retiredmartin

June 2023.

The last day of the in-laws trip “oop north“, and FIL was allowed to speak in a Yorkshire accent as it was HIS birthday.

Mrs RM is 1/37th Italian on the maternal side, which almost entitled her to an EU passport post-Brexit (and a place in the Italian national team after their defeat to North Macedonia last year).

So we chose Leo’s, a reliable and unfancy place for pasta and squid, where they don’t ask if you’ve a reservation, just say “sit where you like !“.

One last walk up Carr Road (1:7 climb) then, and we felt Michael and Margaret had earned a glass of craft beer at a communal bench in Walkley Beer Co.

You’ll remember (you won’t) that in December Mrs RM herself spent the eve of her birthday (don’t ask a lady THAT) in our local crafty offie-cafe, when I noted a “wonderful barman“.

Well, he was back again six months later, and I can only feel ashamed it took half a year to revisit, as this is one of the finest purveyors of cask in the Kingdom.

No, really it is. Most of us had the Juice Rocket from Three Blind Mice (a cool, crisp NBSS 4) which we delighted in telling the barman/owner/King of Cask came from just up the A10 from my Mum.

Three Blind Mice seem to get everywhere these days, a bit like Waterbeach’s own Pastore.

I mentioned Pastore, our host went “ooh“, disappeared, and came back with three rare 75cl bottles of their sours and saisons from his private collection to show us the “Made in Waterbeach“. “I don’t like sours” said Mrs RM, predictably.

The in-laws will try anything, they really will. FIL had that Anspach & Hobday Porter, I picked a can of something weird* out the fridge and we shared it five ways.

Luckily it was a mere five steps across South Road to Leos, where the usual quality pastas were accompanied by a mysterious looking lager.

I assumed Morena was an Italian lager brewed in Trowbridge or worse, but apparently it’s from Baragiano and quite odd it was too. In a good way.

If only I hadn’t stolen so much of FIL’s Tiramisu while he blew out the candles.

*Shiny’s Imperial Shortbread Stout, it says so on the tin !