Midwinter, vin chaud & a bonfire...

Whilst there were no Druids present, there was much philosophizing over what constitutes a fine Glühwein...and, why you don't dowse a pile of sticks with petrol.

Six months on...

And I have learned...
I can live on coffee.
I can live without a social life.
The dishwasher is my new best friend.

The resurrection of the Caramel Slice...

When ut si first opened this choc caramel slice appeared in the display fridge with annoying regularity...until I yelled ENOUGH!



But it sells, cried the back of house.
It's wicked, cried the front.

It did & it was & I caved for Easter.
And so, for a VERY short time, it makes another appearance...tarted up with a bit of gold leaf...thanks be to the gals at cocobean who, recognizing the look of the desperate & obsessive, GAVE me 2 sheets of this beautiful stuff after closing hours late Thursday night .

The day's at the morn...

Straight to the Faema



Then with cheese I forgot to put away last night



Spread on some just baked bread



And devoured leaning against the still warm oven
I stare at the mis en place...en place.



And adore that silent space in a kitchen before service.
Its stillness.
Its order.

And then...



In walks Fluffy Ears!

Me & the Prof both have birthdays in March.

I share mine with Michelangelo and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
He shares his with Queen Latifah and the guy who narrated Rocky & Bullwinkle.
For his birthday I gave him a slab of jamon

(for he loves swine)



and asked him to take me to a Vietnamese restaurant for mine.

He said sure. As long as he can order pig.

I said I'm sure they have pigs in Hanoi.

We had a customer in today who asked if we had something with meat in it...

Oh my God.
Didn't realize.
We don't.
Well, there is free range bacon on the breakfast menu.
And, a couple of weeks ago, we did have some smoked trout with micro-salad & a soy-sesame drizzle.
Oh, hang on, there's a bit of proscuitto atop the mushroom & spinach bruschetta.

Anyway, Chef & Me had a good hard look at the menu after service today & decided we kind of like it the way it is.

The customer? Well, he had the pear, walnut & rocket salad with honey/wasabi dressing.

And then, when he went to pay with his visa card, I had to tell him that we don't actually have a credit card machine thingy either...can't afford the bank charges...sorry!

Preview the ink & charcoal nudes

of Lucy de Vere.
















At ut si from this week.