Mushroom Risotto is such a simple dish but it tastes delicious and I can see from the empty bowls that everyone else thinks the same. As we tuck into the salad, Sami mentions the Hope Café for it was here we first talked to each other over a year ago. Having a regular coffee haunt is a mark of a sophisticated existence, someone once said. In fact such places, often know as Third Places or The Great Good Place (note 1), are a hugely important part of our local communities, of our local society. Here in the United Kingdom traditionally it’s been the local pub where one could not only have a drink but also engage in conversation with strangers, if you so wished. The growth of the ‘café society’ has increased the number of places where you can do this and The Hope’s popularity is testament to the way that Duncan and his team have developed its offering. Sami agrees:
“Such a friendly place and I’ve heard that Thursdays are going to be ‘Talking Days’, encouraging those who live alone to come and chat.”
“Yes, didn’t Susie say that her aunt’s going to come in to encourage people? I am sure that’s going to help. Maybe she’ll stand in for Susie? Do you remember that Susie wanted to go off on a Gap Year but Covid postponed that …..”
“Bit old for that!” says Sami, thinking Susie is ‘late twenties’.
“Oh! No! Never too late to travel and stretch your horizons, experience new cultures so I will certainly encourage her to go now (See PC 155 Overseas Experience June 2019) .Talking of which, what was Goa like?”
“Actually it’s a very busy state, with both international and domestic tourists attracted by the lovely white sandy beaches and active nightlife! Being next to the North Western Ghats rainforest we had a wonderful time looking at the ‘flora & fauna’, as they say. And I had forgotten the Portuguese ran it as an overseas colony for over 450 years; that is very obvious in the European architecture which is everywhere. (Note 2)”
“Tell me more about your writing, Lisa?”
“Well, I occasionally contribute to Grazia and have a monthly column in both the magazine Red and in The Derbyshire Times. I have written a number of short stories about relationships based around the Derbyshire Peak District; no one gets murdered so definitely not crime stories!”
“Wow! That sounds fantastic. Funnily enough I know the sister village to where you live, Folding Under Sheet. It was the location for a short story I wrote in October last year; I called it ‘Murder at The Fete’ (PC 306). I have been writing a weekly ‘post’ since 2014 and am now on my 330th. I make a hard copy of each 50, just for me!!”
I get up from the table, walk to the end of the room and pick up Volumes 1-6 of my ‘postcard scribbles’ to show Lisa and Sami.
“Goodness! Well, you and I have writing in common and then I gather from Sami you and Celina are Hot Yoga fanatics, if that’s the right word?”
“Slightly obsessed, Lisa!!” says Celina. “Neither of us is working so we’re able to practise five times a week. I started in 2008 and actually we moved to Brighton & Hove because of the hot yoga studios. …….”
Alexa’s timer goes off so, leaving Celina to tell them of our romantic yoga journey, I excuse myself, to take the Tarte Tatin out of the oven and let it rest before turning it upside down.
An artful presentation of food will often mask a mediocre effort but with Tarte Tatin it’s so simple that it both looks great when turned out and is decorative and delicious to boot. (See note 3 for guidance)
“Vanilla ice cream, cream or custard, and the custard can be hot or cold?” I ask as I put the dish on my own place mat and start cutting slices.
So the evening drifted on in the warm relaxed atmosphere created by good food and conversation, everyone sharing little anecdotes of their lives. I found out that Sami lives in an apartment on Third Avenue here in Hove and that Lisa was staying for a few weeks.
Some moments after 10 o’clock, I tell Sami and Lisa that I don’t do late nights so we could finish before 1030. They looked at each other, as if to say: ‘Who is this guy?’ so I explained what has become a tradition started after my heart bypass in 2013 and how I had needed to rest. Interestingly it’s been quite popular with many of our guests. Those who drink wouldn’t have a headache the following day and those who don’t wouldn’t have to listen to the inebriated bore ….. for example Andrew from about six years ago, who clearly hadn’t taken in the blank and resigned faces around one dinner party table, talking about the difference between two versions of a small aircraft, the Yak 23 and the Yak 23a, or some such and it was 11.30pm. No one else cared one iota!
I am sure we will see more of this delightful couple.
Richard 14th April 2023
Hove
http://www.postcardscribbles.co.uk
Note 1 The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg
Note 2 Fourteen years after it became independent, India annexed Goa in 1961 after an invasion that lasted just 36 hours. Portugal protested but was probably happy to see it go! It’s India’s smallest state by area and fourth smallest by population but has the highest GDP per capita of all Indian States, two-and-a half times as high as the GDP per capita of the country as a whole.
Note 3 You just melt 100g of caster sugar (50/50 caster and light Demerara works very well) until it browns, add 50g of butter cut into chunks, place pealed apple segments (dusted in ground ginger and ground cinnamon) in a pattern, cover with rolled out puff pastry and put into the oven for 45 minutes.
postcards 