DF Mexico

DF Mexico near the Old Truman Brewery on London’s Brick Lane is named after “Distrito Federal”- the name that locals use for Mexico City. 

Inspired by a recent trip across the US/Mexico borders by Thomasina Miers and Mark Selby - founders of the popular Wahaca restaurant chain - the concept fuses American influences with authentic Mexican cuisine.

With a thoroughly modern brand identity and a fresh, monochrome space offset with industrial furniture and flashes of bold colour, DF Mexico is like the hip older cousin of your typical themed high street eatery. Perfect for those who like their Mexican dining experiences minus the sombreros and Spanish guitar music.  

And of course, the food is pretty excellent too - as any fan of Thomasina's would expect. 

After struggling to decide what to eat for an embarrassing length of time, my dining buddy opted for the Chilli Beef Torta - a Mexican-inspired sandwich served in a brioche bun with slaw, smashed avocado and house pickles (yes, it was as dreamy as it sounds) - while I chose the Pork Tibil Tacos with pink pickled onions (aka the PRETTIEST onions).

As somebody who eats out more than I'd care to admit, it's not often that a restaurant gets me genuinely excited - it was even enough to get me blogging again.

Check out the full DF Mexico menu here - and see if you can choose your favourite any faster than we could!

Banana, Date and Oat Smoothie

What better way to kickstart a healthy regime than with a substantial smoothie, followed by a run on a cold sunny day? It was my first in about 6 months (run that is, not smoothie) so it took some effort to drag my unwilling feet out of their slippers and into my running shoes. But I'm glad that I did it, because even though my thighs hated me the next day, I can't help but feel satisfied with the pain - and with the ridiculous hills around me in Bath, it's only going to get more gruelling!

So here's how to make a smoothie that will give you a long-lasting energy hit - whether you're going for a run, or just off to work or school for the day. It'll easily keep you going until lunchtime. 

Makes 2 smoothies

In a blender - or in a bowl, using a hand-held stick blender - whizz together 2 bananas, 2 very small handfuls of porridge oats, 4 chopped dates, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1 1/2 cups of almond milk (or whichever milk you prefer - if you're watching the calories, almond is a great choice). Make sure all the dates are thoroughly blended as they can be a little tough!

Pour into glasses, adding a little more milk if the consistency is too thick.

Arty

Today we made some Autumnal inspired art - and I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, me or Little P.

Crumbs Supper Club

On Monday evening, I went along to Crumbs Magazine's Supper Club as part of the Great Bath Feast celebrations that are happening throughout the city this October. Komedia on Westgate Street proved to be the ideal venue - after a glass of Prosecco and a chat at the bar, myself and the other guests made our way through to the the main auditorium to take our seats at the beautifully laid table, in the grand surroundings of the old cinema. 

The chef had put together his take on a classically French menu, using locally sourced ingredients in order to show the best of what our area has to offer. We also had the choice of either Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon to match the food, and our glasses were duly topped up throughout the evening (although I was still suffering from the weekend, so went easier on the wine than perhaps I usually would have!) 

Starter: Chicken liver parfait with pickled beetroot and Bath Bakery bread - and a very generous amount of decent butter, which is always well received in my book.

Main course: the chef's take on Beef Bourguignon, served with a rather wonderful celeriac and mustard mash.

Dessert: Pear Tarte Tatin, using locally sourced pears cooked in a warming spice infusion of cinnamon, star anise, cardamom and a touch of ginger.

After enjoying our meal and feeling full, satisfied and a little sleepy, we made our way to the balcony above where we watched the cult 'foodie film' Babette's Feast and finished our wine. 

  It was great to meet some more of the Crumbs team, and a deliciously indulgent way to spend a rainy Monday evening. I will try to attend some more Great Bath Feast events before the month is through, so stay tuned...

Eat.

I'm going to be honest with you now - I've been feeling a little uninspired in my kitchen lately. Mostly it's because my days have gotten busier, my workload a great deal heavier, and I've had my head stuck in books of the non-cooking variety. In need of a little inspiration boost, I treated myself to Nigel  Slater's new book 'Eat'- his fresh ideas, enticing recipes and effortless approach has given me the motivation that I needed to get back into kitchen. First up? I think perhaps the Vietnamese Prawn Baguettes...but the Chicken Skin Popcorn also gets me very excited indeed, and could prove to be the ideal study partner. Good work Nige. 

Autumn Weekends

I realise that I seem to be blogging mostly about my weekends lately...perhaps it's because the weeks have become so busy again. But I will try to work on that, I promise. In the meantime, here's a little of what we got up to at the weekend in the beautiful sunny Autumn weather: late breakfasts; watching the hot air balloons and collecting conkers in the park; a country walk; an enormous Sunday roast; apple and blackberry crumble with blackberries from our garden; watching the new series of Homeland.

 

But for now, it's back to a new week and I have a lot of work to do..*sigh*. 

His New Favourite

Little P has been asking if we can go for sushi again for a little while. We've been practising with chopsticks at home each time we have noodles or rice, and he was desperate to test out his skills in public! So at the weekend we took a trip to Yen Sushi on Bartlett Street - the best place for sushi around these parts. 

  He loved watching the chefs at work, and impressed me with his enthusiasm for salmon sashimi and my favourite, the prawn tempura hand roll. He even helped himself to some tuna mini rolls from the conveyor belt! Oh, and his chopstick skills? Pretty good. I'll give him an A for effort, at least. He firmly declared it 'his new favourite place to eat' - which is fine by me! Have you introduced your little ones to sushi yet? 

Pssst...did I tell you that I cut all my hair off?

I feel totally different, liberated even.

Everyone keeps telling me it's not that short.

But it definitely is...for me, anyway.

Friends.

Friends who blog together, stay together. Love a night in with my girl Rene Humphrey x

A New Season.

Today we took a walk through park, noting that the trees were changing colour and leaves starting to fall. It reminded me how much I love this time of year, when it's still sunny but there's a crispness to the air. We fed the ducks, had a play and what may well be one of the last sunny picnics of the year. Then we went to the library to get some books, by which point the Little One was exhausted so we called it a day and headed home. We ended the day under a blanket watching The Chronicles of Narnia, eating BBQ ribs. Perfect!

With Love From Paris...Day One

We just got back from another wonderful few days in Paris. Honestly, I love this place so much. Having been twice now, packing in places that were either on our 'to do' list or recommended by friends to visit, I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface of this fascinating, diverse and inspirational city.

Ask around and you're bound to get a million different tips of places to go...but for what it's worth, I'm going to share some of our discoveries with you so you can add to them to your own list.

On Saturday I was left to while away a few hours in the North of the city, while my partner had a work event to attend. In my head I'd be all Carrie Bradshaw about it and skip around wistfully, then sit in a grand tea room and gorge on petits fours. In reality I got a little bit lost, took a few wrong turns, messed up my French, and ended up looking like a complete tourist with a map held in front of me and looking around for street signs. But that's all part of the fun of travelling, non? 

In fact, it was wondering from my chosen path near the Canal Saint Martin that caused me to stumble upon a bustling brocante market lining both sides of  Avenue Secretan (nearest Metro stop: Bolivar). Over 100 vendors make up this weekend market, and it really was an amazing experience, packed with locals and so many unusual things grabbing my attention. Of course with flea markets like this you have to search through a lot of tat to find the gems, but for a magpie like me there's nothing better, and it means you can find some great bargains. I bought a vintage striped sweater for just one euro!

In need of a drink after my trawl through the market, I set off in search of Rachel Khoo territory (being a huge, and slightly envious, fan). She recommended a stroll down Boulevard La Villette to the unmistakable Cafe Cherie, so like any dutiful fan I obliged. The cafe felt like a real hangout for the well-dressed locals of the area, so I tried to blend in and enjoyed a coffee outside on their old school-desk tables. It's also open in the evening, hosting gigs and live acts, so I'm sure it'd be a worth a late night visit.

I didn't bump into Khoo, incidentally. I'm sure we'd have really hit it off though.

I have quite a serious biro chewing habit.

A little weary but happy to be re-united in the evening, we took a few metro stops from our hotel to the Canal Saint Martin and enjoyed an evening walk. It's a very laid back vibe there, with locals sitting beside the river, or sat outside bars and restaurants. 

We ate some very good cheeseburgers at the rather charming Hotel du Nord.

Then stopped for some more beers at this place we stumbled across, Le Cinquante...which took us a little too long to figure out meant 'fifty', it's position on the Rue De Lancry (just off the canal). I loved this little bar with its scruffily retro interior, formica chairs and tables, shabby shelves of bottles behind the bar and the fact that it was packed far beyond its capacity. Go if you want to be where the cool kids go.

Stay tuned for more Paris tips from the rest of our stay!
xxx

Wedding Feast

2013 has definitely been the Year of The Wedding for us! At the weekend we attended wedding #4, and spent a beautiful couple of days in the Cotswolds. Our friends had an amazing wedding dinner including barbecued meats, with freshly made churros and hot chocolate pots for dessert. Such a great idea! They had a sweets table featuring the wedding cake as well as cupcakes, meringues and macaroons, and later in the evening served up bacon rolls and an enormous cheeseboard. But I was too busy dancing to the 'bandaoke' by that point, and left my bacon sandwich lying abandoned somewhere. What a weekend!