“Was that Stonehenge?” he joked, as he reenacted the initial drive by of the worldly wonder, cranking his neck around and squinting to be sure it was indeed those massive stones in a field.
We were in the middle of making a mental list of things I still needed to see before leaving London in just 16 days.
“It’s quite small,” and then in the defense of the prehistoric monument added, “but I was pretty far away in the car.”
So that’s half a vote for Stonehenge, yeah?
Ryan, the “boy that bakes” behind Borough 22 — the chewy brownies that my non-GF colleague tried and is still talking about as well as the doughnuts (both sugar or fruity glazed!) I’ve been writing home about, makes up for being “rubbish” with his sight-seeing suggestions by showing up for coffee with a fresh bag of those doughnuts I love.
The easy part? Spending a couple of hours with someone who would take being in the kitchen baking for a day over any major tourist attraction.
The hard part? Staying focused with a bag of doughnuts to my left, filled with flavors I had yet to try, which I believe is a perfectly fine excuse for losing track of the conversation a few times. Luckily Ryan is a better conversationalist than he is ranking the “top 10 sights to see before Sarah leaves London,” so I don’t think he noticed.
I did stay tuned in long enough to admire the balance and time management it takes to be true to your passion of baking for others while at the same time holding down a corporate job on the day to day.
I wouldn’t put his Borough 22 biz in the “hobby” category, but there’s nothing better than seeing joy on the faces of those telling the story of how a business morphed out of doing what they love.
It shouldn’t be surprising that he’s a man with oven mitts when I have a chef-like husband at home, but being able to talk sugar granule size and baking substitutions with him, gave him extra brownie (pun intended, his brownies are out of this world!) points with me.
If you’re a lucky Londoner who can call Stonehenge your neighbor, give Ryan a shout to place your order and he will come running. (Really, he will. He delivers them to you fresh!)
But if your home is over the pond like me, add Borough 22 gluten-free goodies to your top ten list when you’re here in London.
Borough 22 Bakehouse || borough22.tumblr.com
Celiac in the City 