Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Leon, the brownie farmer

I've heard lots of good things about Leon but I've never had a proper meal here though I’m not entirely sure it’s entirely me as they may be a little organic brown pilaf, falafel and worthy for my tastes. But no matter it’s a great place to pop into falafel and all.

I like the way they transform themselves throughout the day from breakfast bar to coffee shop to lively lunch place then über trendy bar and restaurant in the evening. Today I had some time to kill before a late appointment and I was severely parched as my refreshments at my previous appointment had gone awry so I thought a nice cup of tea would sort me out. It still sounds odd to think of me drinking tea, having only been a fairly recent convert to the way of the leaf. And I like tea at Leon's because I insist on the palest 'black' Earl Grey; they just give me a huge cup of hot water and a tea bag. So much easier! And they're happy to give me more hot water so I can have a second cup with another teabag dunk. I thought if sit down with my cup of tea and a slice of something nice and read – luxury!

I was hoping I could get one of their brownies. They do very good brownies, I like the way they wrap them with looking vintage labels and the chocolate brownie is made with Valrhona chocolate so it can’t be bad. I’ve also tasted the rather delectable lemon and ginger crunch which I forced myself to eat when my throat was sore. I’m sure I recall the medicinal properties of lemon and ginger on a poorly throat, or is that honey?

But clearly they’d been a rush on brownies so I thought I’d try the chocolate tart as an accompaniment to my tea. But my plan of reading was thwarted pretty much the moment I sat down as the lights which had been on ‘day mode’ were suddenly switched to ‘ambience’ and I was plunged into just enough murkiness to see and eat my tart but not to read by comfortably. Annoyingly! So that little avenue of pleasure was closed but I enjoyed the tea and the tart anyway. Leon would seem the perfect place to relax and read a book as long as you don’t turn up on the cusp of the evening shift when clearly books are banished in favour of lively conversation. Though actually what I did was write this post on my BlackBerry, well it's backlit - which is more than can be said for my book and if I can't read I might as well write!

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