Cricket is posting about all the things she’d like to do before she’s gone and the latest post is “Before I’m gone I want to dine at a fancy shmancy 5 star restaurant.”
A few years back a good friend of ours was planning to celebrate his fortieth birthday the following year. He’s a real foodie and a very good cook so he eventually settled on a meal at Michel Roux’s restaurant, The Waterside Inn at Bray.
We started saving £5 each per month, Jane (yes she of “non blogging Jane” fame) paid it in to a high interest building society account and we watched as the total grew to a huge amount by the time the year was up.
The big day arrived and we set off for Bray. The food was exquisite, the service faultless and we sat at a table that allowed us to watch the sunset over the river. We people watched, a CEO here, a famous actress over there. All beautifully frocked and coiffed. Once we’d eaten we adjourned to a small sitting room, full of plump, inviting sofas around a roaring log fire and ordered our pousse-cafés from the waitress. The men smoked fine cigars while we relaxed in the glow of the fire. It really was wonderful.
But. As we sat and went over in fine detail every last morsel of food we’d just experienced (you don’t just taste food there, you experience it - it really is that good), we roughly totted up the bill and planned what we were going to do with the remaining money we’d saved. A weekend in Shrophire, maybe? A day’s fishing for the men? No matter, plenty of time to decide.
And then the bill came. The brandies and whiskies we’d sat there happily drinking were roughly £40-50 a glass. The wine? Don’t ask. In short, the bill came to the same amount as a second hand car. After adding a generous tip (the staff were wonderful), we were left with £5 for a future trip.
In the days that followed I becamse increasingly uncomfortable at the amount of money we’d spent on one meal for four people. I don’t want to think about how many people in the Sudan or elsewhere that amount would have fed. Would I do it again? No. Definitely not.
