Some of the lovely people I work with arranged a surprise lunch at a local French restaurant I've been hankering to sample. One of Otto’s specialities is the canard à la presse, the renowned dish of the restaurant La Tour d’Argent in Paris. Coincidentally I had reservations for a birthday lunch a few years ago at that actual restaurant, plus other Parisian delights, before I had to cancel just before the trip due to one of our party basically...let’s say...ummm...ruining everything!
I have since returned to Paris several times but haven't yet availed myself of La Tour d’Argent’s fine cuisine, nor had the merest sniff of the acclaimed duck dish. Lunch today wasn't the time to break the duck (excuse the pun), not just because you have to preorder the dish, but it’s one to be savoured one evening, on another occasion. Nor did I partake in the famed steak tartare as I opted to join everyone in the set lunch menu, but this was far from a deprivation, as we had a most delicious and very filling lunch.
Even though I couldn't really eat a “waffer thin mint (sic)” they had also organised a beautiful chocolate cake from Cook and Konditor. One lavishly frosted with vanilla icing, studded with deep pink roses, and generously dusted with glitter. And briefly the penguins also cavorted (seemingly drunkenly) in the sumptuous frosting. I did remove them before slicing up the lighter-than-air cake though, I'm not sure I can stand to lose any more of my penguin flock. There’s one languishing in a museum of oddities just outside of Dijon in France, and Swedish CJ has temporarily kidnapped one for some fiendish plan involving her most scary Stasi dog...shudder!
I've had a lovely day, delicious food, fabulous company, a beautiful silver stiletto charm (thanks to EM), a plethora of cards and kind messages and a little bit of penguin. Birthday bliss!
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