Christmas In Camden Passage

To my mind, for most of the year, the confusingly-named Camden Passage - in the heart of Islington - is the sort of place that gives Islington a bad name. And when I say a bad name, I mean the popular perception that Islington is entirely populated with middle-class champagne socialists, lazily repeated in the media as recently as The Independent's review of John Salt.  While there is no denying that Islington has its fair share of yuppies and Guardian-readers, reflected in several of the borough's more ghastly foodie landmarks such as Ottolenghi and La Fromagerie, anyone who lives in Islington for a reasonable stretch of time will find it to be a diverse and multicultural borough, with large areas highly resistant to gentrification. I spend most of the year avoiding both shops of any kind, apart from food shops of course, and the more smug enclaves of Islington such as Amwell Street, with it's matching ye-olde shop-fronts.

But at Christmas time, Camden Passage becomes more attractive. It really does come into its own. Mid-winter is a good time to treat yourself to a bit of luxury and pretend you're posh, at least for a week or so. Drink champagne, eat from white tablecloths, walk into shops selling pointless luxuries at absurd prices and act like you belong there. At this time of year I suddenly feel the need to look in wooden furniture shops and leaf through Japanese prints in a desperate search for gifts which will appear to be thoughtful and appropriate. Many of Camden Passage's restaurants and cafes seem more fitting at this time of year as well. The Austrian cafe Kipferl feels a very comforting place to stop for coffee and cake, and a respite from shopping. The wooden panelling decor makes it feel like a ski-lodge where you can, for a short time, metaphorically remove your uncomfortable boots. There are interesting lunch options too. The Elk In The Woods is a popular brunch spot, and the inclusion of frikadeller (Danish meatballs), served with a hearty shot of some kind of spirit, is perfect for a winter lunch. Having a strong Scandinavian connection in my family, frikadeller are inextricably associated with Christmas for me. Islington-stalwart Frederick's may not be highly rated for its food, but it does have that white tablecloth comfort thing going on in a good way.

This year Camden Passage has been improved a great deal, partly by the excellent Coffee Works Project (although I'm not wild about the whole coffee in a glass thing), but mainly by the new Passage Sundays market stalls. There are several markets in Islington that are doing their best to make life better for us, but this one really does bring some quality producers and makes for a very pleasant foodie stroll on a Sunday. Firstly, the brilliant Hansen & Lydersen smoked salmon stall. This stuff is not cheap, but it is Christmas. And it is the best smoked salmon you can buy, juicy, moist and smoky, available either in whole sides, 100g packs, or handy Scandinavian-style open sandwiches to munch right away. Hansen & Lydersen do their smoking in a little hut off Stoke Newington Church St but were previously around in market-stall form only down in Maltby Street. A great addition. Then there is the bakery stall run by Elliots Cafe (the most excellent place just by Borough Market). If there is any better bread available in Islington than the white sourdough from this stall I have yet to try it. Really good bread is one of those things that really does improve a person's quality of life. I feel sorry for people who don't eat bread. There is a very nice stall run by the Wild Game Co selling, err, game, and a high-quality pie stall that also does scotch eggs and the like. I've never understood the mania for cupcakes that some adults have, but if you are one of those people then there are cupcakes too. If you need a pint after all that shopping then the pubs at either end of Camden Passage are fine, but you might feel a bit cannier if you ducked down a side street to the Charles Lamb or the Earl of Essex. It is Christmas after all.  



Passage Sundays
Camden Passage
London N1







The Elk In The Woods
37-39 Camden Passage
London N1 8EA
http://www.the-elk-in-the-woods.co.uk






Kipferl
20 Camden Passage
London N1 8ED
http://www.kipferl.co.uk

Because It's Worth It - Bistrot Bruno Loubet

The first time I walked into Bistrot Bruno Loubet, it was a Tuesday lunchtime, around noon. The man himself was in the kitchen, in his whites. A good sign. I had offered to "research" venues for a work Christmas lunch, and was nobly pounding the streets looking for a suitable place, perhaps sampling here and there as I went. They didn't have room for us for our lunch, but I decided to sit at the bar and order a little cheeky lunch of my own, while I was there. I am not the kind of person to whom solo dining comes naturally, but from the start I could not have felt more comfortable. Second good sign. Anyway I love sitting at the bar. Service always seems to be better because you can always attract someone's attention. Not wanting to overdo the whole treating-myself-for-no-reason thing, I skipped the tempting starters and stuck to a main course, with a glass of wine as a condiment. Choosing from the menu was agonising, but I plumped for a seafood cannelloni, and resolved to return many times. They brought me the bread, which is up there with the best restaurant bread I have ever eaten, the onion bread in particular. The good signs were piling up. Being a solo diner I got a whole basket of it to myself. The cannelloni was delicious, a great dish perfectly cooked, as they might say on Masterchef. Afterwards I had a coffee, which came with a little chocolate, and the bill came to less than £30, for what had felt like an utterly luxurious and stolen lunch.

Since then I have been back, both solo and accompanied, to sample the Hare Royale and other things I had missed on that first visit, and have never left disappointed. Recently the menu was overhauled, which gave me the excuse I needed to write a blog post about it. A dinner for four was arranged, and as expected, every dish was delicious, with the possible exception of an ever-so-slightly dry flourless chocolate cake. Wonderful bread as usual, incredible guinea-fowl Boudin Blanc in a small Garbure soup, braised oxtail, saddle of hare. (Sounds good, right? It is.) Mashed potato that is done in that proper way I never seem to manage at home. Tonka bean crème brûlée. I had been slightly nervous going in as I had raved about the place so much to my companions, who had never been before, but I shouldn’t have worried. The place is a banker. The good kind of banker.

I have no idea whether Bistrot Bruno Loubet has a Michelin star or not, and I don't care. I get the impression that the owners care much more about customers having an enjoyable time than they do about any Michelinigans. What I do know is that the value is outstanding. It is not a cheap restaurant, but for the quality of cooking, atmosphere, and service, I struggle to think of where you can get better value for money for this kind of meal. It is fancy and luxurious, but not at all stuffy, quite relaxed in atmosphere. It feels like the owners have really tried to make it the kind of place they would like to go to themselves. When you want a really nice, table-clothy kind of meal, without having to pay through the nose for it, and you don’t want to travel too far, this is the place. Or if you are just passing by yourself at lunchtime, you could always pop in and treat yourself. I won’t say "because you’re worth it". That would be cheesy. I’ll just say that Bistrot Bruno Loubet is.

Bistrot Bruno Loubet

St John’s Square

86-88 Clerkenwell Road

London EC1M 5RJ
http://www.bistrotbrunoloubet.com