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A ridiculously busy summer has seen the blog neglected, but I should say that the five days we spent in Rugen, an Island in NE Germany was fantastic. Staying in a remote cottage with a seawater lake at the bottom of the garden, wonderful beaches, sauasages,wild boar, bread and dripping, schnapps, bonfires, crosswords and sunshine. It felt like I’d been away for weeks. Will write at length, perhaps about the dripping, soon.
On Sunday we went to see Matthew Bourne’s modern ballet/dance/thriller, The Car Man (based on Bizet’s opera) at Sadler’s Wells, near Angel. Carmen’s 19th Century Spain becomes a 60s garage-diner in the midwest. It’s a rather raunchy affair, and the dancing is quite formidable; it’s great fun and I enjoyed it far more than I though I would. We stopped off at Fish Shop on St John Street beforehand which, though perhaps a little pricey, I thought had a really nice feel to it. We sat outside and shared a dozen oysters, making the most of the only unbroken sunshine of the weekend. Somewhat unusually for us, we ate out on both days of the weekend, having dined at Chez Gerard on Charlotte Street on Saturday evening. I feel I should make mention of the steak that I ate there. Chez Gerard is not somewhere I would immediately think to go for an evening meal. To me their restaurants always have had a business-lunch appeal to them (I had hitherto experienced only those in The City). The one on Charlotte Street was, however, a revelation. The steak that I opted for was a French cut, an Onglet, that I had not tried before. I ordered it rare and it arrived cooked to perfection. Apparently, this steak is known as ‘butcher’s steak’ because butchers would often keep it for themselves rather than offer it for sale. It’s obvious why; I have never eaten meat so succulent or so intensly flavoursome. I should add, for no other reason than to dispel myths about cheaper cuts, that it was the least expensive steak on the menu. It is the steak attached to the last rib and the kidney and apparently often ends up just being minced! The oysters I had to start were also excellent, although the following day’s perhaps had the edge, if only for the accompanying sunshine.
