The Local Spots

Bagels and Pizza reign supreme in my new hometown.

Three months in my new home has introduced me to a whole new chapter of food love. If you’re interested in reading about my new ventures in amateur foraging and grilling, you can check out my last post here.

I don’t want you to think I’ve been spending all day and night in my new kitchen. Quite to the contrary, we’ve made the effort to find our new local favourites amongst the many (and I mean many) independent eateries in St Albans.

I prioritised *sweet things* and visited The Pudding Stop on one of the days that we waited in for the broadband engineer. The Pudding Stop is a deliciously simple shop with branches across Hertfordshire that started out of a Citreon HY truck that parked up outside St Albans City train station and offered brownies galore to tired and hungry commuters. I am now one of those tired and hungry commuters and the willpower really does need to be exceptionally strong to put the blinkers on and walk past the inviting array of goods. On the broadband day we sat cross-legged on the floor and silently ate our treats. For me; a seasonal strawberry cheesecake in a cookie cup, for my partner; a triple chocolate brownie. The strawberry bake was sweet and delectably creamy with a perfect buttery texture to the cookie cup. The Pudding Stop has now become a regular to take visitors to and enjoy the reliably lovely treats. I have since tried their Lemon Meringue Pie and bake-at-home cookie dough pudding. The pie was light and perfectly torched, the pudding was perfectly proportioned and had a lovely caramelised crust once baked.

My partner’s priority was finding an Indian takeaway to replace our beloved Kishmish in our old neighbourhood. I won’t bore you with what makes a perfect Indian takeaway, for the most part I sincerely believe that it depends on the consumer and what they were brought up/previously spoilt with. Kishmish would deliver huge and crisp onion bhajis and aloo chaat that I would religiously reheat the next day for a beautiful lunch. Their curries were perfectly spiced and brilliantly balanced. We have since tried three curry-houses since moving to St Albans and have still not found The One. In a three-bears style obsession, some of too greasy, others too spicy. The search continues.

Eating out for breakfast always feels like such a decadent treat. We’re lucky that there’s a few different options very near to us. My favourite, so far, is Marmalade. Only a short walk away and staffed by the most soft-spoken and hands-off staff, Marmalade is somewhere I’ve now taken my best friend and my Mum and on both occasions had true heart-to-heart conversations. The setting is unpretentious, a small and softly lit cafe that frames the busy street with floor to ceiling windows. Most recently I enjoyed the berry french toast with orange mascarpone. A perfect frosting of sugar topped with the perfect pairing of the citrus tinged creaminess, made for a brilliant breakfast that set me up perfectly for a Hen Do later in the day.

Marmalade’s french toast was really a sight to behold.

The other notable breakfast spot happens to be Marmalade’s older and edgier sister. Once housed in the small Marmalade, Hatch grew up and moved into a larger restaurant in the middle of town. I visited with my Mum and my partner for a Sunday brunch. Let me just say that there were about 10 things I could have ordered on their menu but I went there on that morning with only one thing on my mind; their buffalo benedict. A crisp chicken schnitzel sat underneath avocado, an orange-yolked cackle-bean egg and a swirl of hollandaise and buffalo sauces. I loved the tangy play on a traditional benedict and (as someone who doesn’t eat pork) will also praise anyone that chooses to do as the Americans do, and bring fried chicken onto breakfast menus.

Speaking of brunch, our move to Hertfordshire introduced me to the silently thriving bagel scene in St Albans and beyond. Multiple venues seem to have popped up and made good use out of the fact that New York bagels have still not made the full transition to the UK. Bagels & Schmear, a small shop within the Battlers Green Farm Shop square in Radlett, has been my favourite so far. Black and white subway tiles are the only true decoration within their little unit, instead the focus is on the action in the kitchen behind the serving display. Racks piled with freshly baked bagels sit pride of place behind kitchen staff busy whipping their namesake schmear. In the traditional NYC way, customers can choose their type of bagels, from sea salt to Everything, as well as their flavour of schmear, from black pepper to nutella. I chose their “classic” a delicious combination of lox, plain schmear, capers, red onions and sliced tomatoes. I have to admit I took the tomato off my bagel, I never have liked the texture of a tomato in a sandwich. But… everything else was perfection. From the size of the sandwich to the generous helpings of lox (Pret… I’m looking at you accusingly), I just couldn’t get enough. An honourable mention in the bagel department go to Brad & Dills, another shop just a short walk away and specialising in smaller bagels and delicious coffee.

Brad & Dills Salmon and Cream Cheese bagel was a welcome post-market treat.

Now on to what has probably been one of my favourite treats in quite a few months. I heard about Gracey’s pizza after doing some diligence on my research into local takeaways. Gracey’s seemed to have a loyal cult-following and even a few rave reviews on Youtube. Gracey’s is a small shop on a residential road just outside of St Albans. You could easily walk past its unassuming entrance and you wouldn’t know that you’ve just passed up the opportunity of eating the best pizza in the world. I know, big claims if true. But on reflection the only pizza I could think to compare it with was a huge slice my Mum bought for me on a trip to NYC in 2011. Gracey’s is a kitchen that specialises in long-fermentation dough and purist flavours. We ordered the Zucchini & Spinach pie in 12” which was brilliantly green and despite the breadth and depth of flavours on top, was perfectly crisp and held its own when sliced and carried. We also ordered the 16” New Haven “apizza” which was baked for longer to ensure a richer crust. I can’t even describe what was so amazing about these pizzas except the feeling, while eating, that every other pizza I’d ever eaten had been a lie. Just go and try it.