We met Mary in London yesterday, spending time catching up with her in her "swapped" home in Bayswater before inevitably, going off to eat.  Sharing a meal in interesting surroundings in such great company is always a pleasure and as our tastes are remarkably similar the limited time we get to spend together is often around a table.

Onto lunch then at Fifteen.  It's awkwardly situated in a part of London which doesn't feature on our agenda generally, but Mary recommended it from a previous visit and we were only too pleased to give it a whirl.  Always up for a lunch invitation, so was Edward.

We were not disappointed!  Though the upstairs trattoria was noisy and every table packed, our table downstairs in the dining room was a little quieter.  But it was fun to have a drink in the clatter and chatter first and watch the immense boards of charcuterie go out from the kitchen - we must return and try some of that before long too.

No starched linen tablecloths here - the place is as unstuffy as one might expect - but the service and quality of the food was topnotch and we were delighted with all our choices.  Everything was tasty and well presented - not in the least bit twee or "designed" but simple and robust.  With a strong seasonal slant to the menu, we loved the rhubarby influence from the cocktails through to desserts.  Great!

The theatre last night was fun and we enjoyed the play with only one or two minor reservations. It was good to see a full theatre, too.  But a couple of reviews have hit the spot in commenting that it's a somewhat slight production - light on numbers, we felt - and lacked some of the ooomph we expected.  But some of the more drawn out parts of the film were dispensed with (no American scenes) and the condensed version of the story was more successfully told as a result.

This morning, we started the day with breakfast at the Wolseley - after all that "viennoiserie", birchermuesli, crepes, eggs benedict and full English breakfasts (not all eaten by the same person, I hasten to add) we drove home.

Will there be spare calories for chocolate?!