It's slowly opening... and developing a lovely deep blood red colouring alongside the yellow. There are about 7 more buds coming up too - although I'm a tad concerned for the health of my marigold as it seems to start looking a bit despondent if I miss watering it for as little as 24 hours. In the background you can see a bit more of the Kiwi's herbs, which are starting to look visibly cowed by my amazing gardening efforts.
On to other things. For one reason or another we've not been going out as much of late, and the other day decided that as we couldn't actually remember the last time we went out for dinner we should do so. A dinner party last night was cancelled and so at amazingly short notice I managed to get us a table at the recently opened and Michelin-starred Arbutus on Frith St. It was sort of a 'hooray for new job' thing.
Oh. My. God. Best meal out ever? Possibly. We couldn't fault this place, from the relaxed but supremely professional staff to the really really clever habit of offering more or less everything on their judciously chosen wine list by the 250ml carafe... and of course the stellar and *shock* reasonably priced food.
I'm going to make you both hungry and jealous now. I kicked off with a squid and mackerel 'burger' with a delicately dressed light salad - whopping chunks of meaty mackerel surrounded by perfectly cooked (ie still tender) squid pieces. The Kiwi opted for the Dorset crab salad, fresh as a daisy and with a nice dollop of garlic mayonnaise to set it off.
Next up, Elwy valley lamb for me, sweet and melting, and accompanied by its sweetbreads and a couple of baby artichokes. On the other side of the table was a hefty slab of sea bass which by all accounts was about as good as it gets.
Wine-wise, an Albarino (Spain) sorted out the seafood starters, a Kiwi Pinot and a 1er Cru Santenay worked wonders with the main event; chosen as much for their affinity with the dishes as for a good old fashioned NZ vs France Pinot-off. Personally I reckon it was a draw. The Kiwi felt otherwise, but there you go.
Desserts (Cashel Blue and Mothais cheeses for me, chocolate soup - more of a warm mousse really - and caramelised milk ice-cream for her), liqueurs and coffees followed. And the bill.
Now, let's see. London (Soho, specifically). Michelin star. Hard to get into. Rave reviews all over the place, excellent wine list, top-notch ingredients. By any normal standards you'd be starting at £100 a head, and with our lording it up a bit, surfing the top end of the wine list and sneakily finishing with a 15yo Armagnac, you'd be pushing £150 each. It turned out about half that, and you really could've got away with £50 apiece without too much trouble. Amazing.
So there you go. A little luxury that turned out not to be all that expensive, which has to be about one of the best things in the entire world. To be honest, it was worth the full price just to see the look on my girlfriend's face on the first mouthful of that dessert...
And so to the weekend; currently contemplating breakfast to the sounds of the brilliant Scott Matthews, will be heading to the shops later on to continue my never-ending hunt for trousers. Work? Let's not go there, it's the weekend. All good though - big week next week.
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