With Meetup a desolate wasteland, pickings are slim most days at the moment. What the hey, I was going out in London long before I ever heard of them.. I got a cheap ticket to a concert last night all by myself. Terence Blacker was playing in Le Crazy Coqs - a new venue to me, and a new performer, but I checked him out on YouTube and decided he was ok: and the venue was in Piccadilly Circus, so easy to get to. I booked.
"Smart casual", the invitation said. I could manage that except for the coat.. Somewhere, I do have a smart blue coat (with hood - it was promised to rain), but damned if I know where. So, self-consciously dressed in a duffle coat, I caught a train to Waterloo. Couldn't have been handier - at Clapham Junction, the two platforms closest to my entrance both had trains to Waterloo, due imminently - and the nonstop was the first to arrive. Mind you, it was passed at Waterloo, as we waited for a platform..
Bakerloo Line to Piccadilly Circus, and I knew I needed the exit for Glasshouse Street. Now, it's a while since I've been in Piccadilly Circus Tube station, and I do believe, in the meantime, they've made the effort to improve directions! Much needed - it's circular, and it's always taken some walking around (through packed crowds) to find the correct one. Now, underneath each of the old direction signs, they have a clear (un-graffiti'ed) map of the area, showing exactly which exit is where. So I could immediately see that I needed Exit 1.
I exited to find I was actually on Glasshouse Street. Had a quick look around - and there, just a short difference away, was the sign for Brasserie Zédel, which we'd been told to look for. Some people were eating outside. The doorman, complete with top hat and tails, smiled congenially as I went in.. and the place is fabulous! So sorry I don't have photos - I tried to take some later, but my unpredictable phone battery died. Do check online for them - the decor is terrific.
1930s Parisian-café style, it's all marble floors and mirrors. There's a café on the ground floor - carry on down the stairs, complete with chrome banisters and walls lined with 1930s posters, advertising circus acts. At the landing, pause to admire the art deco railings preventing you from falling to the marble floor of the lobby below, "Café Zédel" printed on it, and over which is suspended an enormous chandelier. Plush signs indicate the entrance to the brasserie, and the box office - but I had my ticket, and continued to the club, Le Crazy Coqs, just at the bottom of the stairs. After self-consciously removing my coat and draping it over my arm. Gave my surname to the lady with the clipboard, and was led into the club.
Wow. I don't think there's any real issue with the dress code - one girl I saw was wearing a t-shirt and jeans (albeit smart and fitted) - but this is a place you want to dress up for. Black-and-white-striped walls line a teeny little room, filled with teeny little round tables, with teeny little lamps on them. Gorgeously 1930s supper-club style! I was early, and was led to a table near the teeny little stage. I knew it was a cocktail bar, and peered to see what they had - but was pointedly shown the menu on my table; they don't like you actually ordering from the bar, and later, when t-shirt girl tried to do so, they quickly shooed her back to her seat. It's all table service here.
I was glad to see that their cocktail menu included wine - they didn't have the cocktails I like anyway, and goodness knows cocktails aren't cheap. They're generally extremely quick, and my order was taken rapidly - a glass of wine, and I ordered some fried chicken from the list of bar snacks, since I hadn't had time to eat. My wine arrived soon after, with a small ceramic tub of popcorn. And when I'd finished that, it was immediately replaced with another - no sign of my chicken..
Despite having been warned that I'd have to share a table, I didn't - there were a few empty tables, in fact. Before the show proper, a pianist entertained us with jazzy versions of popular tunes - just after 8, the main man came on, with an accompanying guitarist. And what followed was about an hour and a half of his songs; it seems he's also a writer, and the songs are heavy on the story. Plenty of satire, and not a little politics - plenty about the Brexit (the topic du jour, and for some time to come), and at one point, when he said something direct about it (he's a Remain supporter), there was a round of applause from the room. Some of the room. Plenty of humour throughout the performance too, and thoroughly enjoyable. Last song of the night was Sad Old Bastards with Guitars - a crowd-pleaser, and the one I'd seen on YouTube.
There was an interval, when the maitresse-d' came over to see whether I was ok, and I complained about my lack of chicken! She apologised profusely, saying the kitchen was "f***ed", but that they knew about my order, and it was coming. And come it ultimately did - just three pieces, but large enough, filling, delicious, succulent, and piping hot. And on the house. Which made this a very good-value evening! And I'd be delighted to go back.
And I was home decently early - but not early enough to blog, given that I'm in Guildford again today. Tonight I'm off to the local cinema, to see Udta Punjab, and tomorrow to another Funzing session - with Helen's husband, since she can't make it. This one is on How to Fly First Class - for Free.. Must pass them on the location details..
No comments:
Post a Comment