Being wowed by The Sail Loft

All too often we hear of pubs shutting, so when we cycled past a new pub in Greenwich right on the River Thames I made a mental note to visit it at some point. That mental note got lost for a while, but recently one lunchtime by a quirk of coincidence I found myself at leaving drinks in the very same place I'd made a mental note of months before. And wow, what a place The Sail Loft in Greenwich is.

I couldn't help but take a few pictures, and try their lunch menu - although I was too busy eating, as usual, to photograph that!  I knew when I walked in and saw the floor, it had potential.

The whole interior has an industrial style to it and some glorious wood too. It has that feel of being well put together and it'll be interesting to see how that develops as it ages. It was one of those places that everywhere you looked there was plenty more to see.  And it looks a practical space too, just look those tables are on casters.

The concrete pillars were embraced with ironwork that wasn't only decorative but functional. It housed the lights and yes, they are coat hooks on the bottom of the light too.

It was also interesting to see how such a modern space was decorated for Christmas, and as I was coming to expect it was done with style. These glass orbs were subtle but totally in keeping with the space. There were more decorations - more on those in a bit - and the staff were in Christmas jumpers, but it wasn't overly decorated which worked here. And I bet there was a bit of "we've just decorated so you're not sticking that there" going on, which let's face it is real life in action isn't it? We still don't put things on our 2013-wallpapered walls.

The pub is right on the river so it has good views of the Thames, and there's a fantastic outside space, which no doubt will be well used in warmer weather, and perhaps the not-so-warm too as it's equipped with patio heaters. I've not seen people out there yet, but I expect it'll be hard to find a spot as the word gets out and the temperatures rise.

There's plenty more to discover in the Sail Loft, but as my lunch arrived - a Grilled Brie, Black Cab Stout & fig chutney, roasted cherry tomatoes, ciabatta sandwich arrived, there was much more important things to do. Lunch was good, the sweet potato fries excellent - I *might* have tasted one or two from a colleague, and the pumpkin and chilli soup looked good too.

Back at the bar I had a chance to take in more of the surroundings and decor and spot some more of their Christmas decorations. It'll be interesting to see how this pub adapts with the seasons as it definitely has the potential to become a special place in Greenwich. 

I've already been back for an evening visit where we enjoyed a fantastic meal and a bottle of wine while in comfortable leather easy chairs watching the world go by. And I'm certain I'll be back, because there's a whole upstairs area to discover too. The toilets too are likely to feature in a future Loo Series, but I'll have to go back for that as those posts need pictures and I currently don't have any!  Did you spot my cunning plan?

Turnips on the allotment

Rain was forecast here on Saturday, but thankfully it didn't really arrive until after dark. It was a bit damp and drizzly before that but not so bad that it stopped us getting over to the allotment to check on the turnips. I've been looking forward to picking these and pairing them with some lovely pork chops. As we'd bought pork chops in the butchers, we headed off to see if we had turnips to pick.

And we did. I pulled up four to take home with us  - as well as our second cauliflower, which you can see in the top left below - and counted at least another ten to follow. Some won't be very far behind these, and then hopefully the row that I sowed direct on the plot will follow after those.  Ideally I should have pulled these sooner, but with busy weekends yet again this was our first visit since the start of November. 

And that cauliflower, well it's already a soup with cream cheese and cheddar, yum.  And very easy to do. Chop an onion and a clove of garlic and soften these in oil and butter. Add the cauliflower and almost cover in chicken stock and cook for twenty or so minutes until the cauliflower is tender. Blitz this and add half a tub of cream cheese, some milk if it needs it and then some grated cheddar (or blue cheese if you have it). It's a soupy cauliflower cheese, and lovely.

If we can pick something every time we visit, especially in winter, then we'll have been doing something right, I think. That might be restricted to turnips for a little while, but hopefully the brassicas won't be too much longer. The weeds, I showed you last month are still there - no weed fairy on our allotment! - and it isn't until I looked back at those pictures, that I've realised how much our cabbages have grown, so that's heartening.

The cavolo nero especially has grown and while it still has some more growing to do, it looks like cavolo nero should with its knobbly leaves. I'm very much looking forward to picking our own, and as well as the weeds still being there no one's planted out my extra brassicas or composted my sweetcorn and tomatoes. Shocking hey?

I'm hoping that the weather is good enough to get over there again next weekend and in the time between Christmas and New Year, although with everything I'm putting on the list for those few days, it's going to be busy! 

Elsewhere on the plot

The celeriac is still there, and alongside the brassicas full of weeds, I need to check when to dig these up. I think it's probably about now, but I have no indication of how big they could be. I guess that's part of the fun. As I thought of it I've just checked on the RHS website, and they say celeriac can be harvested between October and March, so I've some time yet. The picture on their page shows the celeriac almost out of the ground, like the turnip above. Mine aren't like that yet, so I'll leave them there for a while I think. The website also says to cover with straw or bracken incase the ground freezes, if the weather turns again I'll be off to find some straw from somewhere...

It was noticeable how bare the crab apple tree was. All the leaves - and any remaining crab apples - were down. The crab apples littering the floor around the tree, so that's another job to do next time I'm there. It's a fun one though as I use this opportunity as shot practice, throwing the crab apples to the compost from where they've dropped, with apologies in advance to the nearby plot owners when I get a bit enthusiastic.  It would obviously be much more effective to pick them up, put them into a trug and carry them over. But nowhere near as much fun!

With the crab apple tree bare, the climbing artichokes are once again visible - they're not climbing ones at all, but normal artichokes which grow under the tree, so I think they grow taller to get the light, we'll see next year won't I? They are pretty much dead now, but the flowers (fruits?) have now turned fluffy. The stems are rotten and I suspect it could be a good time to move the plant to where I want it. If the tomatoes had gone, that would be a relatively simple job...

So once again I've a list of jobs from this visit, but it amazes me that each time we visit we're enthused by what needs to happen, and one of these months we'll find time to actually start on that list.

To save me time for my next visit the list of jobs is currently:

• Target practice with crab apples

• Take a black sack to pick up the rubbish the foxes have brought onto the plot (including a couple of nappies... not so nice)

• Compost the tomatoes and sweetcorn remains

• Consider moving the leeks (the ones that have survived MOH trampling on them)

• Compost the beans, sweetcorn and any remaining squash plants

• Pot out my extra brassicas, currently in the back garden: Kale, PSB and some more cabbages I think

• Prepare the leaf mulch compost bin for the new additions from the garden

• Weed the cabbages

• Move the climbing artichoke

• And as usual, do some more digging!

Let's hope the weather stays good, and I find some more hours to put into the day...

Habitat's Christmas Supper Club

A couple of weeks ago I headed up to the Habitat store on Tottenham Court Road. Nothing strange about that you might think, but it wasn't to shop. Yes, that's a little bit strange, I'll give you that. Instead of shopping I was off to the first of Habitat's Supper Clubs. What I failed to realise until I got there was that I'd spend the evening eating dinner in the shop window.  Thankfully not alone, but I can't help but wonder what the people wandering past must have thought. 

I'm a big fan of Habitat, it was always the epitome of cool as I was growing up and any item bought from there was treasured. In recent years I've rediscovered my Habitat habit and I'm glad that I have too. And I think it's just as cool now.

I never expected to have dinner in one of their shops, in the shop window or not, but I'm very glad I did. Even better the main course was fondue, so what's not to like. I mean cheese, or should that be che-e-e-e-e-e-se!  I'm not sure I've really appreciated the delights of fondue before, but I'm seriously tempted by one for myself. I mean at home, and of course I'd share, not just keep it for myself.

I had a hunch that we were in for a good evening when I arrived. I mean with a table looking as full and as festive as this, it'd be hard not to right?

After a starter of hot smoked salmon, gin cured salmon, salmon caviar, avocado cream and pickled cucumber the promise of a good evening was confirmed. It was delicious, and you'll be pleased to hear usual service has resumed and I was halfway through demolishing it before I even thought about taking a photo.  And as a half-demolished meal is nowhere near as pretty as it should be, you'll just have to take my word for it being good.

Then there was a chance to make a Mulled Mojito cocktail. It was the kind of cocktail making I like, for making read assembling as everything was laid out for us.  But you'll see from the pictures below, it still takes some concentration.  

Image credit: Habitat

Image credit: Habitat

It tasted great and it's definitely something I'd try at home, actually scrap that, it's definitely something I'll be encouraging MOH to make for me at home. Yes, that's better.

Back at the table the fondue of Gruyere, Emmental and Beaufort cheese with white wine, kirsch, nutmeg and spices had arrived and it tasted even better than it looks. It was served along with boiled new potatoes, green salad, crusty bread and charcuterie and crudites. 

Image credit: Habitat

Delicious. I was skeptical about the charcuterie and fondue, but along with the crusty bread it was my most dipped item. Pure heaven. Charcuterie, cheese, bread, red wine, cocktails, I told you it was a good evening didn't I?

But there was more food to come and while this dark chocolate mousse pudding with espresso mascarpone and banana in smashed shortbread was good, it beat me. It won't be often you hear that from me and while the banana sounds odd, it was gorgeous. 

And if that wasn't enough, with the coffee along came some homemade treats - biscotti, homemade hazelnut bon bons, you know the ones that the Ambassador likes, and some mint aero. Well the mint aero was amazing, so light and fluffy and so much better than the chocolate covered bars. 

And if like me you like the dinnerware and decorations on the table, here's some links to them, or similar items:

Sintra dinnerware

Hamburg wine glasses

Dublin oak and glass dining table

Gold Glitter Dipped Bauble LED Garland

Glitter Circle Paper Garland

10 LED Gold Splatter Boxes Christmas Lights

And if you want some more Christmas table inspiration, pop over to the Habitat blog for this post: Decorating the Table for Christmas.

Thanks Habitat for a great evening!

* This is a collaborative post with Habitat, but as usual, all views and opinions are my own.