person pouring wine in wine glass

A Dinner Date

Different Dining Styles

FOOD, WINE AND HOME

11/4/20252 min read

When one is young, fifty years seems like a long, long time. Suddenly I look up and notice that the past five decades have passed by in a flash. It was exactly fifty years ago that B. , not long returned from Africa, decided to visit me in Germany where I was working as a teacher. It was our half term holiday and I was free for a whole week. Suddenly, on the spur of the moment, we decided to marry. But alas, there was no way that the formalities could be carried out in Germany in such a short time. And so , we returned to London , where he was currently living, and arranged to be married there. We celebrated our marriage standing on the bridge over the canal at Little Venice, with pints of real ale, accompanied by our three friends who had acted as witnesses. Two days later I took the ferry back to Northern Germany , alone , to work out my notice. Exactly fifty years later, we decided to celebrate this anniversary in slightly grander style with our two sons and daughter in law. And so, last Saturday we found ourselves at an acclaimed restaurant in a small English town.

clear wine glasses on top of dining table
clear wine glasses on top of dining table
clear glass bottle with black handle
clear glass bottle with black handle

The format was slightly unusual in that dishes were served like a series of tapas, and shared around the table. The wine was expensive , but hey, this was a special occasion, and we weren't in France. The food arrived randomly, but every morsel was delicious and the flavours were out of this world. Clearly, all the restaurant critics who had praised this recently opened restaurant , had not been wrong. By the time we were chasing the last crumbs around our plates, and savouring the final dessert, we felt well pleased. But what was this? Suddenly a large roll of paper had appeared in the centre of the table. It was the , not insubstantial ,bill. To my utter amazement, the waiting staff had gathered, ready to clear our table and prepare for new diners. We had been allotted an early evening slot, and there was to be a second sitting. But what about coffees; a brandy ,perhaps, for some? There was to be none of that. Very soon we found ourselves walking back through town, where for some, the evening had hardly begun.

Fortunately we had had a very pleasant anniversary meal with our family, in spite of its abrupt ending. But it did seem very strange to us after spending so long in France where meals can spread over many hours, and restaurants wouldn't dream of turfing out their diners so peremptorily. Let us hope that this new fashion in dining , which maximises profit over customer satisfaction, dos not catch on, and certainly never comes to France.