Silversea Cruise – Silver Wind wining and dining – travel review
Food will likely be a big part of any holiday and may even be the deciding factor. Food tourism is gaining in popularity but even...
The Turkish Cookbook by Nur Ilkin and Sheilah Kaufman – review
Turkish cuisine is considered by many to be one of the classics. It has had a huge influence on food throughout Europe and encompasses all...
Taste of Arran and Argyll with The Majestic Line Glen Tarsan – review
The Scottish Isles have never been high on my list of food-related destinations. It’s North and it’s a rare day that finds me further in...
A Phoenician Kitchen Garden – travel review
In truth this isn’t an ancient plot cultivated and tended by legendary Mediterranean traders, but the land does belong to the celebrated Hotel Phoenicia in...
Taylor’s Port and Fladgate Hospitality – travel review
Port is enjoying something of a revival with the addition of both white and pink varieties to its classic styles. It’s a wine with a...
The Yeatman Hotel and the first couple of Port – hotel review
The Yeatman Hotel doesn’t sound, to the ill-informed, a particularly Portuguese name for a hotel. One would more readily expect a name like “Henry the...
Vigo – Michelin Stars and Seafood – travel review
You will appreciate from these articles that I consider Vigo in Galicia something of an undiscovered culinary gem. The fresh produce and seafood are outstanding...
Vigo – crab, clams and continuity – travel review
For those of you living in the south of England, you will already know about Vigo. You will swear that it is a parish formed...
Galicia – deliciously diverse – travel review
We all have prejudices. We don’t think that we do but that is in itself the nature of a prejudice. I was anxious that this...
Lunch on British Pullman carriages of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express – review
Yes, I have a lovely life: a restaurant reviewer, and able to take my pick of the very best that the World has to offer....
The Bazaars of Istanbul by Isabel Bocking – review
Many thousands of tourists visit Turkey every year. They bask on the beaches, perhaps hire a boat for a holiday afloat and enjoy grilled fish...
Sacred Sierra by Jason Webster – review
Well, to be honest, I didn’t find the title very inspiring. Sounds like a hermit looking for religion and it probably wasn’t going to be...
The Other Side of the Bar
…or One Bar, Two Buses, Six Coffees and a Funeral. Don’t we all just love it? The thought of a nice little bar in France,...
Spain Body and Soul by H M van den Brink – review
This is another remarkable book from those nice people at Haus Publishing. This is truly quality food writing, travel writing, poetic writing, and thoroughly absorbing...
Les Moustoussades – Bands Together in Villemoustaussou – review
Every year our village hosts a marching bands competition. These are not crisply uniformed semi-military, baton-swirling groups, these are “bandas”! The eight bandas performing this...
Le Panier Festival in the Back Streets of Marseilles – travel review
Le Panier had always been a rough part of the city. It’s the oldest part of town with a dense lattice of narrow streets with...
Tapas Bar Crawl – Barcelona – food and travel review
We have what Jeni Barnett would call a “nearasdammit” son who is Catalan (note: I do not say Spanish). This has given us the advantage...
Absinthe – The Green Fairy
Originally produced in the Val-de-Travers region in Switzerland and in Pontarlier, France, Absinthe is a distilled anise-flavoured spirit made from herbs including the flowers and...
La Ferme, Carcassonne – food store review
If you only have time to visit one shop on a quick trip to Carcassonne, then this must be the one. This little up-market deli/wine/coffee/tea/sweet/fine...