Lunch in a garden

On the day of my mom's 80th birthday party, in a week of raging summer winds, the southeaster lay down and died. 

The corgis were brushed, the tables were beautifully set, the carport had been turned into a kitchen, presided over by Elaine and Elrika of Food Fanatics, the Playing with Fire musicians led by my friend, clarinetist Matthew Reid, gathered on the shaded deck beneath the plane tree. Moët (pronounced moo-WET, please, not moo-WAY) corks popped and waiters passed around trays of quails eggs and asparagus toasts. 

It was warm.

The place cards came from a pretty little shop in Grand Central. I can never remember its name.

I had done the table flowers with roses from Chart Farm, garden flowers and herbs, and extras from the beautiful selections at Pick 'n Pay and Woolworth.

My mom had arranged the menu moons in advance with Elaine, and had enjoyed the tasting lunch arranged some weeks ago, very much. If you want good food at your party, Food Fanatics are the people to call.

 And this time I did not have to stress about making a speech - as my brother Francois's number was up.

The deconstructed gazpacho was based on a recipe from the restaurant at Creation, a wine estate in the Hemel and Aarde (heaven and earth) Valley above Hermanus.

The salad was inspired by the one my mother and I ate at The Round House in June. On its heels came a chicken liver terrine, a Raymond Blanc classic with a beetroot and onion marmalade. Up to this point all the courses were served individually, before platters of salmon and later beef came to the tables so that everyone could help themselves.

Loved the salmon - served with lemon aioli and fennel confit.

Tipsy Titoti...

Jazz from under the plane tree.

A guest declared, This is the best lunch I have had in my whole life! and meant it.

People started to leave at 5.30pm.

The Frenchman took lots of better pictures. 

Hopefully he got some good ones of dessert. I was too busy eating it...

Today is my mother's actual birthday and I'll roast a little lamb leg with crispy potatoes underneath (you put the leg on a rack above the potatoes and they catch its drippings.)

And then that will be that, for a while.