What a marvellous lunch we had yesterday at Baldwins. Frances used to work there as a part-time waitress and she had phoned the restaurant to say that she would pay the bill. Jamie, the day manager, covered the cost of our drinks from the house budget - a pint and a half of Tetley's Smoothflow, two gin and tonics and a bottle of French sauvignon blanc. But that wasn't the lunch - just the liquid accompaniment.
At Baldwins you get a complimentary loaf of fresh bread on a wooden board. For my starter I had tomato, celery and lentil soup with a herb dumpling. Shirley had the pate stuffed mushrooms. For our mains I had slow cooked shank of lamb with braised root vegetables & lamb jus. Shirley had grilled tranche of cod florentine with spinach and rich cheddar sauce. My dessert was summer pudding while Shirley had creamy meringues in a chocolate sauce.
The dining environment at Baldwins is lovely - spacious and clean with nice details such as a rose in a cut glass vase, a glass jug of iced water, a linen tablecloth and "Made in Sheffield" stainless steel cutlery. Wonderful, It was also nice that we had the very latest reservation for the lunchtime session and by three thirty, when we departed, we were the only customers left.
Naturally, we didn't drive home but Baldwins is just a five minute walk from our house. Both of our cars were there because Shirley had scooted to the restaurant straight from work and I had been out into Derbyshire for an early birthday walk.
Three hours of plodding. Sunshine on the tops but clouds stubbornly refusing to budge from the valleys. The morning mistiness had bejewelled autumnal cobwebs and to accompany this post I have picked three pictures I took of this seasonal phenomenon.
Wow, that sounds like quite a lunch! In a good, good way. A co-worker of mine calls this "spider season," which I thought was quite funny but as I look around I see that he's absolutely right. Great photos!
ReplyDeleteThank you Steve. When I returned to my car after three hours I looked for the webs I had snapped earlier but the morning mist had gone and the webs were now almost invisible.
DeleteI have only been to Baldwins for Christmas bashes and thought it pretty average. Good to hear it's better at lunch time.
ReplyDeleteYes at lunchtime it's not about group meals - it's just a proper restaurant then.
DeleteI'm so pleased that you were able to capture such ethereal, gone-in-a-moment, early morning beauty; the countryside putting on its glad rags for your special day. x
ReplyDeleteYes Elizabeth. The spiders seemed to know that I am an arachnophile - the little darlings!
DeleteVery good pictures, and the description of your lunch would have made me VERY hungry if I had not just come back from lunch at my parents' (which had a lot less liquid accompaniment). Now I'll start reading on a new legal document that has popped up in my line of work recently... I'm in for a rather "dry" afternoon working from home.
ReplyDeleteA new legal document sounds exciting! I wonder how it ends? Probably zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
DeleteBelated birthday wishes....not much can beat a lunch like that is there? the company of a loved one, some food and drink and a walk...time spent together....and lovely autumnal pics too!
ReplyDeleteThank you Libby. Simple things are usually the best aren't they?
DeleteBlowing the cobwebs away in more ways than one YP. What a lovely gift from Frances.
ReplyDeleteLater I had a good sleep on the sofa - a good reason for avoiding alcohol at lunchtime though it was nice to make an exception for my birthday.
DeleteGoodness how did you manage the whole three courses ? Good thing that you had done all that walking. Lovely of Frances , a great birthday gift for you to share.
ReplyDeleteThere you and Tony are/were stuffing your faces with as much French nosh as you can/could shovel in and you're asking how I could manage three courses!!!
DeleteI went years ago...once on a ward christmas do when i dressed up as an American tourist and once with an old boyfriend who tried to impress
ReplyDeleteDressed up as an American tourist? I wonder what that looks like. Perhaps you could post a picture on "Going Gently" ?
DeleteAn American tourist (man) is heavy in the mid-section, has a "ball cap" perched on his noggin, a stripped knit short sleeved shirt, a big camera slung 'round his neck, shorts that show his oversized and hairy legs and the brightest tennis shoes/trainers that he can find!! You can find people like this in every country, loudly lamenting the fact that they cannot understand the people there and why don't they speak proper English anyway!!
DeleteHA! HA! That's brilliant Mama Thyme! Does Big Bear look like that when he is on vacation?
DeleteYou must be kidding! Would I even be with him if he ever looked like that in a foreign country? I think not!! He may chop wood and plow snow and I may split wood and shovel snow, but when we are with people (sophisticated or not) we are as lovely and nondescript as possible. Americans who act and look like that description really burn my ass!
Delete"bum my ass" is an expression I have never heard before. Very colourful!
DeleteHappy Birthday, my friend!
ReplyDeleteThank you MT!
DeleteIt sounds like you and Shirley celebrated your birthday in style, Yorkie. I think special lunches are so much more enjoyable that dinners...well, I prefer lunches these days than going out to dinner in the evening. There's always a nice feeling about a long, leisurely lunch.
ReplyDeleteYour chosen fare sounds delicious, too.
Spiders spin webs....humans spin stories...wonderful photos. :)
It was an excellent way to mark my birthday Lee and the kitchen even set out a little chocolate cake with a single candle in it.
DeleteBejeweled spider's webs and a truly delicious lunch - a good day all round.
ReplyDeleteWell done Frances.
Ms Soup
The soup was especially nice!
DeleteSeems you should have ordered 'end-of-summer' pudding. I am only familiar with puddings such as chocolate, butterscotch, banana, bread, etc. What IS summer pudding?
ReplyDeleteI loathe spiders, but can certainly appreciate the artistry in their webs. Seems funny that English spiders spin the same webs as American spiders, though they be miles and oceans apart.
p.s. Belated Happy Birthday wishes to you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for calling by Hilly. Summer pudding involves sponge and late summer berries but now I realise that I made a mistake. The dessert was actually "Queen of Puddings". Go to this link:-
Deletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/queen_of_puddings_79904
The photos are perfect reminders of the season.
ReplyDeleteThe webs are nearly gorgeous enough to make up for the spiders. I took a walk with my dog the other day and discovered -- almost too late -- that several places were guarded by enormous networks of webs hiding enormous spiders. They're rumored to eat birds, but that may just be to titillate the tourists. There was no dew to showcase the webs. Thick as the humidity was that day, you'd think it would have at least had the decency to highlight potential web traps, but no. These spiders were well camouflaged. I nearly walked into a giant web housing at least a couple of dozen.
ReplyDelete