London

And so to London. A gradual realisation; a creeping sense that things were happening at the other end of the M4. Bigger things, better things. And faster, too. For every restaurant opening in Bristol there seems to be five in London, each more interesting and exciting in their own way. Bristol has a reasonable base of ‘solid’ eateries – places where you wouldn’t complain – but the really great restaurants can be counted on one hand, with fingers to spare.

Learning is the plan: working, eating, reading, thinking and writing it all down. One day there’ll be a restaurant, for sure (though not in London). I can visualise it with crystal clarity, down to the little details: the fold of the napkin, the flooring, the layout of the menu. But there’s a long way to go before that becomes a reality, a lot to learn. There are days when I feel like I’m twenty percent of the way to being the chef I want to be. The next day I realise I’m a good deal short of that. With new knowledge comes further knowledge of the unknown.

And so London: to prostrate myself at all that is to be learnt. I suppose this blog is for two things: to provide a record of meals out, in the hope that something might be gleaned from them posthumously; and as a way of encouraging a little light writing for its own sake. If it’s worth a read then so much the better.