Sunday, December 2, 2012

Fin de la Visite


Our friend David is here again, passing through for one night after his European tour. Today he hops back onto a plane bound for the states. (I can hear Dave now: "Don't hop! It's dangerous.")

Last night we went to a neighborhood restaurant, Lonsdale, a place I've long wondered about and wanted to try. (Not to be confused with the Earl of Lonsdale, our corner pub.) Lonsdale is right around the corner but for some reason those are often the places you never visit, right? Well, it was terrific. The lighting was low and the wide banquettes were elegant red leather. I had succulent scallops and a lentil hot pot; David had a wild game terrine followed by duck; Dave had a quail starter and blood pudding atop pork belly. (Quail on a plate always looks so sad to me!) We split a bottle of malbec and even got desserts. Fabulous! We will definitely go back.

Then we came home to the flat and shared photos -- I showed David my pics of Belgium, and he showed me and Dave his photos of Paris, Switzerland and Italy.

I went walking yesterday in Hyde Park and environs. It's bloody cold out there now, but people are still out and about, bundled up and even running and exercising. Fortitude!

(Photo: This is not Lonsdale! It's a random restaurant in Marylebone, on Friday.)

4 comments:

Reya Mellicker said...

Sounds delicious and fun, too.

Steve, you might need some clothing technology to deal with the weather. I've become a big fan of REI clothes which are warm but not bulky. I don't know what they're made of - maybe old pop bottle caps or something, definitely they are not "natural" but they repel rain, they protect and keep me warm - they make it possible to get out there no matter the weather. Those people out there might have good clothing rather than extraordinary fortitude. You never know.

ellen abbott said...

Sounds good. We had some lentil soup recently and decided we needed more lentils in our diet. We're have a nice warm spell right now. Supposed to be in the low 80s today which suits me as I hate being cold. If we have winter, it usually comes in January and February.

Elizabeth said...

I'm going to note your use of the word "bloody" -- did you know in your childhood Floridian days that that word would flow out of your mouth?

Steve Reed said...

Reya: I probably do need new clothes. I'm always woefully behind on clothing technology. But finding a use for old pop bottle caps wouldn't be a bad thing!

Ellen: Lentils are one of my favorite foods!

Elizabeth: Ha! Funny thing is, I said "bloody" even before I moved here. I think my word usage predicted my place of residence, rather than resulting from it!