I have now entered the second half of my life. Let me stress
that I am not yet middle-aged, as middle age always begins at least 5 years
from where you are now.
To mark the occasion, I went and spoke to Jacob Brown of
The Larder to arrange a birthday dinner. Actually, I did this months ago, because
these things take time and planning. We’d had a discussion about menu options
early in June, and finalised wine choices and the menu last Monday. All we had
to do from then on was wait for people to turn up. Which they did. (Phew!)
Jason, Elissa and Nellie had come over from Australia as
well. They’ve been touring round the South Island, taking in some skiing on the
Porters ski area near
Christchurch. They had a choppy crossing on the
Interislander on Thursday, and since then have seen the sights of Wellington.
The weather wasn’t very conducive to outdoor pursuits on Friday, so after a
hearty breakfast at
Bach Café we headed to the
Weta Workshops tour,
Te Papa,
the
Wellington Chocolate Factory and
Moore Wilson’s. On Saturday the sun came
out so we headed up to
Zealandia where we tracked down the ever-elusive
saddleback, before returning for an early evening start at The Larder.
First was a pea and pancetta soup amuse-bouche, followed
by Nicola’s favourite, goat’s cheese soufflé. We had groper with seared
scallops and parsnip puree (yum!), and slow-cooked lamb shoulder. The pudding
was a chocolate mousse cake with sour cherry sorbet, candied beetroot and hazelnut
meringue. Here it is in full:
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| Can you read this? |
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| Groper with seared scallops |
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| Lamb shoulder. I'd tucked in before I realised I'd better get a snap! |
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| Chocolate mousse cake |
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