Alexina Anatole's list of Delicious Things
Plus new books & upcoming events (in London again, sorry), the best things I ate recently and an exciting upgrade to my maps.
Thanks so much for coming to read
! If you’re not in a position to become a paid subscriber you can support my work by helping it reach more people by sharing it (in the Substack app or to someone via WhatsApp or email or on any other social app), or even just commenting or tapping the heart button.Before we get into this week’s main content: an interview with
, I wanted to let you know a few things, including that is going to be selling baked goods at Finks this weekend.Here’s the menu:
- Cheese, Sesame & Spring Onion Scones (inspired by the legendary @pophamsbakery pastry)
- PBJ Blondies
- Halva, Dark Chocolate & Sesame Cookies
- Brown Sugar Vanilla Cake (which is vegan ! )
This is all to celebrate Rosie’s debut book In for Dinner.
📌 70 Mountgrove Road, London, United Kingdom N52LT
🚊 Finsbury Park / Arsenal
A few delicious things I ate recently
A super soft apple and cinnamon bun from bakery newcomer Zeit für Brot (The German Bakery) in Islington.
📌 1 Islington High St, London N1 9LQ
🚊 Angel
A chocolate chip cookie made by Dark Room Chocolate brought for me by Kirsty of Matilda Rose Bakes who joined the tasting at the weekend. (Thank you, Kirsty!)
Kirsty also brought me one from Dozen which I loved too, but the comparison showed me that I’m a thick cookie kinda girl, over a thinner sugar cookie. (Or maybe it was just because it didn’t have as much chocolate in it. 😜).
Exciting announcement regarding updates to my London 2025 Maps
Well, I think it’s exciting. ☺️
The London 2025 Ice Cream Map is due to drop this week as well as the first (but actually second 😅) update to the London 2025 Bread & Croissants Map and the London 2025 Sweet Baked Goods Map.
The news:
I’ve decided that I’ll be curating the maps further (this means deleting some places… 😬 ) and adding more notes and links from me. I hope that it’ll be even more unique and useful to you. The notes (“Don’t Miss:”) should all be in time for tomorrow’s update (though expect the evening!). The links might take me a little longer.
There are already notes on the places selling bread so you can see what type is most common there.
Whether you’ve already bought or are still to buy, the maps you purchase will be updated with new openings or information on the 1st of each month until the end of this year (after that, we’ll see!). In the meantime, that’s eight months to enjoy the continued curation of my years of many, many bakery visits! I think they’re a useful complement of my goal here in saving you time, money and stomach space, so that they only go on delicious things. ☺️
Classes at Honey & Co
In case you missed it (ICYMI), Honey & Co are now offering talks and classes in their space in Lambs Conduit Street. It’s a long list so here’s their Instagram post with the May line up:
It includes ceramics with the Honeys, Lino printing, fermentation and book talks.
🚆 Chancery Lane
A book on Bread & War
My dear friend
has spent all of her annual leave, a sabbatical and then some over the last few years visiting Ukraine and raising money. She’s spoken to countless people about the impact of the invasion and aggression on food and the result is her first book, already short-listed for an award, Bread & War. It’s out tomorrow. Felicity is a brilliant writer (see ) so if you’re curious about the personal impact of war on people and stories of resilience, then this will be one to read.If you want to know more about Felicity you can read my interview with her here:
Our next event!
At this stage all of the TNDT Substacker events, which are free or at cost - like the kitty for the chocolate tastings - are just for paid subscribers. A thank you for supporting my work here. 🙏🏻
Our next event will be a summer weekend picnic. You’re welcome to bring a guest or two. Everyone (or at least most people!) will bring food and something to sit on. You can bring something to share or just a sandwich to eat yourself - I’ll send some emails in advance to find out what works best. It can be a combination so that everyone is comfortable. It’ll probably be fine to bring kids too. (Maya actually came to Sunday’s tasting as my husband had completed a night shift at 5am, 15 minutes after Maya was up for the day. 🫠 I did check with everyone first if they minded!)
Some possible picnic dates for your feedback below!
Please feel free to elaborate as there’s no option for you to select multiple options nor for me to add more options! 🫠
You can elaborate by reply or by commenting here:
And now, to Alexina:
An Interview with Food & Recipe Writer Anatole
Alexina was a finalist on Masterchef a few years ago and managed to get herself a multi-part book deal following this. Her second book, Sweet, follows Bitter. I’m sure you can guess what’s coming. Though there might be another book in between. 🤫
Alexina writes a brilliant Substack called
and is on a mission to break down cooking into its simplest parts to make cooking and baking easier and more straightforward for everyone.She was kind enough to join us for a subscriber Substack event on Zoom. The main chat will remain private as it was an open conversation amongst all the guests, but earlier today I shared Alexina’s fascinating story of how she came to be where she is today here:
New food writer Alexina Anatole, in her own words
In advance of that interview I thought I’d send you this little video that was part of the TNDT Substacker live Zoom call from last month. Alexina kindly joined us to chat all things cooking and baking. So that we could all talk freely, we agreed I wouldn’t share the rest of the call, but it was so nice to have
And now for the interview:
What do you think is the story or stories that brought you to working in food?
The most enduring love affair of my life so far has been with food. I love the sensory experience of cooking and eating. I'm in love with how food brings people together. I love that it can open up different cultures to us and I'm also very interested in the ways that food can nourish and support our amazing bodies.
The thing is: I just wasn't born a naturally gifted cook. My younger brother Matthew rarely turns on the stove, but when he does come out of cooking hibernation he knocks it out of the park every single time. For obvious reasons I'm not thrilled about this (!!) but the reality is that it's taken me time to build up the skills that my brother seems to possess innately. But my greed seems to have trumped my ego, because I've never stopped cooking and I've never stopped learning about food. I love trying to unlock the secrets of good food and good cooking — to decode those techniques and elements that my brother seems to inherently grasp. I have spent a great deal of time paying attention to, honing and cultivating the best tricks and tips of the kitchen. I like sharing a great recipe, but what I like even better is sharing a principle or a technique that has the power to improve someone's cooking across the board. That’s why I really love the work I am doing over on my Substack newsletter,
, which decodes cooking, one small win at a time. Creating delicious food and sitting down to eat it with friends, family or even solo, is one of life’s greatest joys — and it’s a joy that I hope I can help everyone to access.What food memories from growing up have shaped you or stuck with you?
Most of my most nostalgic memories come from two locations: my grandparents' farm, and Paris, where I grew up. I will always remember barbecues and big pitchers of Pimms in the summer at my grandparents' farm, and picking blackberries to go into my grandmother's famous apple and blackberry pie, and helping her to make mince pies at Christmas. From Paris I have memories of brioche buns encrusted with pearl sugar, and making yoghurt pot cake with my mum, and my dad buying the most unbelievable tarts from the local patisserie.
What’s your most memorable meal and why?
One of my most memorable meals was when I asked a Palastinian friend to teach me more about his food culture. He took me to