As I mentioned in my last blog, I recently traveled to London with my husband. If you’ve read my blogs in the past, you’ll know food is my favorite part of travel. This trip was no exception.

Ahead of our vacation we made dinner reservations for several nights and left a few days open to explore. On our first full day in London, we had dinner at ROVI. The restaurant from chef Yotam Ottolenghi features a vegetable-forward menu with a Mediterranean focus. I have several of Ottolenghi’s cookbooks, and I was excited to sample his food. We shared several plates alongside cocktails and wine. As expected, the vegetable dishes were the standouts. My favorite bite of the meal was the grilled hot tomatoes, accompanied with cold yogurt, chili, oregano and bread.

My husband suggested making a dinner reservation at a restaurant close to our hotel following our daytrip to Stonehenge and Bath. Tired from our long day, it was the perfect decision. We walked down the street from our hotel to Zima Russian Restaurant. The restaurant serves Russian classics with a contemporary twist. To start, we each had soup: borsht for my husband and chicken bouillon with dill for me. We shared pirozhki with chicken, a traditional baked bun. For our entrées, we shared the beef stroganoff and vareniki with potato and mushrooms. From start to finish, it was a perfect cozy meal on a chilly night.

Another highlight was an early dinner at The Oystermen Seafood Bar & Kitchen. As is our usual strategy, we decided to share several plates. We started with anchovy toast, tuna tartare and cured sea trout. The tuna and trout were bright and fresh. The anchovy toast with garlic, lemon and herbs was one of the best things we had during our entire trip — a perfect salty bite. We also enjoyed a hake special with arugula and carrots and a side of Old Bay chips.

Stay tuned for more London blogs in the coming weeks!

— Katie Skrzek, vice president/digital director