The event was held at the chi-chi Grove golf and spa hotel, just outside glamorous Watford -- which has tried hard to combine the old-world with contemporary bling. It only sort-of works. It's opulent, a bit quirky with a rather contrived 'farmyard' / country theme -- think P-Diddy meets Babe. Perspex boxes and console tables containing hundreds of butterflies, feathers, farmyard animal cuddly toys and rubber ducks. It self-consciously terms its style "groovy grand"...Mmmm. Art for art's sake or just plain odd?
And our pre-wedding lunch was most unusual too. The Glasshouse restaurant is what the funky kids at The Grove term "an international Theatre of Cooking" (pretentious, moi?), where chefs prepare British, Asian and Mediterranean dishes, all served buffet-style.
And as we all know, buffet-style really means 'all you can eat' which in turn translates to big fat greedy pigs.
A tad hungry, I happily obliged..
I gobbled the most incongruous selection of foods ever. In sequence of ingestion, I had, in the space of an hour and a half, the following..
Black and green olives, black beans, pickled cauliflower, fig, potato salad, sardines, Spanish torte, green chilli peppers stuffed with cream cheese, parma ham, artichokes, tomatoes with melted cheese, figs, sweet garlic, sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, roast pork, Yorkshire pudding, wild berry cheese cake (2 portions), panacotta and to finish -- crackling. All washed down with a lovely crisp Verdicchio.
Thankfully, there wasn't time for cheese.
A thoroughtly weird repast, but strangely satisfying. I'm uncertain as to our fitness for attending a wedding though. A long nap would have been nearer the mark. Suffice it to say, I wasn't able to fully appreciate the lovely dinner a few hours later.
Anyway, as mentioned, The Grove is quite a fancy operation -- just the kind of place for premiership footballers to unwind on off-weekends like this. So we didn't bat an eye at David James lunching a few tables away. But when Steven Gerrard was spied in the lobby, I began to wonder..
Durr. Of course, the whole of the England squad is staying at The Grove ahead of Wednesday's make-or-break Euro2008 qualifier against Croatia at Wembley.
I'm not sure how Jo and Paul felt about sharing their special day with the boys, or indeed, if they minded coach Steve McLaren and his family barging through the middle of their reception drinks.
Personally, I'm a wee bit disappointed not to have seen Messrs. Terry, Lampard, Cole (A and J), Wright-Philips or Bridge..
Carefree
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