SIR JOHN SOANE’S HOUSE MUSEUM

I have known about this little museum in Holborn for some year’s but hadn’t visited it until recently.

Located at the north side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields, entry is free. A volunteer stands outside, checking bags and either asks you to leave them in the cloakroom or provides small carrier bags. Interesting, I thought. What’s all this about. All was to become apparent.

Unlike most museums, entry is via the gift shop. Exit is also that way, although I didn’t realise that on the way in. They recommend that you start in the basement and move upwards. The friend whom I accompanied told me that they were a couple of tours of the private apartments, so we immediately went to sign up for one of those, then started our own tour. I now understood why they didn’t want people carrying big bags around…

Who was Sir John Sloane?

John Sloan (he added the ‘e’ later), as he started life, was the son of a bricklayer, who lived between 1753 and 1837. Soane’s father died when he was 14 years old, so the family moved to live with his brother, William. William was also a bricklayer. To cut a long story short, William got John a job on a building site where he was introduced to a surveyor, James Peacock. Peacock saw architectural sketches that Sloane was working on and introduced him to George Dance (the Younger). Dance came from an architectural family and is famous for the front of the Guildhall in the City, and for the rebuilding of Newgate Prison in 1770.)

Thus, Soane’s architectural career began. He, like Dance, did the ‘Grand Tour,’ which subsequently influenced his style. Sloane is most famous for his work at the Bank of England, where he was employed for 45 years. Sadly, most of Soane’s work was demolished by Sir Herbert Baker, an act which has been described as “the greatest architectural crime in the City of London in the twentieth century.” Soane also did work at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, some of which did survive the Second World War.

The Museum

The museum is based at 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Soane actually bought three houses and then re-built them (not all at once). He started with number 12. Number 14 was purchased much later, when Soane was aged 70.

Starting in the basement, in the kitchen area, lulled me into a false sense of security. There is a huge range and a display table in the centre. Apart from that, it was fairly empty. Turn left into the scullery and then down a passage and the reason for no bags becomes apparent.

The place is absolutely choc-o-bloc with various collections, including the sarcophagus of the Egyptian King Seti I. Gargoyles and other wall mountings, paintings and who knows what else. Most of it is not what I would want to decorate my house, even if I had the room.

One of the fascinating features is the stained-glass windows, and the skylights midway through the house. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photographs inside.

We were fortune enough to book onto a tour of the private apartments, which are at the top of the house. Amazing that they managed to get the same wallpaper made for his wife’s bedroom. Theirs was a relatively short marriage, and Soane kept his wife’s rooms as they were for many years after her death but eventually needed the space for more of his collection, so they now contain more paintings.

Soane had two sons, one of whom died quite young. The other was a ne’er-do-well, a bit too fond of the wine, women and song, so in 1833, Soane arranged for an Act of Parliament to be passed to maintain his house and collection at the time of his death. He did not want it falling into the hands of the ne’er-do-well son. The Act also decreed that the house should be open to the public for free for ‘inspiration and education.’ The house is managed by a board of trustees,

Over 100,000 visitors a year visit, free of charge, although the museum does ask for donations. Check out https://www.soane.org/ for information about opening times, etc.

HAMILTON HALL

A friend and I recently went on one of our regular trips to Brick Lane. If the weather is ok, which it was on Saturday, we tend to do a bit of a walking tour: over Tower Bridge, along the south bank and back over London Bridge, with a pit-stop in the big supermarket to pick up the drinks for our meal. We both walk back to Liverpool Street station, where my friend gets her train home. I have more choices as I live in London, and it’s more pleasant to go as far as we can together. Right next door to Liverpool Street Station is a pub called Hamilton Hall.

Hamilton Hall has one of the most amazing ceilings I’ve ever seen, there is some serious ormolu there. Its design was copied directly from the Palais Soubise, in Paris, in 1901.

Hamilton Hall is named after Lord Claud Hamilton, who was chairman of the Great Eastern Railway Company between 1893 and 1923. The Great Eastern ran between Liverpool Street and Norwich, just as Abellio Greater Anglia does now.

Hamilton Hall was the ballroom of the Great Eastern Hotel, which like the other Victorian station hotels in London, represents the grandeur of the time. It was built in 1884 and is now Andaz London Liverpool Street. It is a Grade II listed building.

The hotel is built on the site of the first hospital for the mentally ill in England, formally known as the Bethlehem Royal Hospital, which opened in 1247. This is the hospital that became known as Bedlam. I was surprised to learn that, I’d always thought Bedlam was further east.

The hotel was designed by Charles Barry, and contained two masonic temples which were hidden and rediscovered during renovations in 1990.

There are some other fascinating things about the hotel in its hey-day, such as:

There was an area below the hotel called ‘The Backs’ where there were railway sidings. A train, late at night, brought coal to heat the hotel and took away the rubbish.
A fresh-supply of sea-water was taken to the hotel for the fresh sea-water baths. There is not much more known about this now.
Fictional character Abraham Van Helsing, in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, stayed at the Great Eastern during his first visit to London.

LADY DINAH’S CAT EMPORIUM

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

A couple of friends and I recently visited Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium in Bethnal Green Road. It’s an unobtrusive venue, easily missed, except that the number 8 or 388 buses stop close by.

On entering, the venue is small, with lots of items for sale and a small counter where patrons book in. They are very strict on the timings. I didn’t understand why, before my visit; I do now.

At our appointed time, a member of staff came out and gathered up all of us who were due in at 14.30. We were taken into a small ante-room where we were asked to wash our hands, while the member of staff explained the house rules, including: no feeding the cats, no picking up the cats, no trying to wake them while they are asleep. These are all perfectly sensible. If you know anything about cats, you will know that picking them up when you don’t know the cat can be disastrous. Some cats never like it.

Disturbing them when they are asleep – think about it. How do you feel when someone wakes you up. Cats have sharp claws (although they trim them regularly at Lady Dinah’s) and if they are woken up suddenly, they may lash out. I say these things being a cat owner myself.

From the ante-room, we were taken into the café area. The upstairs is for those who are having tea or coffee. There are various cat beds around the room, and an overhead run for the cats. We went downstairs for afternoon tea.

The downstairs area belies the size of upstairs. It’s massive. High platforms for the cats, a tree in the centre of the room, a large wheel at one side, a variety of toys and various little ‘cat houses.’ Everything any self-respecting cat would like.

During our visit I learned that the cats are all rescues and are only kept at the Emporium for as long as they are happy. If a cat starts to show signs of distress, they take steps to re-home them as soon as they can.

Of course, we weren’t just there for the cats, there was our afternoon tea, with Prosecco, too. I’m gluten free, with some other food quirks. My friends aren’t. They were given a selection of savouries – sandwiches, mini rolls, savoury scones. Then scones with jam and clotted cream and a selection of cakes and macaroons.

I had a couple of sandwiches – one was goats cheese with plum chutney, an unusual but very tasty combination. My favourite was my warm quiche, it was delicious. Then there was my cream tea – scone with jam and clotted cream. I can’t tell you how good it was to have this after all these years. Then my own selection of cakes – there were a couple of macaroons, chocolate cake and a spiced date cake. I suppose my one complaint would be (and of course, the Emporium had no way of knowing this) that I am more of a savoury girl than sweet. There was too much for me to eat, so my friends took the cakes home with them.

It was a very relaxed afternoon, drinking Prosecco, stroking cats occasionally and old friends chatting. I’ve read some of the reviews say that there is no atmosphere…. I don’t get paid to write anything about places I visit, so what I would say is this: Cats sleep for about 16 hours a day. Humans can’t make them be sociable. They come to life when they want to (as they did with us, just as we were leaving). Don’t be upset if the cats don’t want to play with you. I am amazed that animals like cats are as sociable in this setting as they are. Go there with an open mind and don’t expect the cats to play with you and you won’t be disappointed.

DOWN HOUSE – CHARLES DARWIN’S HOUSE

I am a long-time fan of Charles Darwin so when a friend asked me if I’d like to visit Down House, I jumped at the chance.

Statue of Darwin at the Natural History Museum

By public transport, take a train to Orpington and then bus R8, which only takes about half an hour, stops outside. It took me about two and a half hours to get there from my home but it was worth the journey.

Down House was Darwin’s home from 1838 to 1842. It’s a large house with large gardens, where Darwin did a lot of his work on his theory of evolution. More correctly, his theory of evolution by natural selection. It’s now a Grade I listed building, managed by English Heritage.

The House is pretty much the same as it was when the Darwin’s lived there. It shows the work that has gone into the restoration. The gardens are much the same as they were in Darwin’s day, having been reverted back to the way they were. The house was originally a basic Georgian House. The changes made by the Darwins include a two-storey extension to the north, to give more bedrooms (for the 10 children they had). They extended to the south, too, to include offices and a school room.

I spent a lot of time in the gardens as the weather was good. First there is the lawn, where Darwin carried out some of his experiments. He had a ‘Wormstone’ where he watched worm behaviour. Greenhouses where Darwin studied plant reproduction. The Sandwalk, a quarter of a mile long path leading away from Down House, is where Darwin used to walk, contemplating his theories. The kitchen garden is off the lawn, still growing vegetables, with many of them being the same as those that Darwin grew.

Inside the house, on the first floor, there are exhibits of Darwin’s life, one room shows the family tree, copies of his books, a model of the Beagle (the ship on which Darwin sailed to the Galapagos, where he carried out a great many observations). In fact, one of the rooms on the first floor has a model of Darwin sitting at a table, moving to emulate the movements of the ship.

There is a lot to see, so much so that I need to go back again.

CHARLES I EXHIBITION AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY

I recently went to the see the Charles I exhibition at the Royal Academy, Piccadilly. We’d booked it months ago so no queueing for us.

A bit of history to put it all in context

Elizabeth I, Elizabeth Tudor, died without an heir. Her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, who was beheaded for treason in 1587, was the mother of James VI of Scotland. James VI of Scotland became James I of England when Elizabeth died. James married Anne of Denmark. They had seven children, one of whom succeeded James to become Charles I of England.

Charles may have secretly been a Catholic, at a time when there was still a lot of religious unrest in England. He married a Catholic – Henrietta Maria of France. He believed in the Divine Right of Kings. This means that the monarch rules directly by the will of God, thus needing no input from parliament. In fact, he dissolved his first two parliaments, only calling a third because he needed money. None of this added to his popularity.

In 1642, we had a civil war, and Charles was defeated in 1645. He was tried, convicted and executed for high treason and executed in January 1649.

Back to the exhibition

It’s called “Charles I, King and Collector.” The exhibition is advertised by saying that ‘Charles I amassed one of the most extraordinary art collections of his age.’ It is true: Titian, Holbein, Caravaggio, Van Dyck and Rubens are names that were familiar to me, and there were many others.

Traditionally, the royal family had portraits painted of themselves. Charles’ brother, Henry, had started to develop a collection of paintings before his early death. (Charles was not the firstborn son, and never intended to be king). Charles picked up the mantle, and, whatever happened, he continued to collect art, mainly paintings but also other art.

Henrietta Maria did her bit to amass art too, see below link:

After the abolition of the monarchy in 1649, Charles’ collection was sold off. Whilst some was retrieved during the Restoration, much of it was never recovered. Until now, for a short time.

The exhibition is on the first floor and is in twelve different galleries. On entry, you are given a guide, although, for the visually challenged among us, it is too dark to read the important details. The exhibition is in chronological order. Start with galleries I to VI, then Central Hall, Gallery VII, VII, then the Lecture Room, back to Gallery IX and X and there the exhibition ends.

The guide goes through the chronology of Charles’ life, in relation to the art and other notable events, for example:

“1616, Charles becomes Prince of Wales, death of William Shakespeare.”

“1632, Van Dyck arrives in London; he is appointed Court Painter and knighted by Charles I at St James’s Palace; he paints the Greate Peece. The third and final shipment of the Gonzaga purchase arrives in London.”

“1642, Charles attempts to arrest five Members of Parliament and fails. Civil War begins in England.”

“1649, Charles I is tried by Parliament is found guilty of high treason; he is beheaded in front of the Banqueting House, Whitehall Palace. Great Britain becomes a republic. The Commonwealth Sale of the royal collection begins at Somerset House”

And so on.

I agree with Little Sis’, it is big boys’ art. There are some wonderful paintings, some so lifelike you can almost see them in three dimensions. If you are into religious art, actually, even if you are not, the Mortlake Tapestries are stunning, the colours amazing.

I’m not sure which paintings I liked best, there were too many to choose from. I discovered artists I had never seen before – Daniel Mytens for one. I was struck, though, by the portraits of Charles I by Van Dyck. When I’ve seen portraits of earlier monarchs, they’ve never looked like real people to me, these ones did.

The exhibition is on until 15 April 2018, so if you want to see it, hurry. It is not open on Sundays. It costs £20 to get in although concessions are available. To be honest, even for someone who is not, in general, an art lover, it is worth it. As Little Sis’ said, “It’s big boys’ art.” No piles of rubbish nor unmade beds here.

https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/charles-i-king-and-collector

THE LONDON STADIUM

I had occasion to visit the London Stadium the other day. Now the home of West Ham United Football Club, it was originally built as the 2012 Olympic Stadium. The whole Olympic Stadium was impressive and built to a high standard. I was fortunate enough to visit during the building phase and I was incredibly impressed when it was all finished. I find it really hard now to get my bearings on the way it had been before they built it all.

I’d been to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park before (which, by the way, is a great place to visit when the weather is good. I take my hat off to the developers.) but had never actually been inside the stadium before.

Security is pretty tight, they check your bags before you are allowed in, and all staff and special guests are given wristbands (although no-one could see mine, it was cold and I was well-wrapped up). Not that I mind strict security, I think it’s a good thing, and I just wish it was a bit tighter in most places.

I hadn’t really gotten a feel for how big the place is before – during the Olympic Games, it could hold 80,000 spectators. I don’t fully understand the details of the stadium’s construction, but apparently it is a bit more environmentally friendly because it is built on low-carbon concrete and has far less steel than the stadium used for the Beijing Olympics. That makes it lighter, which is supposed to be a good thing. Since West Ham have taken it over, there is now seating for 25,000. That doesn’t count the variety of kiosks where spectators can purchase refreshments. In fact, there are ten bars selling draft lager and four bars selling real ale, There is even a beer brewed specially for the stadium.

It became a bit controversial when West Ham United bid to make it their new home – for starters, the Boleyn ground had seating for about 10,000 more. The Boleyn ground was sold for redevelopment, but living over that way, I think there were mixed feelings amongst the local supporters. Truth is, I suppose all the old grounds needed a lot of work.

Tottenham Hotspur (yay) also bid to make the stadium its new home. (Doesn’t seem right for them to move from White Hart Lane but I suppose I’ll get used to it.). Leyton Orient wasn’t happy because they say the new ground is too close them. No matter, in the end, West Ham’s bid won and they now have the ground, and have been there since 2016. The fans seem to have settled in too.

My big criticism, although I don’t have a better alternative and I suppose it’s no different from the Boleyn ground – getting home on match day is a nightmare. Crowd control measures are put in place to ease congestion. Sensible but slow. It took me about three-quarters of an hour to get from the stadium to the underground station, an hour as I got lost along the way. Normally, at most, a 15-minute walk.

It’s not just football at the London Stadium though, there are other events there – rugby, music and so on. There are also theatre events and more going on in the surrounding park. Check out the links below for more information:

https://www.london-stadium.com/events

http://www.queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/whats-on/events

THE REGENT STREET CINEMA

I was fortunate enough to have a tour of the Regent Street Cinema a couple of weeks ago – I’d been to a networking event at the University of Westminster, and since the Cinema is owned by the University, we were all offered a tour.

Quite stunning, was my initial reaction. There is a small foyer and bar before you reach the theatre proper. The seats are gold, the carpet is aqua, and it is quite steep, which makes for excellent viewing – we all know what it’s like sitting behind someone taller than us when the angle is not high enough.

Originally a theatre, it opened in 1848, part of what was then called the Royal Polytechnic Institution. In February 1896, it screened the first film motion picture ever shown in the UK, a short film by the Lumière Brothers. Another first was that it showed the first X-rated film in the UK in 1951, La Vie Commence Demain.I know why the film was X-rated and not sure it’s something I would like to have seen. Whatever my personal views, it’s still quite a prestigious start for a cinema that was part of a Polytechnic.

The cinema continued screening films up until the 1970s when it had a short stint showing musicals in the 1970s and hen closed in 1980 to become a lecture theatre. In 2012, University ran a fundraising campaign to restore the theatre. It took three years and cost £6.1m, with £2m being awarded through the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The cinema, which is a Grade II listed building, reopened in May 2015. Different films are screened daily and matinee tickets start from £.75.

For more information go to Regentstreetcinema.com

THE CITY LIT

In an attempt to focus my mind on things I should be doing to move my business forward, and fulfil my dreams, I attended a one-day Creative Non-Fiction Course at the City Lit.

Two things struck me immediately I entered the college: the first was how busy it was for a Saturday morning. The second was that almost all the students were over 50. Perhaps that’s not surprising since it was a Saturday morning. I wondered how many of them would be on the same course as me. I checked my watch. I had arrived about 45 minutes early. Armed with my coffee, I sat down to wait and decided to learn more about the City Lit.

I first heard about the City Lit about 30 years ago but have never been before. I’m somewhat surprised at myself for this, since the City Lit first opened in 1919. It opened after a report was submitted to the

[then]

London County Council recommending better provision “for the needs of a large number of students who seek educational other than vocational.” The thinking behind this was quite radical in those days, before workers rights, when people had little in the way anything but work, and well before most people were able to afford holidays, let alone jet off to Spain or Greece or wherever.

It started with four classrooms that were leased and within ten years there were 5000 students. The City Lit eventually acquired its own building, which was ready for use by September 1928. Back in those days, a number of famous writers, including Dylan Thomas (Under Milk Wood), Dorothy L Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey), G K Chesterton (Father Brown) and T S Eliot (Cats – more correctly Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats) delivered special lectures at the institute.

https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/help/terms_maps.html

In true London Grit style, classes continued during the Second World War, even if they were sometimes held in air raid shelters and on the platforms of the nearby Holborn and Covent Garden tube stations. The City Lit has grown during the intervening years, and is now the biggest provider of short courses for adults in Europe.

What about my course? It was interesting, with lots of exercises and piqued my interest for more courses.

https://www.citylit.ac.uk

LE GAVROCHE

Mr Carlino and I save up to eat at a restaurant that is more expensive than our norm every few years. We’ve been to Gordon Ramsey at Royal Hospital Road a couple of times (that’s probably still the favourite) and this time round it was Le Gavroche. It had been on the list for a very long time.

I don’t know quite what I was expecting when I walked in there, just not what I got. It was like walking into someone’s sitting room. Well, more correctly, a more tastefully decorated Pat Butcher’s sitting room, since there was a bar at one end. Mr Carlino and I didn’t stop at the bar, we were shown straight to our table, downstairs in the restaurant, which was beautifully decorated, even if the lighting was a little low. At a certain age, you need more light.

We were seated at the far end of the restaurant, away from the lavatories, closer to the kitchen.

Two Bellinis to start. Lovely. I am somewhat dismayed to say that we both had to get our reading glasses out for the menus, and then the dilemma began…

When Paul had booked he’d told them about our food allergies, which they checked with us almost as soon as we sat down. No dramas, no, “you can only have x, y and z.” Refreshing. Toasted gluten free bread followed soon behind.

There were two starters that we both liked the look of – I can’t tell you the names of them now, all the dishes were named in French, but one was prawns the other scallops. We finally decided that we would get one of each and eat half then swap plates.

Before the starters though, they brought us a couple of little appetisers. I don’t know what they were, I’m not sure I even understood when the waiter told us, but they were lovely.

After the starters, an amuse bouche with duck.

For the main course, I had turbot, Paul had lobster, then for dessert, Paul had a soufflé. The waiter came up and made a big hole in it and scooped in ice cream. Very impressive.

I had a selection of cheeses – it was one of the largest choices I have seen in my life, a very full, very large trolley. I chose three English cheeses – one was a blue, another was a goat’s and one French goat’s. I had never heard of any of them, much less eaten them before but they were all very good.

All of this washed down with a very good Chablis. We decided against liqueurs, largely because we wanted to go for a drink somewhere else as it was rush hour and no-one wants to travel in rush hour if they have a choice.

We walked a short distance and found a pub where we could have a bottle of Prosecco and sat there for a few hours before going home.

Le Gavroche (which means ‘The Urchin,” named after a character in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables) opened in April 1967, at the restaurant’s original location in Lower Sloane Street. The original figureheads were brothers Michel and Albert Roux. Current chef patron is Michel Roux Jr, who took over in 1991.

Le Gavroche Facts

• Le Gavroche was the first UK restaurant to receive a Michelin star.
• It received two Michelin stars in 1977.
• In 1982, it became the first UK restaurant to receive three Michelin stars.
• It is listed in The Guinness Book of Records as having served the most expensive meal per head – in September 1997, three people spent • $20,945 on one meal, which included spirits, cigars and six bottles of wine which cost $19,248. I think we have some way to go, Mr C.

NB I think it’s recorded in USD because the book is American. At today’s exchange rates, the overall cost would be £15,922.15, and the wine would be £14,632.11.

KENSINGTON PALACE AND THE GILBERT SCOTT

I met up with Bro and Little Sis recently, to see Diana’s dresses at Kensington Palace, followed by a late lunch at the Gilbert Scott Restaurant at the Renaissance Hotel, St Pancras.

We met for coffee at the Royal Albert Hall before walking over to Kensington Palace, which has to be the subject of a future blog. It wasn’t until we reached the Palace that I understood why there was no exhibition time on the tickets – you don’t just get you entry to see the dresses but the whole of the palace, which I thought was tremendously good value for money. There is a such a lot to see; so much so that I will have to go back again, we didn’t have time to fit it all in. The state rooms, the King’s Gallery, and so much more. When you consider that it is still home to members of the Royal family, it gives you a clue as to how big it actually is.

A Bit of History

Kensington Palace started its life as a fairly normal mansion built by Sir George Coppin in 1605. When William and Mary became king and queen in 1689, they wanted somewhere other than Whitehall Palace to live – they thought Whitehall was too near the river, foggy, and prone to flooding. And, truth to be told, the river was probably not very clean and somewhat malodorous, if you get my drift.

The royals bought what was then known as Nottingham House later in 1689 and commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to expand the house. The Palace has been a residence for the royal family ever since, although not always the home of the monarch, it depended much on personal preference – for example, when Victoria became queen, she moved to Buckingham Palace.

Kensington Palace had a number of rises and falls in favour over the years, and during the First World War, part of the palace was given over to the war effort. The royal inhabitants were put on the same rations as the rest of the country, a real testimony to how the Royal Family felt about solidarity with the people.

During the Blitz in World War II, part of the palace was damaged by an incendiary bomb. It was a long time before the damage was repaired and the Palace started to almost become another ruin. The short version of the history is that It wasn’t until after Princess Margaret’s marriage to the Earl of Snowden and they moved into one of the apartments that work started on the renovation. Later lottery funding helped with a more renovation work and the Palace was opened to the public in 2012.

The Palace itself

The visitors entrance is not huge, and of course, there are the usual bag checks, although, strangely, not immediately as you enter. There were a number of different exhibitions going on at the same time, including the Enlightened Princesses which runs until 12 November 2017. All very well laid out and informative.

We ended our visit by seeing Diana’s dresses. It brought back all the memories of the Sloane Rangers and how everything she wore was the subject of discussion in the press at the time.. I liked some of her outfits then, others not so. I imagine she must have grown quite a thick skin, with everyone having an opinion about what she wore. It was easy to see the evolution of her tastes when so many of her outfits were together in one room, like a swan emerging. I took photographs of a lot of the dresses, mainly the ones I particularly like. The Atelier Versace, although beautiful, looked decidedly uncomfortable to wear….

Food

We’d booked the table for 3pm, so we had a bit of time at the palace and walked along Bayswater Road to Marble Arch before getting a bus up to the Euston Road and going to Marcus Wareing’s the Gilbert Scott. It was Carnival weekend so the roads were a bit crowded down Bayswater way.

We had booked an online deal which was a choice from the set menu, including a cocktail. Bombay Sapphire Gin, rhubarb bitters, cranberry and apple juice. It had an egg white froth on top. Delicious. Talking about the cocktail led to a discussion with one of the staff about the many ways to use rhubarb in cooking. I don’t want to give away all of his trade secrets, but think savoury as well as sweet is all I’ll say. I am beginning to have a new found liking for rhubarb.

We all had the dill cured salmon with green chilli salsa, buttermilk and peanut to start. I know I am not a chef, but I’ve put a few strange things together in my time (some have worked, some haven’t) but this was the most amazing combination of flavours. The green chilli was subtle and not at all overpowering. The peanut was crushed into a paste and rather than spoiling the flavour of the salmon, it enhanced it.

Bro and Little Sis had the sea bream for the main course while I had the chicken. And a side order of triple fried chips with what was described as smoked butter mousse. The smoked butter mousse was a big hit with all of us.

The sea bream was cooked beautifully, the skin was crisp, just as it should be. It was served with sweetcorn and corn bread. They both thought it was very good, even the corn bread.

The chicken was served with smoked peas and girolles.

“How do you smoke a pea?” Little Sis asked. We were soon to find out that smoking food is a house speciality.

The chips were proper fat chips. The smoked butter mousse was absolutely amazing. I think I could have eaten that on its own. While we were all drooling and cooing over that, one of the waiters came over and explained that they had a smoker in the kitchen. He also explained how we could do it at home, although I suspect that would be way too much effort for me.

Dessert was custard tart for Bro and Little Sis, and banana caramel soft serve with salted peanut brittle for me. Me, the one who doesn’t have the sweet tooth, fell in love with the banana dessert. It think my brother was quite fond of it too (he usually gets some of my dessert). It really did taste of banana. Now that’s something I might try at home.

The food was absolutely wonderful and I can fully understand why they charge the prices they charge – this is not an every day restaurant, but then, we were celebrating two birthdays.