First things first, I had to get myself a tent to camp in. And since there is always a chance of rain in England, I grabbed my Hunter boots too and headed to the tube.
Five of us rented a car to drive out to Cornbury Park. It's about 1.5-2 hours outside of London but took us close to three on a Friday afternoon. We had a lot of stuff :)
Feathered hats and mirrored shades were encouraged.
There were about 20,000 people there, but we made it. We parked the car and walked what felt like miles with our stuff to set up camp.
Here's the lovely Diane trying out a top hat before we set off to pitch our tent.
As soon as we finished setting up the tent the sky opened up and down came the rain. Perfect timing for us to get ready for our St. John's Feast.
I poped on my Portobello Market flowers and off we went.
St. John's is a collection of restaurants. wines, bars and more in London. They were invited to host a 'feast' tent at Wilderness this year. It's basically a 3 course dinner in which I had the best piece of cheese I have ever had in my life. That's really saying something.
The lovely Diane and Tessa ready for the feast!
We started off with aperol cocktails and wine. Notice the serious feather headpiece at the table behind us.
Dinner was only supposed to last an hour, but since they were cooking in the wilderness, it took a lot longer. So while we sat around we made friends with our neighbors and busted out the Polaroid camera.
Finally our starters arrived. Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad, Cauliflower, Leeks & Butterbeans, and Tomato, Little Gem & Anchovy. The salad and veggies were definitely good, but didn't hold a candle to the bone marrow and parsley salad. The parsley salad was a really tasty mix with shallots and capers. It melted in your mouth and the crusty bread wasn't too bad either. Diane has already recreated this with salmon. Brilliant.
Nothing lasted that long.
We enjoyed ever last bite. Next up were our mains. Roast Middlewhite Loin and Fennel, Hake, Chips & Aioli, and Crispy Duck Leg & Chicory. All of which we devoured so quickly I almost didn't get a photo.
In full disclosure the loin was not the impressive. It was actually pretty bland. The fennel paired with it was unbelievable. Salty and flavorful. The hake and chips were good but the duck leg won the main course challenge.
My favorite part of the feast was actually the dessert and let me tell you why. The eccles cake with Lancashire cheese may have been the best piece of cheese I've ever had. Since this feast I have bought two different types of lancashire cheese and neither compare (boo). I'm thinking of calling St. John's and asking where I can get it. Every time I've seen cheese and dessert I've never chosen it because I didn't think it could compare to a proper dessert. I was wrong. Next time you see an option like this, go for it.
We also got Peach and Sherry Triffle and Chocolate Terrine & Blackberries. Both very good, but didn't take the (eccles) cake.
After dinner we ventured out to join the party (and the rain). But I'll save that all for another post.
No comments:
Post a Comment