Duck, Duck, Goose

Part 2

The last full day in London for the girls and me was Margaret's birthday and we had a few activities planned. The day started out a bit mad and rushed as we had to make a 9am appointment in central London through some of the worst rush hour traffic. Even with a separate bus lane we barely made our appointments by taking a bus, running, jumping into a cab (after another one turned us down) and running some more. After all that effort we were rewarded with our tranquil and relaxing deep-tissue massages at Elemis Day Spa. Not only was I glad to relax into the hands of my well-trained and slightly sadistic masseuse, I was also excited to discover a new corner of London. The area of Mayfair is well-known for being posh with some of the most expensive haute couture boutiques, jewelery stores, bespoke tailors, and luxury hotels. But in this neighborhood where people have more money than their many generations have known what to do with, is a small windy alley called Lancashire Court. Lancashire Court is one of those hidden nooks that makes London, London and it provides the type of environment where you'd want to sit and sip cappuccinos all day long.

After our long and luxurious massages (which the girls treated me to for being their hostess, love you guys!), we headed out for a full day of shopping. First we had a short stop at Selfridge's so that I could show the girls a proper London department store (no, the locals do not shop at Harrods). Afterwards we left Oxford Circus behind and went down to Covent Garden to visit my favorite British designer, Paul Smith. Before diving into our shopping spree, we stopped to refuel at Masala Zone since the girls had to try London-style Indian food at least once. We shopped a bit more and then headed home to get ready for the main event of the night.

Since Margaret had come all the way to London to celebrate her birthday, we had to make sure we did it right. Although I had to call in 2 months ahead of time, we were able to secure a table at the much celebrated Fat Duck Restaurant. The Fat Duck is hidden away in a small white cottage in the obscure town of Bray (which is near the Altera office, by the way). In 2005 it was named Best Restaurant in the World by Restaurant Magazine, taking the honor away from the famed French Laundry. The chef/owner, Heston Blumenthal, is almost entirely self-taught and is a proponent of molecular gastronomy. This is a scientific approach to food where he takes the ingredients down to the molecular level to understand the taste, sight, sound, and smell. He'll often serve dishes "cooked" in liquid nitrogen, spray a scent into the air to intensify a flavor, or play music through an iPod to enhance the crunch sound of an ingredient. It all sounds a bit strange and over-dramatic but the food is simply divine, even aside from all of the hype surrounding this place. Best of all it was great to be surrounded by friends with two additional people joining us, Jenn and Steve. Jenn, who now lives in Reading (pronounced red-ing) with her English husband, went to high school with Maggs and Melissa. Steve is a Brit hiding out in America and is a co-worker from my Chicago office. He happened to be out here during the same time for his mother's 70th birthday and called me up to get together. We originally planned on having lunch but a spot opened up in our reservation so Steve was more than happy to join us. He also totally got us out of a pickle since we were looking at a 100 GBP cancellation fee for the person who wasn't going to show. I believe he enjoyed the food overall but I did get several comments about portion sizes and he said he would send me pictures of him at the Burger King later.

It turned out to be a great day with good food, good wine, and most importantly, good friends. Enjoy the pictures on the right.