Monday 4 February 2013

A Pinewood Studios anecdote

I don't know why, but I thought today about my personal experience with Pinewood Studios. I say experience, it was not exactly an epiphany, although it was a bit of an officious a pilgrimage, as it is an institution of British movie making. I did not stay very long, but here it is.

So a few years ago, in early May, I went to an interview in Pinewood Studios. I was very excited, not so much because of the job, which was temping, but because I was going to be where James Bond movies were shot, and maybe even work there, although obviously it was not for something nearly as glamorous as a James Bond movie, the series was in hiatus at the time anyway. It was quite moving walking around the place. I took a few snapshots with my old phone, which are now sadly lost. After my interview, which had gone very well, I was famished and I had my lunch in one of cafeterias there. It was a clean, glamorous place, especially for a simple cafeteria. The food however was pricey. And it is there that I had by far the best chicken sandwich I ever ate. It had chutney for condiment instead of mayonnaise. The meat was carved on the place, right in front of me. Two thick slices of multigrain bread held the filling. The sandwich as far as I remember, cost the price of a whole lunch. But it was worth every penny.

I did not take the job because it was conflicting with a job I still had and I had already found better opportunities. The people doing the interview were gracious when I refused it, which almost made me regret it. I do wonder sometimes about it, if I would have enjoyed it there just because of the settings. I do also find it strange that my most vivid memory of Pinewood Studios is the chicken and chutney sandwich.

5 comments:

Gwen Buchanan said...

You always seem to make me famished.
Just think though if you had taken the job, you could have had lunches like that everyday.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

You are Bond, Guillaume Bond and you like your chicken chutneyed, not mayo'd.

Cynthia said...

It's been a long time since I ate a good sandwich!

The Gill-Man said...

So incredibly cool that you got to set foot in the spot where so many incredible movie memories have been made!

Guillaume said...

@Gwen-I'm sorry;-) I wouldn't have eaten there every day, not at the price of the sandwich. I would have made it my Friday treat though.
@Debra-This sandwich could be featured in a Bond movie.
@Cynthia-They are difficult to find.
@The Gill-Man-It was really cool. Sometimes I was feeling like walking in a Bond movie, even if none was being shot at that time. I considered the job partially because of the place, if circumstances had been different I would have accepted it.