A la Colthard/ eating out update
Yesterday my accountant invited me to lunch at La Brasseria Milanese an upmarket Italian restaurant in Marylebone High Street. As I was a guest it seems churlish to find fault but it epitomised the contemporary London experience.
On arrival at 12-45 the table was not ready (how can this be???). I was told to wait and no one offered to take my coat.
When ordering the wine the young waitress interrupted my host to suggest a white wine.
At this stage I admonished her as my host prefers red.
Wisely he settled on a Puglia Primitivo, the same grape and taste and texture of the higher priced Zinfandel.
We both ordered pasta – a carbonara.
This had a citric tang which did not sit well with the cream and egg sauce.
Fortunately we had a quiet table so we could converse.
On Monday a lawyer friend invited me to lunch at his offices.
He arranged with the in-house chef a delicious three course meal of scallops, Persian lamb, trifle served with champagne and red and white wine in a meeting room.
It could have been soulless but he is an old friend and we had a most pleasant chat free of interruption.
I guess many firms are now arranging their hospitality “in house” – given the rising and in my view unacceptable cost of high-end restaurants – with the added benefit of greater discretion.