July got in the way of my 50 Coffees with 50 People project. August too. One trip to Berlin, one new job, one trip to New York City. The halcyon days of networking and hanging out in June are, sadly, over. I’d like my time back, please. Please?
Let me back up and tell you what I’ve been doing…
Dining with Chris Pople at Som Saa in Hackney: I like Chris Pople and I like Som Saa. We talked about Chris’ London restaurant app — you should download it — and how certain Instagrammers are now charging for their Instagramming. Guys, I am totally doing this whole blogging thing totally wrong!!! The deep-fried seabass was a particular highlight of our meal. If you get to Som Saa before they open — which you should because they don’t take bookings and get crazy busy — check out the little industrial wine bar, Lonzo, across the road.
Scoffing free tacos at Wahaca in Soho with Jordi: I can’t say I’ve never won anything. I won free tacos at Wahaca! So did Jordi. So we conspired to meet. And the tacos were…not very nice. The tortillas fell apart in our hands. Also, they were purple. Purple? It was still a nice afternoon out — who doesn’t love strolling through Soho on a weekday when you don’t have an office to go to — but I wanted better tacos. Given the choice between free bad tacos and paid good tacos, go paid.
Running into Denise at Hix Oyster in Smithfield: I really love Hix Oyster & Chophouse. I don’t know who is in the kitchen, but they are really consistently awesome. I popped in on a weekday afternoon in an effort to get away from my laptop and who did I run into but Denise, The Wine Sleuth. Scrumpy Jack Oysters for the win! (Seriously, these things are delicious.) Denise invited me to join her table, where I met @CapeLondonWine and we drank a lot of his lovely wines.
Running into Chris on the corner in Clerkenwell and meeting up at Foxlow for a drink: It’s funny that I hadn’t seen Chris or Denise in more than a year and then all of a sudden, I start running into them in random places. I was on my way to Waitrose when I saw Chris and told him I’d meet him for a drink at Foxlow later. I like everything about Foxlow, a project from the guys that brought you Hawksmoor, except for their tiny and uncomfortable bar stools.
Analyzing the economy at Ohisama Sushi in Marylebone with Al and Rutton: I hadn’t debated whether markets are truly efficient in a while so I met up with my old b-school posse over sushi at Ohisama. This place is super small but very sweet. I thought everything was pretty excellent and would gladly go back for more. Rutton swears by this place and he is incredibly picky.
There’s actually a lot more but rather than bore you with one long post, I’m going to break this up a bit. More to come!
