The Halkin

This past Sunday we convened with the rest of Fi's family in London to celebrate Kirsten's birthday by going to tea.  For a change, the ladies booked a new place this year, a pop-up tea room in a hotel called the Halkin. William Curley, a famous chocolatier, curated the menu, so I had high hopes for the patisserie.

As usual, I felt a bit guilty about taking pictures in that sort of environment, so the typical take-what-you-can-get qualifier applies to these.  I did manage to get a shot of Kirsten & her sisters as she opened some gifts.

The rest is to do with food, though.  A man's gotta have priorities, even if those are tea, scones, & cakes.  Here's the menu:

I had darjeeling silver needle.

At last, the desserts.

That's all, folks.  Happy birthday, Kirsten!

Dinner at Balliol

Last night Fi & I attended an Oxford University alumni dinner at Balliol College.  It was hosted by the department of English, so Fi made the guest-list, & she was kind enough to bring me along as arm candy.  For fear of seeming the tourist, I didn't take any pictures except this one:

It was a nice dinner, though.  The first course was seared tuna, the second was duck with with girolles, & the dessert an orange panna cotta with a lemon madeleine.  Yum.  Afterward, we repaired to the nearby King's Arms, where Fi refused to pose for a picture.

the Pub

A few weekends back Fi & I were in Oxford with no plans, so we decided to try out a new pub called the Anchor. 

It's a bit of a hike up Kingston Rd, so somewhat off the beaten path for us, but the Anchor was worth seeing, if only for novelty's sake.

It's always nice to spend an afternoon in the pub.