scenes of the things i’ve recently savoured–bites, drinks, places, tables, people.
The saffron sour at barchef, sipped with commendable control during pre-dinner cocktails, had the potential to outshine everything that came after it. (Good thing we headed to Buca afterward.) I doubt you can get a bad drink there but it’s the only drink I’ve allowed myself to reorder from a menu that I’m still trying to exhaust. Yes, that good.
That night we were out for drinks and dinner to celebrate our anniversary. But on our actual anniversary I made James a special tapas dinner at home: a tortilla Espanol, stewed beans, cheeses and a bottle of the same Spanish wine we’d really enjoyed years ago at another anniversary. Awww.
And then, to welcome january…
Pre-party dinner on New Year’s Eve was memorable but so filling you could see on everyone’s faves the unspoken fear that we might not actually make it to the party. Hotpot or swish at Swish by Han, plus too many starters and delicious cocktails made for a celebratory meal, plus there’s just something about a blue-hot fire roaring on your table, you know?
My best friend visiting from LA => old friends gathering + lots of wine + as many truffled dishes + pretty blouses + animated conversation = everything good in life.
Weekend breakfast: buckwheat pancakes with molasses (love this combo!), soy sausages, very strong black coffee and apricots. Laid out on the coffee table, enjoyed on the couch!
There were many couch meals so to get us back to the table, we lured ourselves with a simple meal dressed up with small touches. An every-herb and spinach soup with strained yogurt and spiced pumpkin seeds on top, buttery La Sauvagine and the most amazing Farmhouse Stilton cheeses (maybe my new favourite blue and quite different from regular Stilton) with seedy crackers, a creamy white wine we’d been saving and sweet and sour blood oranges for after.
And sometimes, you want an old standby–especially when you’ve been flat out sick. Two crazy bugs got James and then they came after me. For restoration, ginger tea, etc. To really recover, comfort in a bowl: white rice, stir-fried greens, soft-scrambled eggs (similar to these) and mugs of Jasmine tea.