The Bakehouse, Penzance
- Taken out of the oven: November 13 2011
Once I’ve decided I’m going on a trip, the next few hours is spent diligently and very pleasurably, searching for accommodation, things to do and most importantly (almost), places to eat. With a busy season at work upon me, I wanted a quick long weekend in Cornwall to set me up for the next few months and I chose Penzance. JC, having spent years listening to my travel plans, just nods loose agreement and lets me get on with the arrangements. I booked incredibly cheap advance train tickets…
The Coffee Cellar
- Taken out of the oven: July 16 2011
The Quay is one of my favourite places in Exeter. I have spent over 10 years living and/or working within a 20 minute walk of the area and if ever I need to just get out of the house to stretch my legs, indulge in a bout of architectural admiration and general soul replenishment then this is where I like to head. In the summertime we like to cycle to the Double Locks or Turf Locks, depending on how energetic we’re feeling and on the way back stop off for an ice-cream by the quay; you can wander…
The Exploding Bakery
- Taken out of the oven: May 07 2011
Queen Street in Exeter is my corridor to the High Street so I wander down it on a regular basis. To my surprise on the way back from town a few months ago – clearly I wasn’t paying much attention on the way up – I noticed that Juice Moose, a shop which I really quite liked, no longer existed and in it’s place was the rather fetching store, The Exploding Bakery. Upon entering said store, I noticed that they sold Monmouth coffee in bean, ground and takeaway brewed form. Having tried Monmouth…
Exeter Festival of South West Food & Drink 2011
- Taken out of the oven: April 30 2011
After last year’s rather low key trip to the Food & Drink Festival whilst I was in the midst of a self-inflicted no dairy, alcohol, sugar or wheat diet, I was ready to sample whatever the heck I liked this year. I have been partying a lot recently as my sister and brother-in-law have been over from Australia and together we have eaten our way across the UK and France over the past fortnight. No wine, cheese, cured meat or cake has been safe. Despite the fact that my skinny fit jeans are…
The Real Food Store, Exeter
- Taken out of the oven: April 03 2011
It's been a long time in the planning, but The Real Food Store in Exeter has finally opened its doors. This might be a slightly biased review, but being a member I was always going to want to shout from the rooftops about this wonderful new 'store with a heart & soul'.
After 2 years in the planning, the founding members and first official Board of Directors, finally saw their dream of a ‘Real Food’…
Occombe Farm Shop, Paignton
- Taken out of the oven: March 12 2011
For some time now I have been planning to venture into South Devon to visit Occombe Farm Shop near Paignton. Having spent many years wandering around West and East Devon, poor old South Devon has been sadly neglected in my travels. This is mostly due to the large volume of tourists that head towards this part of the world every summer and partly due to the fact that I just don’t get the time to visit everywhere I would…
Bilby Christmas 2010
- Taken out of the oven: December 27 2010
The Christmas vibe starts for me around the 1st December. I don’t like the idea of getting too worked up about it before then as I’m always cautious of being caught up in a wave of commercialism. When it comes to planning my Christmas day menu though it’s no holds barred and I try to come up with something a little different. My aim is always to get the balance right between tradition and novelty. Rather selfishly this is all for me I might add as JC would willingly go along with the same…
Bath Christmas Markets
- Taken out of the oven: December 13 2010
My love of the Christmas season has grown in the last 10 years. Growing up in Australia, Christmas was a very different affair – it was still good fun, but different. Nowadays, as soon as December arrives I start to look for possible food ideas for Christmas day, bauble additions for the tree and festive film and music favourites start to edge their way out of the TV & iPod. I’m not a massive traditionalist, but with age comes a need for the familiarity of repetition and custom so I seem…
Gidleigh Park Hotel
- Taken out of the oven: November 30 2010
Between 10 & 15 years ago I came across the name Michael Caines whilst he was working full time at the The Gidleigh Park Hotel and heard tales of his incredible culinary talent. Ever since that day I have told myself I would bite the bullet and get myself out there for a meal. I managed to achieve my goal this weekend and it was most definitely worth the wait. I had seen Gidleigh Park Hotel popping up on various food…
The Coffee Rush, Shaldon
- Taken out of the oven: November 07 2010
We awoke on a Sunday morning in late October to find that a little winter weather had hit us overnight. The rain was falling and the wind was picking up. I didn’t feel justified in complaining as we have had a very good run of relatively warm weather over the last few months so it had to change at some point. Anyway, there is a reason for me giving you a belated weather report (you can’t beat a chat about the weather) and that is because it actually motivated me to find somewhere new and lovely…
In Praise of Clotilde
- Taken out of the oven: October 24 2010
Stumbling around the web is a daily event for myself, like millions of others on the planet. Not only do I work in online marketing, I write this blog, I have a Facebook page, I have a very neglected Twitter account, I am on LinkedIn and ... you get the picture. One of my favourite things to do is to read other food blogs with two of my favourites being Not Quite Nigella and Read more …
Carluccio’s Exeter
- Taken out of the oven: October 10 2010
There have been a number of occasions over the past 6 months that I have been tempted to add a review of the Exeter Carluccio's Restaurant & Caffè on the site, but as it is part of a chain, I have wrestled with whether or not it deserved to be there. I always prefer to promote local, independent restaurants for the most part, but I have enjoyed many a meal at Antonio’s place and so have finally decided to go…
West Country Cheese Co.
- Taken out of the oven: September 05 2010
On a wet Saturday in August, my BFF (best food friend) and I decided we would head off on another of our bourgeois adventures, looking for great food to eat and chat about. We caught the train up to Barnstaple with few expectations, but in good spirits. After the very pleasant train trip we walked the short distance to Barnstaple town centre with umbrella overhead and made our way through the weekend shoppers towards the historic Pannier market. I hadn’t been to Barnstaple in a number of years,…
James Duckett at the Old Custom House
- Taken out of the oven: August 29 2010
My relationship with Barnstaple isn’t particularly strong, nor is it beautiful, but I’m the kind of open-minded person (I like to think I am anyway) that never says never. Having worked for a relatively large advertising agency with it’s head office in Barnstaple (strange, but true) I had only ever experienced the kind of practical eating that included nipping out for a sandwich to M&S or popping to the nearest pub chain offering in between meetings. On that basis, I definitely didn’t…
Riverford Organic Veg
- Taken out of the oven: August 22 2010
I’ve been shopping with Riverford for the last 3 ½ years, so I feel I am in a position to sing their praises with some level of authority. With so many veg box schemes out there nowadays, Riverford ironically seem to be the big, bad corporate boy of the day which I find puzzling. The Watson family have been farming for many years, but Guy Watson, founder of Riverford, picked up his piece of the family land in 1985, moving…
The Oddfellows Exeter
- Taken out of the oven: August 01 2010
Over the years, I have been lucky enough to eat in some wonderful restaurants for my job. Not as a result of food writing unfortunately, but in advertising & marketing people like to eat out. Maybe that’s why I gravitated towards that line of work. In Sydney, my first real job at 17 was as a Junior in a typesetting company, and my boss liked to take us all out to dinner as a sort of team building exercise. None of this paintballing or swinging from trees lark that companies seem to think…
Taverner’s Farm Shop
- Taken out of the oven: July 11 2010
Twas a sunny afternoon one Saturday in July – yesterday actually – and I thought a little country drive would be in order. Saturdays have always been a touch bitter sweet for me. It’s the day when I like to get the majority of housework done, so cleaning the bathroom, washing, vacuuming and dusting are the norm, but it’s also cause for celebration in that it’s not a regular working day and I can relax for some of it. At the very least I like to get out of the house for a walk at some…
The Holt, Honiton
- Taken out of the oven: June 20 2010
On a sunny Summer’s day, spending time with good friends, eating, and perusing boutique shops in small Devon villages, has surely got to be one of the most perfect ways to pass the time. My Best Food Friend (BFF herein) and I had planned to head for Topsham for the Food & Drink Festival, but unfortunately we were quite late in arriving and ended up sitting in a lovely coffee shop sipping our hot beverages and sharing a slice of gingerbread instead. Time passed and when we reached the quay…
Café at 36
- Taken out of the oven: June 13 2010
In need of a little respite on a sunny Friday afternoon in June, I decided to walk myself along the River Exe to Cowick Street to sit in the lovely Café at 36 and grab some sustenance. It is only around 20 minutes walk for me so it means I get exercise, rays, food and pleasure all within a convenient distance from my house.
As I switched off the computer, grabbed my bag and headed for the sunshine, I had no real intention of writing a review of the café, but having been there a few times…
Can I Get a Coffee?
- Taken out of the oven: June 06 2010
I’ve lived in and around Exeter for over 15 years now and it is a fantastic city. Not being a true, authentic, card-carrying city-dweller I fight with myself intermittently about whether I really belong in an urban environment, but if I am honest Exeter is a perfect compromise for me. I spent much of my childhood growing up in Australia, moving from place to place alongside my nomadic mother. Roughly every 2 years she would ‘announce’ casually that we were moving to a new area and my sister…
Brizzol Beckons
- Taken out of the oven: May 23 2010
Over the last 12 months I have been happily taking fairly regular trips to Bristol with my partner in crime JC, in order to visit his lovely Nan in Bedminster and a few of the local eateries. Bristol is a very cool city, with a large student population and the music and fashion scenes that can stem from this fertile culture. JC’s maternal family are Bristolians so he has solid connections with the city and I am more than happy to nip up there on the train every few months to soak up the funky…
Rick Stein’s Fish & Chip Shop
- Taken out of the oven: May 13 2010
We planned our trip down to Padstow well in advance. I was incredibly excited when friends of JC’s decided that they were getting married and that they would be doing it in the bride’s home county of Cornwall. To my absolute delight it turned out the lovely bride was originally from a small parish outside of Padstow called St Eval and that’s the direction we would be heading for the last weekend in April. A weekend in Padstow was exactly what I would need considering I would be experiencing…
Fun-Free Food Anyone?
- Taken out of the oven: May 04 2010
After a lot of deliberation, I decided to visit the Exeter Food & Drink Festival on Sunday 11th April which is Family Day. After all, how can anybody with a food blog miss one of the most important culinary events of the year? The deliberation came about as a result of the diet I am currently on. After a month of feasting in Australia and in celebration of my birthday back in the UK, I decided that I would benefit from a sugar, wheat, dairy, alcohol & caffeine-free month or two to help…
Dining Down Under (Part 3)
- Taken out of the oven: April 13 2010
Once back in NSW, having left behind the lush scenery and produce of QLD, I did what any self-respecting food lover would do and headed straight for my next culinary experience at Pilu at Freshwater. This was a big event for me as I had been planning it for some time – my friends will back me up on this as I bored them senseless with emails in the lead up. I researched for weeks trying to find the best venue…
Dining Down Under (Part 2)
- Taken out of the oven: April 06 2010
After having been in Australia for over a week and taken in some of the great food in the Hunter Valley I was looking forward to seeing my mum in Caloundra and visiting some of my favourite haunts on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. We’d already spoken on the phone about where we would be having most of our lunches and dinners during my 3 night stay. My mum has always been a great cook and a keen food fan so within a few hours of my plane landing we had visited our first supermarket and made…
Dining Down Under (Part 1)
- Taken out of the oven: April 04 2010
What’s the difference between Australia and a pot of yogurt? The answer to this 'hilarious' joke is to do with one having a lack of culture and you can probably guess it isn’t the yoghurt. I’ve heard this joke a lot over the years but like most cultural generalisations – the Irish are daft, the British don’t wash, the French wear garlic necklaces – there isn’t a lot of truth in it. I’ve recently returned from a fantastic trip to Australia to visit my family & friends and it…
Hello ... Good Pie!!
- Taken out of the oven: February 19 2010
Firstly, I need to say a massive thank you to Jon Simon and Tristan Hogg who hooked up in 2002 to create some of the most gorgeous pies I have ever tasted when they formed Pie Minister pies. They are a well travelled pair with plenty of catering experience between them. Starting with a small shop in Bristol, they quickly progressed to holding a pie stall at London’s borough market and now, in 2010, you can pick up a…
Devon Delights meet French Fancies
- Taken out of the oven: February 08 2010
Situated on the edge of Kilmington, Millers Farm Shop has been operating since 1985 and is just off the A35 about 8 miles from Honiton. Combining a broad range of West Country gastronomic delights with an extensive selection of French goodies, the Millers have created a treasure trove of edible bounty. A good friend of mine told me about it a few months back and I couldn’t quite believe I hadn’t heard of it…
Darts Farm Shop
- Taken out of the oven: January 25 2010
Darts Farm is a bit of a foodie institution in and around Exeter. Based in the ancient port of Topsham on the edge of Exeter, the Dart family have been selling their produce to the locals for the last 40 years so their credentials are sound. Not your average farm shop, they have lost most of their rusticity and are now more akin to a ‘Selfridge’s food hall’ as the Guardian put it, but quite a distance from London. In the last 5 years the Dart brothers, Paul, Michael and James, have received…
Love Local Food
- Taken out of the oven: January 10 2010
Back in February 2009, I spotted an article on www.wmnthinklocal.co.uk that peaked my interest and I clicked through to the Love Local Food (LLF) website eager to find out more. LLF consists of founding members Emma Parkin, Martyn Bragg, Jo Cotter & Christine Duff and was built around a vision to highlight Exeter’s position as both an urban conurbation and a rural idyll. The idea being to remind the inhabitants…