Four courses for £17.95, information-fans, which for myself including a Proscecco & strawberry cocktail, root vegetable crisps and olives, a truly delicious starter called Fungotto ("Making a star of the flavoursome portobello mushroom - known locally as 'cappellone' or 'big hats' - the Fungotto blends fresh mozzarella and creamy goat's cheese with parsley, garlic and breadcrumbs to create a tasty starter. Baked in the oven 'al forno', this is a great winter warmer...", an American Hot pizza with extra hot, and some kind of sundae with fudge chunks in it. Not forgetting a half-bottle of red wine.
Overnight I dreamt I was back in Pizza Express, and having had my plate taken away the waiter then returned it to my table, having discovered a large tooth which unbeknownst to me had been dislodged from my mouth by a chunk of pizza.
I kept this to myself myself - people tend to find dreams a great deal less interesting than those who are telling them (the brain immediately switches down a level of attentivity when it realises its being told a figment of the teller's imagination; much as yours will be doing right now, dear reader, as this essay bores deeper into your boredom lobe).
Later on this morning, myself and Mrs Powersurge were talking about other matters, and she only went and brought up the fact that I hadn't visited a bleedin' dentist in decades. Spooky!
Of course a less cynical man than myself would jump to the conclusion that the close bond that the Powersurge's possess helps to create an almost-paranormal psychic interlink between us, and my wife's comment had been prompted by an overflowing dreamstate lapping at her subconscious.
A more rational explanation is the possibility that the Starbuck Unit had processed at purely a subliminal level the visual notification of a glance that may have been cast at my wine-stained Austin Powers teeth that evening...
It's quite scary how much of this potentially-overwhelming torrent of stimuli that constantly rains across our sensory apparati that must necessarily be received below the threshold of conscious perception whilst still impacting in some way upon our selves.
(On a side note I was telling Iron Monkey something similar just the other day - its not just readers of VSX that I like to drone on and on senselessly to!)
But most importantly, never underestimate the power of coincidence. Coincidence is responsible for much of what we steadfastly believe about our worlds and the world around us.
Thin and crispy, Italian style, 'cos they're way too sophisticated for deep pan, man. And it was fairly hot, both on the way in and on the way out...
Despite misgivings from those that don't frequent it, Pizza Express is actually a pretty marvelous restaurant chain. Their food is normally excellent, the atmosphere relaxed, and despite the re being hundreds of their restaurants in the country, the interior of each and every one is always a pleasure to inhabit (from rustic charm to ultramodern sleekness), whilst very often remaining unique.
Whilst living in London I made it my mission to visit each and every one of them, until I realised that I'd bitten off more than I could chew. Ho ho ho. Hilarious pun, that.
The only problem is the brand name - Pizza Express sounds like its "faster food" than Pizza Hut, which can't be right.
