Retro Resto #2 – Italian Restaurant, Durham
There being no opportunities to practice being a lounge lizard or a Roman Emperor in 1990s County Durham (or that's what Miss Roddam said anyway) I put in for sixth form work experience in a bookshop.
Retro Resto #1 – The Thinford Inn, Co. Durham
The Thinford Inn. The earliest restaurant I can remember. As a small child in Southend the closest I got to going to a restaurant was getting a takeaway from Pang's or eating a bag of crisps in a pub car park. Until I went on holiday to County Durham.
Retro Restos
The Big C having (temporarily?) terminated restaurant going as a social activity I'll be lucky to get beyond number six this side of autumn. And unlikely to have the funds to dine out in style the other. So what is a restaurant reviewer to do?
Take a Proustian turn of course. The great man lay in his cork-lined room and let his mind do the travelling through time and space. And I intend to follow his lead. Though not in every detail you'll be glad to know, I have neither the skill nor the inclination to imitate Proust's description of the Duchesse de Guermantes' dinner over 150 pages.
Journey with me through restaurants remembered, people remembered, places remembered.
Restaurant 6 My Old Dutch, Holborn
The last time I was in My Old Dutch Denis Bergkamp was playing for Arsenal and I could climb a flight of stairs at a tube station two at a time. MOD, I'm glad to say, has aged better than I have in the intervening years.
Restaurant 7 Pie & Ale, Manchester
'Who on earth would have a Chicken Tikka Masala pie?!'
Restaurant 5 Timmy Green, Victoria
Timm-eh! Turns out to be high quality and excellent service. Recommended.
Restaurant 4 The Garden of India, York
A main of murgh sag, billed as medium hot, lacked any heat at all and was an utter disappointment.
Restaurant 3 Le Frank, Paris
Don't go by the reviews on G**gle but do bear this in mind if you want to dine at Le Frank: They've got a cornered market. The nearest place to eat well (other than the jardin d'acclimatation next door) is 20-25 minutes away on the hoof, or a bus/taxi ride.This means you'll pay more than you want for less of what you want. That aside the food and service were excellent and the room very pleasant. It's up to you whether you want to hang on till later or just take the pain in the pocket and have a nice light lunch.
Restaurant 2 Le Bouquet de Wagram, Paris
‘This is a sad song for Brexit’ was Staples’s sole comment on the events of that night. No Treasure but Hope seemed a fitting anthem for a disillusioned but steadfast Europhile
Restaurant 1 The Swan, Bankside
At Bankside for the Wanamaker production of Swive it was an improbable first time at the Swan for us for the first resto of 2020. We were nearly the first arrivals, save for a couple by the window. So it was a bit of a surprise to be seated at a table right next to…
A London Journal 