A Foodie's Guide to London

steak comes from, they will take the time to stop for a chat and they will genuinely appreciate your custom. Some are more than shops alone: they have a cafe or restaurant attached, they run courses, tasting evenings or foodie book clubs, they offer free local delivery or they’re active in the local community.
Some of the shops are well known and some you may never have heard of but I hope you get as excited about discovering them as I was. I should point

Coppa, Speak, Pancetta and Salame Milano. The cheese selection is no less impressive with Fontina, Pecorino, Toma and Tellagio lined up inside the glass counter. Sacks of loose beans and lentils are ready to be weighed out and there’s a small selection of fruit and vegetables, plus a counter full of fresh loaves supplied by Tichini and Exeter Street bakeries.
When I visited, Gabriella’s husband was busy creating his signature handmade pasta in the downstairs kitchen and this is also where the couple make fresh pasta sauces and sausages. For me, this is what makes

With a prime spot on chichi Hampstead High Street, it would seem unlikely that a decent bakery and café could fail to attract the paying public. But the locals have discerning taste and will accept nothing short of perfection on the coffee, bread and cake front. Consistently high quality is the key to earning the loyalty and repeat custom of residents around here and Gail’s is certainly consistent.
The Hampstead shop is the original branch and successive openings around town are testament to the quality products that are produced here. The bread has fired up the tastebuds of Londoners and Gail’s prides itself on its freshly baked loaves that take their inspiration from all over the world. I saw baguettes, French dark sourdough, spelt bread, white sourdough and mixed olive bread stacked up along the bread counter and these are all baked fresh every day. The preservative-free bread is hand-kneaded and slow-fermented to achieve the ultimate in flavour