10 - Food part one: is that really what we ordered?
Which is worse? Having to leave a restaurant before you have even tasted
anything; having to send back an order; or having to eat something you would
really rather not? Well, as we were travelling for 13 weeks and ate out about
two thirds of the time, it is probably not too surprising that some of our
experiences were, to put it politely, unique! Better finish your dinner before
you read on.
Sunday brunch is an institution in America, or so we thought. So on our first
Sunday stateside, our last day in New York, we decided to find somewhere to
join the locals in a late breakfast. We had noticed that the restaurant next to
our hotel did brunch, but the place did not look that great, so we asked our
bellhop for a recommendation. He did not know many places, a poor show for
someone in his career, but did mention the Four Seasons. He said they did a
champagne brunch for about $20, just what we wanted. We were very
pleased when he also told us that the Four Seasons was only a few blocks
away, having spent the last five days in the city walking about 30 miles or so.
We set out feeling very cheery, it was a sunny day, the walk would
sharpen our appetites, and we had had a great time in the Big Apple. 30
minutes later after several walks round various blocks we were feeling slightly
less cheerful, and we still had not found the hotel. We had found signs for a
Four Seasons Café, but it was closed and did not seem posh enough anyway.
Just as we were about to give up we crossed the road to check out a fairly
unassuming looking skyscraper that did not have a sign outside. As we got