Foodie Fantasy: It was the weekend…

Last Thursday was a girl's night out, which since having Evie have been rather elusive, so to say I was looking forward to it is an understatement. 

Tr!beca Official Press Photo

We chose Tr!beca, in the Ocean View Hotel JBR Walk.  The concept is fresh, tasty organic food and drink, at a reasonable price.  DJ Fast (one of the founding members of the Fun Loving Criminals) was playing a set later in the evening, and my being a huge FLC fan meant that this was a night not to miss.

The bar itself is modeled on a Manhattan loft space, with lots of exposed brick, leather sofas and tables throughout.  The best thing about the restaurant is that outside is for smokers - which is fine except I was with smokers and it is very cold at the moment.  Throughout the meal, we all would have loved some heaters or pashminas, neither of which was on offer.  That said, with hindsight I should have worn something more appropriate anyway as taxis are so hard to come by at the end of the night.

Dinner was superb.  I had the feta cheese, cherry tomatoes and a pesto sauce for starters.  The dish was presented well on a grill pan, with edemame beans on the side.  As has been proven by chefs globally, simplicity is key.  The food on offer is very simply cooked, but also very delicious.

Steak at Tr!beca

For my main, I decided to go with the pizza.  I had wanted the ravioli, but the portion looked small, and being cold and hungry when I ordered, I went for the pizza, as the size of it was huge.  It was in fact so big I couldn’t eat more than one quarter and I gave away about another third of it as everyone wanted to try some.  I also got to taste steak that one of my girlfriends had ordered.  It was perfectly cooked and very tender arriving in the same dish as the cheese and tomatoes.

I did have complete food envy of my friend who was the only one of us who chose a desert – and it is the one photo that I wanted, yet the one photo that didn’t come out.  She ordered a deconstructed cheesecake, which arrives at your table in a pyramid of glass, rather like a glass tiffin box – One with the base, another with the cheesecake and the final one with mango sauce.  You just pick and choose which part to eat as you go along.

To drink, the five of us had the Chardonnay.  Surprisingly drinkable (I am not a big fan of Chardonnay), it is also an organic wine and generally which costs 180aeds a bottle.

All in all, our dinner came to aed160 per person (four bottles included in this), although there was a 50% off promotion, which was also available.  I will certainly be returning.

A Fish Foodies Fantasy

I first visited Ocean Basket in City Centre Mirdif Mall, Dubai last October when I had the pleasure of interviewing the CEO Grace Harding and Fats Lazarides who was the founder.  At the time they treated to me to lunch and I have been set on returning with my family since.

Finally, on Saturday we did return.  The sandstorm meant that Ian had to cancel training and the only thing to do in order to avoid the fact that there was more sand in our house than in the desert, was hit a mall.  Having not been to Mirdiff we chose there and subsequently ate at Ocean Basket.

Ocean Basket, Mirdif
 Mall

Throughout the interview with Fats and Grace, they mentioned on numerous occasions how important quality of food was.  That they wanted excellent food, at a very reasonable price, “Simple, delicious food that makes people want to return is what we strive for,” said Fats.  And this is exactly what they have achieved.

On a busy Saturday afternoon, as we hadn’t booked in advance, we were asked to wait for 10 minutes whilst they cleared a table that would shortly be finishing.  The clean canteen like restaurant was full to the brim of people.  I loved that they under promised, a trick that all front of house staff could learn, because within 5 minutes we were sat at our table with menus provided for us. 

The bread, butter and dips (I loved the incredibly hot chili oil, and my daughter couldn’t get enough of the tartar sauce), were brought quickly to our table whilst they took the drinks order. 

Platter for 2

With a huge variety of seafood available, Ian and I settled on a Platter for 2, which consisted of 6 mussels, 12 prince prawns, 2 fish fillets, calamari and calamari heads.  It comes with chips and rice.  I was a little dismayed though as when ordering, we had been asked if we wanted to upgrade our prawns.  I did think this a bit odd; especially when I could have sworn the waiter at one stage said that we could do this if we pay an additional 100aeds.  Needless to say, we declined as I clearly recalled being told that quality at a reasonable price is key and with this in mind, we shouldn’t have to pay an increase for prawns.

The fish and seafood is cooked very simply, sautéed in butter.  The Mussels, which I literally had to fight my husband for, were cooked to perfection in a garlic cream sauce.   The prawns were slightly smaller to others, we saw leaving the kitchen, which people must have paid the increase for, but they were delicious, having been grilled lightly.  The calamari was superbly cooked.  Not one piece was chewy, and with my husband not being a fan, I was happy to be left to eat these all myself.

The Platter for 2 is such a large dish, that despite sharing it between our two year old, and ourselves we just couldn’t finish what was on the plate.  The staff were very quick on this and offered to provide a doggy bag so I was able to finish this off later.

Boho is Back with Burberry

With animal print playing a big theme across the Burberry Autumn/Winter 2015 collection, this collection took me straight mack to my child and also reminded me very much of 2003 (think Sienna Miller bringing boho to life, but with a grown up feel to it).

The look was classically 70’s peasant dresses, with lots of suede knee high boots, suede trench coats, suede bucket bags and everything you would expect from a decade that epitomised the relaxed, off duty look.

The brilliant news is that the poncho is back all-be-it with a fringe and/or embellishment - both themes that ran repeatedly throughout the show.  With 70’s colours like Plumb and Tan, the standout items were the full-length fringed capes, which were styled over peasant dresses.

#LondonFashionWeek  #Fashion 

All images in this are courtesy of the Daily Mail

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London Fashion Week - Fall / Winter 2015-2016

Following hot-on-the-heals of New York Fashion week, London isn’t proving to be a disappointment based on the numerous photos that are circulating Instagram and Twitter.

Fall/Winter is my favorite time of year for fashion – This isn’t the best for someone who lives in a perpetual summer.  I love to layer and the ladylike pieces that have graced the catwalks so far have been stunning.

In particular, I love the 70’s inspired sheer Preen dress, whilst David Koma kept minimalism with a twist of the early 70’s the order of the day in his collection.  Whereas Issa proved that our love affair with fringes is here to stay another year. 

Preen Fall Winter 2015

Tempered London was not a disappointment either.  "This season is both effortless and confident," says Alice Temperley and the collection lives up to this.  With a strong tribal print, for me the real winner was the layered winter look.  Smooth, classy and completely classic.

The New Me

So the 30 day squat challenge has begun in earnest and I can’t really move.  I have found muscles I never before knew I had.  Also, I found out, I never knew how to properly squat before.

It wasn’t the best of moments, when my husband walked in and laughed his head off. After his fit of laughter he managed to ask,  “What are you doing?” before laughing again.  Once I explained, he was very happy to tell me I was doing it all wrong, “Your legs need to be the width of your body apart and you need to pull yourself up like so.”  Showing me how I should be doing it.  For all of you out there, it should I have linked a YouTube video as it is much easier to see it in real life than have someone explain it to you in writing.

Day 1 is 50.  Seriously 50.  I managed to get to 25, but by 30 the sweat was beginning to make a show and I was blowing.  The key, as Ian told me, is to do all exercises slowly.  It makes your muscles work harder – making the day after infinitely more painful.  The last 5 though were absolute torture.  I could only just make them.  Day 2 was pretty much a blur.  I did my 55 though; at least I think I did…

Day 3 is meant to be 60 squats but right now, I can’t even walk properly – I am looking like I have lost my horse!  Ian assures me that I will start to feel that they are easier by day 3 but I won’t hold my breath.