Andrew Brennan

Merry Christmas! The past two weeks were crazy busy. Some (mostly food-related) highlights:

Friday 12 December: Office Christmas lunch at Tsunami on Charlotte St. +2 for the oyster tempura–I’m not a huge oyster fan but they were really good.

Weekend 13/14 December: Caught up with Keats while he was in town, and he got me hooked on The Wire–we started watching season one.

Monday 15 December: Anthony returned from America and we went to a Christmas party at Rob and Julie’s with very good mulled wine.

Tuesday 16 December: Anthony and I watched Miracle on 34th Street as part of his continued campaign to make me love Christmas as much as he does. The campaign had previously included Holiday Inn, White Christmas and the Muppet Christmas Carol.

Wednesday 17 December: Client Christmas lunch at Gaucho then Anthony and I hosted a dinner party for Andrew and David, Nick, and Ryan. We (well, mostly Anthony) did herbed chicken in the slow cooker with salad and quinoa followed by baked apple tarts.

Thursday 18 December: Client Christmas lunch at Chez Gerard, then Anthony and I had a holiday splurge for dinner–the tasting menu at the two Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant The Square. As you’d expect the food was fantastic–though the highlight for me was something I ordered as a substitute for one of the courses, the crab lasagne (or the “Lasagne of Dorset Crab with a Cappuccino of Shellfish and a Champagne Foam”). It melted in my mouth.

Friday 19 December: Tony, Emma, JR and I owned the platform at Trash Palace.

Saturday 20 December: Nick had a final leaving do at the Albion that featured a whole roast suckling pig. It was so good, but so much food–the 12 meat eaters there couldn’t finish it. After a post-pork nap I went to Notting Hill for drinks with Buddy and Sam and then to Robin’s night at Kensington Roof Gardens for the EF v F cousin-off. It started with a pint with Toby, Jack and Tom but went downhill from there.

Sunday 21 December: Dinner and chilling at Emma’s with Em, Ali EF, and Kate and Alice.

Tuesday 23 December: Flight to Philadelphia, watched Mamma Mia (wow, Pierce Brosnan is a bad singer) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (which was surprisingly sweet and visually stunning, even on the little plane screen, thanks to Guillermo del Toro, who also did Pan’s Labyrinth).

And today, 25 December:

• Mom made baked french toast and ham/egg/cheese souffle for breakfast–delicious.
• Santa was very good to me–got the beginner DJ kit I really wanted.
• Went on a 10 mile run in Valley Forge Park–they got rid of the parking lot I normally use and covered it with grass, which was unexpected but nice.
• Played Monopoly with the sisters–though it was interrupted by dinner and we still need to finish.
• Had my favorite dinner of the year–salad with blue cheese and walnuts, peppercorn beef fillet with twice-baked potatoes and green beans, and chocolate mousse cake. So good.

Looking forward to seeing Leslie in Philly and assorted people in NYC/Princeton this weekend. Not looking forward to going to the mall tomorrow to make some exchanges.