For Fine Dining Value, Go Back To College Last year, I discovered that my local college in Kendal has an excellent training restaurant as part of its Hospitality and Catering department. And it’s open to the public. Given the hospitality industry’s importance to the UK economy and the need to underpin this with professional training, this should have come as …
Pisa – Stay and Explore at Badia di Morrona
Pisa – Stay and Explore at Badia di Morrona The Badia di Morrona winery near Pisa has been featured previously on this website for some excellent red wines. The first article concentrated on I Sodi del Paretaio, two Chianti DOCG wines. Then, the second piece featured their flagship wine, VignaAlta. This latter red wine is a Tuscan gem, the best …
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Pie and Mash – an authentic taste of London
Pie and Mash – an authentic taste of London While I live ever more distant from my London birthplace, that doesn’t wholly quell its siren call. There are many things I don’t miss, but one thing I crave is Pie and Mash, proper authentic London food. There is, sadly, an ever-dwindling collection of emporia in London in which to eat …
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Wine Faults and Flaws: A Practical Guide. Book Review
Wine Faults and Flaws: A Practical Guide. Book Review Wine Faults and Flaws is a brand new book by Keith Grainger*. It took ten years to write and was published on 10 June 2021. This book does what it says on the tin and bridges the gap between heavy science and popular readability whilst retaining scholarship. You’ll find plenty of …
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Hix Oyster and Fish House – in Memoriam
Hix Oyster and Fish House – In Memoriam Over a decade ago, one of the many highlights of walking part of the magnificent South West Coastal Path was a stop-off in Lyme Regis and a chance to dine at the Hix Oyster and Fish House, a high-end restaurant established by Mark Hix in 2008. In short, it was both a …
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FICO Eataly World. From Farm to Fork in Bologna
FICO Eataly World. From Farm to Fork in Bologna. FICO Eataly World opened in Bologna in November 2017. Though I was in Bologna exploring the nearby Colli Bolognesi wine region, unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to visit it. Instead, I vowed to come back and, nearly a year on, I did. I went twice. This special place is all …
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A brilliant Winemaker Dinner in the Alto Adige
A brilliant Winemaker Dinner in the Alto Adige One of the best Winemaker Dinners that I’ve been to was earlier this year in the Alto Adige (Südtirol), where Italian and German cultures meld together. The Winemaker Dinner took place in the town of Merano, some 30 kilometres north of Bolzano in Italy at the “Ansitz Plantitscherhof”. It’s one of the 29 …
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Macdonald Leeming House Hotel, Ullswater
Macdonald Leeming House Hotel, Ullswater As of July 2017, the Lake District national park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In so doing it became the 31st UK site, a “cultural landscape reflecting the combined works of nature and man”. The beauty of the landscape plus thousands of years of agriculture and industry has inspired generations of artists, poets and writers. …
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St John Bread and Wine – offal needn’t be awful
St John Bread and Wine – offal needn’t be awful Back in 1994, Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver opened the St John restaurant. It’s still around the corner from Smithfield Market in a once dilapidated part of Clerkenwell. The emphasis is on British recipes, simplicity and seasonality. It also includes all the meats now ignored by squeamish Brits. Yes, we’re …
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Terre à Terre in Brighton – bohemian like me
Terre à Terre in Brighton – bohemian like me Terre à Terre in Brighton is possibly the finest vegetarian restaurant in Britain. It was opened in 1993 by Amanda Powley and Philip Taylor. Since then, their vision of fine dining has become legendary, a celebration of the ethical and sustainable, without meat or fish. It’s been six years since I …
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