Oil and vinegar

Or as my new bottles say Olio and Acete, a recent purchase as a momento from our break in Italy along with a new butter dish. And not surprisingly I’m embracing the yellow, so where better to photograph them than on the dresser in a particularly yellow spot.   

We often bring something home from holiday to remind us of our trip, and quite often it’s something that catches our eye, rather than something that’s planned. But it’s always something we’ll use, or have a use for. 

On this trip it was very nearly a decorative plate that I fell for on our visits to the local town of Todi. In the maze of a town, or our circuitous route around it anyway, even I was surprised I managed to find the shop again on our second visit. But of course I managed to.  

After some longing and oohing over the ceramics, we asked the price and tried not to look too shocked. It was pricier than we expected, and I wasn’t sure if it would fit where I had in mind at home, let alone in our hand luggage. So with a last look we walked away, but even MOH was getting smitten and said to buy it if you want it.  

But I resisted, as I really wasn’t sure on the size. Although a new plan was forming, so back we headed to the shop again.  Only this time it was our final purchases that I had in mind.  

We’d seen many sets as we perused the shops in town, but none this colour and none squished like this so they nestled together. Clever, huh?

And then came the breakthrough.  We needed a new butter dish.  Yes, needed. (The glaze on ours has gone and butter seeps through the pottery and leaves a greasy mess on our kitchen worktop - so I mean needed).

But, I didn’t want to be without one. I’m a butter fan, and don’t like it fridge cold and so our butter is out and at room temperature year-round.  So when the butter dish hd been decided on too, and I’d agreed to get rid of the old one, MOH couldn’t quite believe his ears. He’d proffered replacement butter dishes over the years, but all had been rejected. Until now. 

And it was worth the wait. It’s quickly replaced the seeping dish in my affections, but sssh! don’t tell MOH, I think I’m only going to crock** half of the dish, as I realised the top half would make a great cover for cheese...

** and yes, to crock - that’s a verb, to break crockery to use as drainage “crocks” in plant pots. A great way to use old crockery as it’s satisfying to smash (as long as you look out for flying pieces) and when you next empty your pot, you never quite know what memory you will quite literally unearth! 

An art inspired lounge

Pale green and pale pink is a great colour combination and it was great to see this at Grand Designs Live earlier in the year. There they mixed in some art and the whole room set had a feeling of art deco about it. I’m not sure about the vertical battens on the wall though.

I am a fan of the freestanding boxed shelf unit, not only because it matches the room so well, but also because it’s not a uniform shape and because it’s so versatile, it could work in many rooms.

Look at the fringing on those cushions, and the screen. There’s definitely a 1920s feel, isn’t there, which is only accentuated with the geometric patterned rug.

I do like the lamp above the light box, it makes me smile in an unexplainable way. And (with clothes) it’d be a great fancy dress costume, and relatively easy to achieve. I have costumes on the mind at the moment as we’re off to a celebration of the First World War this coming weekend, and the dress code is of the era. After much research and looking at images on Google, I’ve realised it’s an era that isn’t as easy as it sounds, and it’s certainly not as fun (obviously) as the 1920s. For men, most often it was uniform, which is harder for MOH to source than a longish skirt, white blouse and hat that I sourced in the charity shops this weekend.

I’ve some final touches to put to the hat to dress it up a bit - I was thinking fabric flowers, and I’ve a suffragette ‘hunger strike’ medal to finish my outfit, and I’m sure I’ll share more here if I manage to make it work, and if I manage to persuade MOH to buy anything from a charity shop that he’ll actually wear. I got him to buy a flat cap, and it suits him, and I’ve a feeling he quite likes it too, but isn’t letting on too much just yet. Ideally with a brown coloured waistcoat and a neckerchief he could pass as a gardener, or similar, which is a lot easier than anything military. I’m not sure I’ll persuade him to wear wellies out on a Saturday night, but you never know…

But I digress, what do you think of this room?

Dinner at Bill's in Greenwich

What better way than to deal with the darker evenings than head out for a celebratory dinner? And that’s just what we did on Tuesday after the team at Bill’s got in touch. They’ve recently refurbished their restaurant in Greenwich and invited me along to experience it for myself. Working in Greenwich, I’ve walked past the restaurant many a time and having spotted they were having some work done, made a mental note to pop in at some point. Of course, I promptly forgot - my brain’s even more of a sieve than normal at the moment, and so I was pleased to have the perfect excuse to take a closer peek at their new look.

And I wasn’t disappointed.

Lights feature heavily in the decor, and the whole effect is characteristically quirky - the decor I mean - if you’re here to learn about the food, I wasn’t disappointed with that either. Sometimes I struggle to choose off a menu, but it was good to be torn between a couple of the options. I deliberated for a while, but in the end went for the burger as I often think you can tell a lot about a restaurant by its burger. This one with the extra cheese and bacon was good, and MOH helped me finish it all (and his own meal too).

LARGE SHADES, DARK NIGHTS

My photos don’t do the space justice, but it’s cosy with multiple light sources which you’ll know I think is important for any space. When we arrived at the restaurant we were pleasantly surprised to find it moderately occupied, it’s always a worry isn’t it on an early in the week night, that it might just be you and the staff in the place, but that wasn’t the case.

In fact arriving from a chilly, dark evening our welcome couldn’t have been more different. All of the staff were cheery and friendly in a way that felt genuine rather than forced, and that says a lot about the team at Bill’s. That’s hard to achieve and make natural if it isn’t, or if staff aren’t happy - we’ve all been to restaurants where they plaster on a smile and go through the motions, and this wasn’t that place.

INDUSTRIAL VENTING, AND WHAT LOOKS LIKE A STATION CLOCK

MANY DIFFERENT LIGHT SOURCES, ALL OF WHICH I ADMIRED

We shared a calamari and Bill’s spiced tortillas to start and both didn’t hang around for long. I remembered to take some pictures of the food, yes I know that makes a change, but that all went out the window when our main courses arrived; mine was a burger with the trimmings and MOH opted for the pan-fried chicken with truffle and wild mushrooms. I didn’t need to ask him if it was good, as he wasn’t for sharing and that’s usually what it means, and I wasn’t wrong.

CALAMARI

PRETTY CROCKERY

TEALIGHTS

GIANT TORTILLAS

Of course, I was keen to check out the loos. Not only because that’s a good indicator of elsewhere in the restaurant, but also because given the decor downstairs, the signs were good. Once I got upstairs, the signs were better; the upstairs dining space had an air of a twenties-inspired French restaurant to me, with the same lights from the downstairs space used again here for continuity.

DINING ELEGANTLY

A COSY TABLE FOR TWO

The loos had their own personality too with their almost arsenic green walls and gilt mirrors. The space was relatively small so I couldn’t stretch to its own #LooSeries post with just two photos, but perhaps on another visit. As I’m sure I’ll be back, whether it’s a team lunch, a night after work with my girlfriends, or with MOH after work when a decent meal is needed, but neither of us want to cook - I’m not the only ones that has evenings like that, am I?

OF COURSE I CHECKED OUT THE LOOS!

YOU EXPECTED ME TOO, RIGHT?

Remember that I said lights feature heavily in the decor? Well, that’s before I’d even seen this chandelier which hangs above the staircase. Isn’t it grand?

HOW ABOUT THAT FOR A CHANDELIER

I said before the decor was full of character, but it’s also full of the unexpected. The chandelier above and the textured anaglypta-like bar below. I love this style, but I know it’s the style that makes MOH twitch, remember he is the man that tried to dust a bottle of wine once that had been given the “dust effect” treatment. I’m certain I’d struggle to swing this as decor in our own house, and so when we’re out it’s the kind of eclectic style I drool over.

AN ANAGLYPTA TEXTURED BAR

BUTTERFLIES TOO

Once I’d explored the restaurant, in my usual understated way (or at least I hope it was understated) the best dessert on the menu arrived, and clearly on the best plate of the restaurant too. Sticky toffee and date pudding which arrived with a golden date and clotted cream ice cream - I think we both had a moment where we wished we hadn’t agreed to share.

OFFICIALLY, THE BEST PUDDING (AND PLATE)

We had a great night, the restaurant had great ambience, the decor was just up my street, the service was good and MOH’s company was pretty good too. What’s even better is that the wait for the bus home was minimal too. I’m sure I’ll be going back to Bill’s and when we’re out and about I’ll be checking to see if they have restaurants nearby, hoping that they could match our “home” restaurant in Greenwich.

* With thanks to Bill’s Greenwich for the invitation to try out their recently refurbished restaurant. As usual all views in this collaborative post are my own.