Dining with the Stars

#21 Go to a Michelin Star Restaurant

OK, so I haven't met my celebrity (yet), but I have ticked off #21 from my list!

On the 13th July 2013 it was my parents' 40th (yes, FORTIETH) wedding anniversary. If this isn't a good reason to get some fine dining on the go, I don't know what is!

The Happy Couple: Forty years of wedded bliss....

We (my parents, Michael, Gerard and I)  booked into Chez Bruce next to Wandsworth Common for an early dinner, on what turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year. Luckily the air con there was excellent!

The menu was lovely, a good variety of dishes, but not so much choice that it was difficult to choose. The wine menu is VAST, so we went for a carafe of house wine, of course!

At this point I should probably go into great detail about what we all ordered, how devine the food tasted, the flavours, the smells, the presentation...but I have to admit I am not a foodie and have a feeling that my comments on the above would be neither accurate, nor particularly insightful!

However, what I can say was that:

1. The food was really very tasty and filling. To begin I had fois gras with brioche, followed by sea bream served with pomme dauphine and..erm...other vegetables... and then for dessert I went for the rose marshmallow with mango sorbet. Yum, yum, yum....

2. The service was incredibly efficient. Not once was our water glass empty and any time one of us went to the loo, a member of staff would was over like a flash to neatly fold the napkin left strewn across the table/chair/wherever it's uncouth owner dropped it. We weren't entirely sure if this was a special service for us shabby lot, but I have since been comforted to hear that my friends also received this treatment when they visited recently!

3. The company really was very lovely and despite the fact that my brother Michael turned up half cut and decided that he was George Michael when wearing my dad's sunglasses, we all had really nice time.

"George" Michael at Chez Bruce

Upon asking our parents about that fateful day 40 years ago, it threw some light onto the wedding mindset back in the 70s. On the morning of the wedding my mum "prepared"  by scrubbing the kitchen floor in her parents' house (there would be guests round later - a dirty floor would be a disgrace!) whilst my Dad could be found underneath the car making sure it was ready to go for the honeymoon...one week camping in the highlands! Loved this practical way of approaching things - no Bridezilla moments here!!

After we finished dinner, it was still nice and light so we went for an evening stroll on the common, with many jokes about "George" being on the prowl. 

All in all, a lovely evening!

The family on Wandsworth Common (l-r: Dad, Mum, Gerard & Michael)