Brookline, MA is from the air, indistinguishable from Boston.  If it weren’t for the discreet street sign near Fenway park, no-one would be able to tell where the city ends and the town begins.

This is a shame because Brookline is often overlooked as a tourist and culinary destination.  Most visitors to Boston will do a traditional tour linking Faneuil Hall, Newbury Street and Harvard Square in Cambridge.

While this is worth your time, you will have missed a hidden gem.So take the afternoon and hop on to the Green Line towards Coolidge Corner. Once there, you will be taken and soothed by the unique urban-village atmosphere in central Brookline.  There are no outstanding monuments or buildings,  yet you feel that this is a place with character.

What makes it unique is the sum of its parts. You are a few blocks away from one of the best independent book shops in the US, an independent movie theater, JFK’s birthplace, the best hospitals (Brigham and Women’s, Children’s, Beth Israel,…).Urban and suburban living, upscale shops and recreational parks, apartment buildings and large estates mingle to allow you to decide whether you are in a city or village mood.

In the busy Harvard Street, you will find a Jewish deli named “Zaftigs” a Yiddish adjective meaning (“pleasingly plump and full-figured”).  It is extremely busy on Sundays for brunch and is best enjoyed mid-weeks for lunch. The atmosphere is down to earth and enjoyable.   My personal favorite is the grilled Reuben sandwich.   It is made of corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing, and butter-grilled slices of dark rye. Slightly warm, it reveals it wide and earthy array of tastes once your teeth crunch into the delicately crusty rye bread. Accompany it with home-made fries and you are ready for an afternoon walk.

Your stroll should extend into the near exclusive Cottage Farm near Boston University.   The name “Cottage Farm” derives from the then popular English Cottage style of building and associated lifestyle of genteel country living, particularly the Gothic Revival form.
—address:

Zaftigs
335 Harvard Street (Coolidge Corner), Brookline; 975-0075
Open Sun – Thurs, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Fri and Sat, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
AE, DC, Di, MC, Visa
Beer and wine

The Churchill Arms

119 Kensington Church St.,  Kensington, London,  W8 7LN

Nearest Tube Stations: Notting Hill Gate, High Street Kensington.

The Churchill Arms is a gem of a pub. It is nestled half-way between the now famous Notting Hill district and the posh High Street Kensington.  

Before you go there, however, I invite you to take a short detour.

Starting from High Street Kensington, head towards Kensington Palace. The palace, is officially the residence of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Princess Diana used to live there.  If you are lucky, you might see a helicopter land in the impeccably manicured lawn. Yes, this was one of the Princess of Wales’ means of transportation.

Then, as you face the main entrance of the Palace, head left while keeping the gates of the palace on your right. You will reach wide road named Kensington Palace Gardens. It is a mostly pedestrian area with grand, out-sized mansions on either side. It is said that 18-19 Kensington Palace Gardens is one the most expensive property in the world. It was bought in 2004 by the Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who in 2008 was listed by Forbes Magazine as the fourth richest man in the world.  Along with three mews houses at the rear of the property, Mr Mittal bought it for £57,145,967.

Casually strolling up and down this road, you will be rubbing shoulders with current occupiers and residents which include:

- the Indian High Commissioner
- Jonathan Hunt, founder of Foxtons Real Estate
- the ambassador of France
- a Saudi royal
- the Embassy of Nepal
- the Russian ambassador
- Leonard Blavatnik, a Russian whose net worth is said to be around $7 billion
- Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of Brunei
- Noam Gottesman, hedge-fund trader. Said to have now been sold to Lakshmi Mittal for £117 million, for the use of his son Aditya.

The Romania, Czech and Norwegian ambassador may also turn up, returning from a trip to the nearby Whole Foods.

Now, you are finally ready for a well deserved pint and Thai food; yes, I did say Thai food. You see, a strange thing happened to pubs in England. Somehow, they entered into a symbiotic relationship with Thai restaurateurs. By itself, the pad-tai at the Churchill arms is worth the detour.

The pub casts its charm several blocks away from where its stands. From spring and well into autumn, the pub’s flower display radiates with color and joy. It was voted ‘Boozer In Bloom’ at Chelsea Flower Show 2007. The reds and pinks contrast with the mostly brown facades bringing the best out of each other.

Enter the pub and you will be overwhelmed by the decor. Pictures, memorabilia, collection of butterflies and other curiosities hand on the wall while an eclectic array of objects including copper pans, hang from the ceiling. It is truly a case of more is more. Objects are sometimes only centimeters apart.

As you might expect, the pub is a local favorite. The best time to go there, is during a week day in mid-afternoon. The range of beers is more than adequate, but it is the combination of decor, Thai food and location which makes it must-see while visiting London.

We are delighted to welcome  Wahyd  Vannoni   as  one of our  International Correspondents for theperfectconnections.com

Wahyd Vannoni has more than 10 years experience in international corporate communications and media. He has worked both in Europe and the US and is currently based in Boston, USA.

www.mediacodex.com

He is also founder and publisher of a quality print-on-demand magazine titled “Manifest”.

http://manifestmagazine.wordpress.com/

Btw-just in case you wondered, Wahyd is:
Fluent in
- French
- English
- Italian
- Spanish

Wahyd can also communicate in: Arabic, Croatian, Czech, German, Portuguese, Serbian. He can also read Serbian and Russian cyrillic alphabets.         ….are you dazzled?  We are!

Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what's for lunch.

- Orson Welles, actor, director (1915-1985)