Last night we took the family out to dinner to celebrate Son No. 1′s birthday. We thought we’d go somewhere nice, and booked a table at The Falcon Inn at Fotheringhay, where Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded. No, no, she wasn’t beheaded in the restaurant, don’t be silly! She was beheaded at Fotheringhay castle, long since razed to the ground and the stone used for village houses and outbuildings – it’s more or less just a bump in the ground these days. I think her son did it … must have been pissed about something, I guess.
Anyway, we went to The Falcon for dinner, and very nice it was too, even if they didn’t have OH’s favourite whiskey and honey ice cream on the menu anymore. The waitress took his little tantrum in good part and didn’t pour wine down his shirt or anything. We suggested he might order vanilla ice cream, a shot of whiskey and a spoonful of honey, but he decided he’d rather sulk and ordered the Sticky Toffee Pudding instead.
But before that, while we were waiting for the dessert menu to arrive, I looked across the table and noticed that OH had lined up three carrot tops at the side of his plate, in front of the stringy part of the braised spring onions.
Me: You left your carrot tops!
OH: Mmm.
Me: You can eat those, you know.
OH: You can?
Me: Yes! They’re baby carrots – you can eat all of them!
OH: But ..
Me: *Waits*
OH: But … they’re so ugly!
Well, there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. If you take people to smart restaurants where they arrange food prettily on the plate with demi-glazes and jus and compôtes of this, that and the other, and heaven knows what else they’ve invented that we never used to eat, sooner or later they get above themselves and won’t eat food that isn’t pretty.
And eventually it gets so bad that they even arrange their leftovers neatly!
Perhaps he was trying to impress the chef?
Whatever. I think it’ll be the local ‘wooden spoon’ pub restaurant for us next time. I think they trim their carrots there, and don’t bother with the fancy gravy.
The leftovers look quite nouvelle cuisine to me. Not often the plate goes back looking almost as good as when it came out, presentation wise I mean. OH has some style.
I’d have left those carrot tops too. Nasty little scrag ends.
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I agree with OH. I wouldn’t eat them either. Then again maybe I would… The Cafe food isn’t that good at college…
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Never mind the carrot tops; I still have the image of him sulking upon finding the Whiskey/Honey ice cream had been taken off the menu. I suspect that was the main reason for choosing that place.
I must admit that I’ve never been to a restaurant that served carrot tops. Interesting. I wonder, though, is this fancy, or are did they just think of a way to sell more of their inventory? I’m just your basic meat and potatoes guy, so please help me to become more cultured.
Happy trails.
Silverback – Nouvelle cuisine leftovers! I like it! And OH will be pleased to hear you think he has style!
Sarah – You would have thought you’d died and gone to heaven. The food was very nice indeed – Son No. 1 thought his potato cake thingy was the best potato he’d ever eaten in his life, and Son No. 2 (something of a connoisseur) rated his fillet steak very highly too!
And I won’t make you jealous by describing the Sticky Toffee pudding. I’ll just say it was evil. Pure evil. I intended to eat about a third of it, but …. what can I say? I nearly licked the plate.
Jeni – Ah, you know him so well! LOL!
Swubird – Sorry, I didn’t make it very clear, did I? They served baby carrots, complete with their tops – he just cut the tops off and left them!
Hahaha…gotta say, I don’t particularly like “ugly” food either.
Unless it’s “chocolate brown”. Emphasis on the chocolate. Then it’s acceptable.
Whiskey/honey ice cream, on the other hand, sounds amazing…
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I probably would have eaten all the carrots, but I do have a hard time consuming other stuff they put on plates sometimes … obviously I am not cultured enough. I never know whether to eat those mysterious herbs and flowers …
Those desserts sound amazing. You are making me drool with jealousy.
I would be worse than OH. I wouldn’t eat any of the carrots! I hate sweet vegetables. Well I hate root vegetables – because they are sweet. Give me Spinach or greens and I’m a happy bunny :O)
I love the way he made a pretty plate though. Reminded me of making food faces on my plate as a kid!
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Why didn’t he make a face? Two carrot tops as eyes, one as a nose and a big green smiley mouth ;O)
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Angi – Apparently, the whiskey and honey ice cream was quite incredible. So incredible that he’s gone and found a recipe for it! I wished him luck. LOL!
Maureen – I know what you mean. I tend to order something simple and easily identifiable in that sort of restaurant. I like to be able to tell what I’m eating, especially since I have allergies!
Babs – I like pretty much all veg, except okra, asparagus and artichokes .. I think that’s all. And I love desserts, but try very hard to resist, most of the time!
Yes, he’s a very orderly sort of chap. Heaven knows how he ended up with me! LOL!
That is too funny. Poor little lonely carrot tops. They look a bit like beheaded sovereigns. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Wasn’t Mary Stuart a redhead?)
We were out dining at a swanky place last night too, but I pretty much cleaned my plates. (It was a seven course meal.)
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I wouldn’t have eaten them either – I just don’t understand some places – soon they won’t bother washing veg – just serve it as it is!!! Liked the sound of the potato cake thing though!! x
He’s the same age as my children! And that little disagreement is almost word for word for something heard on an almost daily basis in our house.
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Ruth – LOL! They do, don’t they? I don’t know if she was a redhead, she might have been a ‘carrot top’ for all I know!
I read about your amazing meal. My goodness, they don’t stint at that place, do they?
Kate – It’s a trend, I think, to serve veggies like that. I guess there’s nothing wrong with it, but it does always look a tad pretentious to me.
I didn’t have the potato cake, but my scalloped potatoes were the best I’d had. As far as I was concerned I could have eaten a plate of them with the delicious tenderstem broccoli they served and I’d have been happy.
JT – Same age as your children? Surely not .. unless they’re nearly at retirement age? LOL! We tell him he’s not made it much past fourteen yet, though. Does that count?
hahaha! Sounds very familiar! I have a picky mate as well, and loves his meat and potatoes. Luckily, I think you can go anywhere and have a nice filet mignon and potatoes, perhaps with carrot tops.
) Btw Jay, Thank you for your comment and vote on Whose Role… The winners were Marty Feldman (yay!), Sean Connery, Kate Winslet, and Uma Thurman. I hope you enjoy “GODIVAS”, and are having a wonderful weekend!
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I am a gourmet and I experiment a lot with food. Many a times I have come across decorations on the foods that have left me wondering, ‘am I suppose to eat them or leave them’ ‘is it good manners to leave them’ types. Ahh! I like OH’s honesty. He rocks!
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Petra – I often end up with steak at fancy places. This time I had rack of lamb. Tasty!
I’ll pop over some time to play.
Scratch – He is a very honest man, for sure!
Yes, I’m not sure sometimes if the decoration is supposed to be eaten or not! Hopefully, everything on one’s plate should be edible .. but … these days, who knows? LOL!
That’s where we went, isn’t it!!?? I loved that place! And I didn’t have any carrot tops to worry about eating or not eating…
Hi Jeannine! – Yes, that’s where we went! Do you remember how much OH loved that whiskey and honey ice cream? He was soooo disappointed that it was off the menu!
‘OH: But … they’re so ugly!’
ha ha ha ha ha ha
I can only eat ‘pretty foods’ too!
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Meleah – You need to make sure you only go to very classy restaurants, where not only do they produce pretty plates, but they do your food exactly as you want it, whether it’s on the menu or not.
I go there sometimes!
Lovely place in a lovely village.
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JJ – Really? You must be quite near to me! We should meet for coffee sometime!
So funny! I laughed. I hope the dishwasher appreciated his carrot placement : )!
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Becky – Hi there, and welcome! Yes, one can only hope that the kitchen staff appreciated his efforts! LOL!