Taste of London is a fabulous restaurant festival held each year in Regent’s Park in London and offers a delightful, somewhat pricey, journey into the culinary delights this city offers.
Planning and a road trip
There’s a lot of planning for a big event like this, so while I was helping in the wine boutique, Marcel got Belle and the rest of our stand ready to depart early on Monday morning. The RoséRover behaved beautifully, seemingly oblivious to the cute blue Citroen Acadiane in tow. Our favourite part of the journey is of course the Calais-Dover ferry ride.
We made it to our hosts near Hampton Court Palace in time for a glass of rosé, and then went out for a delightful pub meal. Not too crazy as we needed to arrive fresh-faced at Regent’s Park for our allocated building slot.
A marathon event with 8 sessions in total of pouring wine and sharing the story of an enterprising young family following their dream; something a lot of Londoners can relate to. The ambiance among stand holders is very good too, and an excellent place to build one’s contact list. Especially when you suddenly meet hero-chefs like Atul Kochhar … whoo hoo!
Inclement weather…
Taste of London is an amazing event that is well supported by Londoners; even in the rains we experienced. At one point, rosé fans were standing on the purple carpet and looking at our wine counter, and then at their shoes, and then at the empty wine glasses. Between them and us was a muddy bog. We could see them asking themselves, “How badly do I need that glass of wine?”
Marcel hailed a London cab and returned with our saving grace … A large roll of astroturf on his shoulder and in no time, everyone was seeing that quality rosé is also delicious when it’s raining and not that warm.
Forty winks 😉
We were staying in a flat within walking distance to Regent’s Park. It’s a nice route to take, through the gorgeous gardens. It took some doing to catch up on our English breakfasts, excellent curries and mouthwatering burgers before and after the show! Because during the show, there isn’t much time to do anything else. In between sessions, we’d even try to snatch 40 winks in the back of Belle, with a minute or two off our feet, which seemed to help 😉
Rain…
It was very exciting being in the city again, but it makes me appreciate becoming a country bumpkin even more.
When it came to breaking down the stand … OMG! Rain Central. Even my knickers were soaked!! We were very relieved to get back on the Route du Soleil and to sunny Cotignac.
Thanks London, it was great!