Travel tips-Restaurant reviews-Recipes
Sea bass is one of my favourite fish. Known as bar in north and west France and loup de mer in the Mediterranean; branzino or spigola in Italian; lubina in Spanish and zackenbarsch in German, it is generally thought to be one of our finest fish. It has quite a delicate taste and although I chose to […]
Read MoreA SMALL HISTORY Covent Garden is one of the most vibrant and exciting areas of London, full of shops, cafés and restaurants, theatres and the famous Royal Opera House. The area spreads north of The Strand from Drury Lane westwards to St Martin’s Lane and up to the top end of Shaftesbury Avenue. There has […]
Read MoreThe Barbary opened a few weeks ago to a fanfare of excited reviews. Even before it opened there was excitement, for The Barbary is ‘little sister’ to the wonderful The Palomar, and so expectations were high. Pretty much without exception, the reviews have been great so I was keen to go there soon. However, it was Annie who […]
Read MoreThe house is quiet. Jonathan, Lyndsey & Freddie are living with me temporarily in between house moves. But they’ve gone off to Cornwall for a holiday and so I’m cooking for one again. I took a supreme of chicken from the freezer this morning (a chicken from the farmers’ market, jointed by Jonathan). He’s been […]
Read MoreThere are places I go to for great food or great coffee, and there places I go to because the setting is so fantastic. I’ve always loved sitting on the covered terrace of Hollyhock Cafe in Richmond’s Terrace Gardens with its view over the Thames. Like so many things, a once frequent habit of heading there at […]
Read MoreLyndsey and I thought it would be fun to take Freddie across the Thames at Marble Hill Park on the Hammerton’s Ferry. There’s been a ferry there since 1908. I’ve known of it since my late teens when I visited my friend Tina in Twickenham where she was at college. Later, when married with kids […]
Read MoreThere’s an Italian deli in Richmond where I often see a bake of sausages, peppers and onions in the window and I’ve been meaning to try something similar at home. I’m not sure it’s really Italian but I certainly used the very best Italian sausages, which I bought from the fabulous Corto Italian Deli in Twickenham. Freddie […]
Read MoreIt’s been the hottest day of the year so far; seriously hot. I got into my car at one point and it registered 37C. I don’t think it was really that hot outside but close. I like the heat but even for me it was too much. So it was definitely a day for a […]
Read MoreI had a fantastic time in Vienna last weekend. It’s been a place I’ve wanted to visit for ages – I even mentioned this in a Bucket List blog post back in 2012, but it’s taken me four years to realise the dream. In the end it came about because my daughter was heading there […]
Read MoreOh I do love Carluccio’s. Their cafés are great places to drop into any time of day from breakfast to late evening, for just a coffee (a smooth Milano or a feistier Napoli), a snack or a good meal. I buy lots of produce in their shops, usually found in a corner of the cafés, […]
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