Today is a very momentous day.
It marks the one year anniversary of my little blog, SilverSpoon London, which actually almost coincides with my four year anniversary with Mr S. With those two important celebrations so close together I thought I’d tell you a little more about how Mr S and I met, followed by the origins of my blog and then ending with our celebration meal at Fera in Claridge’s. Ok…standby I think this might be a long one!
Meeting my soulmate
On the 16th of January 2011, I went out into the cold for a blind date at Crazy Bear. I sat in the basement waiting for him… he was half an hour late which rather set the precedent for the future…. But I’ll always remember that moment he came down the stairs…
Being dry January…I just ordered tea.
‘You’re a cheap date then’ he said….I laughed nervously…oh how little did he know…
Though it wasn’t love at first sight we definitely liked it each and he suggested a ‘proper’ first date and dinner at Hakkasan. Ok, he immediately ticked a box for me by choosing one of my favourite restaurants ;).After dinner at the end of the night he gave me a lift home and leaned forward to kiss me…. as he did I turned my face, which I promise was an accident and not a brutal act of rejection! Following our next dinner date at Dean Street Townhouse, we had our first kiss! I think that’s when you really know you like someone isn’t it?
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| The early days! |
Soon it was clear that it was the start of something real. We introduced each other to family and friends who all very much approved and after a year of dating we moved in together. That was a really fun time actually…where Mr Silver became the white van man for the day!
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| The early days! |
A year later we embarked on our biggest ever travel adventure and at the end of our trip to Australia, Mr Silver got down on one knee whilst we were staying at a beautiful cliff top hotel.
The 18th of May was our wedding day and one of the most wonderful days of my life, well that’s just a given isn’t it 😉
I know I’m very lucky to have met my soulmate and I’m thankful to have him everyday!
You may know that in Jewish families it’s very much encouraged to marry within the religion and though I’m not particularly religious I always had a preference to marry someone of the same faith. Now there are only around 290,000 Jews living in the UK. Half of those are women, many too young or too old, already married or gay. So what are the chances of meeting a Jewish person that is the right age and being attracted to them? Well I’m not quite sure of the maths but I know chances are slim and we’re very lucky to have found each other.
The Blog
And the origin’s of the blog? Well after finishing a course in events management I was keen to start a freelancing as an event manager. I started developing a website for myself and as part of that started writing a blog. As I wanted the blog to have plenty of content when it launched, I started writing up some past trips including Australia and Thailand along with a few restaurant reviews. I wanted the main focusses of the blog to be London, food and luxury travel, in order to reflect my three passions.
Soon I found out how much I enjoyed writing the blog and decided to separate it off from the main website.
As I was about to marry my Mr Silver, I decided I wanted to base the blog name around my new surname…I brainstormed…Silver Spirit….Silver Service…Silver Surfing….SilverSpoon….Eureka…. I have to say I love the name of the blog and I was so happy when I thought it up :). And for those that didn’t realise…our surname really is ‘Silver’
I started off on Blogger using a basic template and began writing in all the content that I’d started to to put together and it was on the 22nd of January that I first hit publish! As the design was still so basic I was a bit nervous to begin promoting it; everything was still so new…I was spending the evenings researching and learning how to ‘better’ my blog. To improve the look I bought a template from an Etsy shop and later to brand it I asked another Etsy designer to come up with a logo based around a spoon. Natalie from Dalton Design is excellent by way and very reasonably priced, I’ve asked her to do a few other things for me since. Thanks Natalie for my brilliant branding 🙂
With everything ready to go I started using my social media accounts more regularly…leading to a rather geeky addiction to them, particularly to Twitter…
I soon discovered there was a whole community of bloggers out there on the Twittersphere and I started reading their blogs, communicating with them on social media and eventually meeting up with many of them. I’m so happy that blogging has not only given me a creative outlet and little space on the Internet but it’s allowed me to meet new people, make friends and expand my horizons.
I’ve always been a rather nervous and anxious person but blogging can take you out of your comfort zone to places that you’d never dream of going. It also gives you an excuse to have afternoon tea ALOT, eat more macarons than you would believe possible and always order cocktails rather than wine…for the photos you see…
I think a blog is a very organic thing, always changing and developing. When I look back to my early posts they’re very different, they often included a lot of factual information and detailed description of the place I was visiting. Throughout my first year of writing, my style has changed quite significantly…I relaxed into it and found my voice and the blog became much more personal. I’m very happy with where it is today and I can’t quite believe it’s come so far and in a year I’ve acheived:
550 follower on Bloglovin
4,400 followers on Twitter
900 followers on InstagramI can’t tell you how much my blog means to me, it truly means the world.
So of course, four years with the love of my life and one year of blogging deserves celebrating in a very special place…
I love Claridge’s…I mean what’s not to love? It’s so elegant and luxurious…
I entered into a happy place as soon as I entered the lobby and I was surrounded by the beautiful art deco style.
Designed in the 1920’s, many of the original features of the hotel remain. I just love the glittering chandeliers, the mirrored walls and the distinctive checkered flooring. Claridge’s bar is, of course, the perfect place to start the celebrations…
I mentioned in my Kettner’s post that Mr S and I love to celebrate important moments with a glass of Laurent Perrier as it was the champagne served at our wedding. I had my champagne pure and unadulterated…
…whereas Mr S went for a watermelontini!
After our aperitifs we headed on into the restaurant, which was taken over by chef Simon Rogan and renamed Fera last year. Simon’s first restaurant L’Enclume in the Lake District holds two Michelin stars and was voted Best Restaurant in the UK by the Good Food Guide.
I loved the design of the restaurant which fitted very perfectly with the signature art deco style of Claridge’s but also reflected chef Simon’s Rogan’s organic sensibilities.
The greens and browns of the restaurant evoke the natural environment fitting with Simon Rogan’s farming heritage. Fera is the latin word for ‘wild’ and the name was chosen to reflect the restaurant’s affinity with nature.
The nature theme is most evident in the elegant and ethereal tree that appears to grow in the middle of the restaurant.
I guess the tree motif maybe a signature of Simon Rogan’s as there was a full leafy trunk growing in Mr Cooper’s House and Garden, one of his Manchester restaurants which we visited last year.
As Fera earned a Michelin star last year I was expecting some rather exciting food and we kicked off with a trio of amuse bouches.
A rosemary cracker topped with blue cheese mousse and elderberry.
Rabbit and lovage bites were inventive and deliciously crisp.
Smoked roe with red cabbage and crispy duck skin.
Even the bread is inventive, it’s made with beer and served with bone marrow bone. There is the option of a tasting menu but as I’d been eating out a lot in the past couple of weeks, Mr S spared me this time and we decided to order light dishes from the a la carte menu.
When celebrating it’s always advisable to have some lobster with your champagne! The lobster was tasty and had a great texture however, I don’t like peanut butter (I know, I’m strange!) and the sauce reminded me of the cloying taste.
This earthy scallop dish is very reflective of Simon Rogan’s concept. His intention is to combine tastes and textures in order to represent different aspects of nature. Simon is passionate about using the best organic ingredients and many of them are grown in Simon’s farm in the Lake District.
Sea bass with salsify and razor clams was a little disappointing, though it was well cooked and seasoned, I thought that the plating could have been improved and the foam sauce was too creamy for my taste.
But we loved the dish of monkfish and artichokes, ingredients which are favourites of mine.
A pre-dessert of chocolate malt, prune and dandelion.
We chose a dessert of pineapple, gingerbread and sheep’s yogurt based on the fact that it sounded the healthiest option and it was a lovely light palate cleansing dish.
On the whole we really liked Fera and the overall experience as just fabulous; dining at Claridge’s is a such special place to be.I think it’s so lovely that my anniversary with Mr Silver coincides with my blog anniversary. I think I will have to celebrate in style every year!
Fera at Claridge’s
Brook Street
London
W1K 4HR
020 7107 8888
