Breakfast at the Wolseley was an absolute feast. The setting is beautiful, the place was designed to be a car showroom, and was later converted to a bank by Barclays. The loo is the old vault (please insert comment about the nature of our banking woes).
There is a palatial, venitian feel about the place, and the lacquered japanese theme is reminiscent of the 19th Century haute bourgeoisie. Reminds me of the Jacquemart-Andre museum in Paris (which, by the way, is an absolute must, especially because therein lies a Titian entitled "Le temps tue l'amour", and that's just hilariously true).
Oh but enough about the bloody decor. The food is to die for. I had a ton of stuff, which I'm afraid they wouldn't let me photograph, the monsters.
We had the avocado vinaigrette, the mousse de foie de canard, an cheese omelette, a crumble, a strudel, and a truckload of bloody maries. And champagne. Everything very straightforward, befitting the bistrot theme, but impeccably executed.
I must make a special note on the service, which was outstanding. Discrete, friendly, efficient. Perfectly timed and choreographed. It is only when we encounter perfect service that we are reminded of how important it is, and how much it does for a dining experience. A perfectly pressed linen tablecloth also never fails to warm my foodie heart.
And the absolute standout dish was the prodigious Omelette Arnold Bennett. A bit of a shoddy author, but apparently he made a fine omelette: smoked haddock, gratinee with hollandaise sauce. Incredible. I must recreate this at home urgently and stuff myself silly.
The final happy surprise was the bill. Now this is of course on the steeper side of this breakfast series, but not unlike the kind of bill you would get at a place like Bistrotheque. And in all honesty, though I do love Bistrotheque, this is by a very long measure a much classier, tastier kind of breakfast adventure.
ohh that arnold did know how to cook a proper omelette. Thanks for the lovely sunday program. With all that jazz, it was perfect! What's next? Afternoon tea at the Ritz? xx
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