Two years ago our Christmas got canceled on Christmas Eve — well the trip we had planned to Switzerland did anyway.  It was our first Christmas with a child and you know how important they are!  We were devastated.  I think the only thing that saved us was Melrose & Morgan, our local deli in Primrose Hill (where we lived at the time).  We turned up at 12pm to a packed store of everyone collecting their orders and they thankfully managed to make us up one of their ‘Christmas’s in a box’.  It honestly saved the day.

But Melrose & Morgan is not just for Christmas, their fantastic home-cooked meals are perfect to take home, heat up and make you look like a domestic goddess.  Sadly my better-half isn’t easily fooled – Melrose & Morgan’s food is just that bit too delicious for him to believe it was made by me whilst I had 2 children hanging off my arms.

Each day the kitchen prepares a different menu using seasonal, locally sourced ingredients.  Additionally they have a range of staples including their home-made pies, freshly baked bread, mouth-wateringly delicious cheeses and sweet treats for every occasion.  I keep one of their pies and some of their home-made ice cream in my freezer for those “its 6.45pm, there’s nothing to eat in the house and the kids are going crazy” evenings (of which we tend to have 4 a week).

I’m not big on branded merchandise but my one exception is Melrose & Morgan’s mugs, aprons and my favourite canvas shopping bags with their simple red font spelling evocative foodie words such as ‘picnic’, ‘cheese’ and ‘custard’ (I love that one in particular!).

Melrose and Morgan is at 42 Gloucester Avenue, London, NW1 8JD.  Nearest tube Chalk Farm or Camden.

-Mo. x