Today is a momentous today, not for me, but for my better half, who turns the big four-zero. It seems not so long ago that I regarded it as necrophilia, dating a lady beyond 20-years. So it has to be a special day. Tomoko opens her birthday cards over breakfast, Lily and Daisy sing an [...]
Filed under: dining | Tagged: 40th birthday, bray, house of frase, issa, mulberry, the fat duck, tomoko | 2 Comments »
Today is the annual Champagne Bureau tasting/social at the Banquetting Hall near Trafalgar Square. As usual, it is thronging with people, of which about 50% are there to taste champagne and 50% there to meet their mates. Of course, it’s all glitz…this is Champagne after all, with a heavy presence of media, represented today by the [...]
Filed under: champagne | Tagged: birthday, champagne, tomoko 40th | Leave a Comment »
Bugger, bugger, bugger. Last minute deadlines mean that I have to forego this morning’s “Cool Sonoma” seminar. I am sure that Sonoma is cool, but verification will have to wait another day. Instead, I attend the Napa Valley tasting to taste through the likes of Peter Michael Winery, Diamond Creek, Littorai etc. and then off [...]
Filed under: london tastings | Tagged: napa valley, pol roger, the square, winston churchill | Leave a Comment »
Today I become an uncle, in no small part thanks to the arrival of Daniel Thomas Martin, checking into this world at around ten in the morning. This has severe implications. Firstly, our monopoly of babysitting rights is no more and consequently I have had to provisionally reserve mum and dad every weekend until…well…until Lily [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: baby, daisy, fatherhood, tom | Leave a Comment »
I take Daisy to the local surgery for her swine flu vaccination. She is a brave girl, barely flinches when she has the injection although her dad averts his eyes since he feels nauseous at the sight of needle penetrating skin. He congratulates himself for being a brave boy. Daisy receives a chocolate button for her bravery [...]
Filed under: lily & daisy | Tagged: guildford, houses, mother's day, swine flu | Leave a Comment »
Goldie is still alive, but is still looking morose and suicidal. I am worried he may try to drown himself. Another day of intense writing and then in the evening, we try out a new local Indian restaurant, since the last one has not been up to scratch. First good sign: they take friggin’ ages [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: goldfish, petrus, michael winner, indian, chicken korma | Leave a Comment »
I am worried about our goldfish. Goldfish are supposed to waggle their tails and do lengths of the fishtank, but “Goldie” floats like flotsam in the corner, virtually motionless. It reminds me of the final, frenetic scene in the Blair Witch Project, whereupon in the final reel, you catch a fleeting, disturbing glimpse of that presumedly possessed guy [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: burgundy, exorcism, goldfish, remington norman | 1 Comment »
Solid writing all day. I mean real, foot the floor, hardcore writing interrupted only by Daisy demanding that I take her upstairs for a wee. “Why not mummy?” “I want you to take me” “Why do you want me to take you for a wee?” “Because you’re daddy…” End of argument. Despite writing about 5,000 [...]
Filed under: lily & daisy | Tagged: uxurious, wee, writing | Leave a Comment »
I have had enough of First Growths, DRC, Yquem, cult New World wines…sod ‘em all. I’m off to Tescos for their annual new release showcase to taste wines that I can actually afford. I catch the train to the Royal Festival Hall, catch a lift to the top floor and yes, I must admit, a couple of wine [...]
Filed under: london tastings | Tagged: wine, oz clarke, tescos, jilly goulden, tim adams, gambero rosso, petrus, nina franco, spumante | Leave a Comment »
Word of the day: uxorious. Uxorious it to be besotted by your wife but paradoxically, uxoricide is the act or murdering your wife. I guess there is a thin line between love and hate. The entire days is spent researching the history of Weingut Dönnhoff, adding more appointments in Bordeaux and researching the history of [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: uxoricide, uxorious | Leave a Comment »
