Cooks – Dover England from Anthony Anello on Vimeo.

For the second time with in a week on the ship we were back in Dover, England. This time the weather was not so good. Kelsey and I walked around town a bit to find some lunch. At first we sat in the park and looked at the castle that hovers over the city. However, our growling stomachs and the weather took over. With the rain coming down we needed to find something quick. Earlier, we passed a bakery called Cooks. This place made pastries (sweets) but also a lot of little meat and cheese filled pastries. I loaded up on the meat and cheese and headed back to the ship. They were really good. Oh, but really grease. I could only eat half of everything. We also got a carrot cake cupcake for a little dessert. That was good too. Check out the video and you will see what kind of mess I made.

La Via Romana – Dover England from Anthony Anello on Vimeo.

It was a really nice afternoon in Dover England and for some reason there was no shuttle from the ship to town so we had to walk. It was a nice day out so it was ok. When we got to town we found a small pub and relaxed outside with a tall beer. The beer was good and on a slightly empty stomach I could kind of feel it. That just made the walk around Dover a little more fun. On our walk back from town Kelsey and I came upon an Italian restaurant. We figured why not.

Dover is a small town with few people around. We saw the same thing with our choice of restaurant, La Via Romana. That made us a little skeptical but we went for it. The meal was good, not great but good. The desert was a different story. Check out the video and it will explain it all.

I had the pleasure to visit another one of my yBike riders, Kevin, when I was in England. Kev is one of the most active riders for the whole project and takes his photography very seriously. He lives in Brighton England, a spectacular, quaint, British beach town. He met me at the train station with a small folding bike (a brompton) that I was to ride to the site of our interview. We decided to shoot the interview on the beach. The ride to the beach from the station took us down a long and winding hill through the center of town. As you looked off at the horizon you saw a fantastic illusion. The sea appeared to extend from the beach all the way up to eye level.

The interview went great and our next destination was food. Kev knew how much of a food guy I was and wanted to take me to Marrocco’s ice cream shop.

Hopping back on the bikes we began a 15 minute beach side ride out to the shop. We made a quick stop and picked up Kevin’s wife Sarah at her art shop. She makes these incredibly intricate yet quirky and fun necklaces. Then we headed out along the beach to a killer ice cream shop. After perusing the cold case I finally settled on some strawberry cheesecake ice cream. Rich and delicious just what I had hoped.

After the ice cream we took a leisurely ride back towards the main part of the beach. After a few photo stops we headed away from the beach and back into town. We had our minds set on some Thai food that Sarah and Kev claimed was excellent. I wasn’t leaving Brighton without finding out so onward we pressed. We arrived a few minutes later and locked the bikes up in front of the restaurant so we could watch them while we ate.

Not even a minute after we sat down people started investigating the yBike and poking around at it. It’s fascinating to watch how strangers marvel over the purple monster.

Turning my attention to the menu I got down to business. I started with a Thai iced and then worked into a roti with deep fried prawns and vegetables as an app. When it came to the table it was enormous but delicious.

After that I had duck and pork with curry sauce over jasmine rice. Absolutely delicious. And, I must say not what I expected from a Thai restaurant in England. The Roti was still sitting heavy in my stomach but the crispy duck and succulent pork was just begging to be devoured. So I trucked through cleaning my plate over every last drop of sauce and grain of rice.

Time had escaped us over the delicious cuisine and great conversation. I had to hustle up and get back to the station to make my train. One last pedal through some of the narrowest streets in town and we were back in front of the station. I relinquished my rental bike, said farewell to my hosts (yBike included) and headed for the platform. The trip back was comfortable and my full belly aided in my semi-conscious reverie recounting the wonders of Brighton and the friends I made in Sarah and Kevin. I hope to get back soon so we can create another food ride adventure together.

Marrocco’s
8 Kings Esplanade
Hove, BN3 2WA,United Kingdom
+44 1273 203764

Any trip to London is not complete without at least one fish and chips meal and one Indian meal. This trip, the haddock was fried at the Fryers Delight. And, a delight it was. Paying for Mayo and tarter sauce is never a delight. Why do they do that again?

Gandi’s provided the above plate of goodies. There is something about Indian food in London that always leaves a smile.

My friend Matt mandated I find and try the breakfast at Maria’s Market café. He claims the best in London. I woke up early on a Wed and found my way down to the Borough Market. On Thurs, Fri and Sat it is a bustling produce, meat and flower mélange where purveyors and customers buy and sell the weekends dinner and decorations. Wednesday however is a bit quieter. I slipped off the street and into the east entrance to the large hall. Walking down a row of caged, empty booths I started to wonder if I was in the right place. But about a fifty yards in I saw the red faced booth of Maria’s outpost. Behind the counter, Maria herself.

We struck up a conversation because I tld her the reason for my visit. She told me her best seller was the BCB bap-bubble and sqeek w/cheese and bacon on a roll(maria’s market cafe)

Maria’s Market Cafe
Borough Market, Stoney Street, London United KingdomSE1 9AA
Nearest tube station: London Bridge (276 yards)

As the wheels of my plane from Copenhagen squeaked the tarmac I pulled out the SAS in flight magazine from the seat back in front of me. Tray table properly stowed of course.

I flipped quickly through the glossy and stuck on a restaurant review for a place called St. Johns. An interview with the owner revealed a true English preparation of tip to tail cuisine.

I made it through customs, waited on the taxi cue and chit chatted with my 30-year veteran driver before I realized I arrived in Clerkenwell at my hotel. The Zetter is in north London and has been a desired destination of mine for 5 years now.

The English charm started as soon as I walked through the double sliding, modern glass doors. The hotel host checked me in and then reviewed with me the hotel map which contained bar and restaurant options. As I scanned the list the second dining recommendation popped out. St. Johns, a tip to tail English mainstay was but two blocks away.

As serendipity imposes, I had to find my way to this place. It was a late Monday but I made a go at it anyway. Let’s call it in the name of food. My first course was a.

My second a deliciously bloody

And my unintended third was a double dessert. First was and second a

After all of this, I have to say, I was not very impressed with the starter and main but I really enjoyed the dessert. But the point here is that the English love it and they pack in. So, no regrets on going, it just didn’t hold my palette and pupils at the focused and tight attention I was expecting from the hype.

St John
26 St. John St
London, EC1M 4AY, United Kingdom
+44 20 72510848

Yahoo! sponsored the twenty20 world cup of cricket. I am not going to get into how the game is played and what the difference is between regular cricket and twenty20. Learn on your own. But I will get into the snacks.

My friend and fellow Yahoo!, Andrew, invited me to a quarter final match between England and the West Indies. We had some rain. We had some crazy Pakastanies in the crowd making explosion sounds when planes flew overhead. We had a very close game, well not really but it felt close to me.

During one of the rain breaks Andrew and I ducked out early and grabbed some snacks. There is no official cricket game food. No peanuts and crackerjacks. Not hot dogs and knishes. What they do have are a wide array of pockets. Yes hot pockets but more like Jamaican beef patties on steroids. Of the wide array (meat, chicken, veggie) we settled on beef with stilton cheese. Of course we also topped up our beers. Sitting under the awning away from the rain, listening to the English accents recount the game thus far, devouring my pocket and sipping my lager gave me an honorary local feel. In the end England lost but our bellies were full.

I was looking for a quick hit one day in London and every pub and restaurant was either no longer serving or not yet serving. I walked past an Italian restaurant that had a small sandwich shop next to it. I walked a few blocks more before deciding to return and order a salami and cheese on a roll.

The english gentleman who made my sandwich had ancestry in northern Italy. We exchanged stories as he made my lunch. Amongst topics was the debate if we should put mayo on the sandwich and double up the salami with mortadella. He won both debates. Mayo but no mortadella.

I took my plate outside and sat in front of the shop taking in the view, savoring the sandwich and listening to two old time brits speak Italian to each other. I almost could have been in Fundi if I wasn’t in London.

I started my trip to Europe this morning. Well…really it was 2 mornings ago, I just have not slept yet. I flew out of JFK to London where I had an 11 hour layover before continuing on to Copenhagen. I arrived in London Heathrow Airport at 6am and flew through customs. I claimed my bag, checked in for my next flight and was ready to go back through security in under an hour. Rare for Heathrow but I am not complaining. On the non-complaining tip, I decided to make the best of my time and start the trip out right with a Full English Breakfast.

I augmented my sausage, salty ham, toast, sunnyside egg, beans, roasted tomate and mushroom with a hot latte. The breakfast hit the spot. It was a quick reminder how food is very different in other countries. The taste and texture can sometimes be surprising for something you eat all the time, say like ham. It is one of my favorite things about traveling. It lets you know your way is not the only way.