DIY, reduce, resize, ReFashion for Summer Beach And Travel Outfits

Are you short of summer outfits? Do you have a pair of shorts with a stained front, or a tee shirt with a stained sleeve? A great idea for re-using an unwanted or unworn t--shirt. Cut off the arms to make a tank top. Use the spare fabric from the arms to make two circular or oval designs, such as leaves for the below the waist garment. Sew your double patterns neatly by hand or machine onto a pair of shorts, as they suggest. Alternatively sew onto a skirt, or even a plain dress. 

I would use the arm pieces to make pockets. You could have two front square or semi-circular pockets on shorts or a skirt. Or side pockets.The neatly seamed armhole hem could be made into a hairband, or the front or link piece of a belt made with a long piece of ribbon or a doubled ribbon, with or without interfacing. (Interfacing is a stiffening liner used on jackets and hems and belts. 

Security

Use the spare fabric for a bag for your phone. Make a pocket on a lanyard to hold a phone. Wear under your jacket.

Use the spare fabric for a second secure pocket sewn on, with zip closure, behind a slit pocket with a top flap. 

 Useful Websites

https://www.thredup.com/bg/p/how-to-diy-refashion

Buy or sell second hand

in Singapore

https://refash.sg/

World Chocolate Day - July 7th - What Makes A Good chocolate? Cadbury's or Hershey's?

 

This was my favourite dessert on Singapore Airlines.

If you are wondering where to go, today is world chocolate day.  A chocolate museum or a chocolate gift shop. If all else fails, your local supermarket or restaurant. Here's what to look for, when travelling or travelling to the shops. The famous British chocolates include Cadbury's, Fry's, Green & Black's. We have chocolate shops and chocolate museums and factory shops and tours.

My family once did a blind taste test. We bought bars of chocolate with different concentrations of chocolate. We expected that the higher the chocolate count, the more we would like the chocolate. This did not follow. The highest percentages of chocolate produced a bitter chocolate. However, my husband, who likes dark chocolate, preferred a slightly stronger percentage than I did. I like milk chocolate, sweet wines, and preferred about 10 percent less real chocolate than he did. What I learned was that when I was buying for him, for a birthday or an after dinner treat, or a holiday snack, it was not worthwhile paying the highest price for the bar of chocolate with the highest chocolate count.

Wikipedia says>

World Chocolate Day, sometimes referred to as International Chocolate Day,^[1][2] or just Chocolate Day,^[3] is an annual celebration of chocolate,^[4] occurring globally on July 7,^[5][4] which some suggest to be the anniversary of the introduction of chocolate to Europe in 1550.^[1][6] The observance of World Chocolate Day dates back to 2009.^[7]

Other Chocolate Day celebrations exist, such as National Chocolate Day in the United States on 28 October.^[8] The U.S. National Confectioners Association lists 13 September as International Chocolate Day,^[8] coinciding with the birth date of Milton S. Hershey (September 13, 1857).^[9][10][11] Ghana, the second largest producer of cocoa, celebrates Chocolate Day on February 14.^[12] In Latvia, World Chocolate Day is celebrated on July 11.^[13]

The U.S. National Confectioners Association lists four primary chocolate holidays on their calendar^[8] (Chocolate Day (July 7), two National Chocolate Days (October 28 and December 28), and International Chocolate Day (September 13)^[14]), in addition to variants such as National Milk Chocolate Day, National White Chocolate Day, and National Cocoa Day.

If you have a chocolate theme cup, now is the time to get it out.

If you miss it, you have another chocolate day in August. Come to think of it, every day is a chocolate day. The diet starts tomorrow.

Here is a DIY recipe for a chocolate dessert tart using Nairn's biscuits.

https://nairns.com/recipes/chocolate-oat-lime-tart

Chocolates

BELGIUM

Belgian chocolates 

FRANCE

Chocolate covered orange from France.

ITALY

Ferrero Rocher

SWISS

UK

Cadbury's

USA

Hersheys

Somewhere, some time ago, I read that American servicemen in a world war were in hot countries where their chocolate had melted, presumably in storage, in their kit bags, in their pockets and on their hands. 

I understand the problem. A similar thing happened to me. I recall in the USA coming back from a day skiing in the cold and finding that the chocolate left on hire car's back parcel shelf had all gone. Had it been eaten, stolen, by whom, or what? 

When I emptied the parcel shelf later at the hotel I discovered what had happened. The chocolate had melted and run out of the silver paper down to the corner or the parcel shelf. more oil or vegetable fat produces a chocolate which is more brittle but less likely to melt. 

To help the solidiers keep their treats edible, the chocolate manufacturers made a chocolate with a different melting point. I believe that less milk and fat and maybe more vegetable fat or oil, solves the problem. The result is a more brittle chocolate. With a waxy texture. The advertisement for one brand used to read, melts in the mouth, not in your hand. Hershey chocolate in the USA is a market leader, darker and brittle To my mind too waxy. Being British, I am partial to Cabbury's which I find smoother. 

Today a relative of mine took a chocolate from a box of chocolates. After biting and tasting it she declared, frowning, 'This is too sweet for me, too much sugar."

 I thought, if there's more sugar, what is there less of? 

I supposed it must be cocoa, providing the chocolatey flavour, made up for by fillings of orange, hazelnut, coffee, and other flavours. Or maybe it was less milk, more sugar.

The moral is, read the label.

If you are looking for a place for an interesting evening, a birthday or anniversary treat, consider a trip to a chocolate factory or an evening of chocolate tasting or chocolate making. Look for a speciality chocolate shop and ask for their list of events and ask to be put on their mailing list.

Interesting websites

See my posts on Kendal mint cake, chocolate day in August, chocolate festivals.

Useful Websites about KitKat
Yorkdale Shopping centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
https://www.madewithnestle.ca/kitkat-chocolatory
CANADA
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Yorkdale+Shopping+Centre
https://www.blogto.com/grocery/kitkat-chocolatory-yorkdale-toronto/
AUSTRALIA
https://www.kitkat.com.au/
https://www.kitkat.com.au/our-boutiques
JAPAN
https://matcha-jp.com/en/758

My Name, Angela, Other People's Names and What They Tell You

 

The Name Angela

My name, my first name, Angela, is Greek for messenger. Is this appropriate? I deliver messages at Toastmasters International club meetings. My messages are about languages and speaking good English. I also deliver other people's messages in the form of quotations.

My mother called me Angela because she thought I was angelic. She did not know that the world angel means messenger. She just thought it was a pretty name. When I introduce myself, I try to help people to remember my name by saying that I am angelic. Occasionally, especially if they say they have heard the name before, I mention the actress Angela Lansbury, who is not related to me, but, I say, "she does wonderful publicty for our name!' I also mention books I have written, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts. (That allows me to lead the conversation into my latest book on Improve your English, add alliteration.)

How To Remember Names

Telling people a story about your name helps people to remember your name. If you can hear the story about somebody else's name, that can help you remember it. When I am told that somebody's name means something long and complicated in a language I don't know, such as Sanskrit, or Tagalog, I must admit I soon forget it. 

What is the remedy? However, you can use the system of repeating somebody's name, or paraphrasing what they told you. If you can say their name three times during the course of the conversation, that helps implant it in your brain.

Name Meanings - Polyglots

On a Facebook Polyglots page I asked about name meanings in languages. Most people talked about their own name. One person suggested that my family name, Lansbury, could be from the German words for lance and store. Store in this context means put away and lock up, rather than the modern American sense of sell in a shop. So the combination of the two words, and German language likes unhyphenated compound words, means a weapons store, or a person who lived near one. 

Christmas and Roma Names

A Facebook friend said this of her name:

Chandani Natalia

My full romano nav(*) is Natalia Chandani Rashni e Jannaki e Phurdjaki e Panieske e Bannake -- Natalia (a European-compatible name, meaning "born around Christmas", which I was), Chandani (moonlight), Priestess/magic-worker (a high status title), [daughter] of Janna (matronym), of the [clan of] the Bridge of the Water of the Bann [a toponym, as Roma clan names often are].

(*) By tradition, Roma have at least two and often more names: a romano nav for use among our own people; a gàdjikano nav for use with outsiders; if they have been initiated to any magical role (as I have), a garado nav (secret name); and often also a bango nav, a kind of nickname.

Useful Glossary On Name Words

anonymous - without a name, usually because the author is unknown, or because an author does not want to reveal their identity (for example an anonymous letter)

matronym - mother's name

patronym - father's name

toponym - placenames, names derived from the location, where the person is living, or was living when born or before emigrating

Name Terms & Synonyms

AKA, also known as

Alias - name hiding your identity (foreign, related to the word alien)

Birth Name

Christian name, First name, Given Name, Hebrew Name

Clan Name, Family Name, Last Name, Second Name, Surname,

Maiden Name

Married name

Middle Name, Second Name

Nickname

Nom de plume (French for pen name)

Pen name (name used by author for writing articles and books)

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Given_names

Practical Travel Clothes: Anti Mosquito and Convertible Zip-Off and On Trousers

 

Tropical Countries

I was shocked when I went to Bali and found that they had mosquitos. We were warned to keep our bedroom doors shut We had mosquito nets over the bed.

In Singapore, insects are known in condos, even up in the air, on the 12th floor.

Singapore - Insect Attacks

Even in flats and condos up in the air, in Singapore, insects fly up there. When there's a spate of cases of dengue fever in your area, government inspectors come round to check you have no breeding places such as water in saucers under plant pots.  Insects could get carried in, are born and breed on plants on balconies, get everywhere. 

One person I knew caught dengue from mosquitos breeding in the gutters of brand new houses in the street where she was living. Another friend of mine came down with dengue after being bitten when she chased after a golf ball into long grass. She was wearing shorts. 

Maybe she would have fared better with convertible shorts.

Convertible shorts-trousers

Zip off trousers. Photo from Wikipedia. Author Mabalu.

Companies such as Craghoppers and others who specialize in outdoor wear, often have a line or two of 'convertible pants' which zip off trousers lower legs to make shorts. To me it is more important that you can zip on the lower leg. If you are out in the countryside after a morning in town. 

Also if you stop at a mosque or mausoleum, as we did on holiday in Cyprus. There they had a dress code of trousers for men (and long dresses over the knee for women).  No shorts allowed.

Dengue Fever Warning

Dengue alert in Singapore. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Dengue alert. Photo taken and cropped by Angela Lansbury.

Singapore Mosquitos

 Insects fly up high rise buildings to your residence in condos. Insects can get carried in. The little devils are born and breed on plants on balconies, get everywhere. 

If you get heat rash, and mistakenly think you must have been bitten, you rush to find protective clothing. 

Useful Websites

Craghoppers

https://www.craghoppers.com/womens/trousers/zip-off-trousers/

Learning and remembering names of people you meet when you travel

 "What is your good name?" was the charming question from an Asian friend-to-be.

My good name is Angela, which is Greek for messenger.

Biblical And Religious Names

Many names are from the original bible (which Christians called the Old Testament, after they added the New Testament. Abraham, David, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Paul, Saul, Solomon. For females, Rachel, Rebbekah, Sarah (which means princess - Hebrew version nowadays is Shoshana). Diminutives include Bekky, Rae, Ray, Sally 

Jewish, Hebrew and Yiddish

The Yiddish and Hebrew versions include Abram, Avram, Baruch, Moishe, Yitzak. Diminutives (short abbreviations) include Abe, Jo, Izzie, Mo, Solly.  The twelve tribes of Israel supply surnames such as Hart (a hart or deer). 

Cohen means priest. Anglicization results in variations such as Cahn, Kahn, Cohan and Cohn.

El and Ya (or Yahweh) are the two terms for God. Joel combines both. Eliza, Elizabeth. Daniel (God is my judge). Ezekiel. Michael (Micha-el). Jo-seph. Jo-anne.

From the New Testament, Mathew, Mark, Luke, John. 

Jesus (pronounced Hay Zeus in Venezuela) and Christus are Spanish. 

French

Marie (Mary in English) is given to many girls in France. Therefore a different name is added, such as Marie-Antoinette. Blanc means white, so LeBlanc is the white one, or white-haired, or pale skinned.

Greek

Peter is rock (English) and Petur.

Moslem

Mohammed is frequent amongst Moslems. David becomes Dawood, as a surname or family name. You can sometimes see that the names in Arabic are derived from Aramaic, similar to Hebrew. Amin is Arabic and means trustworthy, often used as part of a compound word.

Latin

Latin names include Caesar, Julius (from which we get the month of July), Marcus,

Danes & Scandinavian

Danes and Scandinavians might call themselves Christian as a first or middle name, such as Hans Christian Andersen.

Italian names

Male names end with o such as Mario, whilst the girls' names often end with a, such as Maria.

Iago is equivalent to John.

English Family Names

English names often end with son which means son of. For example, Johnson, Peterson, Robinson, Stevens, Williams.

Scandinavian Family Names

Scandinavian names often end with sen which means son of.

Scottish Family Names

The Scottish Fitz means son of. Fitzwilliam is son of William. The Irish O' means of. O'Connor means of Connor. Anderson means son of Anders.

Dutch Names

Dutch names might include von which means from.

German Names

German first names include Fritz, Hans, Herman, Wolf.

The family names include: Cassell, castle; Mann, meaning Mann, Kaufman meaning shopkeeper or seller, Klein meaning small, Muller meaning Miller.

Indian/Hindu/Sanskrit

Anand from Sanskrit means joy. Balakrishnan means child of Krishna. Kaur is a woman's name among Sikhs and others, used as a last name or the last part of a first name or personal name. Mohan means

Patel is Gujurati and means the head man of the village. Reddy is a caste from Southern India, and members of this cast are known for both farming and administration.

Shah, which I thought was King, is described as Emperor in Persian but a mere merchant in other groups. Of course, a merchant could be very rich and powerful (a bit like company director).

Sharma means joy or shelter.

Names from Gods include

Names of tribes include

Russian

Russian names include of or ov for a man, son of (place or person), whilst ova is daughter/female of a place or person. So Ivanov is son of Ivan.

Spanish Names

Spanish names, like French, are often taken from the Saint's Day, which is the birthday of the child being names.  Popular names include Teresa. José is the name Joseph in English (or vice-versa) and if your surname is Fidel that means faithful.

Rude Names

Some foreign names sound rude in English. It would be rude to draw attention to it. However, I must, in case you wonder why others are laughing, from embarrassment, when you are not. Cock means a part of the male anatomy in English. It is a popular surname in The Netherlands, because it means Cook in Dutch. 

The Chinese surname Kok is frequently seen or heard.

Some other customs you might come across which could confuse you. You may need to ask questions to clarify. In the UK in previous generations it was standard for a woman to take the man's family name upon marriage. Amongst the upper classes, when both families were prominent and well-known, a name could be hyphenated. Later with the advent of TV and media celebrities, women who took their husband's name might retain their own name by which they were already well known. For example, tennis player Billy Jean-King. 

In Spain the woman's family name is often retained as a middle name. No hyphen.

Chinese Names

Shan meaning mountain is a common girl's name. Shan Shan is a plural. Mountains.

Mei means beautiful.

Japanese

Ko means a female, a girl, a daughter. Hence names such Akiko, Yoko, Yumiko. 

Travel Tip

To learn somebody else's name, or impress yours on their mind so they don't forget you, repeat the name three times.

Useful Websites

https://www.momjunction.com/articles/popular-indian-last-names-for-your-baby_00334734/

Practical Travel clothes with Pockets: dresses, jackets, biker vests, and mosquito barriers, convertable trousers

 

Angela Lansbury wearing a navy blue Craghoppers dress with four pockets. Photo by Trevor Sharot.

Craghoppers Dress - What Is So Special about it?

A Craghoppers dress - perfect. I already have their shirts which I wore every day on a hiking holiday. The pockets securely fasten so precious possessions don't drop out. You don't want to go back over a five hour trail to look for your pen. Nor do you want to slide down a slippery slope trying to retrieve your designer sunglasses. Secure pockets are essential for secure belongings plus peace of mind - you know nothing could have dropped out.

I had wanted a dress from pickpocket proof clothing, but their colours are sand or khaki and I am into blue. Beside they are beyond my budget. And the dresses and skirts are short, above the knee.

Imagine my delight at discovering a Craghoppers dress, in navy blue. At a reduced price.

Advantages of Craghoppers and Nosilife

Nosilife is a brand name for insect proof clothing. It has a fine weave. Handy for hiking. 

But not only for hiking. Good for daytime. Outdoors. Eating out. Picnics. Kerbside cafes. 

Anti mosquito and midges, I want longer skirts and long sleeves. This navy Craghoppers dress had the fashionable tab but it doesn't lengthen the sleeve much. Only an inch or two. Not to the wrist. 

I can't add the lower sleeve as I don't have matching fabric. I can wear it with one of their blouses as a jacket.

Buying Replacement Belts

You want a belt the right colour if matching the fabric colour. Alternatively black or white or multi-colour, matching your shoes and necklace or hat. The fabric should match if using fabric. Or the style, matt rather than vivid shiny satin. For casual countryside or daytime wear, elastic is useful. Plaited. For evening, or about town, a smarter belt, a statement buckle.

DIY Belts

If you need a belt in a hurry, you can use a piece of ribbon. A tied ribbon can look pretty.

If you have a slippery fabric, it is likely to slide loose. The remedy could be a double knot. Alternatively, add a brooch with a secure rotating grip on the pin. Or some kind of two hole gripper. 

To make a firm belt, you need two pieces of ribbon for the front and the back, with interfacing (thicker, stiffer fabric for lining) cut to length. Then add a buckle, unless you want to tie the belt. 

Short Sleeve Options

Like the tab, adding a blouse acting as a jacket still gives me the short sleeve option. The jacket would be, removable at mealtimes, unless I want to keep it on because I am sitting in air conditioning, or the fresh air fiends insist on eating outdoors. A blouse worn as a jacket is less bulky and heavy, sleeker lines. 

 I love Craghoppers tops and didn't know they made dresses.

Buying On eBay

I bought this Craghoppers dress  on ebay. It was sold without the belt. The seller pointed out that there was no belt. As soon as I put it on I found the sewn in loops for a belt. But I found an old belt which had been sitting at my home, abandoned, stored, patiently waiting for a dress.

When I went back to the seller's description, I saw that she drew attention to the fact that it was without a belt. Reliable, honest seller.

Wider belts are made with concealed zip pockets at the back. 

I have also seen pockets suspended from a belt. 

Clothes for restaurant wait staff have wide from pockets with zips for collecting cash tips.  

Useful Websites (alphabetically)

Craghoppers (Nosilife, anti-insect)

ebay

clever travel companion

https://www.clevertravelcompanion.com/collections/frontpage/products/pickpocket-proof-t-shirt-dress-with-secret-zipper-pockets

Black, (or white with a navy stripe - no good for me as I am lopsided from a broken collar bone in a RTA, knocked down by a car in Corsica) largest size 3X was sold out but 2X was available, at about 50 pounds sterling

https://www.clevertravelcompanion.com/collections/frontpage/products/pickpocket-proof-t-shirt-dress-with-secret-zipper-pockets

Royal Robbins dress with concealed zipped pocket inseam, another dress reversing back to front to change the neckline, about 100 Euros

https://www.royalrobbins.com/eu/en-gb/women/dresses-skirts/dresses/bergen-dress?v=Y326004%3a%3a794691925123

Pacsafe dark or pink bag

https://pacsafe.co.uk/collections/new-arrivals/products/pacsafe-go-anti-theft-tote-bag

Scottevest Quest 

The Scottevest  Daisy dress is 119 US dollars. The dress is short-sleeved, has 8 pockets, one whose measurements look large enough for my Samsung phone (but without the bulky case?) and colours are plum, navy and black.  

I did a cost conversion  on Monday  July 7th 2022 and the website I selected gave me just over ninety eight British pounds sterling. About 114 Euros. Maybe postage is extra.

A video of the Daisy dress:

https://www.scottevest.com/products/daisy-dress#read_reviews

Their other two dresses have four pockets and cost more. However, one has long sleeves. Dorothy dress 129 US dollars, short sleeve V neck.

https://wise.com/gb/currency-converter/usd-to-gbp-rate?amount=119

Some websites offer you a discount or free postage on your first order, or free postage if you order more than a certain price.

https://www.scottevest.com/products/daisy-dress?variant=42650868089047#minicart=open

I am putting this on my wishlist for Christmas or a birthday.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhochman/2015/04/21/best-pickpocket-proof-clothing-for-the-serious-traveler/?sh=5d4527e54aa1

Motorcycle biker vest in black leather, no sleeves, pockets>

https://www.ebay.com/itm/322283605056

From 28 dollars. Other sellers have similar jackets.

American sellers have jackets with pockets for 'concealed carry' (meaning guns) which presumably have large, strong pockets. Brands include Anarchy, Ard, Buka.

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Villa Bianca, Beautiful Restaurant in Happy Hampstead Clean, White and Bright, with Fast, Friendly Service

 

Villa Bianca exterior. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Villa Bianca 

Villa Bianca is a popular though pricey Italian restaurant in happy Hampstead.

White Decor

This clean white restaurant is one of the whitest and cleanest I have seen. Bianca is Italian for white.

Two Sittings

They were fully booked for the eight o'clock sitting on a Saturday night so we had to settle for 6 pm - and agree to be finished before 8 pm. That suited the hosts of the evening who had a baby. The main menu does not have the desserts but I always look at desserts first to decide whether I want to leave room for dessert and forego the starter. I also save time on occasions like this when either the restaurant or the dinner hosts might want us to dash off without delay. If I already know what I want for dessert I can whisper my order to the waiter or order instantly without waiting for the menu to appear and delay everybody by reading it and discussing it. I already know from this dessert menu that I want the strudel and when I tell the others we agree to opt for dessert instead of starters.

Extensive Menu at Villa Bianca. Dessert menu. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Starters

I cannot comment on the starters. Only to say that there were several and shellfish was prominent. I am allergic to shellfish. 

We all went without a starter, which saved time as well as money and left room for dessert. 

Meanwhile, the restaurant provided nibbles of a delicious tiny, one bite size spinach mille feuille. Also bread sticks. 

Bread Sticks

The bread sticks were a hit with the baby. Easy to handle, hold, wave about, hand to mother, and grab back, and chew on with five tiny teeth. Entertainment for all.

Toilets

Time to kill and fill, while waiting for the main course. A chance to locate the toilet, before drinks make me too tired and wobbly to mount the stairs. Yes, the toilets are upstairs.

The stairs have a rail on one side - that's the third restaurant I've visited recently with only one rail. A very elegant rail.

Upstairs was another dining room with a pianist, at what looks like a small grand piano - and a small balcony. 

And the toilets? Must be down a couple of steps. I'm fine with a couple more steps. But where do wheelchair users go?

The thickest small towels, folded for each person. The two cubicles were so clean I felt that you could put your handbag on the floor. 

Back to the table with its white cloth to chat whilst waiting for the main courses.

Main courses

Main course mushrooms and pasta. Vegetarian option. Also kosher. Photo by Angela Lansbury.  

The menu was not the same as on the website. My husband thought that was good because it showed that the chef changed the menu. I thought that the website should have been kept up to date, as I had saved time by reading the website menu in advance, and had chosen chicken in creamy mushroom sauce and was disappointed not to find it. However, i got to try the mushrooms. Good texture and great flavour.

My main course was poussin. Poussin means young chicken. I think that I speak fluent French. However, I somehow thought that poussin was a different kind of fowl, a cross between a quail and a chicken. I was wrong. It's just chicken. Very young chicken. So you get a whole one. Sometimes called spring chicken. 

I am a bit quiet in the conversation. I am thinking about whether it is healthier and tastier to eat young food (veal) (and I now realize poussin). One's first thought might be that an animal should be allowed as many years of life as possible. That somehow a baby anything, cow or bird, is cute, so it is more unkind to kill it than an old animal nearer the end of its life, spared getting old. I am inclined to the view that it is better to have circumcision early (at 8 days, Jewish style, rather than 8 years, Moslem style when the child might fear or remember it, worst of all as an adult, unless an adult has fortitude and a stoic philosophy). The diners ask the waiter about the source of the veal. Is it banned in the UK, imported from overseas? 

And what of abortion? Best to have contraception - although Catholics used to ban that, which inadvertently, as so often happens, results in greater distress to the mother and potential infant by making the cut off point later. Better to have abortion than a child killed at birth, like in India, and sometimes other countries. Certainly less strain on the mother's body.

The diners are not so bothered as to refuse to eat or order the veal. Go with the flow. The law-makers have made the rules. Here is the food. Lions don't worry about their lunch or dinner. They just eat. 

Veal in Villa Bianca Restaurant, Hampstead, London. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Two others chose the veal, which came as a cutlet. Almost thick as a fillet steak, and soft to cut and eat.

 Another diner chose the pasta with mushrooms. With some fiddling around, I could have constructed veal with mushrooms, or asked for it, since the kitchen had veal and the mushrooms in a cream sauce. My plate ping pong of main courses was good enough to give me a taste of the veal and mushrooms as well as my poussin, which was good enough, although two of us agreed it was a little dry and unexciting.

 You had to pay extra for potatoes. Mash or saute or another kind. The saute potatoes were cooked with the skins on. Not my preference. My husband says that is how they should be done Healthier. (And quicker.)

Dessert

Desserts included tiramisu, strudel, chocolate pudding, ice creams and sorbets.

One of our group had the tiramisu. 

Ice Cream

My favourite of the desserts was the scoop of hazelnut ice cream. It comes with an upside down cone on top. 

Strudel at Villa Bianca, London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Strudel

I also shared the strudel. First bite was perfect, pistacchio nut. (The Italian spelling is with a double c. The English spelling is often with a single c.) 

Then on to the apple. My final verdict was that the strudel was tasty, but not much better than my favourite place for desserts, B & K back in Hatch End, NW London. 

Coffee and Biscuits

My husband ordered an espresso coffee. In Starbucks he orders a double espresso, which in Italian is doppio espresso (can panne - with milk or cream). I get to finish the last drop with the milk, which he does not want much of. However, he felt that in an Italian restaurant it would be more correct to have a single espresso without the milk. 

So the coffee was correctly minuscule (that is the way espresso is served, small size and strong to revive you after over-eating at your meal). But the way it was served was good - with not one but two thick concave biscuits. We broke them in half so each of the four of us could have a mouthful. The biscuits were hard and crunchy.

The biscuits were the final good note. As Shakespeare said: All's well that ends well.

To conclude, the decor here is top notch, at top prices. Definitely a great place for a celebration, or a regular treat.

Service

The service was great. Attentive. Friendly. Fast. All in all, an excellent evening.

We finished in time.

An early sitting gives you time to go home and talk on the light summer evenings. But the full restaurant at 8 pm had more of an atmosphere, a buzz of excitement.

The pianist upstairs played loudly. But you could hardly hear him downstairs. All I could hear was just a pleasant murmur of animated conversation. 

As we left, we looked behind at the pretty flower displays in front of the windows. Above was the balcony with a table for two, just the two. Romeo and Juliet. Romantic. 

Italian restaurants are famous for being family friendly. It's part of the Italian culture.

Practical Information

Villa Bianca

1 Perrins Court

London NW3 1OS

tel 020 7435 3131

contact@villabiancagroup.com

www.villabiancagroup.com

Also on their business card

Piccola, 33 Heath Street, NW3 6TR

The Fish Cafe, 71 Hampstead Heath High Street NW3 IQP

The Coffee Cup, 71 Hampstead High Street

Connubio, 229 Muswell Hill

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