Chicago Blues Festival 2016

Chicago, Illinois, USA. Tuesday 07/Wednesday 15-June-2016.

Mary had always wanted to go to Chicago for the Blues Festival so we scraped out the last of our airmiles and using our two-for-one Amex voucher booked two business class flights to the U.S. of A.

We arrived Tuesday 7th which gave us several days to recover from jet lag and also do the tourist thing. Checked in and went for a beer at Schuba's Tavern (no live music as it was lunchtime) and later a pizza at Giordano's (pizza). We stayed a little North of the centre but close to a railway station so we could get in and out easily.

Wednesday 8th was full on tourist stuff: Boat tour in the morning, city winery for lunch, bike ride in the afternoon, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville @ Navy Pier,  then Joe's Seafood - #4 out of 7869 restaurants in Chicago according to TripAdvisor.

The boat tour was an excellent architectural guide to the buildings along the waterfront by a very knowledgeable volunteer guide or "docent" as the American word is. Recommended.

Thursday 9th. Frank Lloyd Wright centre and walk - as the son of an architect it was great to see so many buildings by a man I had known about from a very early age. Then River Roast for lunch, Sheffield Bar for early evening beer from a very knowledgeable and friendly barman, Mia Francesca for supper, Kingston Mines for late night music and more beer.

Friday 10th. First day of the Blues Fest. In the morning we did the zoo. The food at the festival was very basic and expensive so we decided to stock up on lunch beforehand at Buddy Guys Legends blues club complete with live music.

Afternoon and evening at the Blues fest starting with Siobhan Fahey formerly of Shakespears Sister.

The brilliant Shemekia Copeland on the main stage. She was so good it prompted us to book for the Great British Rock and Blues Festival the following year where she was due to headline.

All followed by a late night beer at Blackwood's Bar close to the hotel.

Saturday 11th. The morning was a major, self-guided sculpture walk, see post Chicago 2016 statues. On the way to the festival I just had to stand at the start of Route 66.

Again lunch and live music at Buddy Guys.

I cannot be sure who all we saw so the complete line can be found here: http://wxrt.cbslocal.com/2016/04/04/complete-2016-chicago-blues-festival-lineup/

One of the side stages.

The main stage:

After the show we went back to the hotel for a nightcap at the nearby Cesar's Killer Margaritas on Clark.

Sunday 12th. The morning was visiting a number of locations for the Blues Brothers, sightseeing more statutes and lunch at the highly recommended Purple Pig. Despite no booking they were able to squeeze us in as we were prepared to sit by the door.

Elwood: This is definitely Lower Wacker Drive! If my estimations are correct, we should be very close to the Honorable Richard J. Daley Plaza!

Jake: That's where they got that Picasso.

Elwood: Yep.

The Picasso

More music.

Yet more music.

Main stage again.

The whole of the concert in the evening on the main stage was a tribute to Otis Rush. The man himself was there, now in a wheelchair, and was brought on stage to great applause.

The fabulous signer (that is "signer" not "singer"). I was a bit surprised at first to see signing for the deaf at a music concert but why not. There were two of them who took it in turn. The dark haired guy seated was pretty restrained, he stood there and signed the lyrics real time. The blonde guy was really into the music, man he was grooving along. I didn't know you could sign with an accent but he was definitely camping it up - brilliant!

Monday 13th. Flew XPR to LGA, transferred to JFK so we were close to our departure airport. That was a mistake in retrospect, we should have stayed in Manhattan. We managed to meet up with our friends Fred and Lynne for supper which was excellent.

Tuesday 14th. Went in to NYC for a long stroll around Central Park. Then JFK - LHR and home arriving the next morning. Knackered but well pleased with the trip.

Unwined in Tooting

Tooting Market. Sunday 20-March-2016

Not sure how we discovered this small entrepreneurial wine and food outlet (possibly through Time Out Love London awards). Anyhow Mary booked us in for a "Bottomless" Sunday lunch.

Unwined sell wine (clue in the name!) and do events and all sorts of other stuff but they also have a permanent base in the unlikely setting of Tooting Market where they do tastings and sell wines with a theme of the month. They pair with pop-up chefs for the full dining out experience. This week the partner was Vinn Goute, serving Seychelles inspired street food.

Here our hostess, Kiki, is pouring an interesting rose prosecco from a small independent producer. That was the wine theme for this month: one of a kind, so we got interesting and unusual, one-off wines from small producers.

Starters were just that little bit different: a tuna samosa served with spicy sweet and sour sauce and lentil fritters with a chilli mayonnaise. The main course was fish which turned out to be red snapper with rice, peppers and salad and a fierce Scotch Bonnet salsa. That was paired with a Spanish white, Marques de Alella 'Sepo'.

The deal was unlimited wine (well for an hour and a half) so we started on the second bottle of white. Then Mary had the cheese board with a glass of negroamaro made using traditional methods and I had flambéed banana with ice cream and a New Zealand noble rot riesling which was absolutely superb. We had walked over to the market but after a long, leisurely and boozy lunch we let the 219 bus carry us home. Definitely up for a return visit; Mary says this could become a regular.

Valentine's Day in Dublin 2016

Dublin's Fair City 12-February-2016

This is our fourth Valentine's weekend in Dublin. Mary worked here on and off for three years and sometimes I would go out there for the weekend instead of her coming home. Last month RyanAir were doing cheap flights. Yes I know they are always cheap but some are cheaper than others. And sometimes they have been more expensive than scheduled airlines, believe it or not. Anyhoo we booked a long weekend.

Sometimes my posts seem like a concatenation of Mary's FaceBook check-in's so here we go...

Friday:
We stayed very central in the Harrington Hall Hotel - a lovely Georgian building within easy walking distance of the centre of Dublin and the restaurants we had booked for Saturday and Sunday.

First priority, after checking in to the hotel, was to go out and sample some Guinness:

• FaceBook: Mary Galashan was drinking Guinness with Mark McLellan at The Bleeding Horse Pub.
• FaceBook: Mary Galashan drinking Guinness with Mark McLellan at Cassidys Pub Camden Street.

For Friday evening's meal we went with the hotel's recommendation: Restaurant 1900 where we also got a discount as it is a sister hotel. A bit ho-hum but we saved some money.

Saturday:
Mary used to live in Malahide and we had a number of wine glasses from Gibney's Pub which had got broken over the years so it was time to go there, have a pub lunch, drink Guinness, watch the Rugby and stock up on glasses for her and her sister.

• FaceBook: Mary Galashan was watching France vs Ireland with Mark McLellan at Gibneys Malahide.

Back to the hotel for a quick snooze and then out for the next meal which was superb, so much so that Mary was moved to write a review on Trip Advisor.

• FaceBook: Mary Galashan with Mark McLellan at Bloom Brasserie.

"The food was excellent - a 4 course set meal for Valentine's weekend. A tasty crab tian starter was followed by scallops for me and duck for husband, then steaks for both of us; all cooked perfectly and scrumptious. [...] Excellent wine list with a range of prices and a good selection of wines by the glass. The service from all staff was first rate and it was a joy to watch the team working together. [...]" Full review...

Sunday:

Despite many trips to Dublin we had never done a historical walking tour so that was Sunday morning's outing sorted. A seriously educational history lesson enlivened with a dry wit and some bad jokes.

Then it was time for lunch.

• FaceBook: Mary Galashan added 2 new photos — with Mark McLellan at The Seafood Bar by Wrights of Howth.

Recommended by the man in the department store where I bought a jacket to replace the one I left at home. Well it was probably about time to refresh the wardrobe anyway.

The food was good and the decor very smart. They've not been open long so all very fresh.

The evening meal was meant to be in the restaurant where we had a very extravagant meal some years ago but it turned out that Mary had booked in to the Bistro rather than the main restaurant. No matter, it was fine.

• FaceBook: Mary Galashan eating dinner with Mark McLellan at Citron Restaurant, Fitzwilliam Hotel, Dublin.

Saturday and Sunday we went for a pre-dinner cocktails across the road from the hotel at The Dean where, apparently, the roof top Italian restaurant is excellent, and fully booked :-( One for the next visit to Dublin.

It was drink, eat, sleep, rinse and repeat - a kind of gastronomic Groundhog Day. Excellent.

Burns Supper 2016 at 1 Lombard Street

London. 25-January-2016

We decided at the last minute to book a Burns supper and dragged along an ex-colleague, Delton, for his first experience of this ancient ritual (he is American). We all wore something tartan to get a free cocktail. The menu gave Delton an opportunity to try not just haggis, neeps and tatties but also cranachan.

The restaurant had booked a piper who was something of a character. He did several circuits of the restaurant followed by Burn's "Address to a Haggis".

We were lucky that our table was close the the spot chosen for the address. The piper gave a spirited rendition of the address complete with extravagant gestures, the pouring over of a wee dram and the plunging of the dirk into the haggis' gushing entrails. Afterwards there was a photo opportunity.

Following the meal there was an impromptu outbreak of Scottish country dancing - a Gay Gordans round the restaurant with more enthusiasm than skill from most of the participants. Well done to 1 Lombard Street for an excellent Burns Supper.

Christmas Daffodil at Angelus Restaurant 2015

London. Saturday 05-December-15

Not actually a Daffodil Dining Club event but we improvised. The usual Christmas "Daff" did not materialise which left us in a quandary for our usual works Christmas lunch. It is essential to make use of the taxman's allowance for annual parties and other social functions. So we rounded up the usual suspects Pete and Amanda and booked a meal at Angelus.

This restaurant was a one off venue for the Christmas Daff in 2010 and really impressed. Ever since then I have wanted to make a return visit. We had a lovely meal, so much so that we ate it rather than photographed it. Not sure whether we can have a work's party next year if we have retired, maybe it depends if the company is still registered.

For more about this fine restaurant see Open Table reviews.

Christmas Daffodil at Toto's Restaurant 2014

We were into November and no word on the Daffodil Christmas meal. It was a bit of a last minute panic: for us - what will become of our work's christmas party? - and for John the organiser - will it take place, when and where? Then mid-November the call went out for a straw poll - 6th or 13th of December?

In the end a date of the 6th of December was fixed upon. We duly dressed in our finery, took the 87 bus and turned up at the regular venue, Roux at Parliament Square, only to find the doors locked and the lights out.

Oh sugar, was it actually going ahead, had we got that date wrong, was it being held elsewhere? A quick phone call revealed "Yes, "No" and "Yes" respectively. Into a taxi for a 6 minute ride to Toto's Restaurant in Lennox Garden Mews where an apologetic John welcomed us.

So another break from tradition after almost unbroken decades of devotion to Michel Roux, Jnr. However I knew the food and wine would be good because John (on the right below) organised it.

The food was, of course, superb but it is all about the company, the dish is the accompaniment to the conversation.

The pairing of food and wine was all planned in advance, as per usual.

Daffodil Lunch @ Toto's

Saturday, 6th of December 2014

Aperitivo

Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG, Ville d’Arfanta, 2012

~ ~ ~ ~

To share

Burrata di Andria with grilled vegetables

Raw & cooked artichoke salad, pecorino shavings

Romagna DOC, Trebbiano Le Coste, Poderi dal Nespoli, 2013

~ ~ ~ ~

Tagliatelle with mixed mushrooms

Campania IGT, Greco Ponte Pellegrino, Fattoria Alois, 2012

~ ~ ~ ~

Cod fish with Mediterranean sauce

Toscana IGT, Donna Patizia, Buccia Nera, 2011

~ ~ ~ ~

Baby chicken, diavola sauce

Barbera D’Alba DOC, Piani, Pelissero, 2010

~ ~ ~ ~

To share

Tiramisu’

Selection of cheeses

Porto, Fine Tawny, Taylor’s

Sweet bites will be served with selection of coffee and tea

In terms of wine the standout was the Greco Ponte Pellegrino; for the food it was a tough call between the Tagliatelle and the Baby chicken but for seasonal correctitude the fungi nosed into the lead.

Another M&M works Christmas party successfully concluded.

Mike and The Mechanics at the Eventim Apollo

Hammersmith, London. Sunday 16-March-14.

A friend of a friend had a spare ticket for Mike and The Mechanics - part of a tour celebrating 25 years since the release of "The Living Years" so I snapped it up.

Mike and The Mechanics were responsible for me buying a CD player. I had two earlier vinyl albums but "Beggar on a Beach of Gold" was only available on CD so I had to go out and buy a player. I went with the best I could afford, a Meridian 206, which cost over a grand in 1995 and still going strong.

Four of us met up for a meal beforehand at The Gate - a superb vegetarian restaurant. I had a delicious beetroot ravioli starter and a risotto primavera for main. The others all raved about their choices; I must go there with Mary sometime soon.

Off to the venue where we caught the tail end of the support act: Sadie and the Hotheads. When Mike and The Mechanics came on they launched straight into "Beggar on a Beach of Gold".

They continued with a set packed with "The Best of...": the song list took in "Another Cup of Coffee" and "The Living Years", amongst others, right through to audience participation in the encore of "Word of Mouth" (full setlist).

A brilliant concert with very good seats (Stalls, Row H).

Thanks to Julie for the ticket and Julie, Grant and Helen for the convivial company.

Marcus Bonfanti at The Blues Kitchen

Camden, London. Friday 14-Mar-14

It's official - we have seen Marcus more than any other artist, six times now, pushing Van Morrison into second place at five times. At three times there are a number of other artists: Marc Bolan, Taj Mahal, Mike West etc.

We had a delicious Greek meze at Andy's Taverna just around the corner as the gig didn't start till 10pm. The set menu starters were good, then a fish course then some superb grilled meats: chicken, lamb and two types of sausage, after which the kleftiko final course arrived as we were fit to burst.

Marcus was excellent as usual and this time I was once of the regulars - I knew all the songs as soon as he started each one. He played for an hour and a quarter to an appreciative audience.

I cannot say that The Blues Kitchen is my favourite venue: so packed that moving about was difficult, too dimly lit and the PA / sound system was struggling with the volume it was being played at. I had my earplugs with me and used them so my ears were not ringing when we left.

We left about 11:30 and Camden was heaving; North London is very different to South London. I cannot image any area south of the river with such busy street life at that hour. The tube is just around the corner and whizzed us back to Waterloo and train home.

Burns Supper 2014 Bis

Mary fancied a Burns supper and went googling; we ended up going to not one but two Burns suppers.

Burns Supper 01 - The Ceilidh Club, Town Hall, Hammersmith on 18-Jan-2014.

Canteen style haggis, neeps and tatties followed by some dancing. It was a huge function room holding what seemed like hundreds of attendees. We sat out some and danced some. There were so many people it got a bit like Piccadilly Circus despite heroic efforts from the caller.

The piper leaving after the ode

Halfway through they did a full Address to a Haggis with attendant piper to escort the sonsie sausage in and out.

My advice to my unattached nephews is to forget the disco or nightclub and to get down the local Scottish dancing club - there were babes! And they'd be able to actually hear their best chat up lines.

Burns Supper 02 - Hix Mayfair, Brown's Hotel on 24-Jan-2014.

At the other end of the sophistication scale - a designer chef, celebrity host and a famous guest. The chef was Mark Hix, the host was writer and TV presenter Hardeep Singh Kohli (wearing turban and kilt) and the unexpected fellow guest was the acerbic critic A. A. Gill. I got to chat to all three albeit briefly.

We kicked off with a potent and delicious cocktail. As Mary was still doing the Dryathlon for Cancer Research I drank her cocktail, several whiskies and glasses of the wine which were included in the price. A misguided attempt to get our money's worth which I mildly regretted the following morning.

Address to the Haggis with Piper

Amusing anecdotes from Hardeep and genial conversation with our fellow diners.

And, of course, excellent food. We did "The Bard" proud.

Christmas Daffodil at Roux at Parliament Square 2013

Parliament Square, London. Saturday 07-Dec-13

What more can I say - living in style. Once again the M&M Enterprises office Christmas Party is the Daffodil Dining Club Christmas meal at Roux at Parliament Square.

Amanda, Mary, Pete, Mark (me)

It is a year since we last saw best man Pete and his wife Amanda, at the previous Christmas Daff. We resolved not to make it so long this time so we've sent them a list of our Italian dates in order to tempt them out to Puglia.

No pictures of the food unlike last year's meal. As usual the chef and sommelier talked us through the menu and the wine pairings. We had our own table of four for a serious meal.

Wine

• Viognier 'Cuvee Michel Roux & Michel Chapoutier' "Biodynamic"
  Ardeche, France, "Gavroche Label", 2011
• Chateau Cabezac Rose
  Minervois, Specially selected by Albert Roux, 2011
• Bourgogne Chardonnay
  Domaine Bachey Legros, Burgundy, France, 2011
• Bourgogne Pinot Noir
  Domaine Bachey Legros, Burgundy, France, 2011
• Muscat de Rivesaltes
  Jean-Marc Lafage, Languedoc Roussillon, France, 2011

Menu

• Whisky and treacle cured salmon, Guinness soda bread
• Tartare of Scottish venison, sloe gin, Douglas fir, walnuts
• Charred Cornish mackerel, heritage beetroot, horseradish
• Blanquette of Norfolk turkey, chestnuts, Brussels sprouts, cranberries
• Christmas pudding, brandy butter ice cream
• Coffees and petits fours

I tell you - if you are going to have an office party this is the way to do it :-)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the Apollo Theatre

We both loved the book - but how on earth do you translate that to a theatrical performance: http://www.curiousonstage.com/

Meal beforehand was at the 2 Michelin-starred L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. The food and service were exemplary. Reading the reviews on TripAdvisor it seems like there is more variability in service and food than one would expect from 2* but we were luckily in the majority.

As for the play, deservedly the winner of a record breaking 7 Olivier Awards 2013 - including Best Play.

The Londonist review: Original star Luke Treadaway is [...] spellbinding as the young wannabe detective with “behavioural problems”.

Lyn Garner at The Grauniad gives it 4 stars: The novel gets you inside Christopher's head, but the stage version does more, giving Christopher's internal response to the world an external manifestation. That world is often a surreal and scary place, but oddly beautiful and bizarre, too: I'll never look at a Battenberg cake in the same way again.

Great book well adapted for the stage: theatrical in a good way. Not just delivering the book but adding that magic that only live theatre can deliver.

Another grand night out.

Jazz Brunch at The Wharf, Teddington

Teddington, England. Sunday 28-April-2013.

The Wharf in Teddington does a Sunday Jazz Brunch so off Mary booked and off we went on the train. The Wharf is right on the river, as you might guess from the name, and has a nice, bright conservatory suitable for a sunny day. We ate well whilst listening to Tracy Ray and the Mojos.

Mary is keen to get in as much walking practice as possible ready for Bob and Lynn's Coast-to-Coast in August. So we decided to augment our Thames Path walk with a little post lunch stroll as far homewards as we felt like.

Unfortunately we added to our journey by walking about a mile in the wrong direction due to some confusion as to which side of the river we were - caused in part by the way the river twists and turns.

Then at Richmond the path was flooded due to the high tide so we took a detour inland as you can see on the map.

Unfortuately where we rejoined the river it was still flooded. Nothing for it but to take off our socks and shoes and paddle round the corner.

After nearly 9 miles we decided we'd walked off the lunch and it was starting to get toward dusk so we switched to the train at Kew for the rest of the jouney home.

Ronnie Scott's Blues Explosion! at Ronnie Scott's

A four part Friday!

It started out as a LastMinute.Com deal at The Oxo Tower Brasserie. Then Mary decided to see who was on at Ronnie Scott's. Ronnie Scott's Blue's Explosion was the answer, sometimes featuring our favorite Blues guitarist Marcus Bonfanti. We booked the late show so as to not have to rush our supper.

Supper at the Oxo Tower Brasserie

That left the question of how to fill in the time between the meal and the show. This answer was off to The Spice of Life to see what live music was on offer. For a fiver we saw the most excellent Freddie and the Hoares. After a pint of Guinness (preempting Paddy's Day) we still had time to spare so it was off to Kettner's for another glass of champagne.

Freddie and the Hoares at The Spice of Life

Finally off to Ronnie Scott's for ringside seats - literally - I was right next to the stage, I could touch it with a languid gesture, I could tell the time by the trumpeter's watch. Paddy Milner lead the band (feat. Marcus) and the band put on a great show. To be there, in one of the iconic music venues, in one of the greatest cities in the world, watching a great bunch of musicians playing live - it doesn't get much better than that!

Ronnie Scott's stage

We went home late, very late. It was after one am when we stumbled out into the street.

A punk stopped me on the street. He said, "You got a light, mac?"
I said, "No, but I've got a dark brown overcoat."

Christmas Daffodil at Roux at Parliament Square

Parliament Square, London. Saturday 15-Dec-12.

Once again the Daffodil Dining Club Christmas meal is nominated as the M&M Enterprises works christmas party. That is where the directors (that's us) treat the staff (that's us) to a function costing up to £150 per head under the HMRC rules concerning Annual parties or similar functions, page 9.

I think you'll agree that a meal at Roux at Parliament Square makes a damned fine annual party.

Mary

Friends Pete and Amanda

Menu

Amuse bouche


Citrus cured Organic salmon, Dill pickled cucumber


Goats cheese alternative for Amanda


Mosaic of game, spiced pear chutney and salad


Ravioli of Native Lobster, celeriac remoulade and hazelnuts


Fish alternative for Amanda


Roast turkey, fricassee of Brussel sprouts, redcurrants & almonds


Christmas pudding parfait, griottines, brandy and hazelnut crumb

Coffee and petits fours - vanishing mince pies!

Amanda had forgotten to forewarn them of her food intolerances but the chef whipped up some superb alternatives at a moment's notice - customer service, indeed.


Wine
Pinot Blanc 2009 Leon Beyer
"Fridge Chilled" Moulin A Vent 2009 Henry Fesse
Le Gavroche Viognier 'Cuvee Michel Michel' "Biodynamic" Michel Chapoutier
Croze Hermitage 2010 Domaine des Remizieres
Maury Grenache Noir 2009 Jean-Marc Lafage


And after all that we got a tour of the kitchen with Head Chef Toby Stuart



Another year celebrated in style!