Boots

“It was a lonely land then, the vast frontier held by the last scattered remnants of the once great armies that fought the Civil War. To such as these, all but forgotten, doing a dirty, thankless job, without reward or glory, the army was a way of life, the only one they knew or wanted.”

Boot and saddle is what my grandfather said when he was ready to take me on an expedition to kill something. He must have picked up the phrase from me and then got it a bit wrong because the American TV series only ran for about a year in 1957/8 and Grandpa didn’t watch television. (Except racing, boxing and The Black and White Minstrel Show.) RTE, however, showed B&S for ages. The title reveals how uncomfortable those boots must have been. Like ski boots you’d only put them on when necessary.

The Square Restaurant was originally in King Street along from Christie’s. My friend Sarah was invited there for dinner on a Sunday evening and, to my surprise, accepted. People don’t go out on Sunday evenings what with Monday being, then, a “school day”. However, her host was an old university friend who was accompanying Bill Richardson on his last hurrah as Secretary of State for Energy in the Clinton administration.

I was agog to know more about The, very expensive, Square. Sarah on that occasion was not a good restaurant critic but she did confide there was a getaway car with its engine running outside and an adjacent table of Secret Service personnel. But this is all a digression. She asked Bill in a longueur in the easy chit-chat how long he was staying. “Wheels up at 9.00 am.” That’s the new boots and saddles when you fly on a US government jet. No danger of being late, the Special Escort Group would get him to the steps of the ‘plane on time.

The area around Victoria is a culinary desert except for A Wong ( masters of dim sum) and the Vincent Rooms so I’m looking forward to trying Lorne in Wilton Road. It is owned by Katie Exton and chef, Peter Hall, who worked together at The Square. Nick Lander praised it in the FT last Saturday and a two course set lunch is £22 which is not steep in London these days. Lander, ever the professional, made two visits before writing his review.