9/366 - Pickle discovers a feather

9/366

The latest addition for Pickle's sensory box is a feather.  We sat in our local Starbucks yesterday and I was in peals of laughter at his expressions.  Everything from utter concentration while he felt it, to giggles and then utter horror when it tickled his nose.  He kept going back for more though, so I think he must have enjoyed it.

Cheers, KangaRue :)

One of the best meals ever!

Last year for my birthday, BoyWonder surprised me with a trip to Kent for lunch at fabulous The Sportsman restaurant in Seasalter, Kent.  While our meals was gorgeous, I didn't blog it at the time - I'm sure out of spite, as I was newly pregnant with Pickle, and BoyWonder was the one who got to try all the culinary delights that were banned for me: caviar, oysters, soft and smelly cheeses, and the complimentary wines we were he was lucky enough to be treated to. I think this deserves a renewed acquaintance with The Sportsman, don't you think?

So I was intrigued where BoyWonder would take me this year.  I fathomed we were going to Royal Tunbridge Wells from the postcode on the invite that arrived on my phone, but managed not to snoop investigate further.  When we strolled up to Thackeray's, I was intrigued.  Was this restaurant dedicated to Jake Thackeray, the singer I used to torment my Mum with?  (She has never heard one of his songs through, as she bursts into laughter well before the third bar starts... and my Mum has a very unique laugh.  Go on Mum, click on the link, I dare you!)  Indeed not, the restaurant was named after William Makepeace Thackeray, author of Vanity Fair, who once stayed on the premises.  And a book I've been meaning to read for some time.

It turns out, Thackeray's is the restaurant Richard Phillips started when he branched out for himself after working for the likes of the Roux brothers and Marco Pierre White. It looks quaint from the outside, but has elegant and theatrical interiors which remain sympathetic to the character of the building.  We were a little early, so chose a glass of Mercier Brut champagne, which was biscuity and refreshing, and I managed to nurse it through the first four of our courses - we were having the Chef's Tasting Menu!

The amuse bouche of the day was a crayfish terrine, served with caviar and a watercress foam.  Absolutely delicious, perfectly seasoned and beautiful presentation.

Next was a ballontine of Landes foie gras, with caramelised spiced white peach, brioche pan perdu and white peach jelly.  This was divine, but it is pretty hard to screw up foie gras!  The jelly was a perfect accompaniment to the foie gras and brioche, though we weren't as thrilled with the taste of the caramelised peach which was a little bland, but did lend a complimentary texture.



We had a choice to make for the next course, and decided to go for one of each option and share.  As it was, we only got a brief taste of each others as we were happy to stick with our preferred option.  I went for the Roast Fillet of South Coast Brill, served with haddock brandade, roast cucumber, and cockle and cucumber ketchup.  The "ketchup" led a fresh tanginess to the dish that lifted it to a delightful level, allowing the freshness of the sweet flesh to shine through without being fussy.  BoyWonder went for the Pan Fried Diver Caught Sea Scallops which came with a pumpkin and caper puree,
smoked eel, pickled Kentish apple and smoked hollandaise.  The small morsel I got to taste was delicious and perfectly cooked.  Both dishes were beautifully presented yet again.

To refresh our palette, a clementine sorbet was then served.  Oh my, it was delicious; though more a granita than a sorbet, the fervent flavour was refreshingly tart, and we could have quite happily consumed a bowl of the stuff!

While we again had a choice for the next course, we both decided to go with the Roast Fillet of 28 Day Hung Herefordshire Beef.  Rosemary scented layered

potatoes, a Kentish blue cheese beignet, creamed celeriac and a red wine and bone marrow jus accompanied.  The potatoes were delicious, the jus had an amazing depth of flavour and I loved the beignet, which was basically a posh cheese popper! The d'Arenberg The Stump Jump Shiraz 2008, was a perfect match, with deep plum, earthy and spicy flavours and scent.

Rather than go for a typical dessert wine, BoyWonder made the inspired choice of the Domaine Schlumberger 'Fleur', an Alsace Gewurztraminer which went brilliantly well with both the cheese and dessert courses, where a sticky would likely have been too cloying.  The Brillat Savrin a la Truffe was a soft cheese from Burgundy layered with sliced black truffle.  While it sounded impressive, in truth this was the least inspiring dish of the day.  Perhaps they should have checked closer to home, as the Tunworth I bought from Neal's Yard Dairy as part of our Chrismukkah cheeses on Essex Eating's recommendation, was far more impressive.

A choice for our desserts again, and we decided to split and "share", though we were both so enrapture with our individual choices that it was a mere smidgen of the other's dish that we got to try! BoyWonder went for the Kentish Raspberry Souffle with cherry sorbet and raspberry soup.  The "soup" was ceremoniously poured into the souffle at the table.  Hats off to the pastry chef on my Assiette of Chocolate, as I believe this was the most visually impressive dish of the day, and that really is saying something. It tasted sensational too with macerated
cherries (and I don't normally like booze and fruit combined), the red cherry sorbet made an appearance again, along with a chocolate tuille and a white chocolate and pistachio ganache.  I'm drooling just remembering it.

Now BoyWonder is extremely fussy meticulous about coffee.  The most infamous being the dining-disaster of Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester.  Miraculously he was extremely happy with the coffee.  My fresh mint tea was also well received - more restaurants should take note, as it's not hard to impress with a well-considered caffeine-free option.

There's nothing worse than a disappointing sweet end to the meal. Luckily our Petits Four continued the impressive standard.  While one was covered in marzipan - evil stuff - the sponge inside was light, the chocolate one was rich and balanced with cocoa, the jelly-gum was bursting with berry juiciness, but my favourite was the home-made marshmallow.

The Chef's Menu was £69 per person and there is also the option of ordering a glass of wine per course for a very reasonable £30pp extra.  We chose to order just a few wines by the glass, and there is quite a wide selection of wines that have this option.  The staff were lovely: knowledgeable and helpful without being intrusive.  We believe that this was one of the best meals we've ever had and I'd highly recommend making a beeline to Thackeray's.


So some questions for you:

• How will BoyWonder top this next year?  (Suggestions welcome!)
• Will Vanity Fair make it off my bookshelf soon?
• And most importantly, if my Mum opens the Jake Thackeray link, will I hear her all the way from Australia?

Cheers, KangaRue :)

This is not a sponsored post.

7/366 - Sensory Box & 8/366 - Birthday Brunch

7/366

It's been a fun weekend.  I've started a sensory box for Pickle, which I believe is a Montessori idea.  It is all about engaging his kinesthetic sense - through my counselling studies, I came to learn that most people have one or two preferences for learning through their visual, audio or kinesthetic (touch) sense.  As someone who is a visual-kinesthetic, it is apparent to me that most teaching ignores learning though touch, so the idea of a sensory box greatly appealed.  Different textures are employed; his favourites so far are the wooden peg (he's having a good old chew in this photo, so it has a double effect of helping with teething!), the metal whisk, the cardboard tube, and one of BoyWonder's old silk ties.  Watching him explore each piece with utter fascination is absolutely delightful.

Would you be interested in discovering your own preferred sense?  I'd be happy to help with a future blog post if there is interest.

Sunday was kick-started with my birthday brunch.  We went to Chapters in Blackheath.  And while the service and food had lost a bit of it's shine from previous occasions, I expect this was due to our large group size.  My Eggs Benedict with the addition of creamed spinach was delicious (though one of the poached eggs was no longer soft), and while on any normal day it would have likely featured as my photo for the day, with such a fabulous group of friends to help me celebrate, I had to share a group pic.

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Back row: Rowan, Pickle, BoyWonder, Liam, Glenn,
Gerry, Elisa, Julian, Shaherah, Caroline, Livvy
Front row: Veleta, Grant, Brett, Me, Dave

I consider myself lucky to have met this great bunch.  How I met BoyWonder deserves a blog of its own, and there is an imminent one due on meeting Pickle.  As for the others (in order of appearance in my life):

I met Rowan through one of my best friends, many years ago; while my friend Joe has since returned to Australia, I'm thankful for him introducing us, though I dread to wonder how many years it's been!  Through Rowan I met Liam, Brett and Glenn.

Caroline and Dave picked me up in a bar!  I was at the opening of the Parlour Bar in Canary Wharf one night, flicking away at my phone, being Billy-no-mates while I awaited BoyWonder's (late) arrival.  Complimentary food and drinks were flowing.  I was passed a prawn shish kebab, when one of the prawns promptly fell off the skewer.  I thought I'd managed to style it out, when Dave lent over and said "saw that!".  He introduced me to his lovely new-bride, and they have now been joined by the gorgeous Livvy.

Around the same time, I met Shaherah at the Dove VisibleCare photo shoot - front row in this pic, I'm 2nd from the left, and Shaherah is the third in.  We got to chatting, discovered we were both living in Sarf-East London, literally just minutes from each other.  Though I thought her husband Julian was a figment of her imagination for quite some time, I finally got to meet him last year.

Elisa also came to me via a close friend in Oz, Sue, who visited a while back - Sue suggested we meet up when Elisa and Gerry moved over to London.

While the majority of this motley crew tweet, Veleta is the only one here who I met through Twitter.  We got to chatting and I met her, along with Grant, early last year.  I feel very fortunate to have discovered such a lovely person in a fairly unusual way.

So, to my lovely friends who helped me celebrate today, even singing me Happy Birthday, I would like to raise my glass and toast them with: "Let's not age - let's just marinate"*.

*quote from my birthday card from Veleta!

Cheers, KangaRue :)

6/366 - Everyone's a Critic

Pickle went to his first gallery today when we went to view the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery.  I believe it's one of the most under-rated galleries in London, and is really well curated.

Pickle enjoyed the catalogue at the very least!

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My favourite picture wasn't one that won a prize, but instead was of a lady over a hundred years old with no age related illnesses (part of a larger study).  Her face was elegant and full of character, and something we should all aspire too, and a juxtaposition from Pickle's fresh-faced innocence.

Cheers, KangaRue :)

5/366 Pickle's Handprint

My birthday present from Pickle (with a little assistance from BoyWonder) was this gorgeous necklace by Little Silver Touches - it is his actual hand-print and I love it!

5/366

Cheers, KangaRue :)