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No. 12A: I
hope you can keep a secret. As this
week, Alistair and I had a business meeting in London. Alistair, is both my business partner, and
surrogate wife. (Although he doesn’t perform ironing and a couple of other
duties.)
Anyway, my real wife
knew we had a business meeting, what she did not know was we were having it
over lunch at Gaucho in Charlotte Street.
As she was not with us, this should not of course qualify for the
40-B4-40, however I reckon it does deserve a mention.
Our business guests
had come down from Sheffield, and we met for the initial meeting in the
Charlotte Street, with coffee’s and pastries, naturally. Lunchtime was soon upon us, so we concluded
business, as it was time to eat properly and head for the Gaucho.
The sumptuous décor
would give any vegetarian a migraine in a matter of seconds. Cow skin wall and chairs, leather furniture
and crystal chandeliers were a unique and impressive combination. It will come as no surprise that this is an
Argentinian Steak restaurant.
Our charming and
humorous waitress looked after us superbly, from when we ordered our first
bottle of wine, through showing us every cut of Argentinian steak and the
various marinade options, until our third bottle and final drinks. She even informed us that the rump steak
could be eaten with a spoon.
Naturally we all had
three courses, all were tasty, but the steaks were by far the star of the
day. When the main meals arrived the
meat was truly amazing and meltingly tender, and the accompanying mushroom
sauce was a delight. Our waitress then
bought a spoon and duly cur Alistair’s steak with ease and a round of applause. Only last week I had enjoyed what I
considered one of the best fillet steaks I had ever had in La Perle in Milford
on Sea, almost unbelievably, this steak hit the same massively high mark. Things got even better when washed down with
some very nice Malbec As you may
imagine, there was little talk about business over lunch and the company and
conversation were great fun.
Lunch was over around
3.30pm and unfortunately our full and satisfied guests were on their way back
to sunny Sheffield. The food had been
great, the meeting successful and the bill a bit painful!
Not getting out much,
Alistair was up for ‘a session’. It
would have been rude not to have joined him in the pub, so it was a bit of a
surprise when I got a text reminding me we had guests for dinner tonight. Whoops, I had forgotten that. I consulted Alistair on the best strategy to
use, and he just giggled and ordered us both another pint.
Life becomes a bit
confusing when your senses are saying; “Just one more”, and your brain is saying;
“Have you any idea how much trouble you are in!”
There was only one
thing for it, I had to be honest, so sent my wife a text saying; “A circus
elephant has escaped at Waterloo, and all trains are suspended”. I reckon that bought me an hour.
A pint or so later
another text arrived. “When will you be
home?”. Hmmm. Having had enough beer we decided to change
venues whilst we looked for a suitable rely.
A reply was duly sent; “Elephant is fine, on way to station”.
Whist we were on the
way to the station, I fancied a cocktail.
We made it through Old Compton Street, and Alistair was disappointed
that no-one even gave him a second glance. Perhaps he will now believe me that
his jacket did not go with his shirt.
Arriving at the
Criterion Restaurant in Piccadilly we though this could be the place for a
cocktail, but after a couple of attempts, we decided that neither of us was in
a fit state to navigate the revolving doors, so we carried on walking in the
rain.
As we got more
drenched in the Haymarket, the first suitable port of call was Planet
Hollywood. Not ideal, but they do
cocktails. A cocktail or two later, it
was time for home and another text. “I
luv u!” was sent to my wife by Alistair from my phone. When things reach this level even an idiot
like me knows it is time to go home.
Alistair’s efforts in pleading and tantrums for ‘just one more’, fell
quite rightly on deaf ears.
Also, with his bald
head a glowing bright red through alcohol consumption, he really should not
have been out in public any longer.
On getting home it
was of course great to see Steve & Viv, our evenings guests. It was also a bit frightening to see my
wife. “I couldn’t see anything on the
web about an elephant at Waterloo” she subtly mentioned. Pretending I hadn’t heard, I chatted to our
friends about their day, trying to avoid any more mention of mine.
Understandably, I
passed on the evening meal of home-made paella, but accepted the offer to share
the wine, and a few more drinks until I could take no more. Viv and my wife were up to the early hours
talking about things only girls talk about, and most importantly, this
deflected any further questions on why I was late home. However, I bet it has been registered to
reappear at some time in the future though!
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Gaucho Charlotte, 60A Charlotte Street, London W1T 2NU
If you are wondering
what the 40 B4 40 Dining Challenge is all about, please click here and all will
be explained.
