| It was an epic month by any standards. My Barbican window boxes have never looked so good and watching bees & butterflies enjoying them brings me so much joy. Soleil (Sun) by Claude Bosi on the 8th Floor of Peninsula, London While the weather for the launch was damp & overcast, lemons from Calabria, perfect soft scrambled eggs, David (Director of Rooms), Scott (Manager) etc coming to chat & Chef Francesco Dibenedetto presenting me with a very special bottle of his family's olive oil made it a perfect way to start a special month. The Mark Hotel New York's Hotdogs at The Connaught The Mark in New York's hotdog stand sold beef or chicken hotdogs but in London Jean-Georges Vongerichten served turkey hotdogs. Delicious but I would have preferred beef. However, still a good way to mark 4th of July. The next week I returned to The Connaught for their sublime scrambled eggs with black truffles breakfast and to meet MD Sandeep Bhalla properly. Issy now has a Connaught hound staff pin. My New Dante, NYC at Claridge's Baseball Cap With lunch with COO Roland Fasel at abc kitchens at The Emory next week, it has been a very Maybourne couple of months. Dante, NYC was such a fun experience at Claridge's. I had huevos rancheros; a Fluffy Margarita Royale; met Dante owner Linden Pride and his sweet daughter and Claridge's Restaurant Manager Will Rogers presented me with a baseball cap to mark the occasion that I now treasure. 30 Years of Chef Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck at Bray at Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park Another dream came true during the month. Eating Snail Porridge, while drinking an 'SF Martini'. The Heston dishes were all divine (who knew white chocolate goes with caviar) & his triple cooked chips, dipped in a bone marrow gravy, were insanely good. It was such a memorable meal & being presented with a further bottle of the scent of Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park was the perfect way to end the evening. A Beautiful Ceremony to Bury Dad's Ashes in the Graveyard at St Chad's Dad's brother Roland & Aunt Tricia came down from Scotland for this ceremony in Shrewsbury and Vicar Sam did a brilliant job, even mentioning dad's late brother George & his Moscow based granddaughter Maria. The spot in the graveyard where they are buried is beautiful and mum even kept some of the roses we were meant to scatter. Chef Tom Booton's 'Last' Meal in The Grill at The Dorchester The month culminated with an exquisite Chef Tom Booton lunch. Everyone should get to eat Tom's chicken at least once in their lives. The quality of the apron I was given with my name embroidered on it says it all. The above text justifies an '8 teddies' (🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻) month score but I should also mention breakfast at Mandarin Oriental, Mayfair where I was given more of their hotel scent; getting to try the 'Robert Omelette' at the Ol' Chemist in Shrewsbury; Tanja's unforgettable birthday party; and consistent perfection from The Wolseley, The City; C Sons, Shrewsbury & The Golden Cross. |      |
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 It was another dream come true to meet the legend that is Chef Alain Ducasse and Chef Wolfgang Puck & now knows each other. What a month. From a moving Shropshire funeral, funerals of younger people are always particularly difficult; to one of the most elegant weddings I have ever attended, you could feel the love at both events; to Chefs Alain Ducasse & Wolfgang Puck preparing a 'Four Hands Dinner' for me at 45 Park Lane.
45 Park Lane also produced a cocktail for me from The Beverly Hills Hotel, that was not on their Sunday lunch menu. As that meal, the black truffles on Chef Elliot Grover's sublime roast beef tasted better than ever. I also got to eat in Chef Yannick Alleno's Pavyllon at Four Seasons at Park Lane, before it opened to the public and was back on Four Seasons at Ten Trinity Square's roof sipping a cocktail. Must also mention Chef Tom Booton's revolutionary breakfasts at The Grill by Tom Booton at The Dorchester again. Finally I have to talk about mum & the excellent food scene in Shrewsbury. As part of the two weeks I spent in Shropshire during the month, I tried to spoil mum with meals out. My hake at La Piazzetta in The Square was sensational, our steak frites at Cote were delicious and the spicy cooked breakfast at C Sons, Shrewsbury is still morishly good. A family friend also took mum and me around his stunningly beautiful garden. Mum was almost back to her old self, talking about garden design, that afternoon. Hope you enjoy the photos below and they demonstrate what a memorable month June 2023 was in my life.  On Coronation Day The Dorchester specially created a Veuve Clicquot champagne & Grey Goose vodka cocktail for me. Also note the Dorchester Collection Coronation staff pin I was presented with. This week I will meet Chef Alain Ducasse and Chef Wolfgang Puck, Chef Elliott Grover & he will prepare my dinner together at 45 Park Lane.
Dorchester Collection, & Chef Tom Booton, played a significant role in my May 2023. Watching the Coronation flypast from The Dorchester roof, drinking Veuve Clicquot champagne in the rain, and a Coronation Day lunch in The Grill by Tom Booton at The Dorchester, with two appetisers and three desserts! Four Seasons also played an important role with me spending Coronation Day morning at Four Seasons at Park Lane talking to a charming Saudi mother & daughter and Four Seasons at Ten Trinity Square updating Issy's Beefeater outfit regarding our new King. It was also a month where I was given Concorde glasses by another Barbican resident and sat next to a Concorde menu from 1977 at the second Veuve Clicquot Sunny Side Up Cafe. This led to a kind email from my friend Edouard de Nazelle in Reims. I managed to visit Shrewsbury twice during the month. Dad losing his fight with Parkinson's, and mum's falls & diagnosis with dementia/ Alzheimer's, mean it was September 2022 when I last travelled abroad. Do not know what I would do without my friends. I look at a note from Tim in Houston each day and it helps gives me strength. Should also mention Jennifer at Naked Jam. Such a kind & talented lady and a good friend to mum & me. The good thing is mum seems far happier and less anxious. This means planning for my trip to Four Seasons Hotel Nashville can start. Hope the photos below convince you it was a very special Coronation Day; Chef Tom Booton's breakfast is the best in London; mum is safe & being very well-looked-after; & the remarkable job Bruce did with my Barbican window boxes. |
The AuthorsSi Frew has lived in the UK, Bermuda, Qatar, Cyprus & the Cayman Islands. During this time he met Whoopi Goldberg (in Claridge's), Mike Tyson (in the Concorde Lounge at JFK) , Gordon Ramsay (in the Doha Four Seasons), Chris Eubanks (in The Dorchester), Cherie Blair (in Bermuda & again in the Doha Four Seasons) etc. There are funny stories attached to all these interactions, feel free to ask Si about them when you meet him. Archives
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