Well, it really is almost a month since I've written in this blog. It's been an incredibly busy month involving ash (stranded in!), lots of baking, a trip to Dublin and the very rare spot of sunshine. Wish there was more of the latter!
This morning we, kind of by-chance, visited the new 'Simply at Whitley Ridge'. The latter is part of the Limewood Group, the consortium largely owned by Jim Ratcliffe and Robin Hutson (other co-founder of Hotel du Vin), which was responsible for the £30 million restoration and opening of 'Limewood'. Whitley Ridge was the seat of Michelin starred chef, Alex Aitken, but which has now been re-done in a very cool way. Food is 'simple', based on local, seasonal produce. We popped in today for a cup of tea and coffee. The whole atmosphere was very relaxed, informal, but beautifully done. Hotel du Vin (in the good old days, pre-Malmaison) meets Babington. We made ourselves very comfortable in the sofas with the papers and various magazines that we can never justify buying, but love!
Tea (real leaf) and cappuccino were perfect. Despite being told breakfast was finished, I was undeterred and persuaded, rather easily, another waitress to bring me some of the best yoghurt I've ever had. She obviously overcame the 'system' by keying it in as a service charge of £1. A billy bargain! We paid our bill and booked a table for 'Simply Thursday', an evening featuring local musicians, cool cocktails and tapas. I expect I'll give you the low-down on my next blog.
Having almost bought Turbot (but it was over £20 for 1 fish so we ditched that), we bought some John Dory yesterday with the intention of cooking it last night. Neither of us could quite face cooking fish, so we ended up having a lovely kind of tapas supper. Chorizo griddled in olive oil, courgettes pan-fried with thyme and oregano, and a pea and broad bean 'smash' with garlic, mint and olive oil. Salad accompanied the whole lot. It was delicious. A great medley of mediterranean flavours, finished off with a cheese-board and some homemade walnut bread. And, a drop of red wine!
Finally, we tasted some Godminster cheddar in the deli yesterday. Worth buying if you can get some properly of this properly matured cheese.
More later skaters, and food lovers!
PS Tomorrow morning will find me 'speed dating' (on behalf of Nisi's) with 26 of Fuller's head chefs. I have three minutes to pitch the range to the chefs of local pubs and hotels, who have been given a purse full of cash to buy local produce for the duration of the Hampshire Food Festival in July. It is not really my market, but I am hoping it might yield some rewards. At the very least, I'll have a little try at speed dating!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment