where to — edinburgh + dublin
all the fish & chips, a very happening natural wine scene, plus a bit of glasgow + london
just got back from edinburgh, scotland with b’s parents and my mom for bryan’s doc *smiles and kisses you* film premiere (!) at edinburgh film festival. the city was madness with the film festival and fringe all happening simultaneously; you need a *booking* (resy) for every meal to bypass the crowds. i haven’t been to scotland (or ireland!), and the g in danielle g. adams is for gunn, my mom’s scottish maiden name, so it was cool to see the little gunn plaid at every little trinket shop.
edinburgh:
once i got over how to pronounce the actual word, edinburgh was beautiful in an old royal kind of way. though i must say as someone who loves colorful meals and overdoing the seasoning with all the condiments, the scottish are all about the beige foods *with a wee less seasoning.* there was a particular fish and chips (my go-to order over there as a pesce) that no matter how much dousing of vinegar, tartare, mayo, mustard + hot sauce, it still wouldn’t hold on to flavor. but to be fair, i think i should’ve opted for the scottish breakfast here. i also love that most restaurants offer a veggie scottish breakfast option as well, and even have a veggie version of the infamous haggis.
the best edinburgh bite was a vegan carrot cake, washed down with an oat cappuccino, at lowdown coffee, while my favo(u!)rite sip was a skin contact at bar zero zero, which reminded me of a grungier-euro bar bandini. kay’s bar was our fave pub off the beaten path with potent wasabi nuts.
glasgow:
we took the train for a quick day trip so didn’t get too much time here, but really loved my cappuccino at kaf coffee, olive oil cake at two eight seven, and the whole damn vibe at henry’s for an afternoon glass. glasgow felt a like a smaller, grittier edinburgh, with the queens park area feeling more like a brooklyn that i couldn’t quite find in edinburgh.
dublin:
okay okay i know that dublin’s not part of the uk, just northern ireland, but going to include it here with its neighbors. my mom lisa came for b’s film premiere and extended our trip to dublin. we’re always good travel buddies and were pounding the pavement averaging 24k steps per day, ending each eve at dublin’s natural wine bars. i read before our trip that dublin’s now up there with nyc, copenhagen + paris on their natural wine scene, so can fully confirm it’s true. both dublin (+ edinburgh!) had a ton of inexpensive by the glass options featuring almost exclusively european natural winemakers. we came straight from the airport in the rain to fish shop, chowing down on locally caught (+ best of the trip) fish & chips served with homemade tartar sauce with chunks of shallots, paired with a ten euro meinklang orange. we checked out many a wine bars while there, but frank’s and loose canon were our dublin faves.
i was having a pastry (or two…) a day and noticed just about all of the bakeries over there have a vegan carrot cake loaf in their pastry case. my best bite of dublin (and the whole damn trip!) was yet another vegan carrot cake, but this time topped with black sesame icing from the morning bakery (sister to loose canon).
we ended up taking quick day trips along the iconic green dart (great irish public transit) up and down the coast to howth, forty foot and malahide. my mom bet me forty euro to go swim in the (very cold, mind you) irish sea at balscadden bay beach in howth, and it was the best forty i’ve made. i couldn’t get over how cold it was out, even in the thick of august, so i went on a hunt for the best locally made jumper (sweater) shops and finally found The One™️ (included in the full guide of course).
london:
it was toooo easy to get to london while living in new york, but haven’t been back since (2018!), so my list is a bit outdated, but since we’re visiting all the uk spots, i figure i’ll give you my london go-tos at the time, like st. john, etc. in my full uk guide. i’ll spare you all the bathroom selfies clay, rachel and i took during afternoon tea at sketch.
la happenings + openings:
barr seco - the happy-socks-chain-y stretch of sunset blvd silverlake just got a cool spot again (whew). this mexico city inspired wine bar has kae running the natural wine list, with bites like tuna (+ mushroom!) tostadas and spicy marcona almonds in this very euro-feeling wine bar that spills out into the sidewalk.
pda + creature’s plants & coffee - eagle rock having a cute coffee moment with pda’s counter + creature’s plants & coffee in a green oasis
sqirl + zara collabed for a sustainable merch collection - i’m having the hardest time narrowing down what i want — currently between the long sleeve + the hoodie. my birthday’s coming up in september (size medium lol) sooo there’s that….
now playing:
close to you by gracie abrams
this song’s sucha little bop! seeing gracie at the greek in sept with rachel, so she’s been on repeat, but also timely here since she’s dating irish paul mescal
okay bye now, going to give all the chips a rest for a minute, and eat all the fresh green la produce with allll the seasoning.
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