A middle-aged Londoner goes to…Deal
Or, a few good places to eat in Deal
Part 1
Sigh. I made myself a promise that my next four pieces on here would be 1000 words or less (probs why I haven’t published in so long and have about five half written pieces, I just love being verbose, shoot me!)
This piece though, as you’ll soon enough find, is exempt. It’s also not now starting as I had intended, which was, “Oh dear reader, I have not forsaken you, well…only a tiny bit and only temporarily, it’s just that so much has happened over the last few weeks/couple of months that has taken me away from here. If you follow me on Instagram you’ll have an idea. For now, I’d like to resume where I left off, which is thinking about food and being on holiday!”
Instead, I’d like to dedicate this to my beautiful, wonderful friend, Louisa, who died at the beginning of the week. Louisa was a big fan of this Substack, and of my website before (which I’m bringing back) – so much so that she was a bona fide paid-up subscriber! Bless her. Thank you, Lou Lou. She said she loved finding out more about the way I thought and also, she just loved seeing what I was up to and seeing all the fun I was having.
I saw my therapist the day after Louisa died and she asked me to explain what being her friend was like.
A pause. “It was like warmth” I said. “Like being wrapped in a big hug.”
“Her face lit up when she saw me.”
“It sounds as though she loved you” she said, “and, as though you loved her.”
“Yes” I replied. “Yes.”
Louisa’s friendship was love, she made me feel as though she thought I shone. She supported and encouraged everything I did but wasn’t afraid to dole out some real talk like “Susie, I think a dalliance with a much younger man isn’t a good idea, don’t do it”. As we know, she was right.
She was fiercely intelligent, and so interested in everything. She was also fun and an absolute MILF (apparently). She was kind and very very gentle, so much so that you may have thought her a pushover. But oh how wrong you would have been. She was one of the strongest people I knew and a very firm believer in equality. She used her intelligence for the betterment of the world at large and, that and her sublime character, for the betterment of the lives of those she loved. Oh my days how lucky I was to meet her all those years (29) ago at the nursery door. She changed my life.
When I would withdraw from things, my way of coping when things ever got tough, she would gently, but firmly, draw me out of myself.
“You’re a wonderful daughter Susie” Louisa would say when I spoke about my parents, particularly recently when my mother was in hospital. After my mother died, I felt so keenly how hard it must have been for Louisa to support me (I don’t think she found it that hard actually) when she herself was nearing the end of her life and leaving behind four children.
“You’re a wonderful mother Lou Lou” “And friend, and wife, and sister, and daughter, and just…person!” I missed out grandmother, which is incredible as she LOVED those grandchildren, and left her a voice note to add that in. I don’t know if she ever heard it. But she knew. She was just, a class act!
I struggled to write a tribute for my mother for her funeral, all I could come up with was “she was my mother, I loved her”. I told Louisa and she said “you’ll write something beautiful Susie, don’t worry. I know you will.” And she was right.
I suppose I gave her something too. Actually, I know I did. Once she knew that her cancer treatment was no longer working and that, in fact, the cancer was progressing apace, she sent me a message to tell me, and she did THE MOST generous thing imaginable, I think, she told me what my friendship had meant to her, and in so doing, she gave me permission (and I suspect she did this with everyone) to say what I felt I needed to before she died. What a gift of a woman.
So. Onwards.
Part 2
For my dear, sweet Louisa.
I took the occasion of a friend’s 100th birthday party (not really, it was a joint 50th) in Ramsgate as an excuse to tag on a few days either side in gorgeous Deal. We have a family home* there and as this year has been an annus horribilis and, I wasn’t working, AND I hadn’t been to Deal in an age I thought “Why the f**k not.” Right?
If you’ve never been to Deal, or to that part of the South Coast - all along the Kent (and Thanet) Coast basically, I would recommend it. It’s a beautiful and varied part of England. Deal has changed quite a bit in the time I’ve been going, and while some people won’t be happy about that, I’m certainly not mad about it. It’s a great place to just mooch around, with plenty of second-hand and vintage shops, a few art galleries and a fair few boutique-y places, including a branch of the fantastic “Positive Retail” now. There’s also a great Saturday morning market with local produce as well as vintage bits and bobs, sometimes furniture, and a bit of lifestyle kinda stuff. Deal is fast becoming a bit of a New Margate, which is to say, Deal has had an influx of new seriously good places to eat and drink. I went for a rest, which I did get, but I ended up planning my days around where I was going to eat. No surprise there I guess.
As soon as I get to Deal, I want to see the sea and this visit was no different so, I dumped my bags and headed straight out to Deal Pier, the best place for views out to sea, down to the sea, and back to shore. Sadly, the lower deck of the pier is closed but, it’s still great to get out there and just feel the breeze on your skin, listen to the sea, take a big deep breath, and relax. And… pop into Deal Pier Kitchen for a cuppa or more. I had lobster benedict and it was bangin’. I just saw on Instagram that someone had a party in the café – now THAT’S an idea I can get behind!
I knew straight away that I wanted to go to Cherub’s – I’d been following this one-man pop-up restaurant since before it opened and I was determined to get a table – in fact, I arranged my whole Deal trip around it! And it didn’t disappoint. Above The Bohemian pub** you’ll find a charming dining room with old wooden tables and chairs, candles, and views out to sea. Magical. And a little chalk board with Cherub’s menu for the day. Jakob Grant the one-man, puts together an ever-changing small French inspired menu with the best ingredients, often sourced locally.
I was spoilt for choice! In fact, eeek, I got two starters because I just couldn’t decide between veal with green beans, anchoïde, and walnuts, and brandade de morue. That’s the trouble with eating alone, if there’d been more people we could have just eaten the whole menu! In all seriousness, that was probably enough, my eyes, my tastebuds, my tummy, AND my heart had been sated but, I couldn’t, and didn’t stop there! I had a BEAUTIFUL lamb rump served in plump pink slices with courgette and mint yoghurt. Cor it was lush, so much so that I found myself a couple of days later, buying a lamb rump from Black Pig Deal (THE butcher to go to) and a couple of courgettes from the market to try to replicate the dish. And I hadn’t finished there (no wonder I’ve got high blood pressure hey***). I ended the meal with a St Emilion au chocolat with cherries. Now, I’m not normally a chocolate dessert kinda gal but this blew my mind. It was such a grown-up dish – intense, smooth, melt-in the mouth, and incredibly indulgent. Divine. Jakob has serious kitchen pedigree, having worked in Sargasso, in Margate, and Bouchon Racine, in London. And, he cooks the kind of food I love to eat. Simple, flavourful, mouthfuls of gorgeousness. If it’s not obvious, I fell in love with Cherub’s, and with Jakob (I mean, how could I not, he had a dead ringer for the plates I’ve been hunting down since I passed buying them up in France almost 10 years ago!! C’mon! I tried to subtly hint he might want to part with them, but I was too subtle, apparently).
A friend who lives in Deal messaged to say that I should try and get a table at the newly opened “The Blue Pelican”, a Japanese restaurant by the team behind the oh so boujie “The Rose” hotel (which is also worth a visit for food, though I only had a cocktail this time). And as luck would have it, I managed to snaffle a lunchtime table. And Oh. My. Days. It was incredible. Now, I haven’t eaten much Japanese food as I’d always assumed that my dietaries would be an issue. so I can’t compare it to anything else, but I do know good food, I know about flavours and textures and presentation, and it was all there. I had the lunchtime special, and I’d HIGHLY recommend that to you – a really good spread with a selection of dishes from the menu, all at a reasonable price. If you don’t have a bad back and especially if you’re on your own, I’d recommend sitting up at the chef’s counter so you can catch all the kitchen action, and the chefs are really generous with their knowledge. Head Chef, Luke Green (who has spent several years working in restaurants in Japan), was happily explaining various ingredients and giving a couple at the counter (as I watched on with the green-eyed monster on account of my bad back and not being at the counter) little tastes of everything. Sigh.
I always like to pay a visit to Hut 55 for a coffee and to see what sweet delights they’ve got for an afternoon snack. It’s the most charming little hut on the seafront, its red and white deckchairs in stark contrast to the shingled beach. Hut 55 is open every day (theoretically) but as it depends on fair/good weather to power its’ solar panels, in reality (this is English weather we’re talking about) it could well be closed when you visit so don’t RELY on being able to get something there.
If you’re looking for a more casual dining experience and you’re into your beer, I’d suggest The Deal Taphouse. As we all know by now, I’m not drinking (errr…ahem…apart from the cocktail at The Rose) – so I didn’t go for the ‘tap’. But, I’d heard that they did a good pizza so pootled along one evening for my supper. The menu says that the pizza base is thin and crispy which…is correct. It’s a bit more than that though, it’s VERY thin and VERY crispy, or mine was, but it works, it felt more like an Italian flatbread like “pane carasau”, topped with the usual pizza accoutrements. I think it’s worth a try.
After my pizza supper I walked up to the seafront and farted about trying to take photos of myself for Instagram and then, popped into The Port Arms where there was some live music. Stupidly, **** I plonked myself on a table right at the front so that I was stuck until the set was over. Nevermind, I always enjoy catching a bit of live music, even if it is just a guy with a guitar and an amp, singing mostly covers.
As I walked past St George’s Church on my way home, I thought I heard drumming coming from inside. I guessed it was a band practicing and being the inquisitive (some might say nosey) type, I went to find out more as the sound was sort of, elemental…does that make sense? For all my wandering about, and chatting to people, and asking questions…it had somehow totally passed me by that I had arrived at the height of the Deal Festival. What!? So I was mightly lucky to be in the right place just at the right time to catch Baque Luar, that is to say…late enough for the lovely people at the door to allow me to sneak in even though I didn’t have a ticket, but not so late as to have missed the whole thing! This female and non-binary Brazilian inspired vocal and percussion group had the whole room up dancing in the aisles. If you get a chance to see them, take it – they make the kind of music that speaks to your core, that moves you – and makes you move! I felt ecstatically happy watching them and was buzzing on my walk home.
As soon as I walked through the door, I got on the Deal Festival website to see what else I might be able to catch. In the end I only saw one thing, a classical concert at St Andrew’s Church accompanied by coffee and homemade cakes. It was so sweet. I believe these “Coffee Concerts” happen throughout the year, they’re free to attend but donations for the coffee and cake are welcome.
I also happened upon the opening of The Royal Watercolour Society’s exhibition of member works at the stunning Linden Hall Studio. I couldn’t resist crashing the party, though as I didn’t consume anything other than the art it was a very light touch crash non? I always think of watercolour as being a bit wishy washy with lots of semi-transparent colour but that’s not what was on display! I mean there was some of that, but the breadth of technique and effect was astonishing – I couldn’t believe that many of them had been done using water colours. I accidentally ended up standing a bit too close for my liking to the president of the society for their speech and went and had a brief chat with them afterwards. I told them that the exhibition had brought a tear to my eyes which wasn’t a line, it really did! Honest Guv’nor.
On my last evening I went for a walk along the seafront, and the pier, and then went home to have a date with myself. I got dressed up and tried, unsuccessfully, to replicate the lamb rump I’d had at Cherubs’. A fitting end (me mucking about in the kitchen) to a beautiful, nourishing few days.
Oh My Days! Soz, I almost forgot. The party! The raison d’être for this whole shebang in the first place! It was FABULOUS. Catching up with old friends who now live far and wide. Dancing, laughing, hugging, getting serious, more hugging, more dancing, the most delicious birthday cake, what’s not to love. The party was at Ramsgate Boating Pool, if you’re in the area and looking for a venue for your next do, it’s deffo worth a shot.
Righto. My next letter to you will be shorter and it won’t be so long. Promise.
Until then, wishing you beautiful peeps a truly lovely weekend. Lemme know what you get up to why don’t you?
xoxo
*Well, my ex does, and my kids, so I do by association yeh.
**I’ve just seen that he’s moving Cherub’s to Frog & Scot on the High Street. I guess there’s more footfall there, he was never going to pick up much passing traffic (nor have the capacity for it) at The Bohemian but, it feels like a shame to me, the dining room was just so lovely. Frog & Scot is a French bistro though, so that makes sense, plus, he’ll have a proper kitchen to work with though and can do more covers so, I imagine this makes for a more viable business model which means he’s more likely to succeed and stay put which we 100% want peeps! Believe me.
***I’m not blaming Jakob for my blood pressure, just to be clear. No, more my insatiable appetite for good food (and let’s be honest…quite a lot of crap/junk food too!).
****Stupid because, save for a sublime, tear inducing performance by Billy Bragg under the stars in Austin, Texas, I really really don’t like the sound of electric guitars as the only instrument. Hmmm, scratch that, surely Bragg’s must have been an electric acoustic or just, a mic’d up acoustic. I digress, as I am wont.
