21 Friday Apr 2017
Posted in food & drink, friends, sevilla, tapas
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This will be the first time I have been able to attend Gastro Sevilla. I have been invited to the previous editions but work and travel (and weather!) have got in the way of attending. But it’s going to be a lovely sunny day tomorrow, and I have the day off Sevilla Tapas Tours, so hey let’s do it. 🙂
19 Wednesday Apr 2017
Posted in food & drink, sevilla
So back when I met Alexis last February she told me about this new breakfast (and merienda) place next door to one of her gorgeous AirBnB apartments… and that they made their own poppyseed bagels (!!!). Well, I haven’t had bagels since I lived in Toronto, and it is the ONE THING I tell people I miss from Canada (well, when they ask me).
Anyhow, I did stop by Otto one afternoon in February just to check it out, but it wasn’t until today that I finally got over there for brekkie. And it was fabulous. Unfortunately – or very wisely – Otto owners Isidro & Serena don’t sell the bagels to takeaway. I can’t say they are the same as my favourite wood-oven baked bagels in TO, but it tasted damn fine this morning. 
They also do traditional tostadas here, with a lovely selection of extra virgin olive oils, that were recommended by Alexis. You can also get pancakes, yoghurt with granola, and several other tasty breakfast options. I will be back…
17 Monday Apr 2017
Posted in andalucia, flamenco, food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, work
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Alternative title… When Sevilla Tapas Tour Guests Become Friends.
Last night I met up with Mehrunnisa & Omair from London, who had come my way via mutual Twitter and Instagram pals. They had actually arrived in Sevilla couple of days previously but, due to Semana Santa and other obligations, it was only possible to take them out on their penultimate night in town for a flamenco & tapas tour. But we made the most of it!
I knew things were off to a great start when conversation started flowing fast and furious even before we got to the flamenco venue. And by the time we got into the sherry and tapas after the show it was clear that we were kindred spirits. It was a great night out and the time passed far too quickly, but I will look forward to getting together with M & O again on my next London Getaway – I have been promised a Pakistani food tour (yay!).
11 Tuesday Apr 2017
Posted in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, home, restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, wine
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I kind of hit the ground running after getting back from my London Getaway. I had already planned to get together with Jane & John and Sue & Monty, but before those meet ups took place I had the pleasure of being introduced (via email by Annie Manson) to Fran & Kaz Kuzui. Fran & Kaz were travelling around Andalucía, doing some research on Japanese influence on southern Spanish cuisine, and would also be spending a couple of days in Sevilla, so we arranged to meet the evening after I got home from London. They had also tried to meet up with my friend Tomoko in Jerez, but there had been an email glitch, and so I invited Tomoko to come and stay over so we could all go out together.
It was a fabulous evening. Fran is a native New Yorker who now lives in Tokyo with her husband Kaz. Aside from being film producers and art lovers, they are both also food & wine lovers, and as usual Sevilla worked its magic on them. By the end of the evening we had all become fast friends and F & K were already talking about planning a return visit to Andalucía. Come back soon! xx
10 Monday Apr 2017
Posted in andalucia, food & drink, friends, gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours
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I have “known” travel and food writer Sue Style on Twitter for a few years now, and we’ve even collaborated on a couple of articles about Sevilla and Andalucía. So I was thrilled to find out we were finally going to have a chance to meet in person.
Sue and her husband Monty were travelling with friends in Jerez and said they would have a free day in Sevilla before their flight left on the evening of lunes santo (Holy Monday) at the start of Semana Santa. This turned out to be a bit trickier than I had considered, with traffic issues and whatnot, but in the end we managed to get together for a lovely afternoon tapeo. 
After a plate of perfectly sliced jamón Ibérico and some fabulous Goya manzanilla pasada at Las Teresas we headed over to La Azotea Santa Cruz for our “main course”. One of our favourite dishes was the courgette and anchovy salad with frozen grated goat cheese. Sue loved it so much she was inspired to create her own version of it when she got home to Alsace.
As we have a mutual friend in San Sebastián – the lovely Gabriella Ranelli of Tenedor Tours (aka Shawn of the North 😉 ) – I’m thinking it would be fun to organize a San Sebastián meetup that would half-way for Sue and me.
Stay tuned…
