørrebrød

Dense, moist rye bread is buttered and topped with pickled or fried fish, pate, cold meats or cheese, plus plenty more toppings.

This is what I looked forward to trying most. But open-faced sandwiches (Smørrebrød – stuff on bread) were not the revelation I’d hoped for. I only experienced a 50% success rate for smørrebrød enjoyment.

Skip the central market’s huge line and carve time in around midday for Rita’s Smørrebrød. With a deli-style counter and about 3 seats, this is where the locals go for lunch. And I’m not kidding – get there early because the sandwiches move quickly. This isn’t a fancy place, and a lot of their stuff-on-bread isn’t the most Instagrammable. But you’re not the kind of person who lets that stop you from eating something … right?

Hot dogs

Hot dogs: the street food of Denmark. In true Copenhagen style, the best hot dogs are traditional with a twist.

Døp is an organic hot dog stand offering franks made from a range of sustainable meats, and even vegan ‘meat’ in a sourdough bun. Choose your sausage, then your bread and finally your toppings. Ever had kale on a hot dog? Why not?

I had the goat hot dog, and as someone who likes goat, I thought it was … delicious.

John’s Hotdog Deli is a food truck outside of the city’s main train station, and just across from Tollhavn. I know it’s not the most inspirational location but it’s just good business sense. Can you imagine a more practical place for a hot dog? Stop for a quick bite if you’re catching a train or visiting Tivoli Gardens. Truly worlds better than the hot dogs you’ll find inside the park, it’s worth the early lunch.Papirøen’s food market

Before Papirøen’s (Paper Island) reincarnation, the island housed a series of paper storage warehouses, hence the name. The neighboring science and tech museum Experimentarium would be a good place to take kids or adults who love hands-on exhibits.

Copenhagen Street Food is a range of international food stalls based in one of the once-abandoned halls. From doughnuts to duck burgers, pig out to your heart’s (or wallet’s) content.

Also worth a mention…

Mother is often referenced as the best pizza in Copenhagen, but we didn’t have a chance to try it. Next time.

The Coffee Collective – they have a few cafes around town with a focus on the beans and the farmers who grow them.

Botanical Garden. With a mix of indoor greenhouses and leafy green outdoor paths, this is a great place to visit if you get caught in one of Denmark’s rain/sun/rain/sun events. It’s beautiful.. and free!

Cycling. The traffic system for bicycles is the most organised and safest-looking I’ve ever seen, even compared to Amsterdam. If you like cycling (I don’t, to be honest), rent a bike and become one with Copenhagen. Some Airbnb hosts even let guests borrow their bicycles.

If you have time and don’t need a visa, take the 30 minute train to Malmö for a day in Sweden. Fans of The Bridge would especially get some joy out of it.

It’s nearly the end of a very interesting and hopefully unusual year. From a completely personal perspective, ignoring all geopolitical ramifications, it’s been a pretty good one. I’ve made progress with some of my goals. Some of them cut significantly into my blogging time – in case you haven’t noticed. I’ve also visited new places and met some great new people.

As for the world as a whole, well that’s a different story. But we all know what 2016 has been like.

One of my goals for the year was to see more places, and I luckily had the chance and motivation to do it. With my EU passport in hand, I enjoyed the luxuries of seeing living, breathing cities and playing the ‘what if we moved here’ game.

Way back in May, we visited Budapest for the wedding of two lovely friends. Since we had a week there, we also snuck off to Vienna for a day. But there was plenty to see and eat in Hungary for one post, so you’ll just have to be patient.

Budapest is like two cities in one, the Buda side of the Danube is quieter, and full of the regal, stately buildings you’d expect in the co-capital of a former empire, while the Pest side is trendy and great for a night out.

We arrived at our beautiful Airbnb, right near Parliament on the Buda side of the river to the open-air musical tones of a street fair. Our bags safely dropped and our hunger calling us outside, it was time to explore.

First step: Get some pompos. It’s a Hungarian pizza, a bit like langos but not deep fried. Smothered in sour cream and smoked pork, it was great company for our wander through the market.

Next step: Get to know the neighborhood. The Hungarian Parliament Building has a prime spot alongside the Danube, and it’s made it through a lot of history, including the begrudgingly shared Austro-Hungarian empire and that whole First World War. Sure is pretty though.

The Danube is huuuge! Because I live near the Thames, I just expect every city’s major river to be similar… but this river, which runs through 10 countries, is a whole other kettle of fish.

Soon enough, it was time to visit Pest. To get a drink in one of the most unusual drinking spots in the world, you have to hit up one of Budapest’s famous Ruin Bars. Szimpla Kert is probably the best known and the most popular.

On Sunday mornings, they also have a farmers’ market. You can get all sorts of locally-produced goodies, including Mangalica ham, fresh cheese (including the ultimate in romance – a heart shaped soft goat cheese), honey and plenty of fresh beautiful veg to stock your Airbnb minifridge.

Obviously we also found our way to the brightly colored street food market. I think we might have better appreciated the beef goulash on a day that wasn’t 25C/77F, but an ice cold beer helped.

The Great Market Hall is a mix of food stalls and tat shops, but if you need a £2 souvenir for someone, this is the place. There are also some good baked things to sample, and though we didn’t get any, the veggies looked fresh and tempting.

I was truly not interested in the jostling queues and the irate people running the hot food stalls, so we escaped and grabbed a quick (and surprisingly really good) kebab from a spot. (It wasn’t nearly as fatty as my photo makes it look – I promise.)

One of my favorite places to visit was Margaret Island, an oasis in the middle of the river. Go for a peaceful walk along tree-lined paths, spot the well-manicured make out corner (seriously… it was really hot and heavy over there), and then stop off at the beer garden for some refreshment.

There’s a lot more to see, including a musical fountain and a small zoo, and on a hot day you can escape the heat at the swimming pool.

A good post-beer, pre-fountain show snack.

Obviously I had to buy a pastel plate when I saw this set up…

The city has some great vantage points, including Gellert Hill and Buda Castle. You could take a funicular up to the castle, but if you can face a walk, I would recommend it.

The views are pretty good – and a little less jarring than the Soviet era statues.

After all that walking, scoops of fig and stracciatella ice cream were a must. Levendula has a few locations across Budapest, and I’d recommend a few scoops if you have the chance.

A stop off at a craft beer bar was also essential, and Ganz Söröző was a nice place to rest our weary feet and cool off. It’s the kind of place that doesn’t seem to exist in many big cities – where every single beer is hand-picked by a proprietor who is enthusiastic to talk through their merits.

For a special dinner out, we went to Mák Bisztro (in English, poppy seed bistro) just minutes away from Parliament. This modern Hungarian restaurant showcases seasonal Hungarian produce, in some non-traditional ways.

The friendly, relaxed atmosphere is just right after a sunny day of sightseeing. Plenty of whitewashed exposed brick and easy on the credit cards … especially if you’re used to New York or London prices.

Here are just a few of the dishes we had: A starter of trout with pickled green rhubarb.

Another starter – scallops with green peas, green strawberries, clover and a bright, fresh green sauce. 

The famous Hungarian mangalica pork in filet-form with breaded Jerusalem artichokes and fairy-ring mushrooms. (So savory!)

Chocolate and rhubarb a few ways. A great sweet, savory and fresh combo.

A few blocks from City Park is the Goat Herder espresso bar. We had the absolute best coffee of the trip, coupled with a delicious homemade toffee and walnut cake.

Thank you to Budapest for the great week! While I didn’t take any photos for obvious reasons, we also visited some of the city’s famous baths. Even on a hot day, they’re worth a visit.

Eventually, we had to say goodbye to the view from our Airbnb balcony and leave Budapest behind.

But! That’s not all. We stayed at a quirky hotel for horse riders, stables and all, the night of the beautiful (and entirely in Hungarian) wedding.

I couldn’t share this post without documenting the stewed pork, potatoes and red cabbage lunch that cost a whopping £3.50.

Bonus: Wedding photo, including Converse <3

It’s nearly summer, and in the UK that means that one out of every 4 weekends will be BBQ-friendly, if we’re lucky.

But if you’re in or near London and you want smoky goodness without having to cower under an umbrella, you should get to the Duke’s Head in Highgate for Prairie Fire BBQ’s June residency.

I got to sneak a peek behind the scenes into the cramped quarters of the Duke’s Head kitchen, where every month, guest chefs take over and share their skills.

Prairie Fire is the brain child of American Michael Gratz, who saw a gap in the market for Kansas City style slow cooked meat. In the Duke’s Head kitchen, you’ll find his collaborators, Londoners Louis Lillywhite and Yasemin Ozekimci managing the meat, the veggie burgers, and all the fixins. Look to Laura’s homemade brownies, if you have any room left when you’re finished.

Speaking of, here’s what you’d find on the menu if (no … when) you make your way over.

Pulled pork tacos in freshly-fried shells, crunchy and absolutely loaded with toppings like chipotle sour cream, spring onions and punchy chiles. Don’t forget to try the refried bean ‘glue’ underneath, especially if you have any shell shards left over.

The mac & cheese is made with beautiful big curly tubes, al dente and covered in a silky, creamy unctious cheese sauce. I decided not to pry for the secret recipe, but this is a down and dirty cheese sauce, not some overwrought stilton and leek gastropub version.

That PFQ burger. A brief moment of doubt crept in when I cut it in half and the patties weren’t as pink as I tend to have them. After taking a bite, I realized I was very wrong. Louis’s blend of chuck and rib tip beef was juicy, meaty … very messy and absolutely packed with flavor. All of that in a toasted bun with gooey melty cheese.

Fall-apart in your fingers 16-hour smoked brisket in a delicious floury but not dry or dense bun. Seriously, why is it so hard to find a good bun? These guys have gotten it absolutely right.

The brisket completely surrenders to a plastic knife. Useful, because I was sharing it. Compared to some recent City-based brisket that will remain unnamed, this was soft and tender, lightly seasoned and obviously given the low and slow treatment. And get a look at that Prairie Fire BBQ sauce…

While it’s easy to ignore the fries as just another side dish, I can’t go without mentioning them. Crispy and crunchy, not even slightly oily, and generously dusted with spice that reminds me just a little bit of Old Bay (for the East Coasters). I barely had space for them but couldn’t stop picking at my portion, and maybe everyone else’s portions, too.

Like I said, there is also a veggie burger, but I can’t say that I’ve tried it. If you do, I’d be curious to know if you recommend it.

If you’re a beer drinker, I recommend spending a few indecisive minutes at the bar with the many great rotating options. There’s also a gin bar with Highgate-distilled Sacred and a temptation-filled cocktail menu.

While Prairie Fire don’t have anything else official in the calendar yet, keep an eye on the Prairie Fire BBQ Twitter for food market updates… and maybe even another residency soon.

Prairie Fire BBQ is at the Duke’s Head for the rest of June, every day of the week, and the kitchen is open from 12pm to 10pm. 

Keep your eyes peeled for them at Brisket Fest, where I’ve been promised you can try something from Prairie Fire that no one in the UK has done before.

A few bank holidays ago, (May 2, 2015, to be precise) the gent and I visited the Melton Mowbray Artisan Cheese Fair, with no idea what to expect. The things we knew were: it was on for 2 days, it was in May, and there would be cheese. How much of it, and how good it would be we decided to take a chance on.

Spoiler alert.

There was a lot of cheese, and it was very good. And there was gin. It was also very good.

Welcome to Melton Mowbray

First, a little about Melton Mowbray. It’s a small town that’s known for two very big foods in Britain, though if you’re reading this from Britain, you probably already knew that.

I have to confess that I’m not a big pork pie fan, generally… I’d never been convinced that they were worth eating. The examples I’ve had were always too fatty, with really dense, lardy crust and cold pork in the middle. Honestly, even the best pork pie is probably not going to convince me that any of those things aren’t true. However, when in Melton Mowbray… We split a stilton pork pie, and the sharp earthiness of blue cheese really helped balance the fattiness and richness of the pork/pastry combination.

The fair itself was interesting and busy, but not too over-crowded. It only cost £2 to enter, which is apparently twice the price of previous years, but well worth it.

The weather the day we visited was pretty terrible, so that might have scared a few people away. There is a lot of jostling and pushing forward for samples, which can be a bit trying when you want to sample something, talk to the producer or take a photo, which is why some of my photos ended up being at pretty weird angles.

If you got the opportunity to speak to them, most of the producers were friendly and keen to talk about their wares. Most of the people there really were small (or fairly small) providers that you wouldn’t necessarily find in your local supermarket, so it was nice to get insight into the joys of cheese making, gin distilling and making cheese-making kits.

There were around 75 different stalls across the cattle market and they included cider, bread, ice cream, wine, and cheese of course… there was no lack of great British products.

A soft, white unpasteurized cheese, and my favorite of the fair, from Chalke Valley Cheese.

Even after a train ride home, the Dorset White was perfect. Creamy, spreadable and so delicious.

Loosehanger had very dedicated cheesers manning their stall, and a lovely blue goat cheese.

Stichelton’s unpasteurized stilton definitely came home, too. Complex in flavor and so pretty to look at.

We ended up taking 6 cheeses home, and it took serious willpower to not buy more than that. There was the creamy Dorset White from Chalke Valley, a blue goat cheese called Nanny Williams from Loosehanger Cheese in Salisbury, a beautiful brie-styled cheese from Tunworth in Hampshire, a traditionally full flavored blue (yeah, there’s a theme) from Cote Hill in Lincolnshire, a deliciously strong, aged Red Leicester made by Leicestershire Handmade Cheese, and finally, a beautiful Stichelton, which is exactly a stilton, but made with unpasteurized milk.

There were also some very interesting talks on, most notably a history of Stilton cheese, from one of the UK’s big stilton producers. It was a great explanation of how the Midlands became a home base for many foods (as it was a natural stopping point for people traveling through the country), how much of an effect war rationing had on cheese production (immense) and what makes a stilton a stilton.

But I can’t wrap up this overview without talking about the two gin distilleries we tried, both of which were fantastic. Recently I’d had a bad run of picking gins without tasting them, but we were very confident about taking both of these home… after sampling them. Burleigh’s Gin has robust flavor and uses citrus and spices to great effect.

The second tried-and-loved distiller is called Da Mhile, from Wales. While there’s an interesting version with seaweed as a botanical, we stuck to the regular gin, which is made with mint. I was skeptical at first, but the mint isn’t overpowering at all, and adds an interesting fresh dimension to a g&t.

As a final note, it must be said that there was a great ukelele orchestra, playing hits from across the decades.

The Melstrum Ukulele Band got a lot out of their ukes.

if you find yourself with the opportunity to visit the Melton Mowbray Artisan Cheese Fair, I would recommend it, but only if you’re willing to wander around for a few hours, sampling cheese, alcohol and pies, and coming home loaded with goodies. You’ve been warned!

I knew there would be things that I’d miss when I moved from the US to the UK. Watching my favorite sport, for one thing. (Ice hockey, if you’re curious.) The convenience of 24 hour public transportation. NY style pizza. Lately, it’s been Buffalo wings. Maybe it’s all the talk about deflate-gate, another Super Bowl rooting against the Patriots, or maybe it’s the great wings I had last time I was home, but I just can’t stop thinking about Buffalo wings.

When you crave something, and I mean really can’t-stop-thinking-about-it crave, there isn’t much that can fill the void except the exact thing you want. If you want Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food, frozen yogurt is not going to cut it. In my case, nothing but real, good, bright orangey red spicy messy Buffalo wings would do. Thankfully, I found somewhere that’s as good as advertised here in London called Sticky Wings, on Brick Lane in East London.

I’ve been a few times already and sampled most of the menu with my fellow wings crew. There are 4 different varieties of wings on offer, either bone-in or boneless. You can choose from American Buffalo (with what I’m pretty sure is Frank’s Red Hot sauce), Sticky Wings BBQ, Jerk Twist and Hot Chilli.

I’ve tried everything but the Jerk Twist (maybe next time…), and while everything was good, the American Buffalo win. While we got a sample selection the first time around, we were all converted to American Buffalo on the next visit.

The Hot Chilli offer a real kick, but it’s not all spice. They’re juicy and flavorful, though your lips will probably be tingling. The StickyWings BBQ sauce version was tasty, but if I had to find a negative, they were a bit sweeter than I would normally like my wings.

In short, it’s worth trying them all, but you’ll probably find yourself drawn back to the American Buffalo wings, and they definitely deliver. They also offer generous pots of homemade dipping sauces for 40p extra, and both the ranch dressing and blue cheese are worth getting – though I’m a sucker for blue cheese, so that wins every time.

When it comes to the sides, though, I have to say that I was disappointed. The onion rings didn’t seem to have any real onions in them, and they were soggy – not quite what I hoped for. I had high hopes for the jalapeño balls, but they were mostly fried cream cheese balls with very little jalapeño bite. The battered and deep fried garlic mushrooms were interesting, but after about 2, I was over them.

My suggestion would be that if you’re getting sides, stick to the fries that automatically come with your wings, and make use of the Frank’s Red Hot sauce on the table, and maybe an extra pot of blue cheese dressing.

And then – there’s dessert. There is only one option on the menu, the Funky Cheesecake. In my international experience, I haven’t had great luck with cheesecake, generally. I have to say, this behemoth was worth it, though. It’s a sharing portion, for sure. For one person, I think the combination of profiteroles on top of cheesecake covered in caramel would be overwhelming, but with a few bites each, you’ll crave it for next time. Bonus: the crunch crumb crust is one of the best I’ve had in a very long time.

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If you’re in London and looking for a Buffalo wings fix, Sticky Wings has you covered. It’s nowhere fancy, and you could almost miss it for its cornerside location among the Indian restaurant hawkers and the kebab shops. This isn’t a hipster-chic destination that takes itself too seriously, but a great East London-run place where you can get some amazing wings and a bottle of Sam Adams, and make it out for under £15.

As an aside: I know this is traditionally a recipe blog, but I believe you can get a lot of inspiration from the experts. Eating out is like a research expedition, and while I haven’t yet made successful Buffalo wings, you can rest assured that once I make some I’m happy with, they’ll be up here.