Category Archives: food & drink

más research

14 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by in food & drink, sevilla, spain, tapas

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mas que postres
A typical Saturday used to be going out late morning to do the weekly grocery store and market shopping, then maybe stopping in for a quick pringá and a beer on the way home for lunch… it’s been ages since I’ve done that. Another thing I used to like doing on Saturdays was RESEARCH. And so, as I knew I’d be seeing a demo by pastry chef Manu Jara at next week’s Andalucía Sabor, I thought I’d finally head over to Triana to check out the new cake and pastry shop he opened there in the spring. I came across it quite by accident one night just after Semana Santa and have been meaning to get back to it ever since.

Well, one thing led to another and I also ended up in Triana market, marvelling at how it had gone all gourmet in the past – what? – three months? So many changes. And so instead of catching up on my massive backlog of reviews and updates for Sevilla Tapas I ended up creating more work for myself by coming home with a huge whack of photos and three new reviews to write. But it was a lovely Saturday morning and afternoon out. And I now have a new “Bakery and Pastry Shop” section for Sevilla Tapas. You can read the review (and see more yummy pics) here: Más Que Postres on Sevilla Tapas

What’s your favourite way to spend Saturday?

sherry, manzanilla & montilla

10 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by in food & drink, tapas, tapas tours, wine

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sherry bookI was crushed to find out that I’d missed my chance to sign up for the first Sherry Master course being offered by Gonzalez-Byass in Jerez earlier this month. Well, I knew that I wouldn’t exactly be a true sherry master after a two-day event, but it would have helped with my education in order to get my Introduction to Sherry tours going, and it would have also been a lot of fun.

Then I came across this recently-published book that I’d been hearing about on Twitter by Peter LIem and Jesus Barquín called Sherry, Manzanilla & Montilla. So I read a couple of reviews and decided to order it, thinking it would be a good place to begin a bit of “formal training” in terms of learning more about the world of sherry. It arrived yesterday. Now I just have to find time to read it! Looks like I’m going to be crazy busy most of this month.

Like now. Just home from a morning Market & Tapas Tour and a bit later will be going out on an evening Sevilla Tapas Tour. I think I need to clone myself…

mixing business with pleasure

05 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by in food & drink, friends, work

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edu juan
A very long time ago when I was in my twenties and still not sure what it was I wanted to do with my life, what sort of work I wanted to do, the only thing I did know is that I wanted my work to be the same thing I’d want to do anyhow when I got out of bed in the morning. And finally it is. This was a typical work day (but without a tapas tour) in which I mixed business with pleasure. I got up early and did some work, still catching up from being away in Málaga the previous week. Then I headed out to the gym before meeting my friend Eduardo (left) for lunch at the Vineria San Telmo, owned by my friend and client Juan (right).

Edu runs a private travel and concierge service called Different Spain and we were just catching up, though we all ended up talking business a bit because for all of us our work has become a part of who we are. There are no specific work hours and no weekends and I know we all like it that way. After our leisurely lunch (which was also “work” in a way as I took photos to use later on blogs, twitter and FB) I got home around 5 o’clock and worked on social media stuff and photo editing for about three more hours. And then I had a rare evening in, putting my feet up to watch a bit of telly with the cats. I think what I like best is that there aren’t any typical work days for me, and that my job is also my social life. The only thing missing is that I’d like to travel more, but that may be happening once my trip planning project gets off the ground.

What do you like best about what you do?
What would you change about it?

biz and pleasure

málaga tuesday

27 Tuesday Aug 2013

Posted by in animals & pets, food & drink, friends, Malaga, spain, tapas, travel, trips, twitter

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malaga tuesday
Woke up this morning with a very cuddly Morcilla purring all over the place. I think she misses her playmates a bit and has become a bit clingy here, so I’m giving her lots of extra attention. Then while I was having coffee and having a look online I got a message from twitter pal David @IrlandesnMalaga about maybe meeting up today, something we never managed to do the last time I was here. And it was looking like we might not manage it this time as David kept suggesting early morning coffee somewhere since he is busy in the afternoons but – you know – I’m on holiday! And my lazy slow mornings are so lovely…

Finally David reorganised his schedule so we could meet at noon for a “quick beer” and a chat, which ended up stretching out for almost four hours and included a walk over to the market for some seafood at Cafe-Bar Atarazanas after we’d had some snacks at my “local” bar Los Gatos. David brought along his rescue pup Nina, who is such a sweetie. Her background is a sad one, first with an abusive owner, then spending two years at a shelter, before David took her home. And you can tell she is well-loved and happy now, lucky girl.

Anyhow, David and I were trying to figure out when we first met and turns out it was three years ago, one of the times I was here doing some work for the Málaga winery. Three years! So we had a nice time catching up and sharing all our news. Have I ever mentioned how much I love Twitter? I mean, yesterday I’d stopped in at Los Gatos for a quick beer before lunch and suddenly got a tweet from Mark & Jo saying they were in town shopping and that I should stay put – five minutes later they met me for a quick drink and visit before they had to head home to Estepa! And most of this week will also be filled with going out with friends I mostly met on Twitter. Nice.

Now I think I’ll take an evening stroll and stop for a tapita somewhere. It’s supposed to get all stormy here this week so I want to get out as much as possible while the lovely warm (but not too hot) weather holds.

What did you do today?