Last Superior Cuisine Demo ever at 114 Marylebone Lane
Anywho...ok, that was bad. However, you'll live. We had our final Cuisine demo on Friday - and here's a photo of some of the happy Superior Cuisine students. What's not to like? Delicious food cooked by an amazing chef and since some people didn't show up, extra for everyone. I have to admit, it was a really good dinner: Coulibiac de Saumon (salmon in a brioche crust with dill sauce) and Grilled rack of lamb with pepper sauce and pressed tomato/chevre/cream cheese mix. Those of us who were still there after everyone had had their first smidgen of a taste went back for more - it's the whole good manners thing. You can't take a whole lamb cutlet from the rack until everyone has had some, but once they have (and the photos have been taken) it's pretty much a free for all. Since I can't cook at home (more on that later) it was really nice to have a meal that wasn't cold pizza or some random takeout.Bread Street Kitchen again
Then tonight I had dinner with UP down at Bread Street Kitchen. Yes, again. And I had the same thing as last time so I didn't bother to take photos (still yummy). UP had the mutton with potatoes which turned out to be Shepherd's pie so he was very happy because he loves Shepherd's pie. Dinner was fun - there was a couple not looking very happy at the table next to us, so we spent a little time speculating as to what the reason might be. This naturally turned our attention to several other tables - in front of us, a table of 4 girls + 1 guy. Speculation that it was friends out for dinner, not work colleagues (I wonder if the guy was an honorary girl?) although hard to say - at one point after the fellow had left, all 4 of the girls were on their phones at the same time. I think my objection to phones at the dinner table are well founded (subject to certain exceptions - like family emergency, the dog ate someone's homework, etc. etc.) Behind us was a table of 5 guys - speculation that they were work colleagues and given the area, most likely in the finance sector.
Night photography
UP had a bit of amusement while I tried to get some pretty photos. These don't do the actual view justice - partly because I'm not even an amateur photographer (there's a reason why these things are called point-and-shoot) and partly because I probably need a more technical camera to get good shots. But - it was too pretty to pass up an attempt at the dome of St Paul's cathedral and the lights around. The clouds were blowing around so the shot of the moon by St Paul's didn't come out well at all (hence not being included in this post).Horses!
After a delicious dinner and yakking away about Christmas parties, travels and a few other things, it was time to go home. Then a bit more amusement for UP: the police horses who were wearing blinky lights which makes sense safety wise - but also had tail lights! I had to get a photo of those although I'm not sure if the lights are just flashy safety ones (like on bicycles) or if they serve an additional purpose. In any event, I missed the first pair of horses who went past the bar under the restaurant before I had a chance to get the camera out of my bag, but managed to get the zoom to work for this shot. They may have this in other places, but for me, this is only in London.
No taxis were to be had at that hour in that part of town (slackers!) so I hopped on a bus headed my general direction then hurriedly pressed the stop button when I no longer knew where it was going after Oxford Circus. Possibly in my general direction, but possibly not. So then a walk home from Oxford Street - not too late so there was plenty of foot traffic. A bit too many tourists for my taste, but I finally had my camera with me so I took some photos and did as the tourists did.
There are pretty lights in quite a few places - all along the high street outside my window, up and down Regent Street and Bond Street - they're quite pretty. The Oxford Street ones are nice as well, and some of the ones for the department stores are very pretty (John Lewis and House of Fraser are in the photo above). I have to admit there's one I'm not a huge fan of but I've forgotten which store it is. The lights are rainbow colored but not put together in an attractive package - I say this both as a slightly snotty, but also as an aesthetic observation. What looks right on Rainbow Drive-Inn's sign just looks wrong next to the pretty lights along Oxford Street. And I finally got a shot of the moon!Remote and distant
It's strange - I love the moonlight on water and on snow but here, where there's neither (unless it rains, in which case no one's looking anyway) the moon seems to be a lot further away and colder. The nimbus, which looks like a rainbow when we look at it in Honolulu only looks like a distant halo around the moon when I look at it from Marylebone High Street. The halo can be obscured by the clouds but is nevertheless present. I suppose the thought of being homeward bound at this time in 2 weeks is making me start to think of all the things I am looking forward to seeing, doing and experiencing upon my return.
So until next time may your inner Grinch be mollified or banished by all the pretty, twinkling lights.
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