Hi David, I just pulled the image of the net and tidied it up a bit on photoshop. You might be able to find the original printed ad for sale on the net. Best wishes, Luke.

Have a look on Amazon UK. There are decent reproduction baskets for sale. Otherwise, for a genuine French vintage example, I would get in touch with Mikki at The Antique Kitchen: https: www.theantiquekitchen.co.uk And please tell her I sent you. Good luck! Best wishes, Luke

Personally, I would go for the silver tankard- Romantic that I am....

Yes. Oh yes. Idiot, Covid-brained Luke. I should have mentioned that. It’s funny how certain drinks tend to taste better in chilled metal. Ale-tastes infinitely preferable in a polished pewter tankard. Having said that, I’m not convinced that the original Brooks’s Club version was served in a tankard, as- I think- you’re supposed to be able to see the black armband effect- which, logically, has to mean a glass.

I believe- I may be wrong- that it was first published in The Good Food Guide Dinner Party Book in 1971. That recipe included Campbell's Consomme Soup. The problem is that modern Campbell's isn't gelatinous enough, so none other than Simon Hopkinson updated the recipe with a leaf of gelatine.

Down with the Roundheads! Long live the Cavaliers!

Many thanks for the correction. Important to get these things right...

Hi David, and thank you for your kind words. Funnily enough I've been on instagram for a few years now (please find me!), and getting a much better response from it. But my Facebook ban has been carried through to instagram by default, so I'm blocked from putting up a direct link to The Greasy Spoon. All I can do is to point readers in the direction of the blog. It's slightly frustrating. I'm kinda fascinated by the Cradock's Georgian Dower House near Watford, of all places. Rather pretty countryside on the fringes of suburbia. You can see it from the road. Whereabouts in outer West London did you live? Outer-outer, semi-rural London has a strange captivation- we're very much in Iain Sinclair territory, I think. I've had a few comments about Dan Farson- another 20th century character. I've just discovered his autobiography on amazon. With best wishes, Luke

Dunno. But it's just occurred to me that "Fanny" has an unsavoury connotation in the world of the internet. Facebook's wretched- loathe the thing, so I'm not especially bothered- although I did have a small, perhaps older, readership through it. I'm also banned from linking the GS on instagram by default, as of course, instagram is owned by Facebook. I like instagram, although, I do sometimes wonder if it's really just a more sophisticated version of Facebook, and actually is just as tiresome as the rest. You realise, of course, that they take all our quirks and habits- and then sell them on- Big Brother style- to advertisers. We give them content for free- and they make money from it. Perhaps I should just carry on with the good old fashioned blog, enjoy writing it for its own sake: ignore the lack of comments, and ditch the rest.

Yes. Exactly. And ahead of her time. I'm also a champion of her French food which seems to have gone out of fashion. The fad for the diet of the Mediterranean peasant seems to have been with us since the 90s- and shows no indication of coming to an end. Maybe the success of Otto's restaurant in the Grays Inn Road shows that the cause is not entirely dead.

Couldn't agree more. It's that depressing herd mentality. And the self-obsession. So tedious.

I once tried it with vodka- a Hugh Fearley-Whittingstale effort, but have to say that- for me at least- it didn't work. And next year I was back to gin. I find that a teaspoon of almond essence does wonders- gives it that Amaretto kick.