Lazy Day

Lazy Day  in London (perfect weather didn't help) spent mostly at the LRB Bookshop or among the Impressionists at the Courtauld. In the evening, to hear the American novelist Marilynne Robinson chat with a Guardian journalist.  The interviewer was awful, stilted and wooden--I think shy in front of a live audience.  Robinson either shy or self-contained.  A woman of unhesitant opinions but hey, she has spent a lifetime thinking about stuff.  Fun in its way but I'd still rather read the novels, especially this one.

Catching up on a couple of restaurant notes:

• Gascon Cellar next to the Smithfield Market--good wine, good small plates, although I saw the sausage come out of a can.

• Great Queen Street in Covent Garden--actually better than its (favorable) reviews.   Queen not quite as heavy, and they've added a couple of veggie entries.

• Oh, and perhaps the best of them--Barrica on Goodge Street.  Nice tapas, but loud; a two-hour conversation with an old friend, all shouted.

Business didn't seem great at either place, though.