Wednesday 27 June 2007

Episode 12: A London Week End

If I had tried, I don't think I could have eaten any more or any better over my week end, which was sumptuous despite the weather.

Friday started off with a diner with Jane and Guy at the Oxo Tower Restaurant. The Oxo Tower is housed on the site of what used to be a powerstation (which can still be seen on the river side architecture), then bought by the companty which makes the Oxo stock cubes, and for some reason that I find very amusing, decided to name the tower the Oxo tower. It's a bit absurd, and I do like the look and feel of the place. It's a bit like if in Paris you had a "Knorr" tower (Knorr being the name of the leading stock cube brand).
Conversation ranged from marriage or the point of it (Jane and Guy being relatively newly wed I do often challenge them!), doing grown up stuff like changing jobs (for me) or buying houses (for them) and erm threesomes (this was not a sexual conversation, but rather an interellectual analysis).
The food was magnificent, in particular the bram in champagne sauce with oysters, hmmm. I did resist dessert, but think the two bottles of (lovely) white wine for three was not necessarily reasonable. This said being a bit erm tipsy did make the bill less painful to pay.

Saturday was shopping-in-the-rain-but-buy-absolutely-nothing-not-even-a-t-shirt-on-sale-at-H&M day. I think my brain has a natural adverse reaction to shopping because it knows that it will lead to More Things To Carry When Moving. Clever little thing, the brain..
In the evenings I went to a very proper black tie ball. I will say no more, except that had you been there, it would have been easy to spot me: I was the one who totally cracked up and had the biggest laughing fit during the dinner. When the ambassador was making his speech. Yup, that is what a proper little madam I am.

Sunday. Aaaaahhh the memory of Sunday. The day started with a nice little, or rather medium, or no, medium-large brunch in one of London's brunch-paradises: Le Pain Quotidien (Belgian food co, specialised in amazing breads and stuff to put on them). Then, we hit Taste of London, an annual food festival where dozens of restaurants and other food-related companies set up shop in Regent's park and sell or give away their little pieces of heaven to taste. Despite not being hungry, I still managed to get acquinted with:

- half a pint of lovely Belgian Leffe
- a mini chocolate mousse
- a spoonful of GU chocolate tiramisu
- a terrine de foie grras portion
- spicy tiger prawns
- a straberry covered in dulche de latte
- 2 mini shots of caramel vodka
- lots of mini glasses of wine
- some white port
- cheese and crackers
- half a portion of foie gras on toast with cherry sauce
- seared salmon and fennel confit
- a glass of champagne (negociated for an 8th of its price, go go Evie)
- some artichoke spread
- some cheddar
- and I am sure I am forgetting a few more..
Needless to say, by Monday morning I was feeling a little weeny bit heavy and guilty of betrying the pact with the Ass, so I went running and have been on a detox* diet since then.
* this particular type of detox diet does not consider dark chocolate to be bad, even lots of it.

3 comments:

Charles Caldwell said...

Ah... that sounds like a good diet! And yes... I have noticed everyone on Facebook seems to be beautiful.

Evie said...

I promise, when those aliens come down they will be really disappointed by our real faces!!

Charles Caldwell said...

Ha ha, very funny!