Graduation Day

I finally graduated this weekend!

My master's year went something along the lines of this Sheryl Crow song. It was full of twists and turns - from the joys of spending another year as a student in the city I had grown to love as an undergraduate, to the depths of despair when I faced writers block with my dissertation in the midst of deteriorating health. The motto for my college is souvent me souvient, which translates to often I remember; looking back now, I feel immensely lucky that I was able to dedicate a year of my life to researching a topic that I felt passionate about, mostly for the sake of satisfying my curiosity. When my peers were practising online tests and attending assessment centres in their third years, my parents and lecturers encouraged me to continue feeding my thirst for research by concentrating on my finals and developing an MPhil topic. There were, and still are, days where I wish I had gone down "the career route" (applied to read Law instead of Archaeology and Anthropology, then gone straight on from the BA to a graduate scheme), but being back in Cambridge this weekend and wearing my Harry Potter-esque robes for the graduation ceremony made me realise that learning for learning's sake is something to be valued and cherished. 

Success can be measured in many ways, depending on what belief system you subscribe to, but I have come to terms with the fact that education isn't, and shouldn't be, seen as a stepping stone to getting a salary and a sports car. It is ultimately about opening your mind to new perspectives, taking on seemingly insurmountable challenges, and giving you the belief that any task you set yourself is achievable - if you're willing to put the hours, blood, sweat and tears in...

Bank Holiday Meat

In case I hadn't made it abundantly clear by now, I am currently obsessed with burgers (proof here, here and here). So when a bunch of my friends decided to utilise my new burger joint know-how this Bank Holiday weekend by asking for a recommendation, I took them all to Meat Liquor for some Dead Hippie burgers! We went along at 5pm as a group of 7 in hopes of getting seated within the hour, as queue times for this place du jour have been notorious given its current status as one of London's hippest restaurants. Their reputation is well deserved, as Meat Liquor's famous double patty burgers are always perfectly juicy and succulent (and come at a reasonable £8ish), and the Philly cheese fries have yet to disappoint anyone I've spoken to. The dining experience doesn't just revolve around the food though, as this place also gives some serious attitude. The grungy street art on the walls and the dark red-tinged lighting all add to creating a rather macabre dining atmosphere, but when complemented with a loud rock-cross-punk soundtrack and some frightfully good street food (before ML became a proper restaurant, it was a van manned by founder Yianni Papoutsis), it makes for a fantastic meal out. 

Meat Liquor; 74 Welbeck Street, London W1G 0BA. This is a personal recommendation, not a sponsored post.

All About Aplin

Gabrielle Aplin captured the British nation's hearts and minds with her gorgeous cover of The Power of Love for the John Lewis Christmas advert last year, but she's been writing her own music and honing her craft since her early teens. I've been a fan since discovering her various covers and songs on YouTube a few years ago, actively following her career since the release of her first single Home. I finally saw her play at Koko back in March, and whole-heartedly encourage any readers who love acoustic singer-songwriter sounds to grab themselves a ticket to her next tour this autumn! Her music is not only a breath of fresh air from the auto-tuned pop songs that seem to dominate the airwaves these days, but she also takes care to choose first rate up and coming talents as her support acts. I discovered the incredible Hannah Grace and Andreas Moe at her last gig, and will be keeping an eye out for future artists that she takes under her wing (click here for more info on that). 

Her new album English Rain is released next week; one of my favourite tracks on the album, Panic Cord, is released today. Give it a listen below - I can't believe she wrote this when she was only 15!

Image via

Twenty Something London

The Little Graduate has a part-time job!  I interviewed for an opening at one of my favourite websites a few weeks ago on the off-chance that I could be published beyond this blog, and - lo and behold - I am now part of the recommendations team at Twenty Something London. Founded by twenty something Londoners JM and Pascale, the website went live some 8 months ago with the aim of sharing creative ventures and independent businesses with others who were keen to explore this aspect of the British capital. If you live in London and want party/coffee/arty things to do, have a peek around the site!

My first review for TSL was for a New York speakeasy-themed popup party hosted by The Candlelight Club. Check it out here! My first draft is enclosed after the jump - I've never re-read so few words so many times before sending them to my new boss...

London Burger Bash (Part 2)

*Better late than ever, right, lads and lasses? 

After a well-earned beverage break, I hit the burger bash again. Patty & Bun were up next, and having been sufficiently wowed by their burgers at Feast last month, I was expecting nothing short of perfection. "Piggie Smalls" had big shoes to fill!

I'm not going to lie, the addition of confit pork belly to the burger (as well as lots of sauce) was a masterstroke on the part of Joe Grossman. It had a serious spice kick to it, which was the only teeny downside (in my opinion anyway - I eat "Mild" at Nandos), but the rich flavours and sauciness of the overall burger still made it a strong contender on the night for me. 

I was most excited to sample the burger from Almost Famous, given that they hail from Manchester and are not (yet!) in London. They were also the only stand to offer snacks to people in the queue, free cupcakes, and the chance to win free t-shirts (you had to down a shot of their hot sauce) - all of which set them apart from the other competitors on the night.

The burger was no slouch either! A double patty with crunchy fried onions, maple syrup, bacon butter and frazzles (and much, much more) - just thinking about it again is making me hungry. Seriously.

Last but not least was Nanban, a creative interpretation on what a Japanese burger would be like!

Patty plus bun. Plus a bacon-shitake croquette and katsu sauce. I can safely say I've never tasted any burger like this before!

So, after 6 gigantic (half-) burgers, I was ready to give my verdict! 

Drumroll please...

Patty & Bun were voted the overall winners of the burger bash on the basis of popular voting. Whilst they were extremely worthy winners, my personal favourite was the Bacon Swiss Flipper from Mother Flipper. Commiserations to all the other competitors, especially Almost Famous, who came a very close second for me and the other diners! 

Couldn't resist finishing this post off with a snap of me about to devour the Bacon Swiss Flipper. I can't wait to get my hands on tickets for the next London Burger Bash! Keep checking Young and Foodish for details of the other Burger Monday events.

*On a more personal note...

between a new full-time internship, part-time job, volunteering and job hunting across the globe, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update TLG. I'll be sharing some exciting news soon though, so do keep checking back - and stay in touch by commenting here, or dropping me a line on Facebook, Twitter, or Bloglovin'. Until then, stay classy!

London Burger Bash (Part 1)

Last Monday, I attended my first ever burger festival, and I've literally only just about recovered to write about it for y'all...

The event was called London Burger Bash, and it involved 6 gourmet burger chefs sharing their various offerings with some hungry Londoners in hopes of winning the coveted Golden Patty Award. So, to clarify - I signed up for an event where I had to taste 6 burger creations and choose which was my favourite. It was possibly the best Monday evening I've ever had!

I began my new role as burger critic at the Hawksmoor stand. Although I was familiar with the restaurant's reputation for offering mouthwatering steaks (I'm going on the authority of Giles Coren - "flawless" - and Jay Rayner - "eat here, it's worth it"), I didn't know it was also renowned for its burger prowess.

The Hawksmoor burger, masterminded by Richard Turner, certainly packed a juicy punch, with a moist medium-cooked patty and cheesy burger sauce generously oozing from the sides, although it was slightly too salted for my personal taste. I would've been less heavy handed with the salt shaker over the patty, and maybe even dispensed with the small gherkin slivers - but I ran into other burger bash attendees who absolutely adored the strong flavours!

Next up: Mother Flipper. The sight of their burger, complete with bacon chips and onion rings, made me weak at the knees.

This particular love at first sight, created by Manuel Andrades, did not disappoint at all. The crispiness of the onion rings and bacon were perfectly offset by crunchy lettuce leaves and richly flavoured cheese and barbecue sauces. By my burger standards (and I have eaten many in recent months!), this burger was sweeter than most that I've tried - thanks to the use of candy bacon and an apple liquor - and this factor also made this one of the best burgers I have had the pleasure of devouring.

After the rather complex and incredibly rich Mother Flipper offering, I opted for a stall offering something more orthodox for my third burger. Enter Joe Allen, who devised a no-frills burger that was executed to a very high standard.

Marc Brown at Joe Allen deserves to be highly praised for daring to deliver a pared down burger (in comparison to his more adventurous counterparts), mostly because it was the only burger of the night that allowed the meat in the patty to really "speak" for itself. It was nice to focus on the natural meaty flavours in a burger for once, without all of the other condiments.

After three burgers, I started having the meat sweats and ran away in search of beverages! Helpfully, the event organisers - Young and Foodish - had thought this event through and held it at Camden Brewery, where there were drinks aplenty. 

I'll post the second half of the event up later this week - look out for Part 2 and the winner of the burger bash soon!

Riflemaker Presents: Adam de Boer

Last week, I popped along to a private view at one of my favourite London galleries. I was first introduced to Riflemaker at a guest lecture by gallery director Tot Taylor whilst studying at Sotheby's Institute of Art, and have been a huge fan of the place ever since. It's located in the heart of Soho, and is named after the fact that the gallery space used to house a rifle maker! 

You might think that an old gun shop seems an odd choice for a place to showcase art, but its unique choice of location is completely in sync with the gallery's aim of representing artists that are doing projects that are particularly unusual and outside-the-box. I've already (briefly) mentioned the performance work of one of their artists, Alice Anderson, in this post; their current hang is twenty-something artist Adam de Boer's first solo exhibition, entitled Jalan.

de Boer's works are "hybrid paintings" - namely, that they are a combination of traditional gouache and oil painting mixed in with the use of batik techniques and terracotta figurines. As you can see from the work below, the painting of the polo ponies has literally been brought off the wall by clay figurines of horses, which gives the work an unexpected dimension. This is definitely a reflection of the artist himself, who is of a mixed Eurasian heritage - through his works, he has addressed his hybrid cultural identity through the creation of hybrid works of art. Fascinating, no?

The opening of Adam de Boer's show coincided with First Thursdays, a co-ordinated effort by 170+ galleries and museums throughout London to stay open till late and host free events and exhibitions, so many Londoners (including myself!) were able to soak in some art after work. Check out this website to see what's on offer during the first Thursday of May!