January - A Lebanese Experience

I hate January...it's cold, dark and I always feel like I've grown an extra chin from all of the rubbish I have greedily devoured over Christmas. Pulling on my jeans and trying to sort out my hair on a cold, Saturday night I realised that this year I really needed to try hard and get myself back in to shape. It wasn't going to be easy because tonight my fellow witches and I were beginning our year long culinary tour of the world...in West Yorkshire of course! This month we would be sampling the delights of Lebanese cuisine at Med One a local Lebanese restaurant in the centre of Huddersfield. Tonight was more exciting than ever...we were struggling to contain our excitement and every now and again we would let out little squeals and giggles...even Amanda couldn't contain her classy composure for sitting at the table was an absolutely beautiful diamond ring, glistening and sparkling in the candle light and attached to the left hand of a beaming Caroline!

Caroline had got ENGAGED!! And about blooming time too! For weeks and weeks we had danced around her partner Chris quizzing him about when he was going to do it...finally and rather smoothly he had done it and Caroline was over the moon. Every now and again she would stretch out her finger, or gaze at the ring...she was on cloud nine and it made us all so happy to see her in an incredibly happy place. It was also Caroline's birthday so we arrived armed with presents, cakes and bridal magazines...tonight was a very special night indeed.

We settled in to our table and chatted excitedly about weddings, work, bridesmaids, best men and potential venues. We must have been sat at the table for a good ten minutes before we realised we hadn't even glanced at the menu. We needed more time, just a couple of minutes so we ordered our drinks and began to take in the delights of this new and interesting cuisine that we had never sampled before. Everything sounded deliciously adventurous and we agreed that we were hungry enough to start with an appetiser of hummus and olives. Forty minutes later and our drinks were still nowhere to be seen...we had our orders ready and waiting but the staff never ventured near us. We were ready to pack up our things and head to Nando's next door...at least we knew for sure we would get served there because we would have to do it ourselves! Time ticked on until eventually Phoebe practically fell out of her chair straining to get the Waitresses attention and like buses (you wait forever and then two come at once) two very apologetic waitresses came over and flapped around us apologising profusely and hurrying our wine and water over to the table.

Appetisers - Hummus and warm bread

Of course then our appetisers quickly followed served up with further apologies. We hungrily dug into warm bread and hummus and deliciously marinated olives, which were the perfect starter, although they perhaps would have been more enjoyable had we been served a little earlier...by now we were starving and we suddenly turned into a greedy pack of wolves devouring everything in seconds. Our plates were swiftly removed and our candle brought to life again by the waitress who declared 'we can't let you go without ambience!' Amanda's eyes widened and she smiled approvingly at the waitress, whilst the rest of us giggled! Dinner was plentiful and we were pleased to now be receiving a more attentive service, I had ordered Goulash served with a flat bread crust and rice and salad. Phoebe had opted for the Moussaka, which was also served with rice and salad. Caroline and her diamond (which had become like another person sat at the table) ordered a chicken dish and Amanda the Lamb Shawerma.

The food although pleasant wasn't particularly spectacular on this occasion...maybe it was because we really had waited forever, an hour is unforgivable and by the time my food did arrive I didn't really feel like it anymore.  Our dinner conversation, although mostly dominated by wedding talk and our imaginations that our partners were all now sat together at the pub drinking beer and discussing colour schemes and fascinators turned to 12 in 2012 and Amanda's goal of visiting Paris this year...she had booked it! Something that perhaps would not have happened and would still be a dream if it wasn't for our challenge. We chatted excitedly about the places she would visit, the galleries, shops and restaurants and most importantly the Musee D'Orsay and the giant vagina painting! Have you seen it? The painting of the Vagina in the Musee D'Orsay fascinates me...mainly because I always wonder how the poor woman who posed for that painting would feel to know that her lady bits were now adorning the wall of a famous art gallery for millions to see. We giggled about Paris and then turned our attention to the dessert menu...even Amanda was tempted by the Qatayef, two small pancakes filled with walnuts, cinnamon and clotted cream, sprinkled with pistachio's and syrup. Unfortunately after the waitress excitedly told us how amazing it was we found it to be a little disappointing...maybe she had built it up a little too much but as pleasant as it was it just sounded better on the menu. We all still cleared or plates but after the waitress had swiftly cleared the table we couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that dinner hadn't been as exciting and adventurous as we had hoped it would be.

Time for our theme

The restaurant was still buzzing and we felt comfortable enough to begin our themes. Tonight we had two themes £10 and A Life in the Day Of. We had all agreed that our theme £10 wasn't very inspiring and so we decided to expand it by adding another theme that would perhaps challenge our creativity more and feed our imaginations. We all seemed unanimous in agreeing that our last £10 would be spent on food. I had imagined that my last £10 would be spent in Paris eating cheese, bread and a delicious icecream in the shape of a flower whilst I wandered around the city gazing at the beautiful buildings and lazing in the park opposite the Eiffel Tower. Caroline and Phoebe both listed food...Phoebe with a shopping list, which included a delicious pack of hot cross buns and Caroline with a menu of her favourite foods that would create the perfect evening meal. Amanda actually went out and spent her ten pounds, treating herself to some pink fizz and a pretty pink notebook. But what really made the evening was our theme 'A Life in the Day Of...' I loved this theme because it enabled me to escape into my dream world of the life that I truly wish that I could capture for myself...my dream of making The Intellectual Dinner Club my career. I would live here in West Yorkshire and in my home in Paris. Every day I would go to work with the girls where we would run our own business based on our club. We would also be the Authors of several books based on our dinner club experiences. Our busy lifestyles would mean we would be shipped from book signings to appearing on television and of course we would be busy researching for our next book, food guide and our website. We would be travelling the globe and inspiring people everywhere and I will have had a nose job! Phoebe's dream life was to live in the South of France. After shipping her partner Alex off to work for Formula 1 in Monaco she would jump on the TGV and meet up with The Intellectual Dinner Club in Paris for lunch. Life was great...even better when she was lazing by her swimming pool in the afternoon sunshine and chatting to her hunky next door neighbour...Jake Gyllenhaal. For Caroline life was also great in her lavish home in Montana with her dream husband Billy Landham whom she met when he was cast opposite her in Lord of the Rings. When she wasn't working as an award winning Actress, Caroline could be found at The Intellectual Dinner Club with her four close friends...Amanda Boothroyd-Herrero noted fashion designer and top stylist on Sex and the City;

Catherine Oinonen Head Chef and co-founder of The Kiss Me Cake Bakery...soon to be co-hosting her new TV programme 'Let the Bun Begin' with Phoebe Johnson the Turner Prize winning Artist and cat whisperer. Of course our dearest friend Danielle Turner would be there or rather Dr Dani as she would be more famously known...sex therapist to the stars!  At this I practically choked on my wine imagining Danielle as a famous sex therapist in LA...I knew that she would love her new job role! And finally Amanda...I knew her theme would be beautiful and creative and sure enough she had out-done us all as she pulled a copy of Vogue from her bag and revealed an article that she had put together about a day in the life of herself as a famous artist and designer.  The article talked the reader through her typical day, her beautiful home and her elegant style. Even a picture of Amanda's head had been cleverly placed to make it look like she was dressed beautifully in Stella McCartney. If only our dreams could one day come true.

A cool breeze blew through the restaurant and we sat shivering at our table. Med One wasn't really exceeding our expectations. We had heard such brilliant things about it and yet we felt we were being let down. We watched excitedly as Caroline unwrapped her presents and then decided that it was really time to call it a night and escape the disappointment. We gathered our things and made our way to the front of the restaurant to pay our bill...after our hour long wait we really couldn't justify a tip...particularly as we had only received an apology and so we paid our bill and left a little bit of change , which the man at the till seemed to grumble about. For that reason I don't think that we would choose to visit Med One again...however they do make sure that you take a little bit of the restaurant away with you, the smell of Lebanese cooking will stay on your clothes, shoes and in your hair for days. Med One is a nice little restaurant and the food is pleasant but it does need a little bit of refinement...the service, perhaps some extractor fans and a little bit more heating. I would suggest checking it out for yourself and making up your own mind.

Disappointment!

And so our first dinner of the year had come to an end, despite our disappointing evening we still felt on a little high. A new layer of frost twinkled in the moonlight as we drove home, the end of January had brought with it some new beginnings and exciting adventures to look forward to and I couldn't help but wonder where we would all be and what we would have achieved by the time our next dinner came around.

Catherine xx