Wonder at The Renwick Gallery, DC

Spur of the moment yesterday, I proclaimed that we were soon heading downtown for a family outing. It was warm, beautiful, and I've been dying to see the Wonder exhibit at The Renwick, part of the Smithsonian dedicated to American arts and crafts.

The Gallery has recently reopened after a multiyear renovation, and as part of the debut celebration asked nine contemporary American artists to contribute to Wonder, an immersive exhibit in which unlikely or unusual materials are used to create larger-than-life surprises and experiences. Each artist was given an entire gallery, and while you can't touch anything, you are encouraged to interact -laying on the floor and looking up, for example- and photograph.

It was a spectacular show! Truly magnificent and fascinating. Here's a sampling...

Weavings by Gabriel Dawe:

Can you imagine handling that much string, keeping it organized and creating such a stunning rainbow with it?

Hemlock tree rendered in reclaimed cedar by John Grade:

"To commemorate the Renwick’s reopening, Grade selected a hemlock tree in the Cascade Mountains east of Seattle that is approximately 150 years old–the same age as this building. His team created a full plaster cast of the tree (without harming it), then used the cast as a mold to build a new tree out of a half-million segments of reclaimed cedar. Hundreds of volunteers assisted Grade, hand carving each piece to match the contours of the original tree. After the exhibition closes,Middle Fork (Cascades) will be carried back to the hemlock’s location and left on the forest floor, where it will gradually return to the earth." -The Renwick

Spellbinding woven sculpture by Janet Echelman: "Echelman’s woven sculpture corresponds to a map of the energy released across the Pacific Ocean during the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, one of the most devastating natural disasters in recorded history. The event was so powerful it shifted the earth on its axis and shortened the day, March 11, 2011, by 1.8 millionths of a second, lending this work its title. Waves taller than the 100-foot length of this gallery ravaged the east coast of Japan, reminding us that what is wondrous can equally be dangerous." -The Renwick

Afterwards, with the White House just a stone's throw away, we wandered over to it, looked around and then, on our way back to the car, came upon the White House Historical Association's open house: the White House gingerbread house was on display, as well as a number of historical relics and photographs (I love that culinary-themed mantle), and there was a craft area and pastry demonstration too.

All in all, such a nice way to explore our city. And every bit of it was free. Bravo and thank you!

A microcosmic review of eating in London

I can't begin to give you a complete sense of eating in London, enormous and varied as its offerings are and as they're spread out over a vast territory. But, because we do love food, we did our best to eat well each day and largely succeeded.

We ate at a pub once, The Admiral Codrington, to give the boys the experience (which they loved; the chips were fab; fish blah), but otherwise stuck to London's many ethnic offerings, including Middle Eastern, Italian, Indian and casual French.

Maroush II & Beirut Express

Maroush, a chain of restaurants including multiple Maroush outposts and Beirut Express joints, serves really solid Lebanese food. We ate once at Chelsea's Beauchamp Place Maroush and once at the Beirut Express in Kensington. 
Their tabbouleh is some of the best I've ever had, the baba ghanouj is sublime, the hummus is delicious, and the stuffed vine leaves were lovely! We enjoyed the Maroush salad, falafel and shish taouk as well and everything made for great leftovers. 
I didn't think the chicken shawarma was as good as the rest nor did we like the way the moujaddarah was blended together.
The Beauchamp location has very little atmosphere and is spread across three or four rooms in an odd way. Where do you check in? Why can only some rooms serve alcohol? We sat near the kitchen, and the door that the waitstaff went through banged loudly every time someone entered/exited. We almost couldn't hear ourselves talk. 
Take-away here and at Beirut Express is a great option! Mezze and sandwich prices are very reasonable.

Franco Manca

Franco Manca, also a chain, is an artisanal pizzeria that uses slow-rising sourdough crust cooked in a wood-burning oven. We ate twice -once in, once take-away- at the South Kensington location and were totally pleased both times.

I particularly loved the courgette (zucchini), buffalo milk ricotta, basil, mozzarella and pecorino pie. Wow.The boys loved the margherita (bottom right), and Tom was very pleased with the home cured ham, mozzarella, buffalo ricotta and wild mushroom option (bottom left).

The crust was the perfect combination of chewy, airy and toothsome, and the slightly sourdough tang was a terrific addition to the overall flavor of the pies. Pizzas range from £4.50 - 7.00. 

courgette pizza

The River Cafe

For a belated anniversary celebration, Tom and I went to The River Cafe, an Italian restaurant that opened in 1987 and received a Michelin star ten years later. I've always heard about it though knew nothing specific, so we were surprised by everything. 

It's on the north bank of the Thames, in a renovated oil storage facility in Hammersmith. As you drive through the neighborhood, you absolutely do not expect to find a fine restaurant somewhere nearby. It's a fairly odd locale and you have to go behind a tall brick facade to enter the restaurant. 

Once inside, I was certain I'd happened onto a Miami Vice set inspired by an aquarium and owned by Wolfgang Puck. If a waiter had immediately brought me a Chinese Chicken Salad, I'd not have been surprised. I mean, there was a large clock being beamed onto a blue wall via projector. 

do you see what I mean?

All that time-warp weirdness aside, the service was marvelous, the place old-school in the best ways and not remotely snooty. You could order half-portions of pretty much any dish on the menu and smaller or larger pours of wine. I love flexibility like that!

We took full advantage of it by ordering a decent array of dishes: chargrilled squid with fresh red chili and rocket; tuna carpaccio with fennel, heirloom tomatoes and wild arugula; pappardelle with sausage, veal and liver sauce; lobster and basil risotto; some fish dish with anchovy sauce (I can remember no additional details, but it was great); the apricot-almond tart and a carafe of a gorgeous, crisp Fiano, one of my favorite Italian white wines.

The lobster risotto did not do it for me at all, but everything else was delicious, especially the pappardelle which Tom said might very well be the best pasta he's ever had anywhere. He is NOT prone to hyperbole, so take that very seriously.

Rococo Chocolates and La Cave à Fromage

A foodie friend suggested we treat ourselves at Rococo Chocolates should we pass a location, and damn if we didn't find ourselves in front of one whilst walking in Marylebone (a charming neighborhood full of great shops). I herded the boys inside spit-spot, and ten minutes later we emerged with a beautiful little box of dark chocolate-covered orange peel (one of my faves), milk and dark chocolate caramel "ravioli" and some chocolate lips. It's a pricey but absolutely lovely little place.

Yet another chain, La Cave à Fromage, is just what it sounds like: a cheese cave. And really, don't you want to go into a cave teeming with amazing cheeses? I do. Tom does. We did! The South Kensington location provided us the makings for excellent baguette-and-cheese picnic dinners; I highly recommend their stuff!

Dessert is everywhere

If you are a gelato fan, London is FULL of gelaterias. We tried four different ones: Scoop, Odonno's, Snowflake, a pop-up which closed while we were in town; and Amaretto. Amaretto had the loveliest presentation, Odonno's gets great reviews, but the boys and Tom agree that Scoop had the best gelato.

Borough Market is a fantastic foodie haven located under the elevated train tracks in Southwark. We ate lunch at a pasta stall where each of us had different pasta and sauces, cooked then and served hot, and also took some away to cook later. Afterwards, we walked around taking in the seemingly countless options: burgers, Egyptian street food, French bakeries, coffee stalls, seafood and meat purveyors... It's a fun, delicious place to visit.

one counter of one stall's dessert options

Rasa

Naturally, there are also several outposts of this Keralan restaurant. We ate at the Dering Street location and were very pleased with all we ordered: dosas, eggplant and cashew nut curry, two different chicken curries and paratha. The raita and assorted dipping sauces were fabulous. Wonderful!

Victoria & Albert Shoes exhibit, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben

The Victoria & Albert Shoes Exhibit: Pleasure and Pain

Monday, after a morning spent at Westminster Abbey and Borough Market, we took the boys to the Science Museum for some exploration. Near the front of the computer age exhibit floated half of Charles Babbage's brain. Oliver was transfixed. Babbage, as you may know, invented the first 'computer.'

Anyway, after a while at the Science Museum, Tom said he and the boys would stay on and then head to the Natural History Museum so, if I wanted, I could leave them and go to the Victoria & Albert, just across the street, for some alone time in the Shoes special exhibit. Um, yes. I hauled ass over there. 

I love shoes. You probably already know that. Fashion and shoes make my heart sing. I could literally shop for days and feel zero need to eat or drink. The artistry and dazzle in a beautiful pair of heels never ceases to make me gasp.

This show was one repeated gasp. I loved every bit of it and immediately purchased the exhibit book to take home. You entered a darkened room bedecked with lush purple velvet surrounding huge glass cases full of purple pedestals. It looked like a ritzy boudoir.

Atop each pedestal was perched a shoe or pair of shoes. The oldest was circa 500 and was a leather and gold leaf pair from Egypt. Outrageous slides with foot-long and curled toes; ancient leather moccasins; ludicrously tiny silk slippers for women with bound feet...  

There were towering geta, sandals worn by geisha or wealthy Japanese women or girls coming of age. These, called Raven, were the most stunning.

'Raven' geta

Stilettos ranging from the most basic to the most serious "fuck me" left me mouth agape in front of the cases. Some were so beautiful I can't imagine ever wearing them, lest stain or scuff mar their perfection. A pair of Louboutins -tragically, these are not featured in the exhibit book or online that I can find- were magical. Red feathers and silk and bows. The closest approximation is this:

There were go go boots and towering wedges, shoes that no one could strut and the purple Vivienne Westwood's in which Naomi Campbell famously fell from the catwalk.

Shoes: Pleasure and Pain runs through January, 2016, so if you are in London and enjoy fashion and/or shoes, GO! There is some great non-shoe fashion outside of the exhibit too.

Westminster Abbey and Big Ben

We also dragged the kids to Westminster Abbey, by way of an exterior tour of Parliament and Big Ben. "Look kids, Big Ben!"

big ben

parliament

I have to say that Big Ben really is beautiful. Twice we made it by on the hour, and it's wonderful to stop for a moment and listen to the deep bells chiming the time. 

Then on to Westminster and all the stained glass, graves and history therein. Newton! Kings! Kipling! Dickens! Queens! It's almost too much to see at some points- it's wildly ornate and old and packed to the gills, and behind every corner is yet another nook, chapel or vestibule. 

Spent the morning at the Science Museum and leave for the airport in an hour; boy are we spent. Great trip but it'll also be nice to be home!