Tag: Ye Olde Mitre

Have We Both Gone Off Our Trolley?: Dinner At Otto’s With John White, 21 February 2019

Despite John’s insistence that his choice last time of the vegetarian haute cuisine restaurant Vanilla Black did not mean that he had gone soft on me…

Vegetarian Dinner With John White At Vanilla Black, 3 December 2018

…I decided to test the hypothesis by, this time, choosing an exceptionally carnivorous place; Otto’s on the Grays Inn Road.

So have we both gone off our trolley? No of course we haven’t, but what I have learnt is that, subsequent to me choosing the place, Otto’s has been shortlisted for a prestigious international restaurant award: World Restaurant Trolley Of the Year 2019.

Still, while not off our trollies, neither were we on the wagon. Indeed, John messaged me while I was still slaving away at the office over some silly numerical issues, already long-since forgotten, to let me know that I’d find him in Ye Olde Mitre rather than his office, when I picked him up on my way to Otto’s.

So there in The Mitre I found him and there I declined a pre-dinner drink; partly to keep my intake within reasonable bounds and partly because I was a bit later than intended and we really did need to set off in the next 10 minutes or so for our booking. The burghers of Ye Olde Mitre and the beadles of Ely Place might, if they notice such matters, have observed that this was the second time in a row that I declined to drink when entering that wonderful hostelry to join the yeomen of BACTA. Mind you, the place was heaving with people, so I doubt if anyone, other than John’s colleagues, noticed my abstinence.

We had a good chat along the way to the restaurant – John’s mum died just a few weeks ago and the funeral had been just a couple of days before our gathering – getting the funereal discussion out of the way before dinner.

Once at Otto’s, John was in an unusually “appy” mood – i.e. using his smart phone apps a lot.

Here’s John learning all there is to know about the rather splendid Burgundian wine we drank together…

…while this picture, of John’s Tournados, was taken by John and zapped off in mid meal – John’s way of making his carnivorous daughter, Bella, envious as hell at the sight of our meal.

Yes, John was clearly keen to show that he had not gone soft on me and was making an excellent Tournados-sized fist of such proof.

I also went for a very meaty option; the special of the day pork chop with mash, spinach and mushrooms. All cooked to perfection.

We both had started with lobster bisque – a classic starter served deliciously well.

I didn’t have room for a desert, but John, still demonstrating his robust dining credentials, went for a “death by chocolate” type thing which he (in collusion with the charming waiting staff) insisted that I try:

It would have been rude for me to decline the offer in the circumstances

When the pair at the next table – very senior gentlemen, so similar looking I took them to be twins – got up to leave, John got all “appy” again with their bottle of Margaux. I tried to capture that moment but was too late and John signally refused to repeat his research with a photo-opportunity-pose:

John completing his Margaux research at some distance from our neighbours’ bottle

It is always such a pleasure to have dinner with John – catching up on each other’s news over a good meal.

Otto’s was an excellent venue for such an evening. While I wouldn’t want to eat French classic style food all the time, we do it all so rarely now (there’s so much choice in London),so it’s easy to forget why that classic style is so enduring. When it is done well (as it is at Otto’s) it is a very, very enjoyable dining experience.

But if only we had known about the World Restaurant Trolley Of the Year Award nomination, we surely would have chosen at least one trolleyish thing at the place…

…I guess that might mean we’ll simply have to go back there some day.

Dinner With John White At The Bleeding Heart, 13 June 2017

It was John’s turn to choose venue this time.

It occurred to me as Janie and I were driving back to London from Southport, on the Monday, that I hadn’t yet heard from John about our arrangements for the next day. But by the time we got home and I got round to checking my e-mails, John had written:

I have gone traditional and local – The Bleeding Heart.  I don’t know if you have eaten there before but it has become one of my favourites since moving to the area.  We can have a drink in the Mitre beforehand also one of my favourite pubs in the locality; a real proper boozer although I don’t think you could call it a local unless you include all the local people who work here but reside elsewhere.

Anyway it’s booked for 7.  Why don’t you pop round to my new gaff when you are ready.  I can give you a quick tour of the offices now they are fully furnished and occupied, then head for a pint before determining whether to gamble on the wicket gate being open to Bleeding Heart Yard.

John had obviously forgotten that I used to work for Binder Hamlyn in St Bride Street and that The Bleeding Heart had been the staff canteen (for special occasions) back then…and indeed the Mitre was one of our regular haunts too in the Binders days.

In fact, I had returned to The Bleeding Heart fairly recently, with Micky, but it is certainly a place where I am very happy to dine again.

So we implemented John’s plan to the full – I managed to get to the BACTA offices in Ely Place around 18:15. The guided tour of the offices didn’t take long.

Then we retired to one of the little snug bars at Ye Olde Mitre, finding a good corner table for ye olde gits to swap stories over a drink. John was very pleased to learn of our meeting with Frank Dillon in Southport. I showed John the pictures (the write up was not yet writ). We also discussed the election and plenty else besides, before moving on through the wicket gate to Bleeding Heart Yard.

We were in the main Bleeding Heart restaurant that evening. John started with a raviolo of ricotta cheese, herbs, pine nuts and stuff, I started with a smoked salmon and Dorset crab thingie. I then went on to try the calves liver, while John opted for the roast fillet of Scottish beef with slow braised cheeks. As oft we do, we swapped samples of each other’s dishes before tucking in. All the dishes were predictably excellent, as was the service.

We both enjoyed a dry-but-fruity German Riesling with our starters, with John moving on to a Malbec and me moving on to a Barbera D’Alba with the main.

John went for the cheese afterwards, while I chose a strawberry parfait served with the recommended Tokay.

It was a super evening, albeit an indulgent one. I would have slept very well on the back of all that indulgence, indeed I did so until the sounds of sirens and helicopters (attending to the Grenfell Tower Block tragedy) woke me up in the early hours of Wednesday, making reality and disparity bite.