“This year’s Punchestown Festival will be remembered for its marvellous attendence and for the glorious week’s weather . People flocked from all over the country, and from abroad, to attend the festivities. The latest fashions were on show and all types of motor car were seen making their way down the Naas Road.”
Punchestown is Ireland’s premier steeple-chasing course and its most famous obstacle, its Becher’s Brook, is the Big Double. There’s a picture of my grandfather crossing it in Off To The Races.
Yesterday was a Big Double for me. I went on an empty tube to Mayfair to have my hair cut by Sadiq, after I had signed a disclaimer averring I was in perfect health. Then I walked home across Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, both looking lush after two days of rain, working up a thirst and an appetite. After a G&T and a glass of Riesling with a friend at home, we walked over to the river for lunch at Sam’s. The eponymous Sam was there to greet us, in a vivid shirt and shorts, with hand sanitiser and a thermometer. Gosh, I mused, I haven’t eaten out since 11th March when I lunched at the Kildare Street Club in Dublin. Oysters from Carlingford Lough would have been an apt starter and would have reminded me of those chilly waters where I learnt to water ski. But oysters in July, no! Instead I had this colourful and healthy starter.
Two bottles of Chateau d’Esclans Rock Angel, a reassuringly expensive Provençal rosé, were a good accompaniment to both starter and main course: grilled hake.
It was a most agreeable luncheon and I’m taking my special friend – the one that trots the globe attending opera festivals and IMF meetings – next week and the boy broker the week after. It’s not a buffet so I can’t help myself.