CHAMPAGNISTA CONTRIBUTOR- London through the eyes of an American Intern

It’s rare to hear a student claim that there is nothing in there life they wouldn’t change, but I honestly believe I have the best of everything right now.


As an American student studying in London, I have the opportunity to see this glorious city through the eyes of two people—as a tourist and as a Londoner. This unique view of the city allows me to see the small quirks that tourists don’t have the time to see and at the same time gives me a reason to try new things all the time because, unlike someone who lives here full time, my time is quickly fleeting.


This is the reason that when a flat mate of mine told us all about a man called Horton Jupiter that she read about in the newspaper that makes you dinner at his house for a small price, we were intrigued. He calls his business The Secret Ingredient. None of us had ever done, let alone heard of, anything of the kind. Sure enough, the tourist in us took over and we made reservations.


So when we headed out to Dalston Kingsland, as Londoners no doubt because very few tourists ever make it past Zone 1, we had absolutely no idea what to expect. When we arrived, there were already two other tables of people sitting in the living room and he was bustling away in his kitchen preparing all of us what we were sure would be a delicious meal.



The first course was already on the table and immediately we realized our night would be taking on an Asian-inspired theme. I was with 4 of my girlfriends and we had decided to try everything and not ask questions—talk about being adventurous! And so, on went the night, as we ate our way through 5 delicious courses and a 6th and final dessert course.



Feeling completely satisfied and thoroughly full, we sat for a bit and chatted, but we knew it was time to leave when guests from the second dinner sitting of the night started arriving. We left our very reasonable £15 on the table and stopped by the kitchen to speak with our incredibly nice, incredibly eccentric chef and host of the night. Between the guests leaving and the guests coming, there were about 20 people standing in his very small hallway, but we all had a brilliant time.



The five of us headed out along with a couple we had been sitting near at dinner. We had a very pleasant chat with them on the way back to the tube and just like that, we were headed back to our very comfortable, familiar home in Kensington. But it was an incredibly fun evening and definitely something I’d recommend to anyone stuck in a dining rut, and probably even those who aren’t! See, sometimes it’s not a horrible thing to let the tourist in us take over and be a little more adventurous than usual!



By Jaimie Hart