It's a reverse Thanksgiving as I shop, then eat. Without turkey.

Restaurant Review:  L'Ortolan (Reading)

There's much debate stateside this year about shops being open on Thanksgiving.  A travesty, clearly.
 But it's not a holiday in England, though I always take the day off.  With no cooking to do, but a day to indulge, shopping made perfect sense on this side of the pond.

Off to the Winchester Christmas market, where two questions dominated.
1)  While sitting in traffic waiting to get into town, even though it was mid-morning on a Thursday:  Why didn't I take the train?
2)  Once parked up and wandering the streets:  Why don't a shop here more?

Winchester is just half an hour south of us.  It has a venerable history, from capital of Anglo-Saxon England to gracious Georgian market town.  The architecture reflects that, offering up a town centre with a good mix of Medieval through Georgian, with one over-exuberant Victorian Gothic town hall and only a few modern incursions.  There's an exquisite cathedral that houses the bones of those ancient Anglo-Saxon kings and, more significant for some, Jane Austen.  In the cathedral close you'll find one of the best German-style Christmas markets in the south of England.

There are traditional wooden toys (my godson is getting a fabulous sword, shield and crossbow combo), holiday wreaths and potpourri, woollens and lots of jewellery.  Local artisans turn out with stained and blown glass, pottery, paintings and photography.  A handful of stands sell imported culinary delicacies, others garden knick knacks and home decor.  All from classic wooden chalet huts around an ice skating rink.  In the corners, of course, are stands offering mulled wine, and at the far end you'll find a food court with sausages, meat pies, crepes and other goodies.

But Winchester's shopping appeal spreads beyond the official market.  There are market traders in other main streets of town, and the regular shops are worth a look.  All the main chains are here, but they're joined by a larger-than-average collection of eclectic independent boutiques.

Several Christmas objectives accomplished, I headed home to dress for dinner.  My Thanksgiving cooking was still to come (of that, see the next entry); for the night itself we'd be in the hands of Alan Murchison.  Back to L'Ortolan, Reading's only Michelin-starred restaurant and just a dangerous 11 miles from our house.  It's become our default special occasion restaurant and we tend to get here once or twice a year.  We usually opt for the tasting menu with the wine flight; we're never disappointed.

So what was for a Michelin-starred Thanksgiving dinner?  Venison.  With a beetroot and blackberry puree, with chocolate sauce.  Preceded by two fish courses and one meat:  a magnificent light and bright starter of Devon crab with papaya, lemon grass jelly and tempura soft shell crab; classic duck liver parfait with gingerbread and less classic pineapple chutney; stone bass with smoked pomme puree and ceps.  On the dessert side, an unremarkable but effective palate cleanser of citrus mousse, setting the taste buds up for salted chocolate mousse and coconut sorbet.  Who needs turkey and pumpkin pie?  

Equally exciting was our brush with celebrity.  Masterchef: The Professionals is on the BBC now and one of the favourites is a sous chef at L'Ortolan.  Barcelona-born David Balastegui Gonzalez has made it to the semi-finals with confidence, creativity and some striking dishes.  Though the competition has ended, we don't know the results.  We must wait for the plot to unfurl on TV.  But we do know that David is still in the kitchen at L'Ortolan.  On Thanksgiving night, working the pastry section and clearly visible through the glass wall that offers diners a peek into the kitchen.  So not only was that chocolate delicious, it was served up by a television star.  Or, at least, by someone enjoying his 15 minutes of fame.

A quirky addition to a long list of things for which to be thankful this year.