Friday 12 February 2016

Rituals

One of the things I miss about wine is all the rituals that go with it.

The wine lists, the wine chat, the waiter showing you the label, the sound of the cork popping out of the bottle, the swirling, the sniffing, the sipping. The glasses, the corkscrews, the bottle stoppers, the decanters.

You just can't do all that stuff with Diet Coke, can you?

After many months, I manage perfectly happily without the wine rituals at home, but whenever I go out to a restaurant, I feel like there's something missing. 

I get a bit edgy - scratchy. I don't know what to do with my hands. So I end up eating really quickly, then I sit there thinking now what?

Well, I have now found a solution to this problem of the missing ritual and the jobless hands:

Tea.

I'm afraid it only works in some restaurants, specifically Chinese, Thai or Japanese, but since everything in London is going 'Asian Fusion', that's not too much of a problem.

I've read up a bit on tea rituals. Look at this, from Yauatcha.com:
 

9 comments:

  1. Great ideas as always - I like the tea concept. As to the Soberista lady with the tosser waiter - we don't have to stand for that - call over the manager, report, and demand another waiter. I've done this in snooty French establishments in London - with great results - stand up to the bullies! I miss the wine rituals too - but not enough to go back to all the unplanned for consequences of my wine consumption. 60 something days and rolling forward - thanks as always for being a great guide. E

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  2. Tea goes so much better with Asian food than wine. Beer is so good with curry, but come to think of it, AF would be just as satisfying because it is the taste, not the alcohol, that makes it so nice.

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  3. I have become a BIG FAN of tea. We have got our very own 'tea farm' on Vancouver Island, and it's become my favourite afternoon out. Plus a trip to the local Cat and a Cuppa tea shop where they read your tea leaves....xx

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  4. Have you tried Kao Sarn or Mien Tay in Battersea? I know they are "Sarf of the river" but both are really good and tea no issue! One is BYO and no snobbiness at all if its becks blue!

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    1. Thanks for the recommendations, SWMum! Do I need a passport to get over there? (ONLY KIDDING! I am often in your 'hood) xxx

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  5. I love this, all that fiddling about with teapots and cups - perfect for keeping idle hands busy, and I love tea! When I worked in a pub many years ago I would inwardly be irritated if someone ordered tea or a hot chocolate (such a phaff with the machine, milk etc). Who knew that I would be doing the same many years later? :)

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