Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52| F O O D & D R I N K | | F O O D & D R I N K | the gRoUnd flooR loUnge of the Bermondsey Square Hotel is a fantastically versatile place to relax during the daytime on your own, with a laptop, with friends or even with buggies. It has been designed with a practical, elegant and humorous style throughout and the food served there matches it well. The menu is modern British with great soups, veggie burgers or rotisserie chickens and a pantry area offering home-made cakes, pastries, frappes and mocktails to enjoy before going back to work afterwards and still performing at your best. If you can be prized out of those comfy seats that is! BeRmondSey SQUaRe hotel toweR BRidge Road, Se1 3Un 020 7378 2450 when it comeS to lUnch, the Quarter Bar and Lounge near London Bridge station have made it a fine, delicate experience. Pick three meat or vegetarian options for a‘Slider’mini burger mix with fries or try their Poached Salmon (with capers, peppers cherry tomato and red onion) Salad or even the Chilli and Coriander Grilled Tiger Prawn skewers. With great sharing platters and lighter bites available you will be spoilt for choice while the setting alone is enough to elevate lunch to another level altogether. QUaRteR BaR and loUnge london BRidge hotel 8-18 london BRidge StReet, Se1 9Sg 020 7855 2296 There, for lunch, colleagues would drink one or two pints of lager or glasses of wine with some crisps or other equally unhealthy bar snacks. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those ways have passed. Jeffrey Bernard became increasingly unwell (as did most of us) and the dinosaurs eventually died out. In the new millennium more focussed and healthy, though not necessarily more productive, ways swept in with Windows, Smart phones and a new approach. Big brand supermarkets and lunchtime sandwich deals popped up on every corner so you could actually work and eat at your desk, especially once the smoking bans in offices were in place. Hanging out in the pub or the local greasy spoon was no longer‘cool’to the next generation workforce who increasingly liked to socialise on the exercise bikes or weight machine at the gym. Lifestyles were changing, tastes have come a long way over the last couple of decades diets were adjusting. People were getting healthier, more discerning and sophisticated. Deli’s replaced old style cafes, pubs got wise and began offering some pretty interesting plates of food now that the air was not a thick smog of exhaled tobacco. Interiors everywhere got ergonomically designed so workers could continue using laptops while they crunched through a freshly made salad. Less was spent on drinks and more spent on the food. Even restaurants offered lunchtime deals that could be justified a couple of times a week by the average office worker. Over the next few editions we will continue to look at the lunches (the Business Lunch, the Packed Lunch and the Take Away) and how the tastes of consumers have been educated and satisfied by providers. In the meantime here are some of the splendid local places where you can indulge the tastebuds without either breaking the bank or the waistline. | F O O D & D R I N K |