Hugh Grant ruined it for the rest of us

Beyond the gritty streets and grey skies of London, a true cooking, travelling and chick flick paradise can be found. Behold Blenheim Crescent of Notting Hill. I know what you are thinking, what does chick flick have to do with anything? But ultimately, Hugh Grant ruined it for the rest of us when he supposedly was in this little movie called Notting Hill, wherein he worked at a bookshop in the London neighbourhood of the same name (or so I'm told).



I personally took a picture of the The Travel Bookshop for this lovely blog, and then realised that it was some sort of chick magnet, with girls and their Starbucks posing for pictures, hoping that a cute English bloke will flash them a smile. By the time this realisation struck, our bikes were surrounded with swoons and giggles.

Meanwhile our real calling was across the road, in a magical and mystical place where dream comes true or at least where the pages of cookbooks are brought to life: Books for Cooks. The concept of the store is the union of (cooking) philosophy and practise, or as one could argue cookbooks galore and a scrumptious cafe. So I basically drooled the moment I walked in the door.


Jussi and I fumbled around through pages from Eastern Asian cuisine to glossy pictures of brownies, biscuits, and cakes. It felt like that moment in movies where the lead is gaily bathing in greenbacks; except here I was an amateur cook in culinary heaven.

The mirage continued at the back with a cafe where the menu is from selected cookbooks. And just my luck, the featured cookbook for the day was the Ottolenghti cookbook, one of the latest in my collection. We dined on tasty mezzes, but couldn't keep our eyes of the array of cakes on display - white chocolate cheesecake, orange and blueberry, double chocolate all taunting us from beneath the skylight. We took them down with a dollop of yogurt and plate painted with chocolate. Yum.

It is safe to say that we'll be back. Jussi had to pull me out the front door, as I was now just as bad as the girls across the street - swooning.