Anniversary Weekend Part Four: L' Atelier de Joël Robuchon

On Sunday morning, I woke up super excited. M had been refusing to tell me for weeks where we were going for lunch today and I was dying to know. Three hints had been let slip:
1) It had two Michelin stars
2) It was 'kind of french-asian fusion'
3) It was in Cambridge Circus
Okay, I'm sure if I'd done a bit of googling, those clues should have turned up something, but I'll admit, I was excited for the surprise.

Anyway, at one o'clock, I found my self outside L' Atelier de Joël Robuchon  and I couldn't wait to see what was on the menu!

The restaurant is beautiful. All the furnishings are in a dark shiny wood, detailing picked out in red. There's an amazing feature wall made of cascading green leaves and the seating is centered around the kitchen, at a bar. This is great as not only does it allow you to watch the chefs hard at work, but also allows for ease of service- for some reason I loved the lack of a waiter looming my shoulder, but rather popping up from behind the bar instead. Moreover, this makes it easy to peer down the length of the table top at other peoples' dishes while merely looking like you're conversing with your dining partner- the perfect way to suss out which dish you want to arrive in front of you!

And then the food. How to put this? The food was magnificent! Every bite was mouthwatering and each plate was presented as if it were a work of art- every bit as much a feast for the eyes as a feast for the stomach. We ended up eating four courses (and a scrumptious amuse bouche to start us off- foie gras parfait with a port reduction and topped with parmesan foam) and each was more exquisite than the last. I couldn't pick a favouite dish- they were all spectacular and I thoroughly enjoyed every one!

The service was also delightful- the waiters were willing to answer questions and to make sure the food was to our liking.

I'd had high expectations for this lunch date (weeks of anticipation will do that to a person) and L' Atelier filled every one- I can't wait to return!

Our visit to L' Atelier concluded our anniversary celebrations and couldn't have left them on a better note. All that remained for us to do now was to go home for a snuggle with happy memories of the weekend and high hopes for the year ahead.

Anniversary Weekend Part Three: The UCL Freedom Fashion Show

After our Crazy Bear feeding frenzy, M and I headed off to the Freedom Fashion Show. This is run by the member's of UCL's Fashion Society 'UCLU MODO' and showcases the students' designs, all in support of the 'Red Light Campaign', a student started charity which works on raising awareness of human trafficking in the modern world. 

Despite being a student event, the evening kicked off in style! We were greeted with a glass of wine, a hand made goody bag and a red carpet photo. Who says you have to slum it as a student?! 

After a drink or two, we wondered through to the staging area and took our seats. Not long after, the first few bars of music struck up and the models took to the stage.

The quality of the outfits on display was incredibly impressive, especially considering that none of the designers were even studying fashion or design. In fact, on closer inspection of the program we saw many were studying typically time consuming and 'non-artsy' degrees! Many of the designs were beautifully unique and the entire show was very professionally run.

The atmosphere was also electric- everyone seemed to be having a great time, clapping and cheering as the models did their group loops of the run way.

M and I both had a fantastic time and the show exceeded all my expectations. The charity it was supporting also seems to be a very worth while cause, so keep an eye out for them! 

After the fashion show, M and I dropped by a house party to say hello before heading home to snuggle up and sleep- our last anniversary treat would commence next afternoon and we needed our beauty sleep! 

Anniversary Weekend Part Two: The Crazy Bear

Saturday morning started early, or at least it did for one of us. M was up at 6:00am to go rowing, while I stayed snuggled up in a lovely warm bed- nothing makes you appreciate a bed more than the thought of having to leave it!
Considerably later I arose to the wonderful smell of sizzling sausages and we got ready to start day two of our celebratory weekend.

Now I'm going to let you into a secret. There's an amazing site called 'Living Social' which is great when you want to find somewhere special to go but don't quite fancy the huge price tags which can accompany it. On this site you can buy vouchers for anything from restaurant deals to spa visits or even various workshops and I love it! Anyway, this is where I sourced our next destination from: we were off to the Crazy Bear, Fitzrovia for the Mad Hatter's afternoon tea!

The Crazy Bear was just so cool! The decor was really cozy but lavish, with massive mirrors everywhere which befuddled your brain. We were in the upstairs restaurant, but on a quick peak downstairs, the bar was equally spectacular and could have easily been something straight out of Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland.'

Our afternoon tea was far from traditional. Firstly, the raspberry cocktails arrived in glass tea pots with a little churn of fresh cream on the side, then our dim sum. I was pleasantly surprised by just how much we were given- the waiter had to do two trips to deliver all the little boxes to our table! It was all just so mouth wateringly good! M and I could barely decide which were our favourite pieces by the end of meal (although we both thought that the dipping sauce, which was similar to, but surely wasn't just soy, was delicious), but in the end we settled on what has been in the past our favourite. Venison puffs. I cannot describe how good these are! I've only ever had the chance to eat them twice in my life, but each time I've wanted a hundred more. The rich, saucy meat combined with the sweet pastry makes you reach for the second before you've even finished the first. (Okay okay, M was a bit more restrained. But they were SO good so can you blame me?!)

We finished off our afternoon tea with some actual tea. (Mine was 'whole rose and china black' and M's was 'Jasmine pearls'.)  More transparent tea pots and interesting tealeaves later, it was time for a quite visit to check out the bathrooms. These are a little on the confusing side. I asked a waitress where they were and was left pushing on a mirror for a good few seconds before I decided to try the wall next to it. It swung around and I entered what could only be described as a mirrored underwater grotto. The whole room seemed to glow. The sink was a long trough with water gushing down from above. This connected through to the men's,  which gave me rather a shock when a pair of hands came through from the other side- it took me a few seconds to work out that they weren't just another reflection! M also met a rather confused man on his visit, who confided that it was in fact his second attempt at finding the right wall to push as he hadn't found it the first time! Anyway, I loved them and would love to recreate something similar in my house in the future!

We both really enjoyed the Crazy Bear- the food was excellent, the venue strangely exciting and the staff polite and efficient- I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would definitely recommend a visit!

After we were stuffed full, we felt prepared to brave the bitter weather outside and so set off to the fashion show....

Anniversary Weekend Part One

This weekend, my wonderful boyfriend and I were celebrating the second birthday of our relationship and I have to say, we did it in style! We munched on beautiful food, drank delicious cocktails and even went to a fashion show (but more on that later)! However, for me, the fun all started off rather on the wrong foot.

You know how expensive trains are these days? Well, I'd booked my ticket to London so far in advanced that a first class ticket was the same price as a standard one. However, I was also so excited about the week ahead, I ran  to the station (convinced I was late) and jumped on a train an entire hour early. I only realised I'd hopped on the wrong train when a rather bemused ticket inspector handed me back my ticket with the reservation time underlined in thick blue pen. I have to say, my stomach dropped. In advanced, my ticket had only been fourteen quid, but on the day first class tickets were into the hundreds! Luckily the ticket inspectors were very nice and saw it had been a genuine mistake so didn't make me pay the full first class price, but by this point I was fairly shaken up by images of my student bank account shriveling into none existence! I'd even forgone the first round of complimentary biccies out of sheer terror. When everything was settled and my bank account hadn't died, I finally got to sit back and enjoy the wonders of first class, while cradling a glass of (complimentary) red wine- I think I deserved it!

From this point onwards, my weekend could only get better. My boyfriend (Marcus) and my mother (who'd been up in town that day) met me off the train and my mother whisked us off to another of her little haunting spots- the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel Booking Office. I loved the fact you could step off your platform and into this bar and simultaneously step back into the age of steam trains and top hats. The building its self has retained its Victorian magnificence without being overly imposing which made it a beautiful location to have a quick drink and a catch up. The cocktail menu was also steeped in history, bursting with reincarnated Victorian classics- I had a delicious Orchard Sour and M had a Sloe Gin Fizz. We also ordered a round of crab sandwiches (they were yummy!) which came with wickedly crispy but some how still fluffy chips. The only hiccup was we had a rather sour waitress, but hey, sometimes you just can't have it all!

After drinkies with Mumsie, M and I headed off home where he'd prepared me the cutest platter of nibbles (including my favouite smoked salmon bagel bites!) which we ate over a glass (or two) of sparkling wine, while watching the hilarity which is the BBC series "Penguins- A Spy in the Huddle' (narrated by David Tennant).

Salmon, mozzarella and spring onions on toast, sweet chili prawns and smoked salmon bagel bites 

And then, with full tummies and happy thoughts of slipping penguins we headed to bed in preparation for the next day's celebrations.


(P.S- someone has made a brilliant collection of some of the funnier moments in Penguins- here's the youtube link!)