Last night a lovely celebratory meal at what seems to have become a family reunion in London just before Christmas with my brother who lives in Bangkok. It's his Christmas present to us. We always have a meal, this time with my eldest son and his family. Last year, we were at Tom's Kitchen. Not impressive at all although the staff were great with the kids. Did not much enjoy my mint-suffocated fish pie or my gloopy, blow-torched lemon meringue. Why can't restaurants of this calibre make a decent lemon meringue pie?
This year we were at La Famiglia in Chelsea and the meal was much better. Staff were again great with the two grand-children although the youngest fell asleep all the way through. Food was of the Tuscan variety: delicious fish dishes, tasty sauces and mouth watering vegetables. Lovely light Gavi wine and tempting desserts from the trolley. When did we last see a dessert trolley?
The restaurant itself is family-run and like stepping into a Tuscan eating-place in the centre of London.We couldn't eat such food everyday, mind you. The richness of the ingredients allied with a liberal use of garlic and extra-virgin olive oil would be too much for palates more than content with home-made shepherd's pie, steak and kidney pudding, roast lamb and mint sauce, not to mention Irish stew and any variety of casserole, especially in these winter months. We did buy the cook-book, however, and look forward to using it.
La Famiglia stirred memories of those sultry Italian afternoons in Rome or Venice, with the occasional excursion into Tuscania, and late summer evenings spent drinking ice-cold prosecco in St Mark's Square, listening to that lively melodious band on the platform outside Florian's.
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