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Category Archives: friends

double duty

06 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by azahar in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, sherry, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours

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sherry, tapas, tapas bars

I can’t remember the last time I did two tapas tours in one day, but it’s been a few years. In fact, these days I won’t even go out for lunch if I have a tour in the evening… getting too old! But then the other day my friend Tomoko got in touch and asked if I could take out a visiting Japanese chef on Saturday. I already had a private tour booked for the evening but decided to take Yoshi out at lunchtime. I just couldn’t turn down the opportunity of taking out a Japanese chef who runs a tapas bar in Tokyo. And it was great fun. Yoshi’s English is a bit better than his Spanish and so we got by speaking Spanglish and using lots of gestures. Also the wine helped. We managed five tapas bars and god knows how much food (for the record, he was eating most of it!) and we finished off having vermouth at Esteban’s fabulous Vermutería. Then I had to go home and sober up for my evening tour!

I had provided Yoshi with a couple of other tapas bar options for Sunday afternoon (he was leaving town at 5 pm for Madrid) and as it happened I was passing by one of the bars after my midday WALK, so I stopped in and we got to visit a bit more. Finally I dropped him off at the bus stop to get back to his hotel. Honestly, he was lovely and everybody who met him was charmed. He’s in Madrid now with my MADRID LIST so I hope he fares well. When he first arrived in Sevilla he told Tomoko he wasn’t impressed and probably wouldn’t be back, but after his time out with me he says he LOVES Sevilla and is already planning to come back next year. Yay!

pre-nye celebration

30 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by azahar in fiestas, food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars

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new year, sevilla, tapas, vermouth


Another impromptu celebration, this time the day before New Year’s Eve. Claudia & Paul had met my darling boy Esteban @vermuteriayosoytupadre the week before at newly opened La Casa del Tigre, but they had not yet visited his fabulous vermutería. So that’s how a quick stop for a vermouth ended up segueing into lunch there and later on closing up and having dinner at La Antigua Abacería de San Lorenzo. Good times!

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christmukkah!

27 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by azahar in casa azahar, cats, christmas, food & drink, friends

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christmas, friends, hanukkah, sevilla

So Martha is back in town! And so we planned to meet up on Christmas day for a Christmas Hanukkah mash-up at my place. Well, first we had to stop at Las Teresas for jamón and cava. Then it was back to Casa Azahar for the carrillada al oloroso I’d prepared the day before. We were also prepped, wearing comfy clothes and ready to eat, drink and watch Christmas movies with the cats. And so we did. And it was fabulous.  🙂


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another family christmas party!

26 Thursday Dec 2019

Posted by azahar in christmas, family, friends, sevilla

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christmas, family, friends, sevilla

Following the lovely pre-Christmas Eve family dinner on Monday was an actual Christmas Eve dinner, this time with the family of my pal Jota (owner of La Chalá and Lola por Diós), and our friend Esteban (Vermutería Yo Soy Tu Padre) and his mother. When I arrived Jota was busy in the kitchen – he prepared the entire meal on his own – so I chatted with his parents and other family and friends while we waited for Esteban and Tanya to arrive. Everyone was so charming and friendly… and as it turned out most of them are originally from Galicia.

As you can see, it really was a feast. Not showing are the four thousand desserts and endless bottles of wine… I ended up rolling home around 2.30 and was far from chipper on Christmas morning. But it was another wonderful family gathering. I think this has been my best ever Christmas in Sevilla!

Fabulous feast!

My boys! Jota & Esteban ❤

family christmas party

23 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by azahar in christmas, family, friends

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christmas, family, friends, party, sevilla

I was thrilled to be invited to a pre-Christmas family lunch by María Paz (on the right in photo), whom I’ve known since I first arrived in Sevilla over 26 years ago. I thought it was just going to be a casual thing with immediate family so imagine my surprise when I got to her place to find about 30 people spanning 4 generations gathered around various tables set up for the meal. This was supposed to be their usual Christmas Eve gathering, but some of the grandchildren were leaving the next morning for Madrid so they decided it move it up a day.

It was a potluck affair with everyone bringing something they’d prepared at home, with the star dish being María Paz’s famous partridge in chocolate. But really, all the food was wonderful, and there was so much of it. Plus plenty of wine, and desserts galore. I could barely move when it was finally time to move. In typical Spanish fashion, lunch finally finished around 8 pm, but this also included a lengthy sobremesa and everyone (one at a time to cheers and applause) opening their Secret Santa gift. It was total chaos most of the time and I totally loved it. Such a lovely way to start Christmas.  🙂

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