Old photo – I am thinner now…
A charming group of three young people were the last customers at Real Man Pizza Company. on Friday. I managed my best ever Linguine Manx for the young patent lawyer who was paying and that seemed to go down well which pleased me greatly – not the money just the achievement. If you are not au fait with Manx-Italian cuisine, linguine is a bit like spaghetti and the (home created) dressing is based on crab with parsley chopped into the sauce which has a tomato backing but also a bit of chilli, garlic and a dash of Manx vodka (a drink unique to RMPC). And the main ingredient is a dozen or so Manx Queenies (scallops) gently pre-fried in garlic. I served with more parsley chopped finely on top and it looked as great as it tastes. I really am getting the hang of this…
It was the last dish of my day (our busiest day in the year to date) and so I chatted with the customers one of whom stared at me and said “You are Harry Potter’s Dad aren’t you?” I was bespectacled that night but I promised that I have not been moonlighting in recent years as James Potter. I insisted vehemently that I was not Adrian Rawlins, the actor who played James Potter. To which I got a Christine Keeler (or was it Mandy Rice Davies) “well you would say that.” I promised that I was not and turned the conversation round to how on that very table (Number 12) that very afternoon, the actor Ken Stott was lunching. We chatted amicably as we both used to hang out in the Rivington Street Grill a few years ago.
Going back home afterwards I stared at myself several times in the mirror. Other than thinking how the white flecks in three days of stubble made me look rather old, I concluded only that I look nothing whatsoever like the actor who plays James Potter. A very pleasant girl but what was she thinking?