{"id":9943,"date":"2023-09-23T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=9943"},"modified":"2023-09-24T10:44:35","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T09:44:35","slug":"days-out-lunch-at-elsies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=9943","title":{"rendered":"DAYS OUT: Lunch at Elsie\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
The River Nene, Fotheringay bridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Having discovered Elsie\u2019s on Thursday, it was almost more than I could manage to keep from blathering about it to Teresa. But I wanted to treat her to a surprise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Saturday morning we I drove us to Fotheringay, near Oundle, Northamptonshire, where we stopped at the funky little bridge over the River Nene, to enjoy the idyllic weather and beautiful views. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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St Mary & All Saints, a flock of the faithful.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d booked us a table for 1pm. And we were rather early. I very nearly blurted out where we were headed several times. But Teresa was enjoying the scenic B-road trip. We had a flask of coffee. All was well!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We arrive\u2026 the secret still safe. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nassington village, like many in this neck of Northamptonshire, is gorgeous. Fashioned in local stone. It seems to have sprung from the ground. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The view above is more or less exactly what I first saw, when I took a wrong turn on Thursday, and espied a flash of my favourite shade of green!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What fun!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As I parked Teresa saw a signboard outside the tea room. And finally twigged. I\u2019d suggested we get all togged up, smart and a bit \u201840s-ish. She thought we were off to a \u201840s show, or modelling or wargaming event!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was pleased to see she was as gobsmacked by the exterior as I had been. And like me, she wanted to photograph the fabulous exterior. A regular patron spotted us, and popped out, offering to photograph us (see above). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Graham, one half of the husband and wife team who run the place, had reserved us a table in a perfect spot. And attended to us in an unhurried manner, befitting the relaxed mood of the place (great period music playing in the background!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Teresa and I basked in the ambience of the place, we chose baked potatoes from the humble and affordable menu. And a pot of tea for two; a blend of Earl Grey and Lapsang Souchong (what Teacock\u2019s Pearoom call a \u2018?\u2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lovely chinaware.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Teresa enjoys a refreshing cuppa!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was very gratifying to observe Teresa\u2019s rapt and enthusiastic response to the place. She, just as I did, was entranced, and blown away by the attention to detail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The food was hearty and delicious. As well as the baked spuds, and fillings (tuna mayo\u2019 plus cheese, for; ditto for the mrs, but with added beans!), there was a small \u2018slaw, and a nice salad, with vinaigrette dressing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Beautiful glassware!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The tea was lovely, as was the bone China service. And the water came in a gorgeous period set that I covet deeply!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although we were both snapping away merrily, once the food came I forgot all about that, and tucked in. So no pics of the grub by yours truly! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Likes the whole experience\u2026 just, wow!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But I wasn\u2019t going to omit getting pics of the famous knickerbocker glory dessert!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our helpful local pal snapped us together again.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As well as chatting with the very sociable chap, who lives just a few doors away – and, he told us, met his wife at Elsie\u2019s – we talked with Graham (I\u2019ll come back to that!) and several of the other customers. The whole thing was wonderfully peasant, facilitated by the exquisite and meticulously curated ambience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chock a block with period furnishings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Right down to fab old books, like this.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It turns out Graham, the patron, was formerly a DJ, and gigged with many bands I love, including Thin Lizzy. Even taking tea with Phil\u2019s mum, Philomena! We had a good chinwag about music. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having discovered Elsie\u2019s on Thursday, it was almost more than I could manage to keep from blathering about it to Teresa. But I wanted to treat her to a surprise. So Saturday morning we I drove us to Fotheringay, near Oundle, Northamptonshire, where we stopped at the funky little bridge over the River Nene, to … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “DAYS OUT: Lunch at Elsie\u2019s”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paGwUa-2An","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9943"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9943"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9966,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9943\/revisions\/9966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}