Tag: John White

The Modern Pantry – Finsbury Square with John White, 31 March 2016

John and I arranged this evening ages ago, without finalising time and location. It was John’s turn to choose and he opted for The Modern Pantry’s new venture in Finsbury Square. This was well located for both of us now John works in the City. In any case, we had enjoyed a fine meal at the Clerkenwell parent restaurant not all that long ago.

John was still smarting about my recent posting of the Hackgrass reveal story from June 1985, despite all the years he has had to get over it and despite the extensive cathartic rant he posted the other day, for some reason in the comments section of this unconnected piece about the 1984 Summer Ball. In his usual understated manner, John told me that I had ruined his entire life that day, 10 June 1985. In my usual unrepentant manner I suggested that he might be exaggerating more than a little and did not apologise.

In truth, we really wanted to talk about Pady Jalali’s impending visit, our families, leisure, work, UK politics, the Europe vote, the US elections, life, the universe and everything. Naturally, we talked about all of those things.

We even chatted about little speaker thingies you can now get for less than £20 that come with woofers, tweeters, the lot. I made the mistake of looking my gadget up on Amazon for John when I got home and I am now being bombarded by Amazon with spam and personalised ads for little speaker thingies. (Other sources of spam, personalised ads and speaker thingies are available).

The food at Finsbury Square was good without being outstanding, whereas we remember the Clerkenwell place being genuinely outstanding. The latter was a sort of middle-eastern fusion, whereas this new venture is more an Asian fusion idea.

John started with a smoked salmon sashimi (contradiction in terms but lovely dressing) while I had a soft shell crab starter in a sort-of Indonesian style. John had a very subtle monk fish main, which was tasty but not exceptional. I think I did a little better with a curried duck leg – again up-market sort-of south-east Asian style. John followed with some cheese, while I tried a black sesame cheese-cake which I rather liked  as it was not too sweet. I could see why the waitress said that some people love it while others don’t like it so much.

In truth, I would return to The Modern Pantry Clerkenwell but probably not to this Finsbury Square branch. If I have a crazy craving for Asian fusion, I think I’d stay closer to home and dine at E&O. Of course, Janie and I dined at the latter with John and Mandy years ago and had a great evening…

…as indeed did John and I at The Modern Pantry Finsbury Square. Always a treat to try these places and always a pleasant evening when John and I catch up.

Dinner with John White at Kiru Restaurant, London SW3, 18 January 2016

I hadn’t thought about an “eating out” section of Ogblog, but after our fine meal at Kiru on 18 January, John White (of Keele and Ogblog tank top fame) e-mailed me to ask if I was going to Ogblog eating out experiences.

A fair question and I did ask for comments and suggestions.

Not quite sure how this might work for the retrospective aspect of Ogblog, as neither he nor I have kept journal notes on the places we have eaten at over the years, (in my case I have previously only done that when Janie and I travel) but I might be able to do a partial reconstruction, certainly for the last few years.

For the current and “going forward” element of the Ogblog, I think the rule will simply be that if we think the meal worthy of a TripAdvisor review, it is worthy of at least a mention and a link through Ogblog.

This meal at Kiru was certainly worthy of a TripAdvisor review – here is a link to it.

Meanwhile I shall try to draw up a list of the places we have dined in the past few years and pick his brains next time we meet on what (if anything) I/we might do on Ogblog about those.  Not that John and I are usually scratching around for things to discuss when we meet, but John has (sort-of) asked for this.

Dinner With John White At L’Anima, 28 October 2015

John wrote to me a few days before to make the final arrangements for the evening:

I have booked L’Anima, 1, Snowden Street.  Sorry it’s a bit pricey but it has a number of awards and looks interesting.  You can get me back next time!

I sent a spoof “out of office reply”:

Mr Harris has fled the country and henceforth will not be contactable at all. Certainly not until after Wednesday anyhow.

Then I got cold feet, so wrote again:

Just in case my joke email was too obscure, let’s gather at 90 Basinghall Street when our respective meetings are over so neither of us need swear if we overrun. I should be back there 4:30/5:00 ish.

As it turned out, we did both get to Basinghall Street in good time, so we went to the Old Doctor Butler’s Head in Masons Avenue for a drink before wandering off in the direction of L’Anima in Snowden Street.

The food was very good, as was the service but the restaurant is properly pricey with that slightly hermetically-sealed so professional it almost feels clinical way of the better City eateries. Trip Advisor has many good reviews – here.

My abiding memory of this meal was John getting me to witness some legal papers for him…which we did early in the meal to avoid the risk of forgetting to deal with them…but in the end we nearly abandoned those papers in the restaurant – a potential problem that was only just averted as we left, I think by virtue of a waitress spotting the papers on a spare chair at our table.

I’d hazard a guess that the staff are specifically trained to look out for accidentally abandoned business/legal papers as all patrons leave – must happen all the time at that place.

Dinner With John White at Bocca Di Lupo, Preceded by Graphic Bar, 10 August 2015

The plans were laid back in late June – me to John:

I have booked Bocca di Lupo in Archer Street for 19:30 on 10 August.  Happy to meet for a drink beforehand and/or turn up at the restaurant a little earlier, of course.

http://www.boccadilupo.com/index.php

Then the day before the event, John to me:

Let’s meet at 6.30. Is there a pub near the caff were eating in?

I replied:

That was a really tough assignment you set me – finding a drinking house in Soho.  But after many hours of research I discovered just one, Graphic Bar, hidden away in the corner; 4 Golden Square W1F 9HT, within spitting distance of our caff:

http://www.graphicbar.com/

Graphic turned out to be a gin palace more than a wine bar, with a young, trendy clientele and even younger and trendier staff. The waitress seemed a little disappointed in us, drinking wine rather than gin.

When I called for the bill, she asked if we wanted it split. “Oh no”, I said, “our tradition when we meet is to alternate who pays for the dinner and the other pays for pre-dinner drinks – so this is on me.  We’ve been doing it this way for thirty years, since we left University.”

“Awesome,” said the waitress, “you’ve kept in touch with each other all those years, that’s really amazing. How did you do that back in the days before Facebook?”

She wasn’t joking; she really couldn’t imagine how keeping in touch might have been done. We mumbled about telephones and post; I might even have made a quip about carrier pigeons.

Then on to Bocca Di Lupo, which was really good food. The thing there is to try small plates, so we shared lots of those. I’m hoping John can remember what we tried, as my glance at the menu (in December 2016) draws mostly blanks or vague recollections, the only one really sticking in my mind being Pappardelle with wild boar ragú.

John – help!

I do remember that the food was very good, though. That I do remember. Not rush back good. Not “must take Mandy and Janie” good. But still very good.

 

Lunch At Harry Morgan With Richard Goatley, Dinner At Medlar With John White, 12 March 2015

Everything I said in my 5 February 2015 piece about lunch with Richard Goatley at Harry Morgan – click here – is true…

…except for one thing…

…it didn’t happen on 5 February. It happened on 12 March 2015 instead. Richard had to cancel 5 February at the last minute; so last minute that I didn’t even get around to scribbling out the appointment in my physical diary. We rescheduled for 12 March.

Which explains why I had a partial memory of eating and chatting with Richard outside at Harry’s and then thought, “no, not possible in February”. But it was possible with terrace heaters in March. I also remember Vedad, a friend from Bodyworkswest, discovering me and Richard there on St John’s Wood High Street during that lunch.

My e-mail trail has helped me to establish the above and the arrangements for dinner.

I think I should also report that the e-mail trail provides some evidence that I actually did some work on 5 February and 12 March, I didn’t just have lunch and dinner and stuff. But Ogblog’s not for work stuff, unless it is “work life” stuff.

So, John White e-mailed on the Tuesday to say:

I have booked Medlar on the King’s Road for dinner at 7.00 p.m. on Thursday.  I hope you approve.  Lets meet up beforehand for an aperitif.

I replied:

Tremendous choice, well done.  Not tried Medlar but am very much looking forward to trying it with you.

Given that we are going the very end of the world for dinner, I suggest a pre-dinner drink at The Henry Root from c18:15:

http://www.thehenryroot.com/

Here’s a pound.

So that’s what we did.

I like the Henry Root; a good casual place for any time of day. Friendly staff and friendly people in it.

A short wander across Chelsea to Medlar, which I thought was a truly excellent restaurant. Helpful staff, high falutin’-looking clientele, but not to the level where you feel intimidated. I liked it so much that I went again a few weeks later, for lunch with Stephen Barry.

John and I spent quite a lot of the evening talking about my plans to reshape my working life, a change which, I suppose, has played a major part in my development of Ogblog. I’m pretty sure we talked about plenty of John’s stuff and many other things too, but I do especially remember the Henry Root part of the evening being mostly, if not all about me.

I did think about making that line one of the strap lines for this site, btw.

Ogblog: It IS all about me.

Except that I’m not really aiming for such extreme self-centredness – hence my desire to widen the blog out to friends and family; not least encouraging comments.

Anyway, that evening at Medlar with John was all about great food and good conversation. A good one for sure from my point of view. John might remember it differently and in any case might choose to add a comment or two.

Dinner With John White At Dabbous, 16 April 2014

I remember that this was a really splendid meal at Dabbous – one of the very best restaurant meals we’ve had.

(Coincidentally, writing in November 2017, as John and I had a cracking good meal just the other day, at La Chapelle.)

It was a busy time. John was in the process of changing jobs (I think he’d handed in his notice to the Timber Trade that week).

Also, we had both been busy sending notes to Keele about our interactions with Neil Baldwin, ahead of the making of the film Marvellous.

Anyway, Dabbous was quite simply superb. Modern European with a sort-of middle-eastern twist of ingredients. Here is a link to a search term that should find you reviews if you want them.

John had chosen the place (well done him) so I had to deal with the damage; it was well worth it.

I wonder whether John can remember what we ate. I remember describing the meal in detail to Janie afterwards and all of us (including Mandy) agreeing that it would be a good place to try together, but we didn’t get round to that. Nor can I remember now what I ate.

But that evening and meal at Dabbous was marvellous…tremendous even.

Dinner At Salt Yard With John White, 16 March 2011

This one was John Boy’s idea and what a good idea it was too.

Extracted from an e-mail from John to me a couple of days before:

…I have booked a table at Salt Yard, a Spanish tapas bar on Goodge Street.  I was taken recently to Barrica next door and it was really good and was then told Salt Yard is better; something with which the reviews seem to concur.  They only had a table early or late so went for the early one at 6.15p.m.  Suggest we meet there and can if we want go for a drink afterwards…

I don’t think we went for a drink afterwards; maybe we did, but I have a feeling that the restaurant was not so strict with its “two hour” rule and we simply took our time over the meal.

Here is a link to the Salt Yard website.

…and here is a link to its TripAdvisor page for those who want up to date independent-ish (maybe) views.

Because oft he tapas-style, we got to try lots of different things. My memory fades on the specifics – John might remember better.

Part of my excuse for not remembering exactly what I ate that night is that I liked the meal so much I returned a couple of months later with Janie, Anthea and Mitchell…except in truth I don’t recall what I ate that night either.

John wrote the following in his follow-up e-mail:

Thanks for last night.  Brilliant food and a great natter.  I ran out of petrol on the way home so it was a little later than anticipated!!!!

 

Also the envelope has arrived.  Hope Janie didn’t find out you had not delivered 12 hours…

We had just got back from holiday in India & Sri Lanka, so I suspect I was supposed to hand over something from our travels…

…seems I am a long-term serial offender in the matter of forgetting to hand over the holiday swag and/or gifts generally to John when we meet up.

Middlesex v Essex T20 At Lord’s With John White & Family, 13 June 2010

I remembered that we had done the Lord’s T20 thing with John and family a couple of times, but it wasn’t until I found diary/e-mail references to this Sunday afternoon gig that I realised that there were several years between visits.

I had written up the 2007 visit under assumed names for MTWD – see this Ogblog piece for the text of that masterpiece.

I recall that, in many ways, the 2010 outing was more successful. None of the Friday afternoon/evening stress – this was a Sunday afternoon outing in good weather.

I think the girls had genuinely enjoyed the Lord’s visit in 2007 so had been really looking forward to this afternoon visit and they weren’t disappointed.

John was possibly a little disappointed by the result – another “close but no cigar” match for Essex. Here is a link to the scorecard.

I seem to recall the weather smiling on us that first half of June, which made the unseasonable cold snap the following weekend all the more surprising…but that’s another Ogblog story all together – click here for that.

Dinner At Yauatcha With John White, 1 June 2010

This was a successful choice, by all recollections and accounts.

It was my turn to choose and I plugged for Yauatcha.

Janie and I had tried a light tea-time/early evening meal, I think on this occasion…

Wedding Day At The Cro-Magnons by Wajdi Mouawad, Soho Theatre, 14 April 2008

…but John and I went for the full tilt dinner.

The place did not disappoint.

I’d suggest that the dining at cousin restaurant Hakkasan is slightly finer, but the relaxed atmosphere of Yauatcha was ideal for a catch up and chat with John.

John’s e-mail later that week:

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed our dinner on Tuesday evening. Thanks.  The challenge is now on to find something for out next get together…

That e-mail also signalled our impending family get together at Lord’s, which was only just over a week later.

It also flagged the idea of going to the Thaxted Festival, which we didn’t implement that year or indeed any year since. One to think about for a future year, I’d suggest.

Advanced question for students of this page…

…well, for John, really…

…do you recall what we ate at Yauatcha? I must admit I don’t; I simply recall a very good meal and enjoyable catch up.

Dinner With John White At Bam Bou, 29 March 2010

No wonder I sounded a bit stressy in communications earlier that month – not only was I running some gargantuan projects at that time I was also up against The Price of Fish draft deadline ahead of sloping off to China.

Earlier on the afternoon we were due to meet…John to me:

I have booked Bam Bou a Vietnamese restaurant for 7 through top table – and am still awaiting confirmation.  When and if I do I will confirm to you.

Me to John:

 

John

Thanks.  Been there several times.  It is excellent.

Assuming that is confirmed can we please meet there – I am up against deadlines this week as you might well imagine, not least the book to finish today and tomorrow!!

Best

Ian

John to me:

Booked for 7 pm.  See you there.  Bring the book!

I’m not sure I did that, but I might have taken a small chunk or two with me.

Bam Bou was an excellent restaurant then and I recall having a fine meal with John on that occasion.

John might remember what we ate.

Sadly, departed. Bam Bou I mean. Not John. Nor the book, The Price of Fish – that is still available at Amazon and all good book outlets: