marathon meals

one of life's greatest pleasures is marathon meals with fascinating company. this probably all started during one of our first dates. the mister picked a simple family-run restaurant and as frugal students, we picked the best value two-course set. and somehow found ourselves there for almost four hours, as the tables next to us were turned over about three times. if i'd to pick a moment, it was probably during that lunch that i fell in love with his brain. i'm easily bored (as is he!) but this lovely boy kept me in rapt wonder the whole afternoon. having fallen once and for all for the mister, it's not done to go around falling for other people. but we've been very fortunate to have enjoyed a few more long meals since.

the longest dinner we've ever attended lasted all of 9h. we arrived at 6pm, and rolled out semi-comatose at 3am. that's swedish hospitality for you. more recently, we've had two separate 5h lunches with dear friends. one at the fat duck in bray, and another at the berkeley. and last night, i'd an (almost!) 5h dinner, on a school night no less, with new-found friends. to me, family is paramount, and i'll gladly spend any length of time with them. but when we're so far from home, the friends we have here are the next best thing. 

i used to think that frequency was a barometer of friendship, but am slowly realising it's trumped by duration. frequency is a luxury few of us can afford, with more frequent contact being circumstantial any way. but when you willingly put away the iPhones and stop watching the clock, you kind of transcend into meta-hang out. perhaps i best clarify that these gatherings are small. i mean, who hasn't gone for a 5h dinner party (aren't most wedding 'dos 3-4h already?) what i'm talking about is double date-esque. it's pretty darn amazing to have all the time in the world to meet for lunch on sunday, and only realise at 6pm that the dinner service is about to start. but couple is question are expecting a little one so it's probably the last time we'll get them for that long in years. boo :(

or take last night! i'd two absolutely gorgeous friends round for dinner at 7ish. T's lovely lady, who initially was going to pick him up, joined us for tea and chocolate at the end. the next thing we knew, it was midnight! these chance meetings are pure serendipity and i know i go on and on about fellow grads but T and C are such intriguing characters i can't resist telling you a bit more. both have biological science backgrounds, with T doing a research job and C casually going on tour to afgh* before we all made our way to medical school. T comes from a dairy farming family and we were swapping stories about mastitis (his cows, my rottie) with C chipping in about how he got a chick to imprint onto a tennis ball. having grown up in a relatively cookie cutter environment, i'm always thrilled to meet people with diverse life experiences. all these little anecdotes make for engaging dinner conversation, with T telling us about life in the trenches (as a junior doctor) and C about life in trenches of the literal sort. i appreciate the candour, how it's no holds barred (albeit appropriate) expletive flinging, i.e things you've got to see yourself to truly understand. plus they had me in stitches all night, discussing the best possible escape route from alcatraz, among other things! and it's nice how everyone is in committed relationships, talking about their partners and drinking grown up wine. it's very refined ;) 

promised them an asian meal (it's still cny!) and did egg noodles with pork dumplings and chives to start, followed by chicken rice and a huge salad. for dessert we'd lychee konnyaku (how retro!), sesame and peanut mochi and pineapple tarts courtesy of my best friend's mother.  paired the noodles with a pinot grigio, the mains with a yummy alsace and kusmi grapefruit tea with the sweets for something sharp to cut through the saccharine. absolutely enjoyable evening although i'm semi-paying the price for a "late night" by being more groggy than usual today. but hit the jackpot this afternoon with teaching by the amazing prof who's cured type ii diabetes, and single-handedly preserved the eyesight of multitude of diabetics in the north-east. what a hero.