Top to toe it
Lottie was, of course, under house arrest in Wicked Things. Her opportunities to go to the Ivy were limited. Now they are only limited by the cost of eating at the Ivy, a little beyond Lottie and Claire’s small pockets.
This comic is not sponsored by the Ivy. I have never been to the Ivy. I’m not sure why it’s the only restaurant in London I can think of. There are at least two dozen restaurants in the capital (if you include Five Guys and Garfunkels).
I was in the UK 8 years ago, and I ate at some lovely restaurants in London, none of whose names I remember. I did notice a number of outlets of something called Pret a Manger, but did not go into one myself.
Smart. (They have those in NY too.)
You are on safe if unspectacular sandwich ground in Pret a Manger, especially with the culinary landmines on offer at other UK chains.
Known colloquially as ‘Prets’ I believe, as in “Let’s get a sandwich at Prets”.
Can I just say. I visit my daughter in London a few times a year and there is always a little place just around the corner, off the main strips, where you can get a real nice English breakfast with a pot of tea before you get on the train home. One of the pleasures of visiting London.
I always thought of Shauna as the main star and Lottie as the support act.
But now I’m interested in seeing what else is going to happen with her more but I do know she’ll be all right
“Have you had Five Guys in your mouth?” –local wags, ever since that chain moved in around here
Fortunately, Lottie brought her secret triplets along to handle setting up le maittress d’aire (surely an Amstrad product) while she covers Claire-consoling duties. Now Lottie Prime can go out on the town with Claire while her clone-sisters spend the next half-hour sitting there listening to a cheap battery-powered pump whine ineffectually.
*notes location of fire extinguisher in case of… um… random Wendlefeldian hooligans, yeah, that’s it*
Lottie, Mottie, and Nottie?
Following Disney guidelines: Lottie, Dottie, and, um, Hottie. In order of appearance in the panel, obviously.
Our author has always been a futurist, adhering strictly to the principles of The Multiplied Man (this is an inversion of Family Circle rules, in which a dotted line leads you through the still picture.)
Lottie don’t believe in “General sadness “. She knows how a Cry for help looks like and she recognised that in Claire’s text. What a wonderful friend ♡. C’mon Claire, take her to that expensive restaurant!
Random – the way that suitcase was angled made my bleary eyes initially see it as an inflatable racecar bed.
In my experience, The Ivy is just a Wetherspoons in a fancy coat.
Having worked at fancy restaurants that “go chain”, you’re not far off.
Ye gods. Even the Ivy’s -website- looks too expensive for me
Groucho’s?
Messigio’s – famous for its tableside entertainment and perfect for the lonely loner
I’ve heard of that before. You catch it off the coast of Cinnabar Island, right? Messes up your hall of fame and gives you 128 of your 6th item?
Two dozen? Wow, I had heard London was big but that really puts it in perspective.
Perhaps a cape would help cheer Claire up?
You know wh could really help? Shauna..
I spy kicky boots! I wonder if Claire has a roommate ….
That aqua bit in the lower left of the first panel looks to be another bed set at right angles to Claire’s, so probably. Tall bedposts on Claire’s bed suggest that the other can be stacked on top of Claire’s as bunk beds. Classic dorm furniture.
Claire does have a room-mate: Fatima, she appears in Wicked Things.
Do they have a Fuddruckers?
Sadly, the Ivy no longer has quite such an image of boho glam. They were purchased and turned into a chain, and you can now find one in many substantial UK towns. (Well, Cambridge and Norwich that I know of.) They’re not the cheapest, and not bad in my experience, but Lottie is looking a bit out of date by name-dropping them.
I’m not sure where she should have mentioned to look au fait. Nobu, perhaps, of Conran Kitchen (but I’m probably looking out of date there myself).
I suggest people read Jonathan Nunn’s Vittles email-out if they want to know actual good restaurants in London. I have certainly found it edifying. Charlotte Grote does not know the names of any restaurants in London apart from the Ivy. She is an 18-year old from West Yorkshire.
https://vittles.substack.com/s/london-restaurant-guides
Not even the Dorchester or the Ritz? Oh well, probably rates in the “Heliocentric Theory” category of uselessness from her Holmesian perspective.
Brighton too. Wouldn’t recommend it.
The Ivy, I mean. Brighton has its charms.
… ooo, I just realized there’s new page titles over in the sidebar. Yay!
Definite Orphan-Black-episode-title vibes from a few of those!
An Autumn Special in the middle of Summer?
In the Northern Hemisphere?
At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within Claire’s bed-sit?!?
It’s bad, right?
Maybe it’s going to continue through autumn?
We can hope, right?
Alas, it is SET in the autumn just as this one was set in the spring. It was going to run in the autumn too, but it was the best of the things I had in prospect so I moved it up.
I was just looking back at the last page of “Circus Windows”, and realized that the hoodie hanging on Claire’s bedpost in this page is the one she was wearing in that one. Nice detail!
Also, we never found out what Claire’s wig blowing news was.
Lead-in to the Great British Bump-off, presumably, which has apparently been delayed on account of complication.