Hidden down a quiet side street, yet only five minutes' walk from the Minster, lies one of York's best-kept secrets: a tiny, but incredibly good, delicatessen that specialises in Italian artisan food. If you venture right to the very back of the shop, you will discover a small terrace, where they serve simple food such as salads and crostini, all made with the very best of ingredients.
We went there for lunch on Saturday, and ordered a selection of cheeses and cured meats from their tasting menu. They brought us ruffled slices of prosciutto and bresaola, a hunk of wild boar pate, a mild yet unbelievably creamy goat's cheese, another, rinded soft cheese that oozed invitingly across the plate, a particularly pungent blue cheese, olives, preserved artichokes, sundried tomatoes, and a basket of wonderfully fresh bread.
They also serve a wide selection of wines by the glass, and are more than happy to offer recommendations based on your own individual preferences: Mr H, who likes big, heavy, full-bodied reds, had a glass of Barolo, while I chose a Sangiovese. One of the benefits of not drinking regularly, we decided, was that the occasional glass of wine feels like far more of a treat.
As we sat out in the sunshine, sipping our glasses of wine and talking about Mr H's new job, the dark cloud of infertility lifted - just for a moment, I felt almost like a normal person again. And so, without agonising about it too much, I ordered a double espresso.
10 comments:
Yay for double espresso! I think you more than deserve this sort of respite from the emotional rollercoaster you constantly live with. Oh for such a delight on your doorstep -most of ours are on the far side of town...
Sounds like you had a lovely time. I felt like I was there too...in the York sunshine, sipping wine.
The coffee sounded great too. I treated myself to a few when we were on honeymoon in Feb. After all, if this thing is ever gonna work, it will happen, so why make ourselves miserable in the process.
Good for you.
that sounds absolutely divine! yum.
Mmmmm, that sounds delicious! I'm glad you were able to experience a slice of normalcy. Your description made me feel like I was there :)
Sounds like a wonderful day. It is such a blessing to get some respite from the madness of infertility. Glad the clouds parted for you and that you got to enjoy it thoroughly!
Your afternoon sounds absolutely divine, and I hope you get to enjoy more and more. It sounds so amazing that I'm sorry I can't go there for lunch myself.
I hope that this new job and move will give you more days of "normalcy" and less days of obsessing about what cannot be changed.
J and I have had a handful of those delightfully normal days -- days I think of as "adult" (not in the triple x way) days -- in the past few years. They weren't all planned that way, some just happened. I pull them out of my memory and think of them sometimes, when I'm feeling desperate and out-of-control.
This sounds like one of those days. Tuck it away and treasure it.
Good for you! Drink that little demitasse and savor that wine. I can't stand the paranoia that takes over in IF land--and I'm so glad that you're enjoying yourself.
I started salivating at the mention of the goat cheese. That's one of the Midwest's secrets, too: the little dairies with kick-ass cheese.
hope you're still savoring the tastes of your wonderful day.
I awarded you a pink rose to let you know I'm thinking of you -- check it out.
I love those moments when the infertility clouds lift -- hard to imagine that it's that way for most people all of the time, isn't it? Glad you savored the moments...
Post a Comment