Was lunch at the River Cafe. Like I said, it was awfully hard getting up Tuesday, and by the time we were really moving, it was time to tube over to Hammersmith Underground Station, and try to find the Thames River Walk, to our 2:00 reservation.
- Cake & ice cream on the same fork
- Chocolate Nemesis, with a dab of creme fraiche
- Dark caramel ice cream
- Spinach-filled pasta
- Roast leg of pork, with greens & fennel
- Green antipasto, kind of a warm salad
We got seated and it really is as lovely as everyone says, a long, light, airy room facing the river. I started with the Antipasto di Verdure, perfectly cooked fennel fronds, (the part I usually compost or give back to the farmer because his chickens like them) beans, greens, and a roasted pepper in a vinaigrette. Mark gave me a piece of his mozzarella – I told him the Jonathan Gold story I had read, in his tribute to the late Rose Gray, about his first time at River Cafe – where he was told to eat by Colman Andrews. Gold was served a lump of this plain white cheese on a plain white plate, and didn’t think much of it until he tasted it. Mark’s plain white cheese came with a piece of grilled rosemary bread, and tasted great with my pepper. Ethan had grilled scallops on top of polenta.
Mark got risotto for his main dish; Ethan has spinach stuffed pasta. I got a real main, roast pork with more fennel, the bulb and roasted this time, and more greens. I had a glass of a nice Dolcetto. We got two desserts to share: chocolate nemesis, a really gooey delicious flourless chocolate cake, and the caramel ice cream, which was a really dark caramel.
We watched as the staff disappeared into the back room for family dinner – those who were working a double, lunch and dinner service, went second. I think Ruth Rodgers was in the house, she was sitting at the bar talking to an older man for awhile – her husband? Rose’s? – and then took a table in the back and consulted with various staff. She was wearing a plaid flannel dress, but walked out with her whites under her arm. Everyone in the room seemed to be enjoying themselves, their food, the place. There was a good number of kids, too.
We tubed back to Leicester Square, and got half-price tickets for Chicago – it was good, but they slowed down the lawyer’s “razzle dazzle ’em” song a bit too much.
