Tuesday With Moi

Tuesday, October 30

Sitting in Restaurants & Losing Track of Time Edition

The morning started as any other, slowly.
The Redcoat and I tip-toed around the apartment drinking coffee and reading reports from the storm with our eyes wide and our mouths hanging open as we waited for my parents to get up.  Around 9:30 I realized Oh, it's Tuesday! and fetched my camera.

This is what my boots look like after our long and muddy walk through the Cotswolds on Sunday.

Mid-morning came and went.  I continued to scroll through the news as I finished some work.

Around noon I had a small bite to eat and prepared to leave for a day of playing the tour guide and eating a lot.  So so so much eating.  And drinking, too.

I haven't been using it as much as I ought to these days, but I still never go anywhere without my pen.

After walking through Hobbit Town, which my parents loved, of course, we stopped in a restaurant for a proper midday meal. 

Mum and Dad came here with the opinion that English food is terribleterribleterrible and thought they'd likely starve for most of the trip.  They're happy to report, however, that they've actually loveloveloved the food in the UK and are dining like foreign dignitaries.

(If there's one thing I can consistently deliver on, it's finding a good meal.)

The Redcoat and I left my parents to an evening of solo exploration and hopped on a train to London to meet some friends visiting from California.

We met them at the St. Martin's Lane Hotel.  Owned by the Morgans Hotel Group, the bar consistently delivers on both style and quality cocktails. We like that.

Somewhere around this time, I think I lose an hour, but bear with me...
Our friends, who are lovely, admitted that they hadn't eaten well since arriving in London.  They found the food mediocre and the restaurants unwelcoming.  David and I were appalled and decided to save them from another terrible meal by making a last-minute reservation for the four of us at St. John, a restaurant where I would happily dine every day for the rest of my life.

I get a little self-conscious whipping my camera out at dinners with people I've only just met, so I escaped to the bathroom for this shot.  I look vacant and terrible, but whatever.

My necklace and my camera strap are BFF. 

After a stunning dinner, David and I took our friends to the St. Pancras Hotel.

Perhaps you remember the stunning tequila drink I once had at the Booking Office?

Well, I asked the bartender to re-create it.  This was the first attempt.

And this was the second.  It was quite delicious but not as exemplary as the cocktail on my previous visit.

Like I said, we lost an hour somewhere, but I know for certain that I took this picture at 22:00.

After a night of much laughter, David and I made our way home where we promptly went to sleep after an ever-so-brief visit with my parents.

Happy Halloween, friends!  And, as always, thank you for reading!

@Pret A Diner- Italians Do It Better

As I arrived at Pret A Diner- Italians Do It Better I took note of the candle-lit entry and the enormous neon cross, cocked an eyebrow and said to David, "This is either going to be terrible, or really really fun."  When we were invited to the dinner, I accepted on the fact that 69 Colebrook Row was responsible for the cocktails so I walked into 50 St. James's Street on Sunday night unsure as to what, exactly, we were in for.  Was it a restaurant, a gallery, a theater?  Even now, three days later, I'm having trouble describing the experience- for that is truly what it is, an experience- though I can say with much certainty that my initial feeling was right and the evening was really really fun.

So what is it?  Well, Pret A Diner is an avant-garde dining experience designed with careful attention paid to aesthetics and details that pleasure the senses.  It is a creative compilation between taste-makers in various industries who share their talents to create something special for a limited space of time.  It encourages diners to do just what the Olivia Steele piece in the bar suggests and go get lost.  Get lost in the music, the food, the art; let the senses take over and enjoy the moment, the company, and the surroundings.  Pret A Diner is fantasy dining.  It doesn't ask the diner to take anything- not the food, the drink, or the setting- too seriously, but does encourage them to truly enjoy it.  What struck me most is that despite the theatrics, the bold decor and pretty plating, the entire experience felt so authentic and everyone seemed to be having a really fantastic time.  

Pret A Diner is only open until June 30th, so do yourself a favor and book a table while you can.  If you can't, at least stop in the bar for a drink.  I promise, it won't disappoint.