Barrett Brothers 02077221131 on Englands Lane is a classic. Top meat, fish and cheese all served fast, fresh and with a smile. You can even ask for cooking tips and get a useful reply. I can get a little crowded on the weekends, so provision your meals early if you can. But it is a neighborhood place, so it is also nice enough to chat with people in line.

Picks for kid food: chicken drumsticks, chicken and apricot sausages, pork ribs, lamb burgers

I thought the 2nd piece AfterLight was the most exciting. The dancer seemed to swimming/floating in a magical container of light.  From the program:

Using Vaslav Nijinksy’s geometric drawings and paintings as a starting point, Russell Maliphant will create a brand new solo entitled AfterLight. Featuring Daniel Proietto [from Argentina] from the Russell Maliphant Company, lighting and sound design is from regular Maliphant collaborators Michael Hulls and Andy Cowton. The work has been developed in collaboration with designer Es Devlin and animation company onedotzero industries.

There always seems to be something interesting at Sadler’s Wells. They also have other venues in London.  I think Jump at the Peacock Theater from 3-21 November and Cirkus Cirkor 14-31 October both looks sort of kid friendly.

After the show we walked over to Moro Restaurant getting there about 10:15pm.  Moro is in the middle of Exmouth Market where there seem to be several other interesting restaurants to check-out as well.  The food, service and ambiance at Moro are top–no wonder it won the Observer best UK restuarant award.  By the time we sat down, the kitchen was out of fish :0 .  Between the four of us we had a good sample of the menu. The pork dish(Wood roasted pork with patatas pobres and churrasco sauce £18.50)  was prepared well, I would say a little strong on the garlic–and I love garlic. But the meat was tender and juicy. I had the lamb (Charcoal grilled lamb with slow cooked leeks in yoghurt and hot mint sauce £18.50) which was delicious. It was served with lentils and wood-roasted aurbergine and onions.   I think I had the best starter — Cecina with beetroot and almond and sherry vinegar sauce £8.50 . Although the Girolle mushroom and prawn arroz with alioli £8.50 was very tasty as well.

For deserts:  Yoghurt cake with pistachios and pomegranates £5.50 and Chocolate and apricot tart £5.50 . Not a crumb was left on either plate.

Moro very kindly shares information on their suppliers in case you want to stock up on ingredients or wines. Where do I get a wood-burning oven?

Moro has a recent cookbook out Moro East which looks like a great way to fill your flat and belly with the smells and tastes of something good.

If you go now, you will catch the end of the spring flowers and start to see the opening of the rose blooms. By early June, I guess?, the roses will be a flowing, flowering blanket of bright colors, bees and scents. It is really something not to be missed here in London. For sure, the english roses are among the greatest in the world.

Kids will love to run around the open spaces. There are many fountains, meandering paths and more than a few ducks. Why do kids love ducks so much? And yes, there are a few playgrounds to let them loose at. You should also bring a ball and some picnic-able stuff. You will be in close distant to the London Zoo as well.

We enjoyed a bottle of the Colin with Michelle and David this weekend.

It is great to try an independent producers wine. For more info about the wine and how to order if you want to keep your stock flowing this summer, check their new website here. Btw, I ordered the wine and get the shipment the next day even!

I like their teaser about champagne on the homepage: Champagne is not just a wine, it is a feast for the senses.

The first of the big horse races here in the UK is happening this weekend–the Grand National. The race goes off at 16:00 on the 4th of April. It is 4 miles and 4 furlongs of mayhem and racing excitment. Watch as the riders and maximum 40 horses try to make it through this incredibly difficult course. Won might win it this year?

Check out my google map of the grueling course below and you can see why this races knocks out some many riders and horses. Ok, so the race is not in London, but you can watch it any pub anywhere in London.

I am still not over the 2007 race–where I had the sure winner way out ahead of the field…who then fell on the 2nd to last fence. Silverbirch won at 33/1! Best of course the greatest and hometown hero is the legendary Redrum.

Aintree Steeplechase Course–Watch the brave and bold at 1600 on 4th April Grand National live from Liverpool

View Larger Map

Michal won spot in the gallery via the web contest that was run last year. It is a great program to help give talented artist some primo exposure. Saatchi is even generous enough to sell her piece without a commission.

The rest of the gallery has a lot to see as well ;0 .  There is currently a theme about artist from the middle east.  Kader Attia’s room with the praying figures made out of tin foil is really impressive.  To me is was a statement about the emptiness of prayer–but one might see other things in it. The sculpting of the foil is sublime (even if you half expect to see a potato inside).

I also like the “Hidden Victims” blurry piece by Halim Al-Karim down on the main floor. The images in this gallery can make one a little queasy as they flow in and out of focus. Some are very special lambda prints which is a stunning print process for digital work.

I also thought the oils by Ali Banisadr and especially his Land Of Black Gold was great stuff. The show runs through May 9, 2009.

Also check out the Saatchi website which has a lot of neato social media things on it..

We got off to a bad start actually. The first room had an art piece that was on the floor. Yeah, my son went straight for it like it was made out of cookie dough. Immediately I was admonished by the gallery monitor to “get the child off the installation as a matter of urgency.” Frankly it was made of rubber and was on the floor–so what did they expect? Or maybe my experience with whisking my kid off the soft foamy surface was part of the statement of this piece of art?

There is plenty of stuff to attract little hands and curious minds. The prostitutes of Tehran was intriguing.  And yes, the crocheted codpiece was immediately eye-catching. The giant bed was perhaps the most entertaining area for adults to see little kids wandering around within. The most popular was the old geezers in the auto-pilot wheelchairs. That is a great thing to see really.

So as far as art galleries go–it is an ok place to drag kids, but really they had more fun at the old reliable primrose hill playground. There were more than few delicate/dangerous things to grab/break so you will need to keep the kids in hand tighly. But, it was nice enough for us to get out though and see a few things in the art gallery (more about the Saatchi for adults here). And it is free entry…

yes, still playing around with the iphone camera–and yes it is still not that great a camera, but it geo tags and sends over the 3G (when I can get it). Photo of the Kite Flying was shot with the iphone and then processed with the polarize free iphone app. The original photo is a lot sharper, but the scrawl title is kinda cool. Anyway, it was a nice day out on the heath even if it was cold still when the sun got in behind the clouds. We certainly had the fleeting idea that winter was over finally.

Blanket with water-proof underside is very useful. A quick stop at M&S was great, but actually really expensive. Better to hit the Budgens on Haverstock Hill (near tube station) to load up on food/drinks.

The kids also really loved running around with the kite. Could be a good call to have one of those in the car boot for the sunny/windy day.  Example of good single line kites for kids here.
Earlier this week I shot this spring, pre-flowering shot of the magnolia trees down on Belsize Avenue below:

Hamstead Heath Playground

I just took a scan on the Ocado/Waitrose site and they seem to have a lot of offers as well this week. I guess the economic “downturn” is starting to show on the shelf.  Saving money in the shopping basket makes you feel like you did some real work also! They are advertising “tesco” price matching and in particular the deals on fresh juices look, ah , sweet.

Good deals at Morrisons:

• Tropicana orange juice 3 litres for £4
• Morrisions House brand Greek Style Yogurt 500ml for £0.88 (that is a big savings over the average £1.60 to £1.85 for yogurts. I ate this yogurt all last week and it is good, thick and with a little honey is a great way to start the day off!)
• Diet Coke 8 cans for £2 (might even stock up for the office)
• A nice enough fresh fish area — 6 king scallops for £3
• a lot of other random deals that saved us £10 on  £100 basket

A few things are about the same price as Ocado — Copella Juice, Fairy Liquid, deodorant. So I guess the trick here is to shop for the deals and find the house brands that are acceptable to you.