Travel tips-Restaurant reviews-Recipes
Just over a week ago, an Italian friend Antonella got in touch to say she’d like to introduce me to a Sicilian chef. With my love of Italy and Italian food, meeting a Sicilian chef was an offer too good to resist and the next day I found myself sitting in the Knightsbridge branch of […]
Read More‘Fings ain’t wot they used t’be’ goes the old Lionel Bart song for the hit London stage show of the same name in the 1960s about East London Cockney characters. According to that doyenne of cookery writing Prue Leith, cookbooks aren’t what they used to be either. ‘In my day you could still buy a good […]
Read MoreI’ve written about Ruben’s Bakehouse and Refettorio many times before: their wonderful breads, their fantastic pizza, but a new addition to their repertoire – or even repertorio, as we’re talking Italian here – is their breakfast: La Colazione. I have to say that when Igor – the owner – told me about them starting to […]
Read MoreWe Brits do get teased about our obsession with the weather. But, having just driven for nearly three hours through flooded roads and in driving rain that meant even on the motorway I had to slow down to 30 mph, I think we can be excused for wanting to talk about rainy summers! Actually, until […]
Read MoreIt was a bit hit and miss whether I’d make it to Kew Gardens this morning for my August post in the A Year in Kew series on the blog. After yesterday’s glorious day of summer, rain was forecast for today from late morning. But, with a busy week ahead, it was rather a case […]
Read MoreSandwiched in-between the dull autumnal days of last week and heavy rains and thunderstorms forecast for next week, we’ve had a delightful day of summer in London with clear blue skies, brilliant sunshine and the temperature reaching up into the 30s. Thus there was only one thing for the Single Gourmet Traveller to do after […]
Read MoreOK. I am officially envious. Bright green with envy! Rick Stein has just embarked in his new TV series on BBC2 on a road trip from Venice to Istanbul. If someone were to say, What’s your dream road trip? Then I’d be pretty likely to come up with this one. However, if I can’t actually […]
Read MoreSummer is always a bit like a weather roller coaster ride in UK. Three or four weeks ago we were slathering on the suncream and shops were selling out of electric fans, then a few days later I was digging out my winter boots and a warm jacket. Today has gone back to summer. The […]
Read MoreThis one is for Antonio who apparently had ‘one of the worst Caprese ever’ in New York a couple of nights ago. How can you mess it up? he asked. In their book Two Greedy Italians, Antonio Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo speak of it being ‘one of the most famous of Italian dishes’ but warn that […]
Read MoreGiven the amount of time I spend in my local Revital health food store, you’d think I was seriously into ‘health foods’. But I go there to buy all kinds of things from organic granola, to coconut oil, Pukka herbal teas, Green People suncream, apple cider vinegar and a variety of supplements that I sometimes […]
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