Guru Event: Dinner and an Anchorman at the Exhibit Bar in Balham
Qype does London, February 27th 2010

From free cocktails and a comfortably private screening of a modern day comedy classic to our delicious post-movie din-din, last night’s " target="_blank">kind of a big deal.

I just came home from hosting a great Qype night out at Exhibit in Balham (much more on that to follow) to discover my blog made Lastminute.com’s top 50 list of blogs for February. Apparently the list is compiled by “tinkering” with Google page rank and a bunch of social media criteria. Neato.  As when I made Lastminute’s Top 10 London blogs, it’s good to see Londonist at the top of rankings! Killer stuff. Thanks Lastminute.com. Good night.

I don’t think I’ve managed to write anything about my time in New York and New Jersey over Christmas and New Years. Any bloggers reading this post should be able to sympathize with me. You know how it goes: work and other obligations demand so much time and the backlog of posts builds and builds with our poor little online labours of love suffering. Anyway, I had a brilliant time. It’s always good to see family and friends back in the States. As much as I love London, I miss living near the ocean on the Jersey Shore – and there’s nothing like New York for healthy dose of urban buzz!

This time round I found that, despite having lived in New York and New Jersey, there’s still plenty for me to discover. I finally got around to having a drink (or five) at Old Town on East 18th Street in Manhattan. Open since 1892, this gorgeous bar was perfect for catching up with a couple of friends from high school and uni. I’m ashamed to admit I’d never gone before. That go-round certainly won’t be my last.

Mozzarella day
Locally Sourced – Food Network blog, 26 February 2010

As generic as the term “mozzarella” may seem, what actually constitutes an authentic version of this milky white cheese is very precise. It must be made from the milk of water buffaloes and it must be produced in the southern Italian region of Campania. Mozzarellas that meet these specs bear the “Mozzarella di Bufala Campana” trademark. Because of the cheese’s unique geographic origins, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana has been granted Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status by the European Union.

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