Diet-shmiet!

So after fervently sticking to my diet for an entire week..(I’m giving atkins a shot… and considering proteins constitute almost 8 of my top 10 favorite foods list…easy-peasy!) I totally messed it up this weekend by going to the Grasshopper lunch! And what a lunch it was! Absolutely fabulous! The whole weekend was fabulous really…

Saturday was spent browsing books at Blossom…an activity I should reserve for when I have mucho more moolahs than I can currently boast! I seriously want to buy everything… a condition only previously glimpsed when shopping with the fabulouso Indi Aunty & Noms in London (“..have to buy! HAVE to BUY!!!!!”). Did restrict indulgence however, to a modest 4 books…(High Fidelity – Nick Hornby (..excellent read so far!), Through the Open Window – Collected Poems, The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro & White Teeth – Zadie Smith..(..highly recommended by the Nish-Pish)) and a bunch of Mad Magazines. Also, in view of that very restraint, I was very sweetly “gifted” three more books by the highly esteemed boyfriend…( Elizabeth Costello & Slow Man – JM Coetzee & K-pax - Gene brewer) Yippeee! Have also made solemn vow to self that I shall not partake of any more furious book buying until I have managed to read at all of the above and a few dozen more recent purchases…so there!

Saturday evening was spent at the Bangalore Club Valentines Day Ball. And the Transformation of the Club was indeed noteworthy! It went from chill out to far out! There were at least about (..collective average estimate..) 2000 people there of all ages, ranks and weight classes! We staggered home at about 2ish…quite an achievement for a Bangalore Saturday night..(..which usually wind up at 12..:P)

And the Grasshopper lunch! Aaaah…the good life! The seven course meal was heralded by an amuse-bouche, creamy olive tapenade on crisp wheat crackers followed by the most awesome warm honeyed figs with feta cheese. The prawns came next..(we got two helping of which...hehehe..) in a tart mustard sauce garnished with burnt sesame seeds and pickled ginger. There was a staple iceberg lettuce and spinach salad next which was then followed by two main courses, a fish steak in a caramelized orange sauce & veal chops grilled to perfection topped with sautéed zucchini and carrots! All this accompanied by a nice oven0fresh olive and sundried tomato loaf with olive oil and balsamic! We got there post a 40 minute drive at about 12.45 and staggered out at roughly 4.30. An afternoon well spent! Dinner was Chinese takeout followed by a nice strawberries & whipped cream from Cornerhouse…(…I figured if I was going to cheat on my diet, I might as well do it with gusto!!!)

Also, drawing inspiration from the book I’m currently reading, is my all time top five list of Sunday Brunches in no particular order.

* Grasshopper. (…for reasons listed above!)
* Taipan. (Death by Dimsum)
* Indigo. (Some of the most fabulous times!)
* Leela. (..the prawns tempura, soft-shelled crab sushi and the Mongolian spread is enough to turn a girls head even without the added un-limited alcohol bonus!)
* China White (it’s shut shop now…but those wasabi prawns were absolutely to die for!)

So that was the weekend. Am back on my diet & back at work bright and early this morning with a nice grin on my face and a few extra millimeters on my hips that I hope to work off by the next weekend. The big boss gets in Tuesday so work promises to get into high gear soon. More when it happens..