Spy Publications has very kindly assigned me the London beat, and I am very happy to be stationed here doing all sorts of research during the many Diamond Jubilee celebrations. We have been exploring the possibilities of all the many rooftop restaurants, waterfront pubs, high teas, cream teas, Fortnum and Mason delights, ploughman lunches and The Big Lunch, a nation-wide eating event that happens on Sunday, after the Royal Pageant. Lots of food and festivities!
This weekend marks the celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s 60th year on the throne, and the entire nation has pulled out all the stops for a four-day celebration. Many streets and most businesses are decorated with photos of the Queen, sending warm greetings and congratulations to her for her many years of service to Great Britain. And even though Chestertown just celebrated it’s own tea party, it is rather thrilling to be here in Old Blighty, walking through the many memorials, looking at paintings, scarfing down McVitie’s Dark Chocolate Digestive Biscuits all in the name of journalism. I might also add, that for a week I will not be cooking, and that, too, is a nice change.
Last night we tottered out, slightly jet-lagged, to explore our neighborhood in Kensington and Chelsea. It is amazing how far we walked, because we were always tempted to explore just one more street, following the bread crumb trail though one more mews, wandering over painful cobbles in search of beer.
We had dinner at Angelsea Arms, a pub in South Kensington, recommended to us by WC alum, Maura Kelly Rogers. At 8:00 the sun had not yet set, and the sky was still light. A throng of bright young things, still clad in natty business attire, crowded the bar room and spilled out on the pavement enjoying the warm evening and their beers. It was a cheerful, crowded spot as everyone stood in a formless mass of a queue, waiting for the barmen to fill their orders. Best Beloved stood ther for a good ten minutes while I scrutinized the crowd. There was an interesting painting of a nude that might have been at home hanging over the bar at Andy’s…
We ate in the downstairs restaurant, still aglow with the setting sun, and alight with candles, with clean, scrubbed pine tables and starched white napkins. We were not very adventurous, I am afraid to report. No potted rabbit for us. Instead we tucked into two delightfully predictable Retro Burgers, which were topped with excellent cheese, tomatoes and pickles. There was a hint of garlic and we’d couldn’t decide if the garlic was mixed I with the meat, or if it was a garlic aioli . This might take a second visit and a little more research…
There was also a generous portion of hot hand-cut chips. Two pints of Bombardier bitters completed my meal. Yumsters. Many thanks to Maura, who tirelessly blazes the beer trails for the rest of us.
Last night we went to a wonderful performance of music at St. Martin in the Field (just so you know we are not wandering around London only in search of beer; we are also looking for culture.) It was a Diamond Jubilee Proms – A Musical Performance by the Locrian Ensemble of London. The music ranged from the divine to the absurd. Imagine, if you will, a delightfully lithe soprano, sauntering down the main aisle of the church, singing “Habanera” from Bizet’s “Carmen”, tempting the men in the audience. There was also a spirited “Rule Britannia” shouted out by the enthused assembly.
More Postcards from London shortly.
Cheers!
The Anglesea Arms
15, Selwood Terrace, London SW7
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