Spendthrift Shoestring

London: Cafes and Bakeries

Monday wasn't an incredibly ambitious day. After taking care of some work-related things at home I met Gwyn and we took the bus to Soho. We had lunch and coffee at Milk Bar (3 Bateman Street; no site yet), the newish off-shoot of Flat White (see yesterday's post). He treated me, which was completely unnecessary but nice, and he provided something of a Soho primer. Later we walked to Monmouth Coffee Company on Monmouth Street. It was far too crowded, though, so we went elsewhere for our afternoon coffee.

After saying goodbye to Gwyn, I ventured over to Nordic Bakery, where I bought steaming hot Finnish cinnamon buns (at £2 apiece) and took them to go. They were still hot when I arrived back at our apartment in Clerkenwell a good 45 minutes later. Had I been hungrier, I would have gone for some of the beautiful open-faced sandwiches on offer. Obviously, the space is starkly gorgeous. I'm happy to have found my first Nordic outpost in London.

Dinner was at St. John Restaurant, which was thrilling. I won't write about it now, as it's just down the road and I know I'll return for some deeper impressions.

Friday List: Currencies, Rome Grub, Brussels

Here are a few things that have been driving my attention over the last few days...

1. FXHistory. Curious about the Serbian dinar-Swiss franc exchange rate in August 2005? Check out FXHistory, an historical currency conversion table. It's the perfect tool for travel writers heading to their accountants. And for currency nerds, of which there must be a few. My only caveat: if you are paid for your labors in U.S. dollars, don't research old dollar-euro exchange tables and fantasize about the vacations you can no longer afford to take.

2. Annie Shapiro's tips on finding good, cheap food in Rome in the EuroCheapo Blog. I may be wrong, but I'm fairly sure that Annie took me to one of her favorite listed restaurants (Da Augusto in Trastevere) in 2006. It was scrummy. I'm annoyed at myself for not taking notes.

3. Brussels. I'm getting really excited to visit Brussels by Eurostar this summer. I'm especially looking forward to visiting the 'hood of Les Marolles/De Marollen—despite evidence that gentrification has been underway there for quite some time. Check the neighborhood out here, or get a more cinematic sense of it in this advertisement for Broederlijk Delen, a Flemish NGO. I was last in Brussels in 2002, and look forward to having the opportunity to explore it anew.

Nylon Thoughts: NYC's Rain; London's Cultures

Burgertastrophe! Today's rain has forced a change in dinner plans. Because it's no fun to eat your burger in the rain, Shake Shack is off the table.

Among this past weekend's reading materials, Bob Sherwood's article in the Financial Times on the London mayoral election stood out. It looks at how "London's racial diversity and its attendant tensions" may drive voting patterns on Thursday. Were I closer to the flame—in a few weeks, happily, I will be—I'd be able to submit the article to a finer analysis. As a shameless lover of truly cosmopolitan cities, however, I can say that London's diversity is pretty thrilling to me, and is more or less what's driving my excitement to be spending a few months there. A fascinating note in Sherwood's article: of the possibly 400,000 Poles in London, 65,000 were registered to vote locally by February. How will they vote? Apparently, nobody really knows.

Steamed Pork Belly Bun at Momofuku Ssäm!

I've never written about New York in this here blog because, well, I live in Gotham. Life for me here is more about banal instrumentality than it is about exotic adventures. I recognize that I may be selling New York short by having adopted this mindset. This acknowledged, dinner last night was so insanely satisfying that I can't not write about it.

It was my sister's half-birthday yesterday and she got ten friends together at Momofuku Ssäm bar for dinner. It was whole bucketload of fun, and I discovered a new culinary treasure along the way.

The steamed pork belly bun at Momofuku is elementally thrilling. Pork belly, hoisin, and pickled cucumber: meaty fat, savory sugar, acid ripple. What else will ever be necessary going forward? All the hype is deserved. When this or that friend told me months ago that I needed to get over to Momofuku to nab myself a pork belly bun, they were right.

The Bo Ssäm that followed was delicious and banquet-like and majestic, of course. But that steamed bun is why I'll return.

Nassau Layover Suggestion

The Bahamasair agent was efficient and friendly. After we checked our bags and obtained our fluorescent carry-on tags, we asked her about the airport food options.

"There's the cafeteria over there, and then in the parking lot there's Bahamian food. That's where we eat."

And also, it turns out, where Matt and I eat. On our first layover, I destroyed a massive Styrofoam carry-out container of curried chicken, rice and peas, and sides of spicy potato salad and cole slaw. The (financial) damage: $10. After our Eleuthera sojourn, we had another lengthy layover at the airport. We hit a stand for fish burgers for $5 apiece.  A few minutes later I tore into a curried mutton on a bed of rice and peas, with more spicy potato salad and a dense rectangle of macaroni and cheese. That, plus a jug of local desalinated water, cost $9. Matt's ribs were similarly delicious. With sides and water, his total came to $9 as well.

The real perk of a layover in Nassau is not the worn charms of a slightly dilapidated airport. It is in the vendor stalls in the airport parking lot.