Let them eat cake
Standing on the Piazza in Covent Garden on a Thursday, you can almost imagine hearing a voiceover of the hushed tones of David Attenborough: “And here we have the foodie. Watch how this hungry creature approaches the market, moving from stall to stall with swift agility, sampling, tasting, and then quickly moving on. Marvel as they feast on an enormous cupcake. Magnificent.”
In truth, the foodies who flock to Covent Garden’s Real Food Market are less hungry predators and more relaxed ‘grazers’, casually ambling around the area’s many food stalls. A little taste of that olive oil, some of those fat grilled scallops and, oh why not, a great hunk of that gluten-free cake over there please.
The market itself is bigger and better for 2009 and, every Thursday from 12.00pm into the evening, visitors can enjoy the likes of Label Anglais chicken wraps, hot mushroom and mozzarella sandwiches from Spore Boys, fresh foccacia, and to paraphrase Withnail and I, some of the finest cheeses available to humanity.
Little wonder then that so many local office workers choose to spend their lunchtime at the market, sniffing, sipping and sampling, before deciding on a delicious freshly-made lunchtime treat or perhaps taking home something special for their evening meal.
Last month also saw the UK debut of another exciting market stall, run by Britain’s best food bloggers. They’re food-obsessed writers who want to show that they can cut it in the kitchen too. Top bloggers such as Eat Like A Girl, Hollow Legs and Cheese & Biscuits will be cooking up a storm, plus there’s home-made delights and advice from A Slice of Cherry Pie, More Tea Vicar?, From a North London Kitchen and many more.
The Covent Garden Real Food Market trading times:
Every Thursday in July & August: 12.00pm – 9.00pm
Every Thursday in September: 12.00pm – 8.00pm
Food Bloggers Stalls date & times:
Every Thursday: June 4th to August 6th from 12.00pm