Anniversary

Anna and I had our anniversary on Friday, and I laid on a few surprises for her. First of all, I beat her out of bed in the morning (after a nice sleep in) to make pancakes. I even bought some chocolate sauce especially, and fresh lemons. Mmm.

Couldn't eat too much though, because I also booked us a table for lunch at Royal Hospital Road, Gordon Ramsay's 3 Michelin star flagship restaurant. We were a bit nervous at first - I was wearing a suit for the first time in months! But aside from a small faux pas (whereby we tried to order our drinks from the wrong waiter), we ended up quite relaxed, and having a wonderful time.

The staff were really nice, not at all condescending, and they even took us back to see the kitchen and have a chat with the Head Chef (Simone Zanoni)! It was very impressive, well laid out and with some 17 chefs zipping around. The place was running like clockwork - not at all the noisy scene you might see on Hell's Kitchen or The F Word. Impressive.

The food was just incredible. Really detailed, and super tasty. I admit to having some fish (naughty me), but it was worth it. The best scallops I've ever had! Plus - on top of random free dishes they kept giving us - they brought us a special dessert (strawberry icecream in
white chocolate, on a bed of dry ice), because the Maitre d' (the amazing Jean-Claude Breton) had seen me giving Anna an anniversary card.

It was a humongous bill (I had a whiskey which was £12 alone, but it was a delicious 12 year old Knappogue Castle), but absolutely worth it.

I had planned to take Anna to Battersea Park or London Zoo in the afternoon, but the weather was miserable. So we went home and watched movies, before I took her to the Dirty Dancing stage play at the Aldwych Theatre in the evening. That was a lot of fun too - some brilliant
choreography, and a lovely (if somewhat estrogen-heavy) atmosphere.

Anyway, I got a couple of books and a t-shirt from Anna, and I gave Anna an admittedly random scented candle signed by Heather Nova.