Zizzi

No, this is not a misspelled naughty French word. Zizzi is the name of a pizzeria chain in the UK - there are about 3 dozens of them in London alone -one of them a 15-minute walk from our hotel, so we decided to go there for our lunch on the day we arrived, Thursday 17th. We got there around 1 o'clock, and it was extremely busy (recession? what recession?). It was a big, buzzy, modern place. I enjoyed staring at all these business people around us, who seemed to have the time for a long lazy lunch with their friends. As it was so busy, service was quite slow - we waited about 40 minutes for our starter, a disappointing fried squid. But our main course was served promptly after that, and it was delicious. Brendan had read somewhere that their pizzas are good, but the rest not so much, so we played it safe. Brendan had the Diavola (spicy of course), while I had the Trentino (with smoked ham, mozzarella and rocket). We both opted for the Rustica option - thinner, crisper and bigger. Much bigger. It was huge, but we were hungry. Well, that's my excuse anyway.

Afterwards, we had a stroll around the Little Venice area - yes there are canals in London. Apparently the area at the back of Paddington Station (Paddington basin) is being redeveloped. I guess the area where Zizzi is, Sheldon Square, Paddington Central, is already part of this development. But it's hard to imagine that, with the current economic climate, there will be much more work in the area in the foreseeable future.