Jamie's Greenwich

I spent a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon at Jamie Oliver's new restaurant in Greenwich today. I am 50 on Tuesday and this was my preferred way of celebrating it with my closest family. 

I am fairly familiar with Jamie's Italian having frequented the Cambridge and Edinburgh ones on a number of occasions over the last few years. It's formulaic and it's a chain, but I can't help going back to them and the newly opened Greenwich one was rife for a visit. They have taken over the Bar Du Musee, which was something of an institution, so from that aspect it's a disappointment but it's good to have a bigger themed restaurant in south-east London, especially one that's away from the O2 collective. 

Given that the menu is fairly basic (it's Italian themed), what makes it special is the staff and the extra thought and effort that goes into it. When  we arrived at 2.15pm it looked fairly chaotic and I was a little apprehensive when our lone waitress appeared and was struggling to sort the drinks. However, she quickly got to grips with everything and when the serving started she was joined by a colleague who made all the difference. 

They give the kids a plastic viewer with a photo-disc (remember those things? - I had one of the 1969 moon landings) showing what they might expect to eat. I thought it was a great touch when they arrived offering the kids a complimentary salad in a sealed glass dish with the promise of a gift if they ate it. My kids are pretty good but the youngest held out for three gifts before caving in - three badges declaring "I ate my greens at Jamie's."

I arrived home feeling warm and happy to see Arsenal once again freeze Tottenham out of a Champions League place. Life can be cruel, although somehow I don't feel too much sympathy for Spurs, a club with an over-inflated size of it's own importance with insular supporters who can't see beyond the end of their noses. Taking of noses, where's the Carta Roja?