Club Gascon

T took me out to eat for lunch yesterday at Club Gascon to celebrate meeting his target weight for the month. Cheers for meeting goals! I was just happy to celebrate with some great food. Club Gascon is a Michelin starred French restaurant that has a fantastic special August lunch menu for £22!! Gee, doesn't get much better than that.
http://www.clubgascon.com/library/cc_clubseasonsspecials.pdf

 

I love Michelin starred dining because everything has a spot of elegance to it from the matching cutlery to the beautiful décor and ambiance.

If there’s one thing I don’t like about fancy schmancy dining, it’s the fact that I have to tread very softly with my Bozo feet. Bt dubs- make sure you turn off the flash or else you will be scolded :) oopsie!!  

It's not Michelin starred dining without two different types of butter. In fact, I don't think I've ever been served just regular butter EVA! Ahh... the refinement once again! We had foie gras butter to the right and salted yummy butter on the left.

I forgot what this was but I accidentally tried eating it by itself before T stopped me and told me it's some type of butter. HA!

All of my favorite things: clams, mussels, crispy kale, and oyster chantilly. This starter was FANTASTIC!

T had an extra touch of gluten on his plate that mine didn't have: squid ink toasts

The restaurant was very accommodating when I told them I was avoiding gluten. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised when they brought out the most lovely gluten free white toast! I happily munched away on two pieces :)

fish of the day with cauliflower cous cous and citrus vinaigrette

I loved the mock cauliflower cous cous! If you don't like cauliflower, you'd probably be disappointed by not having a starch. I, on the other hand, enjoyed it because it was tasty and gluten free! The fish was some type of cod family fish that was cooked perfectly and had a meaty texture to it. The citrus vinaigrette in the middle was a delicious dipping companion with everything.

sigh.. this was about the time when someone told me to turn off my flash. Booo for bad picture quality!!

Dessert for ME was a passion fruit and lemon posset with honey meringues. This was my least favorite dish. I thought everything tasted too sweet and warm. I think something cold would have been a nice contrast to the  warm passion fruit and lemon posset. I took a few bites and left the rest on the plate. Cute presentation though.

Coffee and armagnac granite, milky almond and smoked chocolate cigar for HIM.

Yesterday's dinner was quinoa (home) and takeaway turkish kebabs (chicken, lamb, and veggies)

My lovely two dipping sauces! I love the contrasting taste of the spicy red sauce with the garlicy white sauce. Yum!

After dinner, I watched some True Blood and read Optimum Nutrition in bed. I'm still plugging away--- the book is huge!!

His and Hers bowls of oats

speculoos oatmeal

GF oats with dark chocolate chips and almond butter swirl for breakfast.

Agenda: patiently waiting for this afternoon's PUNCH class, teach Zumba, finally go out salsa dancing again - love :)

this movie looks so good!
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1103731737/

Carnival 2011

Getting ready for the big day... Halloween 2011 baby here we come! Although, by the looks of it, Noms is not quite sure what the big fuss is about!

Twerk work it girl! Work it!!  :)

Over the long bank holiday weekend, I made 2, yes ya heard me right-TWO trips to Carnival

We figured it was such a nice Saturday (minus the brief scatters of rain) that it'd be a shame to miss such a huge event. It was nice, especially after the violent rioting to see so many people gathered in one place getting along.

I’m not gonna lie tho, all you need is one day to experience all the music, food, and loud atmosphere!

Big OOPS of the day- I got suckered into £12 jerk chicken the moment we arrived at the festival. Okay so I admit I had the chance to walk away once she told me the price but I seriously was such a chicken (no pun intended) to tell her NO! Blergh.. most places were selling meals for £5-10.

I broke my GF diet to eat this delicious flour Jamaican beef patty that was O' so delicious! Mmmm MMMM how I missed that wonderful taste of white flour!

Everything we ate was so freaking delicious!

random dog shot!

I love everything about Jamaican food; the spices, jerk rub, plantains, rice/beans and the curries! Yuum!

Woo hoo!! I found salsa dancers :) :) This scene makes me so happy!

I had to answer this question "What do you love about London?" to get this vuvuzela. Uhm, I love everything from the dining scene, music, culture, and travel accessibility. I've pretty much fallen in love with London and don't ever want to leave!!

WORD!

There were a ton of music stations blasting all kinds of music from house, rap, and hip hop.

POOH, is that you!?!? I'm such a 5 year old girl sometimes..

Back to basics: I must have been missing some of that spicy food because I was craving hot sauced eggs in the morning! lol..

Bt dubs- don't ever run on a full stomach DUH!! I ran 30 minutes huffing and puffing along... I think my inner (sometimes outer) dialogue went something like this "you can do it", “just a few more minutes","come on Hanna, push yourself!” "CHANGE IS UNCOMFORTABLE!!!!!”

Back to the Carnival we go!

I didn't take many pictures since I took SO many unnecessary ones on Saturday. They all ended up looking the same; lots of unknown faces and huge crowds but hey, I know these ladies!

We did the walking, dancing, and eating thang for a few hours then left with the intention of seeing One Day.  On our way out of the Carnival, we ended up at a yummy gelato place called Dri Dri in Notting Hill.

I got a compow of two flavors- salted caramel and pistachio (my usual go to). Delish!

Theeeeeeeeeeeeen the ladies decided they needed one more sweet fix stop! Maison Blanc it is! Three desserts were ordered to share but I unfortunately had to pass since they weren't gluten free. Sad face :(

the whole not eating part didn't stop me from taking pictures of these wonderful creations!

Loooove the beautiful colors!

Strangely, I was ravenously hungry when I got back home later that night.. Imagine that!

Dinner was a bunch of leftovers from the weekend.

lamb to put on top of the hummus

goat cheese naan

falafel and curry shrimp rice

Guess whose plate is for me.... maybe the red stuff will give it away!! I also had some GF garlic and coriander naan that was just okay by itself but tasted even better with hummus.

Breakfast this morning then GYM TIME!

In the oats mix:

• 1/3 cup GF oats
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup almond milk
• banana
• agave syrup
• sprinkle of cinnamon and a pinch of salt
• toppings: dark chocolate chips, spoonful of almond butter