10 Tuesday Oct 2017
Posted in food & drink, friends, sevilla
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Sometimes only a pizza will do, right? And my favourite place for a pizza is in front of the original Casa Azahar in calle Mateos Gago, at L’Oca Giuliva. This was a diavola “devil” pizza, hinting that it would be hot and spicy, but of course I would have sprinkled more chillis on it. Wonderful pizza though, with (for my taste) the best crust in town. I’d be in big trouble if they ever started a home delivery service.
09 Monday Oct 2017
Posted in friends, sevilla, tapas, tapas tours
Every now and then the fabulous Victor @welovemalaga whips through town on one of his many special Mediterranean group tours, which usually give me a small window of one hour in Sevilla to meet up with him. This time it coincided with a visit from the “Cheeky Pigs” Stephen & Julia (who also know Victor from previous visits), and so we all met at one of our new favourite tapas bars Berrinche. A short and sweet visit, but always better than nothing.
05 Thursday Oct 2017
Posted in food & drink, friends, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars
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Yes, it’s true. The fabulous Julie & Steven (AKA Julia & Esteban) ARE BACK IN TOWN. This time to spend almost a week here in our gloriously HOT & SUNNY October weather. And of course, to go out with meeeeee! We got off to a good start last night with a bottle of Juvé & Camps cava at the Corte Inglés Gourmet Experience before I whisked them off to one of my new favourite bars Bodega Palo Santo. Looking forward to us being vecinos again for awhile. xx
27 Wednesday Sep 2017
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The last time London friends Naomi & Andrew (@gingergourmand @andrewknill) were here – two years ago – it was to celebrate Andrew’s 40th birthday, which also coincided with a visit from Anna (@annalibera). This time they are here for a short kid-free break and some sunshine.
I have armed them with a list of new sherry bars and other places they haven’t been to yet, and also met them for a fabulous 3-hour lunch at La Azotea (Zaragoza). It was great catching up and giving them a quick(ish) bit of sherry education. Next London visit we definitely have to meet up.
18 Monday Sep 2017
Posted in friends, gastronomy, tapas
The last time Sara & Steve were in Sevilla was five years ago, though I have met up with them in London twice since then. Much has changed since their last visit, including lots of new tapas bars for them to try out. Here they are after our fab lunch at Palo Santo… I’m really looking forward to spending time with them over the next week or so, possibly even taking a day trip to Jerez.
14 Thursday Sep 2017
About a million years ago (okay, it was 1998) Alex was my flatmate for six months when I was living in Mateos Gago and had to take in lodgers to help pay the rent. Anyhoodle… imagine my surprise when Alex got in touch a few weeks ago and said he was coming back to Sevilla for a conference and that he’d love to meet up.
Since I am still battling that pesky cold thang – and also working – we planned to meet up later in the week. But he ended up surprising me while I was “on tour” last night. He had gone for tapas with some colleagues at Vineria San Telmo, and while they were enjoying their dinner on the terrace he asked one of the waiters, “So, do you know Shawn?” and he said “Yeah, she’s sitting inside”. Ha!
And so at one moment when I got up from the table to get something for my clients I turned and literally bumped into Alex. Wow. BIG HUGS all around. What a lovely surprise. And after the tour we went out for a couple of penúlitimas, talking well into the wee hours. It was so great catching up and sharing our memories that we’re planning to do it again tomorrow night.
12 Tuesday Sep 2017
Posted in food & drink, friends, sevilla, spain
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The other day I got an email from Steph, an Australian woman who is travelling around Spain this month. She had just spent some time with my friend Gabriella @tenedor in San Sebastián and asked if I had any tours available for her to join while she was in Sevilla. Well, the only possibility was for her to join another couple on a Flamenco & Tapas tour on her last night in town (yesterday), which she happily did, but we also got together for lunch on Sunday – that’s Steph up there happily chowing down on some fried blood and onions – and I also gave her my handy tapas bar “short list” for her to use before the tour.
It was so much fun meeting her, and then last night going out with Diana & Peter, who were also lovely. I honestly feel so blessed that my work (including social media stuff) puts me in touch with so many amazing people.
30 Wednesday Aug 2017
Posted in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla, tapas, twitter, twitter friends
Another meeting with a Twitter pal. This one was a bit unusual as I have known Francisco (the guy with the beard) online for over five years. We have almost met up a couple of times, but somehow it never worked out. This time he invited me to a new restaurant/bar run by his friend & chef Marcos (left) called La Grulla, and we finally got to meet in person. The unusual thing about this is that Francisco lives in Sevilla, so meeting up shouldn’t have taken so long. Anyhow, I also got to meet two other foodie friends of his, Eduardo and Miguel, and we spent a pleasant afternoon “talking shop” and comparing notes about various bars and restaurants in town, while chef Marcos kept bringing us wonderful dishes to try and keeping our glasses full. Good times!
26 Saturday Aug 2017
I always love taking day trips with Victor @welovemalaga when I am visiting Málaga, and this time we chose to go to Archidona after I discovered that Victor had never been there. A rare treat for me to show him something new! As Peter @svqconcierge would be arriving in town Saturday morning we decided that would be a good day for all three of us to go, though I should have done my homework better as we missed the opening time for the Virgen de Gracia convent and castle. But we went up the mountain anyhow and were treated to some spectacular views.
We also had lunch at Arxiduna Restaurant, uniquely located inside caves in the main square (also unique for being the only octagonal square in Spain). I’ll be updating their page soon. I’d let them know that I was coming back and booked a table and, well, we were treated like royalty and given a special tasting menu. But more on that later.
On the way home Victor took a detour through the beautiful Montes de Málaga, a magnificent natural park and, as always, I learned so much more about this region and its history. Victor is not only a fount of knowledge but a gifted story teller. By the time we got back to Málaga we were zonked, so Peter went to crash at his hotel and I came “home” to shower and spent a lovely evening in Netflixing. The only thing missing was Morcilla…
Peter & Victor in Plaza de la Victoria, Archidona
Restaurante Arxiduna
21 Monday Aug 2017
… I was enjoying Beer O’clock (and pulpo!) with these two lovelies, Anna & Jorge (aka @thekilomEATers) in Santiago de Compostela. I haven’t done nearly as much travelling this summer as I did last (Málaga, London, Madrid, Santiago), mostly because of THE MOVE, but tomorrow I am taking off for another Málaga Getaway. Looking forward to getting back to my “second home”.
