Happy New Year from the Fitzgeralds

31 Dec 2009

Hello.

2009 has been quite a year and at the Fitzgerald household, we’ve been paying attention to local, national and international news to look for key trends that will affect our economy, our world and our future. As we’re sure you’ll agree, 2009 had one big takeaway: you’re nobody if you’re not on reality TV. Not to be outdone by Balloon Boy’s family or the White House gate crashers, the Fitzgeralds too plan to cash in on this lucrative and attention-seeking pastime.

Lila, between taking care of the family, continuing to cook incredible meals and kicking butt on the tennis court, has honed her business skills working as a finance and HR manager for a Bay Area start up. She will be pitching an Apprentice/Iron Chef crossover where she evaluates small business proposals, rewarding promising startup ideas with baked goods and office management advice and chasing the bad ones out of the meeting room with a tennis racquet.

Jim is staying fit with regular morning exercise at hours he claims exist before 7am and is excited about a new startup project he is leading which will most likely change the world as we know it. With that in mind, Jim proposes a business show in the style of Gordon Ramsey’s The F Word or Biggest Loser where he goes into small to mid-sized businesses, yells at them until they cry, makes them do pushups, then saves their crumbling business.

Connor is 16 and is planning a new mashup show of Survivor and American Idol. As a Boy Scout finishing up his Eagle project and a member of a local band, he would be ideally placed to beat out the competition as he eats bugs to survive and makes alliances, only to stab competitors in the back by stealing the lead guitarist spot right before the big show. If worse came to worse, he could always appear on Pimp My Ride, as if his driving the family car weren’t horrifying enough to his sisters.

Kelly turned 20 this year and we fully expect her to be the star of House MD International, where, as an up and coming college biochemistry major, she travels around the world solving medical mysteries. Since she spent the summer working in hospital placements in Argentina and already speaks fluent Spanish which she continues to study at Vassar College, the show will send her to remote forests with forgotten languages – just to keep things interesting.

Meaghan is 23 and has moved to London where she is working for a tech startup doing marketing and sales while drinking lots of tea and trying her best not to acquire a British accent. Because her company reviews and lists London events and entertainment, Meaghan plans to star in a cross between the Amazing Race and Paris Hilton’s New British Best Friend where she travels around Europe looking for the best parties and wearing the best clothing on a limited budget.

As you can see, the Fitzgeralds are perfectly placed for prime time action. Any producer would be crazy to pass on these opportunities and all of the exciting things to come in 2010. Of course the supporting cast of all of our friends and family have really made this year red carpet-ready and we couldn’t have done it without them.

That sounds like our cue, and we wish you the best for 2010. Look for us on Channel 2… we’ll tell Balloon Boy you say hello.

Love,
Meaghan and The Fitzgerald Family

London Eats: Lucky 7 Diner

19 Dec 2009

Before heading back to California, Alex, Henry and I had an end of the year dinner at a Notting Hill diner with, what I was promised were, the best hamburgers and milkshakes in London. With that tall order, and hearing the two of them gush about various dishes on the menu the entire way to the restaurant (California burger with avocado and mozzarella; onion rings; chocolate milk shakes… uh oh, I’m getting hungry again!) I was really looking forward to our meal.

We arrived at the diner which, true to its word, felt like a 50’s burger joint, complete with red booths and a silver bar from which fountain drinks, fries and burgers appeared with impressive speed. We settled down to business with milk shakes and placed our orders for various burgers – and low and behold, Lucky 7 Diner has managed to create an American tasting and looking burger in the heart of Notting Hill. Delicious :-).

Lucky Seven Diner

127 Westbourne Park Road
London, W2 5QL, United Kingdom
020 7727 6771

London Eats: Maison Bertaux

16 Dec 2009

While I do a lot of baking at The Top Floor Flat, every so often it’s nice to indulge in someone else’s confectionery goods – especially if that someone else is winning French pastry shop Maison Bertaux. My flatmate Ann had been singing the praises of the shop for some time and finally we found a spare few hours, sandwiched between Christmas shopping, for us both to visit the impressive display of cakes, pastries and gloriously over-the-top desserts.

Instead of trying to describe the food, here are a few pictures:

For the incredible quality, the prices are very reasonable – but bring someone to share the food with you; one slice of cake proved too much for even me to handle (but that didn’t stop me from making a valiant effort.)

Maison Bertaux

28 Greek Street
Soho, London
W1D 5DD
Tel: 020 7437 6007

London Eats: Ten Ten Tei

15 Dec 2009

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Courvoisier Punch Bowl Experience (and what an experience it was!). But after sailing across a bowl of alcohol on a wooden orange slice, I had worked up an appetite and my friend Alice and I found ourselves in Soho, surrounded by some of London’s best restaurants, and not a clue where to eat. Half an hour of wandering later we had decided we were ravenous, desperately wanted sushi and didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg to satisfy both cravings. This seemed like an impossible challenge to overcome as we passed half a dozen overpriced sushi restaurants on the various side streets around Piccadilly Circus when we came across a little shop called Ten Ten Tei.

While the menu held fairly standard Japanese fare, what caught our eye were the preset meals, which looked fantastic and featured soup, salad, sushi, tempura, teriyaki, fried tofu and dessert. Expecting a reasonably sized sample plate of each of the offered items, we were delighted when generous plates of each were presented one after the other, with a large patter of sushi each topping off the meal.

For less than £20, we had an incredible meal. The ambiance in the restaurant itself was limited, although we were seated in the slightly cramped upper level on the ground floor alongside the sushi bar – it wasn’t until later I realised that lower level seating looked a bit nicer. Regardless of the space, however, it was a delicious meal and one I am very much looking forward to repeating.

Ten Ten Tei

56 Brewer Street,
London, W1F 9TJ
020 7287 1738

The Courvoisier Punch Bowl Experience

14 Dec 2009

I’ve been singing the praises of the collaborative creation of Courvoisier and jelly makers Bompas and Parr ever since I heard about plans to create a giant punch bowl so big one could row a boat across it. The idea of a bowl of punch where one could not only drown their troubles but also all of the individuals responsible for said troubles immediately captured my imagination. So it was with immense excitement that I finally stepped through the doors of 33 Portland Place to witness the Courvoisier Architectural Punch Bowl Experience for myself.

Read the rest of my review for the Courvoisier Punch Bowl Experience on Spoonfed.