Date Night at The Opera
Once a week, often half way to the weekend, when Friday seems to be too far away to bear.. we pick a night that's just for the two of us, sometimes we stay home and cook each other dinner - come dine with me style, we're tough food critics.. - sometimes we pick somewhere on our very long list of restaurants and places we must visit in London (it's endless!)
A couple of weeks ago, we were lucky enough to be invited by The English National Opera to see La Bohème! Neither of us had ever been to the Opera... it was a first and we both loved it!
But first things first : FOOD! We had to follow the French theme and decided to try out the Brasserie Zédel - I had been craving French food for weeks.. I get weekly reports from my sister telling me what delicious food dad cooked for her on the weekends. Poule au pot, cassoulet, confit de canard, boeuf bourguignon... I just couldn't take it anymore!
I was so pleasantly surprised by Zédel.. it felt like we escaped to Paris for the night. The French know how to eat..!! We were served a delicious hearty meal, it almost felt like it could have been cooked by my French grandma.. and that's a compliment! We picked one of the 'formules', with céleri remoulade, boeuf bourguignon and iles flottantes! (I don't normally talk price tag.. but when you eat a 3 course menu as delicious as this for £20 in London, you have to shout it from the rooftops..!) Definitely date night material.
Rather full, we walked hand in hand to the beautiful ENO and eagerly waited for the lights to dim and the curtain to go up...
I sadly couldn't take many photographs as cameras aren't allowed during the performance, but it was amazing! There is something magical about this grand room, a live orchestra and brilliant actors singing beautifully with nothing but the power of their voices.
Are any of you opera experts..? Which one should we go and see next?!