Dinner with Friends

Weekend in Chicago

I'm sorry, this is a little out of chronological order...

 

Over President's Weekend my husband and I went to Chicago.  We got a wonderful rate on a suite at a gorgeous new hotel, Public.  It's a new Ian Schraeger and the service is just so incredibly bad, that... well, I really have no words but they are giving us the same suite for free when we go over Memorial Day Weekend (which we are only going because we have a free room).

I left a message for the concierge who took three days and much insisting on my part to call me back and when he finally did he didn't apologize or explain why he never called.  From talking to the lovely Front Desk Manager who acted as my concierge, I already knew the concierge was off on Monday's and Tuesday's, but he never offered any explanations.  When I asked him why there was no out of office message on his phone saying that, his answer was a very nasty, "that's against company policy".  Wouldn't the company policy be to have good customer service and to manage expectations?  I guess not. 

We had lunch with friend at the hotel's restaurant, The Pump Room, which was so wonderful, including the service, that we wanted to go back for dinner, even though we had reservations already for Sunday night.  They were very sweet and squeezed us in.  I had asked that front desk manager, weeks before if we could and should dress up for the restaurant and she said we could wear anything from an evening gown to a t-shirt but that jeans and a jacket was the popular look.  She was so OFF!!!  Almost all the women were in cocktail dresses exccept me.  I AM NEVER UNDER DRESSED! EVER!!!!!!!!!!  I'm always the most dressed up person in the room and that is just how I like it.  I was uncomfortable and I was angry-but the restaurant was just as wonderful at dinner!

Saturday morning we asked for directions to The Chicago History Museum, which we were given but they were also "off".  If we didn't ask for directions from a passing stranger we would still be walking around that lake!!! We went to Chicago because there was an exhibit there I wanted to see, Charles James.  He was an important designer through the 40's and 50's, American, educated in England, and alternating his shows between Paris and New York every few seasons.  The museum did a lovely job.  The curators did CT scans of each piece and became so fascinated with the construction they found that they created muslins to display each section so that the visiting public could see and understand the construction.  Each piece's ID card had a photo of the Chicago society matron in her dress and it told each dress' story.  My only complaint was that the room wasn't big enough so there was not enough to see!  :) 

Charles James holds a special place in my heart as in 1983 there was an hisotrically improtant exhibit of his work at the Brooklyn Museum. I was in college then, Pratt Institute for Fashion Merchandising and a group of my friends and I were asked to be docents for the opening night party.  They took over the Number 4, a NYC subway train, painted it white, inside and out, had a cocktail party at Grand Central, got everyone on board and went to the Brooklyn Museum (the 4 stops right outside the front door).  We poured champagne for the guests before our docent duties began.  Who were the guests you might ask???  Perry Ellis, Mary McFadden, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Carolina Herrera to name just a few.  Betsy Bloomingdale and CZ Guest were just a few of the society ladies who were on that train!!!  And Perry Ellis told my friend Larry he liked his look!!! Larry was wearing a vintage shawl collared tuxedo jacket with woolen plaid pants, Converse high tops, and had a dinner napkin in his pocket instead of pocket square.  Sorry, I had on a simple Ralph Lauren evening gown-black silk cut on the bias, one shoulder, not nearly as quirky.  It was quite a highlight of my life, that night!!

We took a taxi back to the hotel, dropped off our gift store purchaces and then wandered off to Michigan Avenue.  We had a tres charmant lunch and then went looking for cocktail clothes for our Sunday night dinner at The Pump Room.  We found beautiful things at H&M as we always do! We went to See, our favorite eyeglasses store and discovered the joys of Forever 21. We went back to the hotel and changed for our dinner at Roka Akor, same owners as the Roka we loved in London a few weeks before!!!

We left the hotel at about 8:45 and saw a couple getting out of a taxi, waited till they go out and started to get in.  Some horrible blonde man in an over coat came running up to me, shoved me over and slammed closed the door to the taxi, saying, "ma'am there is a clear taxi line here and I expect you to use it!"  I came out of my shock and turned around.  I asked him, with a long sweep of my arm, where is a clear taxi line?? And, I said, "I really don't care what you expect, anyway, we are guests here and you work here-let's decide who gets to tell whom what to do, shall we'?  By this time my wonderful husband commandeered us a taxi across the street and off we went.  We had a marvelous time, the awful concierge had decided to try to make it up to us, and he made the reservation for us.  When we got there they knew we were "his" and greeted us by name! He had also included an appetizer for us, though to be honest, I don't like that he chose it, even if we were at a Japanese restuarant, not everyone eats sushi! But he tried and I applaud that.

Getting back to into the hotel was an equally horribly ordeal.  We got our of our taxi and walked to the front door where we were again, bodily stoppped from going in and our room keys rudely DEMANDED.  I argued a bit and finally gave in and showed the key.  We stomped over to the front desk and demanded the hotel manager-I really had had quite enough of this horrible service by this point.  They kept treating us like criminals not like guests of a glam boutique hotel.  Guess who was the night manager? They fool who wouldn't let us in.  He did beg us to let him explain.  I said he could but at the same time nothing he could say would make me change my mind or feel better.  They restaurant was so "hot" that there were so many people waiting, they had to ask for room keys so that bar guests wouldn't sneak in.  I said that I could think of many better systems for that than the one they were using, that their restaurant capacity problems were not my problem.  I  turned back back to the front desk and insisted they have a real manager call me in the morning and swept us upstairs. Livid at this point.

Sunday we had a lovely day wandering round and a marvelous dinner again. Of course the manager didn't call. We went home on Monday and he called a little while after we got home.  I had calmed down by this point and offered my frutstrations with all the serivce and made suggestions on how they could handle that hotness of the restaurant.  He knew how to offer correct serivce and promised changes and offered us the free suite.  When we get there in May we'll invite friends in for breakfast!  I don't expect much but it's a free suite and then I will be done with the place for a long time, nor will I recommend it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

300 Years Old

Could my hero, Abigael Adams have walked on these 300 year old brick walkways through Beacon Hill as well?
 

More Boston Restaurants or Boston Restaurants Again

My husband and I went to Boston for Labor Day weekend. Have I mentioned how much we detest sitting on a beach doing nothing? We like cities and all that goes with them.

It turned out that Pop, restaurant highly recommended was closed for a private party Friday night, when we, sans reservation planned to go and was disappointing but since the menu sounds so good we'll go another time. We took our concierge's suggestion and ate in a terrific place tucked into an alley behind the hotel, Nine Zero. All black and white, it calls itself a French bistro but the food seems a combination of French and modern English. The bar tender is of the "modern mixology" school which was exciting and delicious; service was knowledgeable but friendly and casual. Some dishes were better than others-the Welsh Rarebit (fun to see on a menu!) was a little oily and the mac and cheese was a bit too al dente but my husband's roast chicken, he reports was wonderful-juicy and flavorful, and my salade Nicoise was amazing-presented in an ultra modern stylish way (long narrow plate, rectangles of raw tuna in a line down the plate with the various accouterments in perfect tiny forms on top) and delicious as well. Dessert was easy- 1 scoop each of handmade ice cream (a somewhat strange crumbly texture but not terrible) and the Ethiopian French press coffee we chose was terrific. Marliave was just fab.

Saturday night we went to O-YA which is always my favorite as I've mention before. We had some of usual dishes and some that were new for us but loved them all. I had my favorite salmon tataki, I ordered the tomago but they were out of it so they gave me the chive flower omelet (so delicious), I had warm just made tofu, and a scallops/truffles plate that was just lovely-summery, refreshing but a real surf and turf feeling of the sea and earth playing together. They were out of my husband's favorite, short ribs so he had the soy braised strip loin (a stew, actually) instead (wonderful) he had the smoked wagyu sashimi and the chopped tea brined chicken thighs-all incredible.

Sunday we planned to go to the John and Abigail Adams home but I have comet o understand that my husband doesn't really want to do that so he refused to get out of bed, we made new plans to go to the SOWA flea and farmer's market, which we've done before and loved but when we got there, to our great chagrin it was closed for the holiday weekend. We were a bit dejected but walked to our lunch reservation at Market in the new W Hotel because it's new, Jean-Georges, and we always go to Market for brunch in Paris and love it!!! They added a few New England touches to the menu over the Paris menu, which I thought was charming. We liked the Paris restaurant better-it is subtler. I ordered a bloody Mary as I love the play of tomato juice and horseradish-what I got was a glass so full of pepper my throat was on fire. The gazpacho, however, was glorious. A bowl of tiny chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, almonds, and chilis over which the waiter poured the iced tomato soup.

Sunday night we went to Mooo which we liked a lot. Boston is where Parker House rolls were created and as soon as you order a steaming hot cast iron pan of 4 puffed heavy Parker House rolls are put in front of you. I had a wonderful and classically correct Caesar Salad which is so rare to find these days, and why I never order it. Crisp chopped Romaine lettuce hearts (not limp outer leaves) a dressing actually made from garlic, raw egg, and shredded Parmesean cheese, and anchovies that were real fish!! Then a beef carpaccio which was good with dried cherries and mild wasabi over it (the fruit was not my favorite, I wished it was more classic but the meat was good). My husband who likes to eat high quality excellent food but rarely seeks it out or is rarely this interested in food (!) wanted to taste the mac and cheese (mac & cheese seems to be very trendy in Boston and on every menu) AND the potato skins (which we didn't love-the cheese overpowered the potato). His filet mignon looked gorgeous and he mentioned it's flavor but he ordered it because it was one of only two steaks under 12 ounces, the only other one was a 6 oz kobe beef chopped sirloin and was $120. All the other meats were between 12 and 24 oz and just too much meat, I wish they had other, smaller options becasue ordering a dish for it's portion size is unfortunate, though don't get me worng, he likes filet mignon. The dessert, a chocolate stout cake was incredible but the hugest piece of cake I have ever seen. Deeply chocolatey and dense with chocolate buttercream in between 3 layers and on top-nothing was overly sweet or chemically tasting and like the rolls dense and heavy (which I love, I hate fluffy food).

Monday for lunch, again at the suggestion of our most fabulous concierge's suggestion, we went to the Back Bay Social Club which was really nice-lovely service, good food but again the bloody Mary was so full of pepper it was impossible and it was brownish not red, which I don't get at all. My husband had the chicken and waffles which was fun to order and good, I'm so proud of him for pulling the skin off the fried chicken!! I had the watermelon salad which I liked a lot but will sound strange to you because I don't like watermelon, balsamic vinegar, or even blue cheese that much but together there is something very powerful and quite delicious about them. Then I had the crab salad over avocado. Very pretty, set in a ring, but in desperate need of salt. The desserts weren't chocolate so we skipped it and went to Ben and Jerry's-YUM.

It's 18th Century history is all around you and very clear but there is nothing that compares to the elegance of Beacon Hill which is so well preserved that my hero Abigail Adams would easily recognize it. My mom called while I was wandering through and asked where I was, my reply, was, "I'm in the 18th Century" which is of course ironic given that she called me on my very 21st century BlackBerry.

My husband and I have been going for weekends away in Boston for a few years now and always enjoy it, it's a smaller city than Manhattan so feels different but still gives us everything we enjoy about cities but Boston has become quite cosmopolitan-more so with each trip.  To think that a W has opened and that Jean Georges is the chef at its restaurant is a pretty important step. Boston has always had it's own important chef's but a world class international chef opening a restaurant in Boston is impressive.

Overall, we had an absolutely marvelous time and look forward to going again. Possibly November because there are two exhibits I'd like to go see-one in the MFA (Arnold Scaasi: an American Couturier) and one in a gallery, Richard Avedon: Fashion Photography.

 

Boston Restaurants

We went to a couple of restaurants while we were in Boston, some better than others obviously.

The meeting then event I went for was in a restaurant that I had been before and had mixed feelings about so I went with no expectations. Mistral turned out to be lovely-a sun filled welcoming Mediterranean styled room with really nice food and a wonderful staff. There were personal pizzas cut into tiny wedges passed by waiters with tiny tongs, there was tuna tartar and many other lovely little bites. Tres charmant.

After that we went to my absolute favorite restaurant in Boston (and definitely on my top 5 favorite worldwide list-right up there with Per Se!), O-YA. It's on a tiny street that no one ever heard of, around the corner from South Station in what looks like a rough part of town and it's called The Leather District. Inside the restaurant is rustic Japanese. The first time we ate there we were put next to the kitchen as they were the only two seats left that evening and now we make a reservation requesting those two seats! Sitting at the sushi bar, the chairs are high bar stools so you can really watch the master sushi chef's at work, unlike at lesser Japanese places where you sit below the sushi bar and cannot see a thing. To our right is the grill, which we can also see quite clearly at work and then the kitchen. We go late, around 9ish and the restaurant closes at 10 so when we are about 1/2 way through dinner the chef is winding down his night and stands at the kitchen doorway watching...which the first time we went, for me meant I could chat! But it's his wife, the sommelier who is really our source! She and I are foodies and restaurant fanatics together and we are becoming friends!! The food at O-YA is beyond compare! A whole menu of tiny bites of the delicious yet innovative sushi (both fish and meats) and none of those silly American things, like the Philadelphia roll. My favorite piece is the salmon tataki, 2 pieces of salmon sushi over which has been passed, a tiny blowtorch for less than a second so it cooks some of the swirly lines of the salmon, then a tiny dollop of spiced mayonnaise and a slice of grape tomato all over a glorious rice. It's a mass of texture and flavor for which I could go on describing but you want to hear about the other places, right? My husband's favorite dish is the braised short ribs a 2-3 bites of perfectly tender-silky and juicy ultra rich meat braised in sake and soy and surrounded by several perfectly square cubes of potato. So you get the idea...tiny 2 bite dishes perfectly balanced flavors, textures, and colors throughout the whole glorious meal. Which also includes excited foodie chatter between the owner and me!!!

The next night we went to Clio on the recommendation of an important Manhattan chef and my CEO. I've begun to learn about important Boston chef's and apparently Ken Oringer is one. The restaurant is in a hotel built in 1925 so I was expecting greatness. The food was terrific-my husband had a terrific beef two ways type of dish-short ribs and beef cheeks. I had the marinated hamachi and yellow tail for a first course then the Cassoulet of sea urchin and lobster (delicious!!) the problem was the other diners were so blah-no buzz, no excitement, the decor equally so. Ok, we went, I'm glad we did but now it's off the list and we move on to the next one.

Time in Boston

I had the opportunity to fly to Boston last week and had an absolutely marvelous time. I haven't flown on the Delta Shuttle in many years, usually when my husband and I go we drive so that I don't have to worry about how much stuff I take. Or buy.

I left my office in my Saint Laurent jacket, Prada pencil skirt and Lanvin heels feeling exceedingly chic and that feeling didn't go away until I took off my ensemble at midnight.

Just outside my office, I got into a taxi and 35 mins later was in the fabulously art deco Marine Air Terminal. Still in heels I breezed through security, waited outside the gate, in a leather club chair and got on the plane, then again into a taxi. In the Marine Air Terminal the very senior executives were mostly men but they were all in suits-and expensive suits which brings me back several decades and makes me feel art deco. The one very sad social commentary is that there are still so many more men than women in this particular airport lounge.  I arrived looking terribly chic got into a taxi and arrived at the ultra glam hotel.

The decor at Nine Zero was crisp, urban, and deco though with a tres modern fillip.  Black and tan print carpets, black and tan furniture, deep tan walls, and crisp white sheets with a black and taupe fur throw over the bed.

My husband and I go to Boston fairly often but this was the first time in many years that I went on business. When we have gone personally the last year or two we have stayed at the Jury's Hotel which has now become the Back Bay Hotel. We loved the idea that it used to Boston's police headquarters turned into a hotel. But it's decor was a little rundown, a little suburban, not inelegant-the service was also just ok. We stayed there because it was inexpensive for a boutique hotel and it was incredibly convenient being just steps away from the beginning of Boylston St which we love.

The ultra chic Nine Zero isn't really near anything we want to be near but the service is so fabulous and the rooms so gorgeous that I believe we will make do with the extra inconvenience.

I made friends with the lead concierge who seems to know Boston like I know NY and that is what I look for in a concierge.

The restaurant and shopping stories are coming next...

OMG the Tourists

And so it begins. With this week's lovely spring weather we get the tourists. Americans fat with their loud grating voices and hideous clothes (shall I describe them for you?). Europeans with their lack respect for personal space. Large groups who stop at the foot of an escalator or suddenly in front of famous windows. They wobble across sidewalks getting everyone's way, including their own sometimes.   At Christmas time if I avoid 5th Ave from 45th St to 59th I can usually remain unaffected by them but in the summer they seem to swarm everywhere.

On most Saturday mornings I drive into the City with my husband but today my cleaning lady came so I took the ferry in myself and they were all over the terminal. Large groups blocking walkways and escalators; group leaders holding up hands or flags or hats to keep everyone together-shouting. People taking pictures of the view or the Statue of Liberty who seem to think they can stand or crouch anywhere for the "best angle". They think they can stand on anything too-if I had slower reflexes my new mod green coat would now be sporting a size 13 midwestern sneaker print. Thank you to the horrible teenager for climbing on the seat next me.  Seat.  Not stepladder.

While waiting to get off the ferry, I put my bag on the seat next to me, not realizing a man had silently stopped behind me to look at the spectacular Brooklyn waterfront skyline until he SHOUTED to his wife to "look-" right in my ear (?!?!?!) I jumped, turned, looked at him with raised eyebrows, wishing with all my heart that I could raise one eye brow only. So much better for the condescending sneer I was offering him. He had the grace to say he was sorry, and not in that mumbled automatic way either, he really seemed to mean it. But really-why do they have to stand where I am standing-there are plenty of windows overlooking Brooklyn.

Once I got to the city it was slightly better and I will try to concentrate on streets and neighborhoods where they are less likely to be. I have one thing to return at the Levis store, across the street from Bloomingdales and then can get to Barney's and  further uptown. The upper floors at Barney's and upper Madison Ave will be mostly free of them and I can breathe again.

Descriptions:

In case you're interested the soccer mom's usually wear those medium blue jeans with a higher waist than they should with rounded hips, cut wider in the leg, they get narrower as they travel down to the ankle, always stopping too far above the shoe and we are forced to see their ratty bulky workout shoes. There is always a pink or yellow v-neck T involved, rolling over the waves of fat. There is always a dreadful luggage color pocketbook with a shoulder strap. The daughters' are now wearing skinny straight jeans with their pink and yellow T-s stopping too short of their hips shows us in fact emphasizing that terrible muffin top over the low waistband and rounded hip. With ballet slippers.  The boys wear old vintage concert from bands that never existed, their jeans too big and flop around with their ratty sneakers untied and flapping nor do they every seem to pick up their feet when they walk.  The men are always in polo shirts and those jeans that are also in medium blue, too high waisted and with a "skotche" more room.  (That was from an old Levi's ad.) 

I really wish they would just send money to the city, we could send some pretzels, hot dogs, museum buttons, and shopping bags...then they could brag that they were here and we wouldn't actually have to have them standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

Thanks for listening.

Dinner in London: Roast

On Saturday night of our long weekend we had a reservation at Roast, recommended by a British friend. It was really a beautiful place, in the Borough Market on the other side of the Thames which is still considered the cool up and coming neighborhood.  It served high fashion high end food that we loved. We started out with cocktails which was rather exciting as there is way too much beer around and much as I want to look like a native I refuse to drink it. I do love a cocktail. I had a Gibson served in an old fashioned coupe glass with an onion soaked Campari filled shot glass-the waiter put it down in front of me with no explanation and walked away.  I called over a man in a suit, thinking he was the sommelier and could explain but alas he was the restaurant's manager and didn't know but brought me the bartender who created the drink.  We became fast friends immediately!  I could either sip alternately of each glass (which seemed like a lot of trouble to me) or I could pour the campari onions into the Gibson, which is exactly what I did-delish! For dinner I started with the smoked trout and moved on to the roast scallops. The smoked trout I get in the US smokes beautifully but looks kind of like "smoked whitefish" but the trout at Roast looked more like smoked salmon with a firmer smokier texture and flavor-different yes, unexpected, yes, but wonderful.  My husband and friend had Scottish egg appetizer (my friend loved hers-very flavorful, good crunch and the pea shoots added a nice texture/flavor, but my husband took it all apart and didn't eat the poached egg.  It's very rare that he is willing to try something and that he can find an appetizer he likes so I was proud of him for tasting this.   They both had the 

I had the roast chicken my friend with the lemon thyme and a side of roasted potatoes, my husband doesn't care about sauce so he let the waiter bring the bread sauce, which was a new thing for us but apparently very British.  It tasted a bit like grits, which is exactly what our friend suggested it would taste like-needed some sea salt at the very least if you ask me.  They both felt that the chicken had very good flavor and crunchy skin, moist flesh....the potatoes were really yummy, could have maybe used a bit more flavor in them, but the outsides were exceptionally crisp.

For dessert she had the blood orange & grapefruit sorbet (which is called water ice in old British terms) for dessert--very flavorful & zippy along with the dessert wine the manager suggested. 

 Then, because Roast is also a whiskey bar I had whiskey with dessert.

I had already made friends with the restaurant manager and the bar tender, chatting about how to drink what the waiter put in front of me without explanation. The bartender continued to send over whiskey to taste! I finally settled on the Lagavulin (unfortunately, the waiter made a little mistake and brought be the Laphroaig, which I liked too but not as much, though it gave me the opportunity to find the Lagavulin when I got back home and though unbeknownst to me at that moment I would  11 days in the future) which smelled like chocolate and was incredibly delicious so I thought it would go well with the chocolate dessert the manager created for me and a different one for my husband. I had the deeply rich chocolate garnish from one of the menu options-the texture was that of a pots de creme, heavier than mousse. My husband had the garnish from some other dessert which was a vanilla ice cream filled with chocolate brownie pieces-both delicious for our palettes.

Over all a wonderful time was had by all!

London for the Weekend

My husband and I had the great privilege of going to London over President's weekend-a marvelous but frustratingly short trip. The flight there was completely full (in trips past we had 3-ish seats to ourselves which lets you lay down, after a small bottle of champagne I can then actually sleep for 2-3 hours, then I'm fine for the rest of the trip). My husband can sleep no matter where we are and I am jealous of that. We were stuck in the window and middle and really uncomfortable. The flight was uneventful after that and I did get to watch "Bringing Up Baby" one of my absolute favorite movies, certainly my favorite Katherine Hepburn. I was also able to watch "Bright Star", a movie about the 19th Century poet, John Keats.  Visually,spectacular-bringing the costumes to life for me in a very special way-my mom and I often read historical romance novels about the Regency Period of English history (a la Jane Austen) so seeing the costumes "alive" was exciting for me. It was a time of salons and witty repartee-the art of conversation and of letters so I was really looking forward to hearing it. Alas I was disappointed-the acoustics of the plane were so dreadful, I could barely hear a word!  When next my husband goes to Blockbuster I will ask him to rent it or buy it for me.

Landing without incident we went to the Heathrow Express, a train that goes from Heathrow to Paddington Station and one we have taken before with much success, however Friday that was not to be the case. In trips past, we happen to stay near Paddington so it was easy to get on the one train and go, walk three blocks and we were done. This time, we had to take a train from one terminal to the Heathrow Express Terminal, then wait another 12 minutes for the actual Heathrow Express then to Paddington then in a taxi to my company's office where we were meeting my friend and leaving the luggage until the end of the day.  Nor do I remember the previously easier train being quite so expensive-it was 18 pounds a person (about $28). We took a (pre-ordered) taxi back to the airport which was much much nicer, heavenly, in comparison, much cheaper and is what we will continue to do in the future.
We arrived in the office and met my friend and lots of new ones! Also meeting a woman that I talk to and work with all the time and she was as incredibly fabulous in person as she is over the phone!!!! We toured the office, had a coffee, talked, then wandered around the office neighborhood.  The last time we went to London we discovered Caffe Nero, a chain of Italian coffee bars established before the coffee revolution and now there are at least 6 other coffee bar chains, not even including Satrbucks. But Caffe Nero, we were very happy to see survived the years because it has the most divine hot chocolate in the UK and better than any I have had in France (shocking, I know).

If we lived in London, I wouldn't go near the place! How many calories do we think are in that 10 oz cup of whole milk and chocolate!?!?!?!?! (please don't answer that)

The only good shops in the area were Habitat (Conran's in the US) and Heal's (not in the US, tragically) and we had a blast in both.  In Habitat, I fell in love with black coupe champagne glasses on VERY long stems, we bought a few everyday kitchen things in fuscia which always makes me smile!

There is a gorgeous fixture at Heals that I am still thinking about for my living room.

Aside from the cool, urban, fun pieces at both shops-nothing is terribly expensive, which makes acquiring that much more fun. My fashion friend reminds me over the years that good design does not have to be expensive and I am happy to agree with him.

We had lunch at a Japanese fast food joint and my husband's grilled teriyaki chicken over rice was much better than my prawns and Udon noodles, unfortunately, I noticed they had sushi only after I ordered the noodles. Oh well. We went back to the office to collect our things and had a marvelous time, fantasizing with the "girls" what to use my new stemware for at my next dinner party as I would never serve champagne in them-only flutes.

We got back to my friend's apartment and it is gorgeous! Huge! Very impressive! I wanted to wrest it from her and move my own things in immediately! :). We relaxed a bit and began the trek to the gastro pub we planned on for dinner, called the Washington but they don't take reservations, so when we got there around 8:30 there was not a table to be found. We stood around with eagle eyes for a little while but nothing seemed in danger of opening up. We were all getting a little sick of wandering and waiting so we went to a Greek place which was ok but I learned a new way of making grilled cheese. Just stick the cheese on the grill and serve with toasted pita-delicious. I can't wait to do this at home! The Haloumi was firm and salty with a much less grainy texture than feta and I loved it! And the warm fresh pita was a perfect foil for it. The rest of the meal was mediocre-their burgers  were too thin and the fries were under cooked, my prawns on toast were too smothered in pink mayonnaise and the toast, while it looked perfect (golden and buttery) was wet and soggy from the water running out of the lettuce next to it. Oh well, again.

The next morning we slept in because my husband and I had been awake for about 24 hours the day before so it seemed wise. My friend and I finally got up and made a noisy breakfast in order to wake my husband. Roasted eggs on that glorious European bread (plain supermarket bread there is dense and flavorful rather than the fluffy useless Wonder bread we have here). We left the apartment and set out for parts unknown...! Oxford Circus. Upon exiting the train station we first caught sight of H&M, and then Top Shop-with one of the largest men's department I have ever seen. 2 full floors! My husband was in raptures and we all had fun picking things out for him though may I say, no one in the group is as fashion forward as I?  He bought a very cute navy jacket and a terrible sweatshirt (remember how dressed up I am? I hate sweatshirts).  We had lunch at a pretend pub but the food was good-I had a smoked haddock fishcake which was really interesting but breaded and deep fried so I ordered only 1. Dessert was full of chocolate and luscious. Then we finally arrived at Zara Home!! I had been dying to go there since we set foot on the plane! Did you know there was Zara Home???? We found it accidentally in Barcelona 3 years ago and I have been in love ever since.  I write to them constantly asking for a NY store. We make sure to plan it into our Paris trips and now London! There are some in Mexico for anyone who goes there.  We bought some gorgeous things including some old-fashions with silver skulls (cool urban things not gross scary ones) printed on them as my husband just adores cool urban skeletons! I bought the paisley dessert plates from the collection pictures below and they actually look quite interesting under the skeleton glasses if I wanted to serve dessert in the glasses.  And I  bought the largest of the towels you see below for my bathroom guest towel arrangement (the bottom of the pile, for a bit of pizazz in a tan, gold and black bathroom).  I never leave Zara home without a towel-they are the most silky glorious things you have ever touched!  

Sadly by then it was time to go back to the apartment to deal with dinner, at Roast, a modern British uber-stylish place-with cocktails (FINALLY!) and recommended by a British friend. More about that tomorrow.