Sometimes being a founder means stepping out of my comfort zone and embracing the fact that I may, occasionally, be required to do some content for the business. This summer I was tasked by my marketing team to give people a little bit more perspective into what I am currently enjoying.
So on a very hot August day (I think it was a balmy 37C) we set out to film some content around East London.
1. Breid Bakers
Our first stop was at Breid Bakers – a little bakery that is a thirty second walk from my home and where I’ve been buying my post-run cookie every morning for the past two years. Whilst they started as a sourdough specialist – they’ve expanded their range to include viennoiserie and other baked goods. I really do recommend stopping by this cute little sport in Bethnal Green and trying their Jalapeno or their Gochujang buns.
2. Vincenzo’s
I’ve been on a bit of a pizza bender recently – having pizza sometimes three or four times a week. But I’m not complaining – I run enough miles in a week to make up for the excess calories.
Vincenzo’s is one of those relatively new spots in Shoreditch that is taking advatage of the craze for NY style pizza slices – of which I am a big fan. This cute spot serves pizzas by the slice or in 16” pies. I tend to recommend the spanakopita – which is a spinach heavy slice.
The day we visited we had a slice of the vodka and the marinara (which was supposed to be for our vegan colleague!). Both highly recommended.
3. Dumbo
We walked past Dumbo – which is a French company serving up smash style burgers. Pretty decent spot if you’re out and about in Brick Lane. Their vegetarian burgers are supposedly also pretty fantastic – which means I’ll have to go back and try them
4. One Club Row
I am a huge fan of One Club Row – it’s the spot where I take a lot of my business contacts for lunch and people visiting me from abroad. I even took my mother there last October.
The way I would describe the restaurant is an elevated New York club menu (there seems to be a theme with my food choices). Over the times I’ve been, I have really enjoyed the Schnitzel (fantastic), the Burger (bad choice for business meetings…), and their House salad (a take on the traditional Ceasar, but really really really delicious).
Finally – I always try to finish off with the rice pudding, which along with a bread and butter pudding is one of my top desserts.
5. Paulie’s
Another NY style pizza spot that I tend to frequent in East London. This time around we didn’t want to have another slice of pizza (that would have been overkill…. Right?). We stopped by to have my second favourite thing on their menu: their cookie. It is the most amazing cookie in the world (at least to me) – oozing with chocolate chips, both white and dark chocolate. Topped off with sea salt flakes, and a really crunchy exterior.
I tend to pair it with the sommelier’s recommendation of the house milk. Which rounds off the creaminess like no other.
6. Libreria
To finish off our day – we stopped by a little bookshop I recently discovered called Libreria. Someone recommended it to me and I thought it was incredibly charming. They have a great selection of books – particularly focusing on minority and LGBT+ writers.
Bonus recommendation: The Things We Never Say.
I finished reading this book just around the time of filming this video. I had read Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge last year, as part of my ambition of reading all the Pulitzer price winning books, and fell in love with her writing.
This book is about the cumulative effect of the secrets we keep to ourselves across our lives – and the repercussions these have on our lives and that of those around us. She has a succinct way of writing about human relationships – and life in the New England coast. Highly recommended read (and fairly short one too.).
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