I just returned from 4 days in London, having gone to a trade show in Cologne Germany and Birmingham England and I was bombarded with preparation for the coronation. London was looking very regal, charmed and I dare say delicious. I have been to London at least 50 times, lived there in college for a year and even met Prince Charles but it does still get to you. The city is beautiful, whether the posh neighborhood of Notting Hill where I chose to stay to get to know another neighborhood. Also, Piccadilly and Marylbone where I spent a bit of time wandering, mainly within food stores, and in addition the very polite local people you meet.
The coronation is very curious to me, on one hand, it does seem out of touch with modern times yet England is old and changes more slowly than other places. With Brexit, the low value of sterling, and the world problems, the coronation is a much-needed great distraction. It will boost a culture, economy partly thanks to the still almighty dollar, not to mention a few Yen and interest from Asia. Trade with Europe has significantly declined based on Brexit and similar to the USA, London does thrive, as NYC but the countryside is a different story. King Charles has challenges and is in an awkward position, but curiously he is not dissimilar to his younger son, who has chosen to take up at times unpopular causes. I am hopeful that he can do his job in maybe an untraditional way, in the shadow of his mother, who mastered it well, and stabilize a country and its people and preserve the goodness of Britain.
As an importer of British Specialty Food, the times seem ripe for great English Strawberries not to mention scones and clotted cream. While spending time in a Waitrose ( the upscale supermarket group in England) hunting specifically for new Belazu products, I was taken with great English local products, including butter, cheese, lamb, strawberries, bakery, and produce and at prices that made them even more appetizing. I do maintain that local is good but I also maintain that products that can transcend geographic boundaries and compete based on quality are also very good in our shrinking and evermore interdependent world and now is a good time to look at what is English, Scottish and I might also add Irish.
