Shortly before ten o’clock this morning we pushed off to the golf club in the Village of Appleton for breakfast. Last evening I had sent an email to Chef Wendy MacDonald specifying our intention to do so; and she had thoughtfully replied that all was in order. I prefer to ensure we are not colliding with a scheduled clubhouse event. When we arrived we were set on the outdoor patio at an umbrella table overlooking the fairway.
My normal breakfast at the golf club is what has been parenthetically denominated the “Chapman” breakfast. I understand it has its singular place on the kitchen menu because its composition is complicated and to an extent tedious for the uninitiated (consisting as it does of a surfeit of some things and a dearth of others). This morning however upon the recommendation of my partner (who always knows about these esoteric subjects) I opted instead for the Chef’s personal exuberance called the “Big Breakfast”.
To my astonishment the Chef’s creation exceeds the abundance of my eponymous recipe. Rather than attempt a fathomless description of this extraordinary house dish, I shall only remark that after a prolonged, diligent and predominantly uncommunicative breakfast this morning there was not a digestible particle remaining upon the large platters of white maple syrup tainted porcelain. And – as much to the point – gastronomy of any scope for the remainder of the day was thereafter utterly beyond the pale. Sated doesn’t begin to describe the replete condition that followed though I will as unhesitatingly assert the profitable and delectable conclusion of the enterprise!
Indeed not long after we began tucking in, two golfers strode onto the patio and, quite to my surprise, one of them spiritedly remarked upon the captivating assembly of food at table. I quipped with him that he was having none of it! The nutritious introduction did however strengthen an ensuing few moments of lighthearted confab as we exchanged our summary backgrounds. I will say too that it is not entirely uncommon to hear complete strangers remark favourably and undeniably wistfully upon the summertime productions from Chef MacDonald’s kitchen. The fortuity of our clubhouse caterer unquestionably constitutes an acme of local privileges and jouissance.