Sunday Smörgåsbord #059

Brothers, rivals, and hairdressers. Plus: a thank you.

❤️ Thank you for reading Scrambled Eggs. If you liked this post don’t forget to hit the heart to let me know and help others find my writing.

Volunteering Friday. Some of the neighbourhood kids wanted to help so they sold bracelets and pictures to raise money for the relief efforts.

Happy Sunday, everyone.

Thanks to all of you who read, liked and commented on my last piece, After the Flood - I really appreciate the support.

We are still reeling here in Valencia, and most of the news pieces I read this week have been related to this catastrophe. As a result I’ve decided not to feature much news in this Sunday’s edition - I don’t know about you but I need a break from all the doom and gloom.

It’s times like this that the focus should be on supporting those who need it most, so a reminder that I’ll be passing on all income from this month’s paid subs to the organisations noted in the aforementioned essay.

After that, my priority is giving my brain something frothy and funny - a little bit of light to cling to amidst so much darkness. Read on to find out what that is…

Have a great week ahead

Emma x

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🍳 Recent servings, in case you missed them…

After the flood

Sunday Smörgåsbord #058

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📰 Features & Podcasts

• ‘Trevor Sorbie: I’ll soon be dead. This is the cut I’ll remember’, The Times [PW]. I read this interview with celebrity hairdresser Trevor Sorbie on Monday. By Friday he was dead, having suffered from bowel cancer since 2019. Despite - or perhaps because of, the sad circumstances, this is a really uplifting read. I had vague memories of bottles of Trevor Sorbie shampoos on sale at the salon of my local hairdresser, but I underestimated just how much of a trailblazer he was. Not only in the salon, or at industry shows, where he once performed ten different cuts in an hour, but also in his charity work, turning once-drab wigs into women’s new crowning glories. It’s clear from the comments on this post, and on subsequent ones I’ve seen announcing his death, that Sorbie made the people he met feel good about themselves. I hope he knew how much of an impact he made.

The Lehman Trilogy (photo by Mark Douet)

🎨 Arts, Culture & Entertainment

• The Lehman Trilogy, dir. Sam Mendes, Gillian Lynn theatre, London. Until 5 January 2025. Make sure you get a good meal in before the curtain’s up on this one. This Olivier-nominated play, about the origins of the (in)famous investment bank, is three hours and twenty minutes long, with two intervals. It makes sense given there is so much to get through: over the course of three acts we cover 150 years of history, and meet various permutations of the Lehman Brothers (and their successors) each played by the same three actors. Despite the settings taking us from Alabama’s cotton fields to New York’s concrete, we see all the action unfold in an open plan office encased in glass, which rotates almost as frequently as the actors roam around it. Their ability to endlessly change character or location, whilst delivering weighty words, business jargon and financial acronyms was quite something. Alas, for me it wasn’t quite enough and at times felt imbalanced. The first act felt quite slow, but in retrospect was my favourite part, digging deep into the Lehman Brother’s origin story as German immigrants. In contrast, the final act felt furious, but overwhelmingly so, I would have liked more explanation on where it had all gone wrong. Then again, if they’d extended it, we’d probably be looking at a production to rival Gone With the Wind.

• An evening with Jilly Cooper, The Southbank Centre. I’m beginning to think Jilly Cooper is a bit of a national treasure. Though I’ve never read a single one of her books, nor yet started watching the new Disney+ adaptation of Rivals, when a friend from my writing group suggested we go and see this fireside chat as part of London Literature Week, I jumped at the chance. In the end, it turned out to be quite a dramatic evening (a story for another day), not least as Dame Jilly ended up accompanied by some of the cast of the TV series including Alex Hassell and Katherine Parkinson. Unfortunately the sound onstage was not the best but most importantly we did manage to hear the goss on who some of the characters were based on (the Queen’s ex, Mr Andrew Parker Bowles may have got a mention). I left clutching my very own copy of Rivals which I can’t wait to dig into - all for some dialogue research, honest.

📺 What have you seen lately that’s worth a read, watch or listen? Let me know in the comments.

🍹 Lifestyle

• The Ivy, West Street, London. Or where it all started, before Richard Caring turned it into another chain restaurant, soon to be sold to a PE company. I know that sounds dismissive, and I don’t really mean it to, as I’ve always had a good meal in any of the Ivy outposts I’ve eaten at, but there is something about the relentless chainification of London restaurants that makes my stomach turn. Mostly as I’m worried that after a few years of relentless cost-cutting and margin-squeezing, all the joy will have been sucked out of the place. Thankfully the original Ivy still retains some of the magic. I love a restaurant in which, wherever you sit, you have a beautiful view, and the Ivy’s plush furnishings, eye-catching art, and colourful stained glass windows do just that. I also love a restaurant that does a good-value pre-theatre set menu - which explains why we ate there the other week at the ungodly hour of 5.30pm (before the Lehman Trilogy). Mum and I decided to go rogue for starter and share some off-menu truffle arancini balls (heavenly) and zucchini fritti, followed by a shepherd’s pie for me and sea bream for Mum. For dessert, we enjoyed a vanilla and cherry ice cream, and a madeleine with orange-chocolate dipping sauce. Two courses for 27.50, three for 31.50, and a five minute walk from the theatre - ideal.

The perfect spot for people-watching (and trainspotting)

• Wooden armchair, Zara Home. Slowly but surely my new flat is coming together. And you’d hope so, given the reno started in September 2022. After so long waiting for it to be ready, I confess that in my first few weeks, I felt strangely lonely, even as I was so happy with how it had all turned out. Since adding a few choice pieces of furniture (not least, finally, an actual bed), I’ve been relieved to see it finally start to look like home. One of those key pieces was this great value, super comfortable armchair from Zara Home. The sleek wooden frame looks fab against my sliding bedroom doors, and provides some contrast against the pale concrete floors. Now I have the perfect spot from which to dash off editions of Sunday Smorg (and - I predict - read Jilly Cooper novels with a cup of tea!)

That’s it for this week. I hope you find something in this list that sparks joy or curiosity.

If you’ve got any recommendations on articles, podcasts, Substacks or shows for me to dive into, please drop them in the comments. Until next time!

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❤️ Thank you for reading Scrambled Eggs. If you liked this post don’t forget to hit the heart to let me know and help others find my writing.

📮 And if you’re not yet subscribed, all editions of Sunday Smörgåsbord are free forever. Sign up for free and get next week’s in your inbox.