I know I moan about London from time to time, especially when stuck on the Tube, but surely nowhere is ‘Cool Britannia’ more in evidence than in our capital city. London has been totally transformed since the 1980s and must be one of the top culinary destinations in the world for pure choice. You can eat or drink anything in the capital and the London Coffee Festival illustrated how London has become a haven for top quality coffee. From pop-up stalls to sit-down cafés, you can really enjoy your caffeine-in-a-cup like never before. There are clearly too many coffees to mention, but I particularly enjoyed the strong and delicious Neapolitan style from Kimbo and the delightfully smooth Vietnamese coffee from The Saigon Coffee Company.
It’s all in the taste, isn’t it?
The question: should we choose natural and organic food over other produce? The answer: maybe yes and maybe no. I’m putting on my fence-sitting hat here, as for me there cannot be a straight answer. Financial, lifestyle or health choices, including dietary restrictions, often dictate our eating and drinking habits, but for me, the taste of what I’m consuming is of paramount importance. I dislike mass-produced low quality produce, as much as anyone, but just because something is produced on a grand scale and may not qualify as "natural", due to its list of ingredients, does not automatically void it of nutritional or organoleptic worth. However, could the Natural Food Show component of the "Natural & Organic Products Europe Fair" at London’s Kensington Olympia this week convince me to change my eating and drinking habits? I went along to find out more.