In which the Minx is baptised, the weather is absolutely glorious, much champagne is drunk, the Minx gets to open her first Tiffany box, and her mother – who is not normally particularly religious – is very moved indeed.
May you shine as a light in the world.
Look! The mirrormirror blog is Blog of the Week over on decor8!
Holly Becker is an interior designer from Boston, who also writes one of the most gorgeous design blogs on the web. (If you haven’t come across it yet, you’re in for a treat).
I read quite a few design blogs, but Holly is one of the people who comes closest to sharing my own taste and I’m always inspired after I’ve paid her a visit. I’ve no idea how, but she manages to post a prodigious number of posts every day, so there’s always something new and interesting to read.
Welcome to everyone popping over from ‘decor8’ – just kick off your shoes and make yourselves at home. Cup of tea and a fairy cake?
I thought we’d start our little trip round Notting Hill on the south side of Westbourne Grove, the beautiful street which winds through the heart of the area. It used to be full of antique shops and galleries, but now, while some of these remain, it has been overtaken by some very chi-chi shops indeed, including big designer brands such as Joseph, Mulberry, and Ted Baker.
However there are still some absolute gems to be found.
The first place to show you is Tavola – the Italian deli which is top chef Alastair Little’s (scroll down for biog) latest venture. Alastair runs a cookery school in Italy and clearly spends a lot of time out there sourcing wonderful products, though he can also often be seen in the deli preparing fabulous pre-cooked food to take away. It’s the deli I visit least as it’s furthest from my apartment, but, being half-Italian, the one I think I love most. The staff scrub up quite nicely too….
Just along from Tavola is the Tea Palace, another 
newish venture – a large and beautiful room dedicated to the great British tradition of afternoon tea (though you can get a light lunch there as well).
It feels like such a treat to go there – your cakes arrive on silver stands, the table linen is thick and luxurious and I love the wallpaper covered with cake doilies. The homemade crumpets with butter and honey are stratospherically good. The range of teas on the menu is quite breathtaking and are all for sale in elegant purple tea caddies, as well as a lot of other teamaking paraphernalia. The only downside is that they don’t take reservations, so sometimes it’s really difficult to get a table.
The final stop on our trip today is the Diptyque shop, which requires no introduction except to say that it’s scented candle heaven and they always have lovely window displays.
I thought that regular readers might like an update on the temporary summer pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery – which this year basically comprises a round polycarbonate structure with a white balloon forming the roof.
To be honest I was a little disappointed when I saw the finished article. The initial artist’s impression had suggested an ethereal transparent balloon which would, I think have been a lot more amazing than the opaque white which has been used in the final building.
From some perspectives it just looks rather ordinary – as ordinary as a white balloon in the middle of a London park can look. Occasionally though, as you catch glimpses of it through the trees, it looks like the aliens have landed, and from close up it does have a real sense of silent majesty and grandeur.
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The Minx and I were most impressed by the ‘furniture’ inside. The pavilion functions as a cafe’ by day and the ‘tables’ and ‘chairs’ are just very dense foam blocks – perfect for the Minx to climb all over and looking rather like an abstract art installation.
We left booking our Carnival weekend bolthole in the Cotwolds to the very last minute but were lucky enough to get a cancellation at the Cotswold House Hotel.
From the outside it is a very traditional early 19th century house on Chipping Campden High Street, built of the ubiquitous golden stone of the Cotswolds which looks so lovely on a late summer’s evening.
Inside they’ve kept the original features, including a swirling spiral staircase, and furnished it in a chic, elegant, contemporary style. I have to say that I found the decor slightly unoriginal – lots of the dark purple which currently seems to be de rigueur for trendy bars and restaurants – but it was all extremely comfortable, the staff were exceptionally charming and the food was absolutely delicious.
We dined in Hicks Brasserie rather than the main restaurant as it was closer to the room (useful from a baby monitor point of view), from a menu of exquisitely prepared old favourites with an up-to-date twist. I surprised myself by choosing the wiener schnitzel (when was the last time you saw that on a menu?) and found it utterly melt-in-the-mouth delicious.
Equally amazing were the gardens – typically Cotswold blowsy but with modern, plantlike glass sculptures poking out of the flower beds to give them too a striking contemporary twist.
I was also amused to note that our bed was adorned with gorgeous cream merino wool cushions by Muskett & Mazzullo – available at an exceptionally reasonable price from mirrormirror.
I had always thought that the Minx was quite indifferent to soft toys until one day some months ago she was introduced to Jessie Cat at our Sing and Sign class.
And thus begun a love affair more extravagant and passionate than any Mills and Boon. It’s so nice to see that Jessie loves her back.
I love this time of year at the farmer’s market, when there’s still lots of fruit, all the late summer vegetables of the Mediterranean are in full swing and pumpkins and squashes are starting to make an appearance.
Today the mushroom man had oyster mushrooms of the most exquisite pink, which of course had to be sampled.
We fried them in a little oil and butter in which a halved clove of garlic had been softened. (Actually I accidentally made a ‘beurre noisette’ because the Minx was refusing to go down for her afternoon nap, but it worked really well.)
We then sprinkled them with chopped flat leaf parsley, added a little seasoning, squashed them between two wodges of ciabatta and stuffed our happy, smiling faces. I think this might be why I have a weight problem.
For the curious amongst you, the mushrooms turn a beautiful salmon pink when cooked.
For the even more curious I am dithering between making courgette flower pasta or risotto for supper tonight.
Go and say hello to the lovely Joanna at Atelier 455. Her blog is a treasure trove of design ideas with a vintage twist and she also sells her framed vintage ephemera through her Etsy shop. The rest of the time she is a freelance web consultant, who can be contacted here.
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Example of Joanna’s work from her Etsy shop |
I’ve been particularly enjoying a series of blog posts she has written recently about Marylebone High Street and its truly wonderful shops. Last year I took myself down there to do my Christmas shopping and managed to do everything in a single afternoon which was gobsmackingly amazing. And it wasn’t too crowded either. If ever we launch an offline version of mirrormirror then Marylebone High Street would be the perfect place for the flagship store.
Before I go to Seattle I think I’ll depress myself entirely by doing a similar series on Notting Hill shops – watch this space.
