Another art outing

London, England A great thing about London for us is the opportunity to see good friends and laugh about ancient history. That’s what we were doing yesterday, and today we made one more excursion to the National Gallery and then on to the National Portrait Gallery.

Our friend Bernard joined us in touring a special exhibit at the National Gallery called “Radical Harmony.”

In my humble opinion, the branding of this exhibit evokes the backstory of a heavy metal band rather that the soft pastels of the post/neo-impressionists it is meant to connote. Yes, those like Georges Seurat brave enough to experiment with color theory of pointillism and dab paint dots onto canvas were radical for their times, but their lovely results seem to merit a softer approach.

The exhibit featured a number of paintings from a Dutch collector, who not only amassed these paintings but also owned 90 Van Gogh works. Only one of the Van Gogh paintings was on view.

Oh well, enjoy the show of one very astute woman’s collection. This was a Dutch collector who not only amassed these paintings but also owned ninety van Gogh works. Only one of the van Gogh paintings was on view.

Yes, there is even a study of Seurat’s “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte.” (You have to go to Chicago for the final work.)

The day was beautiful, and we walked around the outside of the museum to visit the National Portrait Gallery. At St. Martin in the Fields, there was a group of Pearly Kings and Queens outside, in all their pearl button finery. These highly decorated performers are fund-raising groups who raise money for charities associated with the church they support.

We went to the Portrait Gallery hoping to chase down some early kings of England. Alas, the collection only begins with the Tudors, so those who proceeded them were not available. But given the passion for portraiture that the Tudors embraced, there was ample evidence that they made a distinct mark on the world.

We ended on George III, whose general lack of awareness led to our independence.

And we left the museum after admiring the portrait of Jane Goodall, who just left us us, having made her own special mark on the world.

Don’s Food Corner

Summary of two days of meals:

Yesterday we went back to the Ivy at Blackheath for lunch with June and Alan.

Jo had been dreaming of the duck liver parfait she had there as a starter last Sunday and ordered it again. I was given a (small) taste and indeed it was excellent. And keeping with a duck theme, she had a tasty duck salad as her main course.

I decided to try the Ivy’s signature dish — Shepherd’s pie. This was a luscious interpretation with a rich minced lamb base and piped mashed potatoes on top. A lamb/wine reduction was poured all around the meat and potatoes elevating the dish to something other than what you expect elsewhere, especially in pub. It was, in short, a refined version of this traditional British dish. And delicious it was.

June went for a classic fish and chips. Again, it looked refined. She rated it A and I’ll take her word for it (since I wasn’t offered a taste) and because she’s had lifetime of comparing fish-and-chips all over the UK.

Alan had the fish cake, which apparently is also a standard at the Ivy. He was very pleased.

Today, however, we took a turn away from traditional British and went for pizzas. We settled into one of the always reliable Pizza Express restaurants. The pizzas here follow the basic approach of the kind of pizzas you would get in Naples — namely a soft crust that can be folded over.

They are not prepared in ovens quite as hot as you get in Naples, so there are far fewer scorched parts. But the tomato sauce seems authentic. There are some compromises for “international tastes” — including an “American” pizza, which features pepperoni. Jo went for that version. I stayed with the Neapolitan classic Margarita. I consider plain the best, when prepared properly, which in this case it was.

And for a scone tasting, we had stopped earlier at the café at the National Gallery and had a cream tea. Here the scone was the proper balance of weight and buttery density. Plus, both the strawberry jam and the clotted cream came in their own little pots and not just manufactured containers. This cream tea got extra marks for that. I’ll give it a B++, because I still think we’ll find better.

We also had a Bakewell tart. This classic British pastry is sometimes featured on The Great British Bake-Off, so we had to try it. We thought it was a little dry. But maybe it’s prepared differently at different locations. I don’t think, however, I can start another taste test inquiry of another British pastry. I need to be able to fit into these clothes for a few more weeks.