Lunch – putting theory into practice

Pur pleasure!

Although Sunday lunch has its attractions, there is something particularly enjoyable about a proper weekday lunch in a special restaurant. Perhaps it is the fact of having two or three hours or even more of unalloyed pleasure, while most of your fellows are hard at work with time only to grab a hurried sandwich and an expresso for their snatched lunch break.

Despite a number of good meals including three very enjoyable lunches – @Ruvida, @Terroso and @Taberna da Rua das Flores, CRM and I decided that we deserved a London treat – so last Tuesday (17th) lunch it was – at St John.

We limbered up with a glass each of St John Crémant-de-Limoux from Françoise Antech, which is a blend of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc aged for two years sur latte.

First courses:

White cabbage and shrimp

A St John classic: Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad

One of the many good things about St John is that they are geared up to sharing dishes, so we happily shared the above first courses the refreshing shrimp salad making a good contrast with the roasted bone marrow.

Main courses:

Roast guinea fowl with turnips

Devilled lambs’ kidneys on toast – lovely rich sauce

To drink: Pur Carignan 2017 Château Revelette, Vin de France

 

Easy drinking with soft black fruits to the fore

 

To finish: 

Eccles Cake and Lancashire Cheese
with a madeleine 
Another St John classic

We shared this course plus we were kindly given six freshly baked madeleines on the house. With the cheese and the Eccles cake we had a glass of the 2017 L’Escoubasso, Côtes de Gascogne  – 100% Petit Manseng from Maison Sichel and a glass of 2016 Moelleux Clos Francs Vouvray from Sylvain Gaudron. The Petit Manseng with its ripe citric fruit was considerably more interesting than the rather bland Vouvray. Pity that St John insists on calling these wines ‘dessert’ rather than what they are – sweet wines. Now I’ll stable my hobby horse….

A possible downside to a good lunch…

Don’t expect to do much work after a celebratory lunch unless you count a siesta as work – a work in progress?

 

 

Happy Christmas – Joyeux Noël

Feliz Natal