Coming out

Two momentous happenings last week: I got a haircut (much, much needed) and we went out for lunch. Yes, the world is opening up again and I am taking baby steps out into it. It doesn’t feel comfortable yet; I’ve said all along that, as a natural hibernator, lockdown was not particularly difficult for me, but coming out of it is slightly painful. Still, a lot of my feelings of unease dissipated, or perhaps were squished down, by a vast quantity of delicious food.

I’ve written about The Reliance before, and really am posting again for no other reason than to try and get back in the habit of blogging. I have nothing more intelligent to say other than yum. And, oof. Overcome by the novelty of eating out (someone else cooking! And bringing food! And doing all the washing up!) we vastly over ordered and did not so much walk as waddle out at the end.

Behold:

Snacks and ciccheti to start: deep fried aubergine with honey and ricotta, breakfast radishes with aioli and garlic crumb, jagerwurst, hummus and bread.

Courgette three ways (purée, roast, spiralised) all zingy with lemon and dill and garnished with feta and seeds.

Spiced lambs liver with labneh. Offal and yoghurt might not sound like an obvious match but this was surprisingly lovely.

Sea bass, asparagus and a golden pool of buttery tarragon sauce.

Pork T-bone and potato terrine drenched in a richly sweet and sticky cider jus.

Chocolate and malt parfait - a cool, velvety dream of a Malteser.

Streusel topped apple pie with creme fraiche to cut through the sweetness.

What a lunch! Unsurprisingly, the scales crept up this week for the first time in a while but every single ounce was worth it. Not just for the lovely food but for the fact that things felt almost (almost) back to normal for a couple of hours.