All that jazz and Scandinavian food

Saw the brilliant Simon Mulligan Quartet at Club 606 on Wednesday night. www.606club.co.uk It was my first visit and it reminded me of jazz clubs of old. Which is a good thing. Not that I am an authority. I think we stopped going because of the cigarette smoke. I'm glad to see the smoking ban hasn't affected numbers - the place was full to bursting. I hope I get another invite soon.

While in London I went to the Nordic Bakery http://www.nordicbakery.com/. I had a cup of excellent coffee and a Karjalan piirakka (Karelian pie) with egg butter. I managed to resist the Korvapuusti (cinnamon bun), a fresh pile of which was delivered hot from the oven as I paid for my coffee. How I managed to be so good I shall never know - I'm regretting it now. I'll go there again although I felt a little overpowered by the media types frequenting the place.

In the table next to me two men dressed in black with thickly rimmed glasses were talking loudly about press releases and worldwide rights. First I thought it was all a PR stunt. It could be that I'm just jealous because I wasn't there to meet a high-powered agent myself...

While there I read an article in the Independent on how healthy the Nordic diet was. That was PR for a new Scandinavian restaurant in London, the name of which I've forgotten (the PR didn't work on me...). Apparently all the oily fish, fresh berries and rye bread consumed there is good for you. The article didn't mention the mount of fatty sausages, meat stews and mashed potatoes that people in Northern Europe eat too.

Last time I was at Babington I sat next to a nutritionist who had just come back from southern Sweden. She'd been setting up a clinic to try to change eating habits. The Swedish diet of fatty meats with creamy sauces combined with cooked veg has increased the cancer rates there. (Sounds all too familiar)

'People are surprised to find that the Scandinavians eat really unhealthily', she said. I bet she hadn't been asked to contribute to the article in the Independent.