Pisa – Stay and Explore at Badia di Morrona

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Food, Hotels, Restaurants & Pubs, Italy, Sustainability, Toscana, Travel

Pisa and 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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Tuscan Salad: Insalata di Fegatini di Pollo

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Food, Recipes

San Gimignano Anteprima, Tuscan Vernaccia white wine

Tuscan Salad: Insalata di Fegatini di Pollo Here’s a simple Tuscan salad recipe that’s cheap, quick and easy. I first tried it in a restaurant in San Gimignano while attending their Anteprima, where the new Vernaccia wines are previewed and judged. However, it’s also available in many UK Italian restaurants. While the English translation is Warm Chicken Liver Salad, that simply …

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Mirabeau: Rosé from the Côtes de Provence

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, France, Wine Business

Mirabeau: Rosé from the Côtes de Provence

Mirabeau: Rosé from the Côtes de Provence This article is about Provençal rosé and the wines from one of its leading companies, Mirabeau. Mention the word “Provence” to virtually anyone, and that will invoke an immediate response, accompanied by a smile. Such is its resonance. The images and memories it conjures might be of chi-chi glam locations; of Aix-en-Provence or the …

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A brilliant Winemaker Dinner in the Alto Adige

Paul HowardAlto Adige/Südtirol, Articles, Blog, Hotels, Restaurants & Pubs, Italy, Travel

A brilliant Winemaker Dinner in the Alto Adige with Martin Aurich and Armin Gratll

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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St John Bread and Wine – offal needn’t be awful

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Food, Hotels, Restaurants & Pubs

St John Bread and Wine

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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Recipe: Spaghetti alla Norma, a real taste of Sicily

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Food, Recipes

Spaghetti alla Norma, Sicily

Recipe: Spaghetti alla Norma, a real taste of Sicily A big bowl of Spaghetti alla Norma is truly the essence of Sicilian cuisine. I first ate it in Ragusa many years ago. It’s a tomato and aubergine pasta heaven that forms a regular part of my diet. Hearty and healthy, it’s so foolproof to make that even I can do …

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A grand stay at the Wensleydale Heifer

Paul HowardArticles, Blog, Hotels, Restaurants & Pubs

The Wensleydale Heifer

A grand stay at the Wensleydale Heifer The Wensleydale Heifer is a restaurant with rooms in the Yorkshire Dales. It’s a transformed seventeenth-century inn at West Witton, four miles from Leyburn. From the outside, it looks rather like any typical traditional Dales pub. However, the inside is quite a different matter. The only clue to this before you enter is …

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