Short & Sweet: The Ledbury

Style: Modern European, fine dining

Budget: Very expensive (£600 for two, though we did drink a lot)

Venue and atmosphere: Inviting and elegant dining room with soft tones and plenty of natural light. White tablecloths and silver service but not too stuffy. 

Service: This is the kind of place where they read what kind of people you are and what service you want and behave accordingly. We were clearly there for a good time and they gave us one. Our waitress talked, joked and laughed with us. When my cousin wanted to swap one of the tasting menu options, they just brought it as an extra course. When it came to cheese, they saw we’d been having a few craft beers and suggested a beer matching instead of wine. Nice touch.

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Eat Like A Chef

What is the perfect recipe for a great food tourism experience?

1 informative and friendly host
4-6 fun fellow travellers, to taste
1 cup of local culture
1 handful of interesting sites
A pinch of education
750ml wine (or your preferred drink of choice)
1 gutful of delicious food

Chef Liam Barker comes close to achieving my perfect bake.

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Short & Sweet: The River Café

Style: High-end Italian

Budget: Very expensive, considering this is simple cooking, but the ingredients are top quality and the portions are generous. 

Venue and atmosphere: More casual and relaxed than you might expect. Go for lunch on a sunny day and book a table outside.

Service: Friendly, knowledgeable and efficient. 

Food: At The River Café ingredients reign supreme. The focus is on seasonal, Italian and locally sourced produce, simply cooked to showcase their pure, intrinsic qualities.

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The Icelandic Pantry, Borough Market

“They say that every time you experience a new taste you add a year to your life.”

I’m not sure who “they” are, but if it’s true then last night I added 14 years to my life. So I am inclined to agree with them. Whoever they are.

Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to a reception at The Icelandic Pantry at Borough Market. This is a special, one-off event giving Icelandic farmers, fisherman and other small-scale producers a chance to present their goods to the UK public at Borough Market. They will be there for one more day (Saturday, 10^th October) so do pop down while you have the chance.

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Ones to watch

On 1^st July I was invited by Angelica Malin of About Time Magazine to a networking dinner for bloggers at Café Rouge in Holborn. Lucky me! Café Rouge's marketing team weren't so lucky. The day they had chosen to preview the Christmas menu was one of the hottest of the year so far. Fortunately, we were just trying the starters, which were tapas-style dishes designed for sharing and thankfully quite light.

The event was a great opportunity to meet other people who love food and I especially like a couple of the blogs I discovered via the ladies behind them. 

The Little Library Café is my new favourite. It is the most imaginative concept for a food blog that I have come across in a while. Kate makes and bakes fiction

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