We had arranged to meet at the Spitalfields Ottolenghi and I was a bit early because I was just that keen. Despite 95% of the tables being empty, I was seated at the bar as we didn’t have a reservation. Stella arrived and after a little bit of “don’t you know who she is!?” (just kidding she’s way too lovely for that) we managed to smile our way over to a table with the promise of being out in an hour. It was absolutely empty, so if anyone is planning a visit, 11am on a Wednesday seems a good quiet time.
Brioche… love… same thing. You can not make French toast with anything else. What you can do, however, is think of unique flavour combinations to soak, coat and serve it with. Star of anise is not one I would have chosen myself, and not one I’m usually particularly keen on. The almost savoury flavour of the spice with the sweetness of sugar and mixed berry and Muscat compote was not what I expected, but went down rather well. I was very pleasantly surprised, as I was absolutely starving and would have been really annoyed if I didn’t like it.
I had a piece of Stella’s Welsh rarebit which had a very breakfast like mustard thing going on. It’s effectively cheese on toast so there aren’t many ways this could have gone wrong. The toasted sourdougbread base was particularly fab though.
I‘m not sure what the lunch time menu entailed but the green beans from the deli looked divine.
I had them at Nopi, which is another restaurant run by Yotam Ottolengi, in Central London near Carnaby Street. Nopi is slightly more pricey and definitely requires a reservation. I was lucky enough to be taken there by my friend Selina for my birthday last year. The beans were great, but the service not so much. That was also the visit Selina fell head over heels in love with Nopi’s burrata – not one to be missed. Note for the ladies: take a bathroom visit for the ultimate selfie.
There aren’t many pictures of our Ottolenghi brunch as we were too engrossed in conversation about everything food and fiction, including all the juicy details on Stella’s latest book, ‘The Dish‘. ‘The Dish‘ is her third book following ‘Pear Shaped‘ and ‘Leftovers‘. I grabbed ‘Leftovers‘ on a whim around two years ago on Amazon without realising there was a prequel to this life changing literature. Modeled around many of Stella’s own food-loving London life experience, you’re bound to realise the main character, Susie, is your best friend. I was holidaying with my actual real-life best friend at the time and she was rather annoyed at the competition. Any The Small Slice readers from way back then may remember a previous post when I made this video of Susie’s pasta for ‘when you’ve just finished a book that you enjoyed and there’s a little hole in your life while you ponder what to read next.’
I recommend you read all three books with a scrap of paper as your bookmark to note all of the wonderful places the characters choose to lunch and dine. ‘Leftovers’ comes with some delicious pasta recipes in the back too.
I had such a great morning and swiftly reported to all my friends and family how lovely Stella is! And did I mention she called me awesome? Well she did. I also got a tiny inside scoop of the plot for her next novel which I now can not wait for! No spoilers here!
My visit to Ottolenghi was a new experience of delicious breakfast with fantastic company.
You can follow Stella socially on Twitter and Instagram but most importantly get over to Amazon or wherever you can get your mitts on copies of ‘Pear Shaped‘, ‘Leftovers‘ and ‘The Dish‘.
