I’ve decided on my challenges for 27.
I’m pretty excited about this year – I think it’ll be a good one.

Building highlights of London

I’ve recently read Nairn’s London: a punchy and unapologetic view on the architecture of London in the 1960s. It’s a book of emotion over theory – in Ian Nairn’s own words, “a record of what has moved me between Uxbridge and Dagenham”. Full of sharp, pithy reviews, it showcases all of London’s highlights, including churches, markets, pubs, cinemas and stations.

This year will probably be the last I live in central London. So I’m going to tick off 27 of Nairn’s city highlights. As he published the book in the 1960s, most of the sites have disappeared or changed considerably. Nonetheless, I’m going to try and track down 27 of them.

I’ve constructed a fixed list. But as some of the sites are going to be hard to tick off, I’m going to swap things in and out as required.

1. French Ordinary Court
2. St James Palace
3. Red Lion, Duke of York St
4. The Economist Building
5. Law Courts, Strand
6. All Saints, Margaret St
7. Long bar, Henekeys, Holborn
8. Soane Museum
9. Chiswick House
10. Shepperton Village Square
11. St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, West Ferry Rd
12. The Gun, Coldharbour
13. Spiegelhalters, Mile End Rd
14. St Barnabas, Shacklewell Ln
15. Cutty Sark
16. Dulwich Art Gallery
17. St Michael, Poplar Walk
18. Red House, Bexleyheath
19. 39 Frognal
20. All Souls, Station Road
21. Harmondsworth Tithe Barn
22. Granada, Tooting
23. The Ritz
24. The Wellington
25. Westminster View
26. The Hoop and Grapes
27. Kingston Upon Thames Marketplace

Whilst tracking his down, I’m also going to have a go at constructing my own record of 27 buildings and spots that have moved me. Between Uxbridge and Dagenham.

27 Japanese Restaurants

Over the last few years, I’ve grown to love Japanese food. This year I’m going to try 27 different Japanese restaurants. I’m going to try for a mixture of proper restaurants, street food vendors and lunch takeaways.
I’m keeping this as an open list – there are so many places I want to try, but I’ve only got a limited budget, so will have to play it by ear.

27 Homemade Cocktails

I’ve worked with a number of booze brands over the years, which have provided the perfect excuse to try lots of different cocktails. But I’ve never had to make them. So this year, I’m going to learn how to make 27 cocktails – from the classics, through to some more obscure and new-age twists.
As with the Nairn’s London challenge, I’m going to try and stick to a list. But will inevitably stray due to circumstance.

1. Bloody Mary
2. Old Fashioned
3. Manhattan
4. Negroni
5. Margarita
6. Corpse Reviver #2
7. Black Russian
8. Martini
9. Tom Collins
10. Whiskey Sour
11. Singapore Sling
12. Sidecar
13. Algonquin
14. Cosmopolitan
15. Long Island Iced Tea
16. Brandy Alexander
17. Mojito
18. Daiquiri
19. White Lady
20. Zombie
21. Sazerac
22. Brooklyn
23. Aviation
24. French 75
25. Martinez
26. Vieux Carre
27. Gin Fizz

Challenge 26 is complete.
I really enjoyed this year.

The graves challenge got me all around the country, and beyond. I was particularly pleased to get to see BB King’s grave, at his museum in Indianola. This challenge has been a weird one to explain to co-workers. I’ve had a spectrum of reactions; from scared, to baffled, to bemused.

Here’s the completed list:

1. Arthur Conan Doyle
2. Edward Ardizzone
3. Isaac Newton
4. Oliver Postgate
5. Spike Milligan
6. Rudyard Kipling
7. Winston Churchill
8. Henry Tate
9. Charles Darwin
10. Emily Davison
11. Bert Jansch
12. Heath Robinson
13. Janis Joplin
14. Brian Epstein
15. Bill Bernbach
16. John Bonham
17. William Shakespeare
18. Amy Winehouse
19. Frank Pick
20. Ian Fleming
21. John Venn
22. BB King
23. Buster Keaton
24. John Peel
25. Robert Hooke
26. Christopher Wren

 
The recipes challenge was great fun.
It started well in June 2015, but I quickly forgot about it. I picked it up again in May 2016, and with a flurry of activity, managed to complete it with a few days to spare. You’ll be pleased to hear that I didn’t lose any fingers. And, as hoped, it helped me rediscover my love for cooking again. Highlights for me were the Spuntino steak tartare, and the Spring Chicken in a pot.

Full list of things cooked here:

1. Zucchini, Basil and Parmesan Salad, POLPO, Russell Norman
2. Spring chicken in a pot, BBC GoodFood
3. Fish Pie, St John (The Complete Nose to Tail)
4. Chicken Cacciatora, Delia’s Complete How to Cook
5. One-pan salmon with roast asparagus, BBC GoodFood
6. Chicken, Goats Cheese & Tomato bake, BBC GoodFood
7. One-pot Chicken and Chorizo, Nathan Outlaw
8. Roast Chicken and Lemon Bombay Potatoes, Jamie Oliver
9. Pickled Celery, Pitt Cue Co.
10. Mediterranean-style lamb chops, BBC GoodFood
11. Mighty mackerel salad, Jamie Oliver
12. Cheat’s pappardelle, Jamie Oliver
13. Chicken with thyme salad, Angela Hartnett
14. Steak tartare, Spuntino, Russell Norman
15. Roasted whitefish and leeks, Jamie Oliver
16. Super-speedy steamed salmon, Jamie Oliver
17. Tabbouleh salad, Delia Smith
18. Chicken with coconut and apricot, Nigel Slater
19. Rhubarb fool with lemongrass and lemonade, BBC GoodFood
20. Patrick Leigh Fermor’s moussaka, Rick Stein
21. Lemon drizzle traycake, Mary Berry
22. White chocolate and pistachio cream, Ferran Adria
23. Lamb Peka, Rick Stein
24. Chicken and chorizo jambalaya, BBC Goodfood
25. Lamb with Rosemary & Port and hasselback potatoes, Nigella Lawson
26. Smoked haddock, mustard and saffron, with deconstructed piccalilli, St John

The coffee shop challenge was fantastic. I’m so pleased I decided to do it. I found loads of great places – many of which were close to my flat. It helped that my job (at the time) promoted remote working – so it legitimised the hunt a little bit. Like the graves, I also managed to pick some up outside London: San Francisco, Edinburgh, New York.

Full list of coffee shops here:

1. Appestat, N1
2. Workshop Coffee Co., EC1
3. Dose EC1
4. Ozone, EC2
5. Origin, EC2
6. Relax, EC1
7. Saint Espresso, N1
8. Sightglass Coffee, CA94110
9. Four Barrel Coffee, CA94103
10. Slate Coffee, EC2A
11. Barbour and Parlour, E2
12. Climpson and Sons, E8
13. Workshop Coffee Co., W1U
14. Fuckoffee, SE1
15. BL-NK, EC2
16. White Mulberries, E1W
17. Association Coffee, EC3
18. Caravan, EC1
19. Notes, EC2
20. MacIntyre Coffee, EC1V
21. Fernandez and Wells, WC2H
22. Lowdown Coffee, EH2
23. Dept. of Coffee and Social Affairs, EC1N
24. Intelligentsia Coffee, CA90291
25. Two Hands Coffee, TX78758
26. Stumptown Coffee, NY10011

As ever, I’ve picked some photos that sum up my year the best. I got married in November, so this year’s pick was especially hard to choose – I very nearly ended up with all 26 from that one day. But looking back, the year has been jam packed with tons of brilliant days, and it wouldn’t be right to only pick from just one. One or two of the photos weren’t taken by me. But they had to be included.
So here you go.

Full album is here.

Recipe challenge finished with these two:

25. Lamb with Rosemary & Port and hasselback potatoes, Nigella Lawson

26. Smoked haddock, mustard and saffron, with deconstructed piccalilli, St John

17. Tabbouleh salad, Delia Smith

18. Chicken with coconut and apricot, Nigel Slater

19. Rhubarb fool with lemongrass and lemonade, BBC GoodFood

20. Patrick Leigh Fermor’s moussaka, Rick Stein

21. Lemon drizzle traycake, Mary Berry

22. White chocolate and pistachio cream, Ferran Adria

23. Lamb Peka, Rick Stein

24. Chicken and chorizo jambalaya, BBC Goodfood

14. Steak Tartare, Spuntino

15. Roasted Whitefish and Leeks, Jamie Oliver

16. Super-speedy Steamed Salmon, Jamie Oliver

One of the things that’s clear from this challenge is that I’m not the most skilled food photographer… Some of these dishes look horrendous…! But so far, they haven’t tasted too bad. So that’s something, I suppose.

#10. Mediterranean-style lamb chops, BBC GoodFood

#11. Mighty mackerel salad, Jamie Oliver

#12. Cheat’s pappardelle, Jamie Oliver

#13. Chicken with thyme salad, Angela Hartnett

Coffee Shop: Stumptown Coffee, Greenwich Village
Time: Wednesday mid-morning
Coffee beans: Stumptown own blend
Ordered: 2 x Cold brews

Handsome store. Parquet flooring edged by pretty tiles. Teak wood finishing across bar. Long building. Feels old and antiquey, like an old spice trader or bookseller. Circular tables down one side. School type seats. Books on high up shelves. Orb lighting held in place with nets. Lowercase blackboard menu. Students on laptops. Hipsters crowd. Sunglasses and converse. Sweet food on sale, including Donut plant goods and Mast chocolate. Great merch on sale. Cold brew is delicious and refreshing.

Coffee Shop: Two Hands Coffee, Rock Rose
Time: Friday midday
Coffee beans: Finca El Peten
Ordered: 2 x Drip coffees

Unfortunately not great. Very big space. But quite plasticky, like a new build. And a bit lacking in character – like a Starbucks or an All Bar One. Needs roughing up. Concrete floor. Hanging lights. High ceiling. Bare pine wood on back of bar. Wall murals share coffee quotes. Slight division of space where people work on laptops. Doubles as a licensed bar with real ale available. Pour over coffees looked pretty good. Food looks quite nice, albeit sugary. Juices also sounded good. Friendly staff. Two bean options for drip coffee, we went for the bolder. Unfortunately it tasted a little burnt.

Coffee Shop: Intelligentsia Coffee, Venice Beach
Time: Sunday afternoon
Coffee beans: Black Cat Project
Ordered: 1 x Espresso, 1 x Cold brew

Beautiful store. Perhaps the best yet. Approach from the road, via a green seating area. Concrete floors. Muted grey walls. Open air ducts. Industrial feel for the barista area. Shelving full of merchandise on either side of room. Standing spaces around bar. Tiered concrete seating at back, which makes the whole space feel much bigger. Seating pads for the steps. Wood and wire stools at various points. Hanging glass above makes the space feel two tiered.Very busy. Friendly staff at multiple serving points. Delicious food behind glass. Great music. Tasty coffee.

Coffee Shop: Dept. of Coffee and Social Affairs, Leather Lane
Time: Monday afternoon
Coffee beans: The Dark Horse, Ethiopia
Ordered: 1 x Americano

Open brick wall parts space into two. Wooden floors. Wooden stools. White walls. Clunkydoodle murals and framed art on walls. Smart looking serving counter. Delivery bike propped up by window. Delicious looking food in glass cabinet. Menu held up with bulldog clips. Cubby holes towards back, lit with fairy lights.Red hot chilli peppers playing on sound system. Friendly, helpful staff. Guided help on coffee beans with tasting notes. Coffee not great – a bit watery. But I’ve heard it’s usually good, so maybe just a dud cup.