Anniversary dinner at Ode
One of the highlights of our recent trip to England was celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary at Ode in Shaldon, which has been named UK’s most sustainable restaurant by the Sustainable Restaurant Association.
The food was absolutely amazing, delicious, fresh and exciting from beginning to end. Service was friendly and helpful (owner Tim Bouget was lovely!). And all of this for a great price! Our wedding anniversary fell on a Wednesday and Ode features a reduced price menu on Wednesdays: three courses for 29 pounds! We added a couple of glasses of kir royale to start and a very pleasant French white wine to accompany our main courses.
Helen Mirren reprises her royal role in “The Audience”
If you loved Helen Mirren in “The Queen,” you will adore her in “The Audience,” which premieres at the National Theatre in London on June 15.
Want to buy a Scottish island?
Got $2.5 million and not quite sure how to spend it? How about buying the Scottish island of Tanera Mor? It’s now on the market!
BritWeek Festival event tomorrow!
If you’re in San Francisco tomorrow, be sure to pop by Union Square! BritWeek, an annual celebration of UK creativity and innovation in California which takes place May 3-11, will kick off with a day of fun and British-themed festivities including a BritArt gallery, live music, theater, entertainment and a typical British beer garden serving British beers and Pimm’s cocktails from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The event is presented by British Airways.
For more information, visit http://current.britweek.org/san-francisco-events.
Olba’s Pastilles in the USA
I just spotted Olba’s Pastilles at my local Sprouts supermarket. Different packaging than the British version, but certainly the same herbal lozenges we all know and love when you’re feeling under the weather!
Virgin Atlantic’s response to my GU complaint
I’ve blogged before about my bout with food poisoning aboard my outbound Virgin Atlantic flight last month – which I wholeheartedly believe is from the GU mango and passionfruit cheesecake pot (I ate two of them) that was not properly refrigerated.
They responded by asking me to fill out a questionnaire listing every thing I ate in the last 72 hours (“I feel like such a heifer. I had two bowls of Special K, 3 pieces of turkey bacon, a handful of popcorn, 5 peanut butter M&M’s and like 3 pieces of licorice.” – Cher from “Clueless”) The full questionnaire can be viewed here.
After submitting my questionnaire, here is their response:
Pub Heaven at the Duke of York
We spent a day in North Devon and had a pub lunch in the Duke of York Pub in the little village of Iddesleigh.
I was in pub heaven! The Duke of York is a 15th century pub that is the local for British author Michael Morpurgo, who got the seed of the idea to write the novel “War Horse” (which later became the blockbuster play and film) while in this very pub. More about this here!
It was homey and cozy and a little hobbit-like and included all of the things that I look for in a good pub:
A walk on the seawall in Teignmouth, Devon
After Paris, we hopped back on the Eurostar to London and then caught a train down to the southwest coast of Devon. We headed to a quaint, seaside town called Teignmouth, where my mother-in-law and lots of family friends live.
The train takes you right along the coast. Gorgeous views, despite the unseasonably cold spring weather. A few days after we arrived, we took a brisk walk along the seawall, which runs right alongside the train tracks.
Merci Shop in Paris
On our trip to Paris, we visited Merci, a three-story concept store in Marais that donates all profits to charity (helping underprivileged women and children). They sell clothing, furniture, housewares, stationery, gardening supplies, perfume and other toiletries. In addition, they have a charming little bookstore and three cafes. It really was a (high-brow) one stop shop!
Cheers to gin!
I’m delighted to hear that gin is apparently the spirit of the moment. Consumption has increased by 7 percent across western Europe in the past year!
The last gin and tonic I had was on this month’s Virgin Atlantic flight of all places (side note: my return flight from the U.K. to the U.S. was MUCH better than my trip going over. We went Premium Economy, I didn’t eat the Gu and didn’t vomit once! Score!). Our flight attendant was charming, ebullient without being ingratiating and could make a mean drink! I spotted her bringing out a big bottle of Bombay Sapphire (yes, no minis!!) as she served a man in front of me and something about that cool, soothing blue shade of the bottle inspired me to order one. It was phenomenal!
There’s something extremely luxurious about someone fixing you a real drink, when you’re 30,000 feet up, using a real glass (not plastic), with a real lime and real ice cubes with a decorative swizzle stick that makes one feel positively pampered. It remains one of the top 10 best gin and tonics I’ve ever had!
How do you feel about gin? Yay or nay? And where’s the best gin and tonic that you’ve ever had?! Spill! 🙂
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