“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.”
― George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

Living in a city is exciting because there is always something new to see, eat, or do. The less discussed dark side of this equation is that often to make room for the shiny new stuff, existing shops, shows, restaurants, and venues have to go. Once you’ve lived in an urban center for a few years, you’ve likely lost a few of your standbys due to this cycle. We sure have. In the years that we’ve lived here, we’ve said goodbye to several favorites including The Lockhart, El Nivel, and Kopapa.

Some of these were bittersweet. El Nivel’s closing night was also the last night we stayed in our old apartment and attending it felt like the end of an era, our first three years in London finished. That apartment saw some heartaches, some triumphs, and was the place where a lot of hard won victories came to fruition and El Nivel was where we celebrated a lot of those triumphs and got through a lot of disappointments. We made friends with the owners and staff there who made it a point to know and interact with their regulars; through them we were invited to food festivals and introduced to new areas of the city. It felt like saying goodbye to a pal when that place shut up shop–to say nothing of the fact that we had to begin our hunt for good fusion/Mexican food anew. Suggestions welcome, see me in the comments!

Kopapa was a place where we celebrated New Years as well as our fourth anniversary (we’re now coming up on our eighth). It was conveniently placed in the heart of the West End so if we ever needed to entertain guests, it was a trusted stop in Theatreland. It was one of the first brunch places we indulged in as newly minted urbanites, and brunch has become (admittedly stereotypically) an important part of our family routine.

Whilst being nostalgic for our old favorites recently, I went on a bit of a google spree to find some new joints to try out and discovered that Peter Gordon, the chef behind Kopapa also has a restaurant on Marylebone High Street, The Providores. Actually, it predates Kopapa which a more experienced foodie would have pinged to much sooner than me, but let’s set that aside. Joy of joys, their brunch menu contained the same dish I fell for at Kopapa and have never found a substitute for since: Turkish Eggs. Poached eggs sitting on warm, whipped yogurt, with chili oil sauce on top. If it sounds too weird for you, do me a solid and trust me to try it just once–it’s a savory delight.

While it’s fun and important to always give the new a shot, it’s also occasionally nice to rediscover an old friend.