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I think about food all the time. It’s pretty much on my mind at any given moment. My friends are the same. Being able to go to a restaurant and have an amazing meal and get drunk is the way I socialise. I’m not going to a nightclub – my night ends after the meal, so I’m going hell for leather.
I’ve missed being cooked for and looked after and the hustle and bustle of restaurants, the excitement of getting a menu, discussing the menu and then just deciding to have everything anyway. I’m looking forward to having a proper blowout meal where you order so much that the waiter starts grimacing when you get to a certain amount of dishes.
I want that Christmas Day-full feeling. I’ll regret it, I’m sure, but I want that. It’s difficult to get that feeling at home. There’s a decadent feeling about being in restaurants. It feels like a treat, so over-ordering doesn’t make you feel guilty, but if you did it at home, you’d feel mad having that amount of food. Not to mention the washing up. I feel like I’ve been washing up consistently for 15 months. If someone asked me what I’ve done during the pandemic, I think ‘washing up’ is the only answer I could come up with.
I’m looking forward to going back to Shackfuyu on Old Compton Street, which is an amazing place for loads of incredible small plates. They also do the best dessert in London which is the Kinako french toast with matcha soft-serve ice cream, which I’ve missed a huge amount. I’ve had reservations that have been put off and put off, so I’m really looking forward to doing those. I’ve got bookings at Gloria, which is a really good place for an utterly over-the-top Italian meal, and Aulis, the Simon Rogan restaurant, where they do a tasting menu which is the kind of meal that feels pretty special.
You can always see how much work and effort has gone into everything at restaurants – the menu, the wine list and the surroundings. Restaurants are incredible things to behold and I can’t wait to go back to them. I’m drooling just thinking about it.
Ed Gamble’s 2022 stand-up tour ‘Electric’ is on sale from May 28. Get tickets here.
Ready to eat? Check out our list of the best restaurants in London.
And have you heard about the new mega-restaurant from the people behind Gloria that’s coming to London?