Morning
I begin the morning with a tough yoga workout. I knew it wouldn’t be easy from the title, ‘Power and Balance’.
After the normal bathroom activities I walked up to the bakery in Pinner to pick up a couple of loaves for next week and then set off for a walk around Pinner. I tried to keep in the shade as the sun beat down and the heat rose. I made it back only sweating a little bit.
Hull v Middlesborough play-off final
The New Explorer pub just near Oxford Circus has numerous screens and I would think some might call it a sports bar. Maggi and I are watching Hull v Middlesbrough as they try to win promotion to the Premier League. The tedious game full of individual mistakes and weak attempts at goal in the first half.
Before this we arose from the depths of the Jubilee Line and on to John Lewis. I managed to spend roughly £600 on a linen suit, shirt, shoes and eau de cologne. I managed to efficiently complete all these purchases in roughly 45 minutes.
The second half of Hull v Middlesbrough maintained the very low standard of the first half. However as we passed the 4th minute of extra time Hull scored from one of their few forays into the opposition penalty area. Hull have become a Premiership team. Unless they madly recruit over the summer they’ll be returning to the Championship very quickly.
Killing time
The final whistle blown we left the New Explorer and walked towards Greek Street and the Osteria Vibrato. However we had another 1 hr 45 minutes to kill so we stopped in a Joe & The Juice for a cup of tea and iced coffee to kill the time.
Maggi and I eventually left and crossed Oxford Street to a packed Soho Square. Hundreds of people sat on the grass I couldn’t work out if they were drinking or just sitting and chatting.
Osteria Vibrato
We arrived in Greek Street and as we approached the restaurant at least 15 minutes early I saw Suzuki and Jeremy walking in. At last no more hanging around waiting for the time to slip away.
Maggi thinks Grace Dent positively reviewed the Osteria Vibrato. We knew the meal would be expensive but hoped the price would match the quality.
My first thought on entry concerned the high noise level and this continued all evening. Apart from the background music which provided a non-distinguishable background blur the restaurant had invited the loudest diners in London to join us. I found it difficult to communicate with everyone unless I shouted.
The staff shouted at us and we shouted back at them in order to place our order. The food arrived I had ordered red prawns. That’s exactly what I got, 3 red prawns cooked in oil. Not a great deal of skill in that.
For my main course I chose the veal dish. It was made up of veal, cheese and prosciutto. The waiter recommend that Jeremy and I share a vegetable dish of tomatoes and beans.
The veal tasted ok but the cheese tasted like a cheap cheddar grilled on top of the meat. The tough prosciutto had the flavour drained from it.
Finally for my pudding consisted of a creme caramel with a few pieces of comquat. It actually tasted the best of the 3 courses but involved very little skill from any pastry chef. All in all the only expectation fulfilled by the restaurant concerned the cost. For the 2 of us I paid £177.
We walked back with Susie and Jeremy to Tottenham Court Road Station where we parted. They went east while we went west.
Side note
Political extremists live in a fantasy world. Perhaps all extremists do for they are so tied to their own clan that whatever the clan says they believe. On Thursday the person I sat beside at Bridge trotted out some conspiracy theories she’d probably read on social media. Yesterday Jeremy repeated a load of trash from The Daily Telegraph about electric cars causing excessive damage to our roads because their batteries weigh so much.