lots of autumn fun this weekend - gathered sloes on walthamstow marshes, hung some bacon out to cure on the balcony and roast my first grouse of the season:

(procrastinating)

 

i am unspeakably excited about this:

ETA: i should observe that the craptacular/shitlarious glenstrata situation surely is deserving of your interest (even if you are not particularly a finance nut)

the restaurant highlight of my summer holiday was dinner at jean paul jeunet in arbois. we began with some canapes, of which the highlight was a veal face croquette, along with a glass of cremant de jura.  our order was taken with due regard to "found theatre": us pretending to speak french and the waiter pretending not to understand us talking in english.  the pre game proper was three small dishes, which was pleasant but not memorable.  we split two starters into half portions to sort of make our own tasting menu and this is where the fireworks began: a really delicious dish of veal cheek covered in warm, whipped potato and thick slices of truffle was followed by a tremendous dish of mountain trout with sorrel and herbs.

because of a mix up in the kitchen i ended up eating two main courses as well.  my first (erroneously delivered) dish of poulard de bresse with morels and vin jaune was amazing and clearly illustrated why the bresse bird is so highly regarded.   my proper main course was slow cooked veal in a really delicious jus, followed by a second service of sweat breads (so lets make that three mains).

pudding was black currents: puréed with an almond cake and ice cream, in a bavois, in a jelly.  all very good though perhaps the portion could have been trimmed for humanitarian reasons.  coffee was accompanied by small sweet things which looked the same as the canapés - this now seems compulsory in a certain genre of address.

i sort of messed up with the wine order, falling for the classic british trap of a red of antique vintage from a famous producer (puffney ploussard 2005).  this was very tasty, but i should have done what everyone else in the room was doing and get the somm to pick one of the insane local white wines off the vast list.

i can highly recommend the place to anyone visiting arbois - as well as a lovely dinner we stayed in the restaurant and our room was full of comfort and relaxation.