Tommy's 21st Dinner

It rained all day today, which was an added problem to the tube strike with commuters having to get around London in the pouring rain. The unions called for a strike due to a dispute over pensions and not replacing jobs where people have retired, and of course London is so dependent on the tube system for transport that it totally brings London to its knees without this transport system. London was chaos all day, traffic was a nightmare as taxis and Ubers tried to get people across London. Many people could not get to work including essential workers. Just as London is getting back to normal working conditions after the pandemic and the economy is starting to get back to normal, it has been affected by this, and transport will be affected all week.

For us this impacted on our dinner in London at Marcus to finally celebrate Tommy's 21st. It was our third booking, the first one being cancelled due to Inca having Covid, so we were not keen to cancel the booking yet again as it is quite challenging to get all of us together. 

I had booked a private taxi to take me from home to the restaurant as if I took the train I was not able to get from the station in London to the restaurant as taxis were all busy. Gavin was at the office and had driven to work so he could get there by car. Luke and Meriel were able to walk there from their home in London. Tommy, Inca, Adam and Pip got the train from Cambridge but then had a nightmare cycle ride using Boris bikes from Kings X station across to the restaurant, in the pouring rain and heavy traffic, Adam cycling with one hand on the bike and the other holding up his phone so he could navigate using google maps - when they arrived they were all soaked through, cold and bedraggled.

However the dinner was absolutely amazing. I had booked a private room that is 3 sided and the 4th side backs onto the kitchen so we could watch the chefs cooking and talk to them. It was such an interesting experience seeing how a professional kitchen works. Marcus Wareing was not there as he is currently filming the next Master Chef series, and is not often in the kitchen as these days he designs the menus, writes his recipe books and does the TV shows, so the head chef in charge of the kitchen is Craig Johnston, who won Master Chef in 2017 (he is only 26 years old now). My word, the food was amazing - we had the tasting menu which took over 4 hours and each dish was presented by the chef and explained. The amount of work involved in each dish was mind blowing, some things like a carrot took 8 hours to cook (overnight, and this was only one item on the plate! The sauces are all cooked in advance, but other items like meat are done per individual portion. No wonder there are so many staff in that kitchen - as Luke joked, just how many cooks does it take to spoil the broth?! Meriel had a delicious and original vegan menu as did Inca with a vegetarian menu, and they were both totally different, it was not a case of taking one menu and leaving out some ingredients to adapt it to suit vegans. It was definitely a night to remember of sublime food and outstanding service.

I was not allowed to take photos with my flash (as it would disturb other diners) so this photo of Tommy and Inca was taken in the foyer outside, and the extra is Tommy at the table with the kitchen in the background. 

It was also fascinating to watch the kitchen staff clean up the kitchen after dinner. Everything from top to bottom - not just counter top surfaces - is sprayed down and washed clean, shining and ready for service the next day. 

It was a very late night which is why I am posting this a day late.