Sunday 10 February 2013

A civilised tete-a-tete at Fortnum and Masons...


Saturday in London was cold and dreary with that horrible misty rain that seems to make the weather seem much worse than it actually is.

Fortunately, I had brunch with two old friends to which to look forward - we shared a flat for three years here in London when I first arrived back from Sydney. Now one lives in New York, and the other lives about as far from me in London as it is possible to get without going outside the M25. So it was a lovely opportunity to spend a few hours together yesterday morning.

We had planned on going to The Wolseley which we had often frequented together...but being unable to get a booking, and hearing there was an hour wait for a table on our arrival we pottered down Piccadilly to Fortnum and Mason instead. I ashamedly admitted that I hadn't set foot in this store apart from my first visit to London (more years ago than I care to remember) when I was treated to lunch by my aunt and uncle. What a loss for me - this is just such a beautiful store.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to explore the wonderful food hall yesterday as we passed through it on our way to the restaurant...but that has only enticed me to return for proper consideration of all of it's loveliness.


We made out way to the Gallery restaurant (there are several to choose from within the store), and it was a lovely place to while away a few hours as we caught up on each of our news. It also seems as if I attempted to eat my way through their baked goods menu - trying their English breakfast muffin (with preserves) for a late breakfast...and then we shared a plate of scones with jam and cream just before we left. I would have to say though that there were 3 hours between each of those meals! Topped off with some lovely tea served in beautiful silver teapots it was a lovely place to spend a Saturday afternoon (so much so that I didn't even mind the extensive commute home that took at least twice as long as normal thanks to the disruption that is weekend engineering work on the London Underground)...

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