As always, on my birthday the girls and I go to The Angel Restaurant in Long Crendon. This is the way it's always been and I wouldn't want it any other way.
We start at mine with cheap Asda cava (tradition) - although this year it was Tesco 3 for a tenner!
A few curried sausage rolls later and The Angel is inundated by a bunch of tipsy birds, and we are herded to our table. I say herded in the nicest possible way, as Richard the manager does it with elegance, chivalry and patience, but with the aid of a cattle prod!
The food never fails to be just perfect and completely delicious. I think the biggest test of any restauranteur is the Christmas party. If you can deliver food at a very high standard to big, busy tables complete with a bunch of inebriated people - who often have no idea what they are ordering (me!)- and do it with a smile, then you are absolutely fabulous. The Angel does this every time. I've never had a dud meal there and I always have the best time.
Apparently I had the nutty requirements of Maria Carey on the night - I blame my new purple shoes. I couldn't walk outside with them on, just incase I stumbled or got them muddy! So I had to be ferried right up to the front door.....I didn't think this was too demanding. But perhaps the fluffy white kittens and the fifteen oiled and naked young men carrying me in was a little over the top.
But it WAS my birthday!
The Angel, Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire. 01844 208268 www.angelrestaurant.co.uk
