TWO FOR JOY

Photos: Laura Sanz

Cuando viví en Amsterdam la cultura del café aun no estaba muy presente. Aparte de Espressofabriek y la pop up store de Stumptown Coffee que abrieron en la agencia Sid Lee, no había muchos más sitios de referencia de esta bebida (entre estos sitios no incluyo cadenas como Coffee Company). Pero el pasado noviembre volví unos días de visita y para mi sorpresa, la ciudad ha cambiado un montón con la apertura de bares o tiendas que antes no existían. Uno de esos sitios es Two For Joy, un precioso espresso bar con dos locales en el centro de Amsterdam (las fotos son de Haarlemmerdijk).

Un sitio genial para disfrutar de una conversación, leer un libro o trabajar disfrutando de un buen café. Y para los que quieran tomarlo en casa, también venden sus propios blends.

Parece que poco a poco se van extendiendo y aparte de sus dos locales, su café puede encontrarse en tiendas como COTTONCAKE, junto al mercado de Albert Cuyp (una tienda con ropa y comida genial, por cierto!)

When I lived in Amsterdam, the coffee culture wasn't very extended. Apart from Espressofabriek and the Stumptown Coffee pop up store settled at the agency Sid Lee, there weren't so many more points of reference for this drink (and I don't include chains such as Coffee Company). But the past November I went back to visit a friend and, lucky me, the city has changed a lot and lot of nice shops and bars have opened ever since. One of these places is Two For Joy, a beautiful espresso bar with two locations in the center of Amsterdam (the photos are taken at the one of Haarlemmerdijk).

It's the perfect place for a conversation, reading a book or working while enjoying a very good coffee. For those who want to have it at home, they also sell their own blends.

It seems that they are spreading and apart from their two bars, their beans can also be found at stores such as COTTONCAKE, next to the Albert Cuyp market (a very recommended boutique, by the way! Their clothes and food are great!)

MY FAVOURITE COOK BLOGS

Todo el que me conoce sabe que soy una auténtica apasionada de la comida (no hay más que echar un vistazo a mi Instagram o a mis boards en Pinterest) y gran parte del tiempo que paso delante del ordenador se basa en ir de blog en blog y de web en web descubriendo nuevas recetas y sitios nuevos donde comer.

Estos son algunos de los blogs que visito diariamente, no solo porque las recetas que he probado son deliciosas, si no por la belleza de sus fotos.

Everyone who knows me a bit knows that I am a real food lover (just take a look at my Instagram pictures or my Pinterest boards) and most of the time I spent in front of my laptop is based on going from one blog to another discovering new recipes or new places to eat.

These are some of the blogs I daily visit, not only because the recipes that I've tried are delicious, but also because their photos are really beautiful.

101 cookbooks. Tras comprobar que tenía ya 100 libros de cocina, la autora de este blog decidió empezar a cocinar sus propias creaciones y a publicarlas en este blog. Desde entonces, ya se ha situado varias veces en el top ten de blogs de cocina anuales y su libro de comida ha sido bestseller.

101 cookbooks. After realizing that she already owned 100 cookbooks, the author decided to start cooking her own recipes and publish them on her blog. She's been many times on the food blogs top ten ever since and her own cookbook has been a bestseller.

Food and cook. Uno de los pocos blogs de recetas en español que sigo. Sus fotos transportan a paisajes como los de la campiña inglesa y aunque aun no he tenido oportunidad de probar en casa ninguna de sus recetas, son un placer para la vista por su genial estética y su buen gusto.

Food and cook. One of the few Spanish cookblogs I follow. Her photos take you to places like the English countryside and even though I haven't tried any of her recipes yet, is a real pleasure just staring at the beauty on her pictures.

What Katie Ate. Hace tan solo dos meses que publicó su libro de recetas con muy buenas críticas. Y no solo por sus deliciosas recetas, si no porque sus fotos están entre las mejores.

What Katie Ate. She published her cookbook only 2 months ago and the reviews are really good. And not only her recipes deserve them, her photos are some of the best.

My New Roots. La chef y nutricionista vegetariana Sarah Britton es quien se esconde detrás de este blog premiado numerosas veces. Colabora entre otros, con el famoso restaurante Noma y aunque algunos de los ingredientes que utiliza son difíciles de encontrar en España, sus recetas no decepcionan. Para los que quieran descubrir más a fondo la comida vegetariana, es un blog imprescindible. Y para los que no estén tan convencidos, tienen la opción de probar con los Meatless Mondays de Martha Stewart, que también colabora en el blog.

My New Roots. The brain behind this awarded blog is Sarah Britton, a nutritionist and vegetarian chef. She also works together with the famous restaurant Noma and even though some of the ingredients she uses are difficult to find in Spain, the recipes won't be disappointing. For those who want to know more about vegetarian food, it's an essential reading. For those who aren't 100% convinced, they can start with the Meatless Mondays by Martha Stewart, who also writes on the blog.

Smitten Kitchen. Recetas sencillas, sin complicaciones pero deliciosas, esa es la base de este blog de New York. También ha publicado recientemente un libro que pinta muuuy bien.

Smitten Kitchen. Simple but delicious recipes, that's the idea of this New York blog. She has recently published her first book and looks so good!

THE APARTMENT

Photos: Laura Sanz

Las buenas iniciativas siempre son bien recibidas y si son bonitas, más que mejor. Sigo el trabajo de Better Es Mejor desde hace un tiempo (seguidlos en redes sociales si no os quereis perder una parte de las cosas geniales que pasan en Madrid) y con cada proyecto van ganándome un poco más. Por las ideas por las que apuestan, su estética cuidada y por el amor que se ve que ponen a todo lo que hacen. Así que The Apartment ya prometía desde antes de verlo con mis propios ojos. Si no me creeis, echad un vistazo a la web.

The Apartment es una pop up store navideña que reúne a muchas marcas locales pequeñitas en un piso precioso de una de las zonas más bonitas del centro de Madrid. Desde las flores de Sally L. Hambleton a los longboards artesanales de Buddywood Custom Made, pasando por los estampados de Mi Clo o los diseños para niños de los encantadores de Ninetonine, entre otros. Y en la cocina, para entrar en calor, los riquísimos cafés de Toma Café y los dulces de Real Cake, perfectos para disfrutar en el patio rodeado de los muebles de Rent A Garden.

Tenía especial interés por ver en directo los productos de Real Fábrica Española y la ropa de Yellow&Stone, pero cada habitación me descubrió nuevas marcas alucinantes y al final... ¡me quedo con casi todo!

Volveré y repitiré muchas veces. Y los que queráis hacer lo mismo... ¡tenéis hasta el 6 de enero!

Good initiatives are always welcome, specially if they're pretty. I have been following Better Es Mejor's work for a while now and they keep on surprising me with every project (you can follow them through Facebook to see a small part of what's going on in Madrid): the ideas they go for, their nice aesthetics and the love that goes into everything they do. So The Apartment looked promising even before seeing it through my own eyes.

The Apartment is a Christmas pop up store which gathers a lot of local and small brands in a beautiful flat located in a very nice area of Madrid. Going from Sally L. Hambleton's flowers to the handmade longboards by Buddywood Custom Made, the prints by Mi Clo or the children products of Ninetonine, among many others. And in the kitchen, the great coffees of Toma Café and the sweets of real Cake, perfect to enjoy in the courtyard surrounded by the furniture of Rent A Garden.

I was specially interested in seeing the products of Real Fábrica Española and the clothes of Yellow&Stone but seeing what was going on in each room made me want almost everything.

If you want to visit it, it will be open until the 6th of January. I'm definitely coming back!

SUMMER MEMORIES. PART I

Yes, fall just arrived but I have been wanting to share these pictures I took during my holidays for some time now. I spent the last week of August in Asturias, sleeping in Llanes but walking all around. Walking was hard sometimes but we had delicious food to recover:)

The first day I forgot the camera inside the car, so I took these pictures with my iPhone. We spent the day in Oviedo, visiting the surroundings first and then the city center. We had vermouth at the best place ever, La Paloma and then had lunch at El Ferroviario, at the well known Bulevar de la Sidra.

After having the best Moroccan tea at Café Oriental, we headed to Llanes, visiting first beautiful places around it such as Torimbia and Toranda, Celorio and Niembro. I will show more about the beautiful house where we stayed but that day we were so tired that we just had dinner at La Carbonería (if you ever go there, you need to try that homemade bread with anchovies!) and went to bed. The following day was long!

ALPACA SPORTS

I found about Amanda's old blog some time ago. She used to write Moderniteter together with her sister and I loved their outfits so much that I have been following them ever since, even though their posts are in Swedish (hey! thanks to it now I can get some words!)

But it wasn't until yesterday that I found out she sings with Andreas Jonsson in an Indie band called Alpaca Sports. I inmediatly looked for their songs (they released five) and they sound really good! 

Listen to them here!

GASTRO SUNDAY (PART III)

Sunday morning we went to Martina Zuricalday and bought 'bollos de mantequilla' for breakfast. What a better way to start a day? They have a few locations all over the city. Their shop at c/Ercilla is beautiful and the woman behind the counter was so nice!

After breakfast, we went for a walk around the Guggenheim museum and then... more pintxos! We started at Cafe Iruña, famous for their 'pinchos morunos'. Both the location and their way of cooking them are fantastic.






And after that, we went for a typical Sunday tradition in Bilbao: 'rabas' and more pintxos at Bar Urdiña. Plaza Nueva, where it is located, is a must on Sundays!


And unfortunately, we had to go back to Madrid... but I will be back soon!

BBQ TIME (PART II)

So on Saturday we spent the day at Plentzia and had a barbecue with the fresh food we had bought at the market. We ate sardines, meat and Janire brought vegetables from her garden.

To end such delicious lunch, we had 'bollos de mantequilla', butter buns typical from Bilbao. I had been dreaming of them for weeks!

After chilling at the beach for a while, we went to El Peñón de Sopelana and had a coffee. The views are great!

In the evening we went to Puerto Viejo, which was crowded since they were celebrating their local party. And even though our bellies were full, we still made room for one more pintxo at Tellagorri.

HELLO BILBAO! (PART I)

Bilbao. The last time I went there was a few years ago, for a University trip. Too many people, too many things to do but not so much time to really enjoy the city. But this time, I did it to the fullest.

This is a small update of what it is to come the next days. We stayed at Paula's beautiful house and basically spent the weekend enjoying one of the best things in the Basque Country, which is food.

We started Friday having pintxos for dinner at fantastic Irrintzi and then beers at Marzana. Both places are a must!

The following day, we woke up early and headed to Mercado de la Ribera where we bought some fresh food for our day trip to Plentzia... But that will be on the next post!