Category Archives: friends

back to madrid!

28 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by in andalucia, friends, gastronomy, getaways, madrid

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So while I was away in Galicia I got an invitation to the Spanish book launch of my friend José Pizarro’s Andalucía, which is being held in Madrid on October 30th. You may recall I went to London in May for a event at the Spanish Embassy that included celebrating José’s 25 years as a chef and was also the launch for the English version of this book. But you know, I want to be there to support José and so I booked my train to Madrid and a hotel for a couple of nights, even though I can’t exactly afford to travel right now.

And THEN something amazing happened. Out of the blue I was asked by Decanter Magazine to write another city break travel piece for them… on Madrid! This is my third commission from Decanter in a year, and I am thrilled about that. But also, it will end up paying for my trip and I can use my time there to do research for the article. How perfect is that?  🙂

lucy

23 Wednesday Oct 2019

Posted by in friends, tapas, tapas bars

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I first met Lucy @sparkybakewell at my 20th anniversary party seven years ago. Since then we’ve bumped into each other at various events or in the street, but more recently Lucy has become one of my Tapas Research pals. Turns out we have similar tastes in food and wine and it’s always helpful to have another opinion (as well as an extra stomach to be able to try more dishes).

On this occasion I was invited to lunch for two at the newly opened Barra Baja, since I had to miss their inauguration party last week. Food was great, not too sure about the wine list though. Full review will be up on Sevilla Tapas soon.

madrid getaway 2019

14 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by in friends, gastronomy, getaways, madrid

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On my way to ENBHIGA 2019, starting off in Madrid. The official “cocktail party” meet up at the hotel was scheduled for 9 pm, but I came into town at midday to meet pal Andrew @undertheflor and have lunch at La Retasca, the latest venture by chef Juanjo López.

It’s always fun meeting up with Andrew, and this was a place he’d been wanting to go to as well. I left my bag at the station and walked to La Retasca, somehow missed my turn off and arrived late, which was unfortunate because Andrew was on a tight schedule. So it was short and sweet, with the company way better than the food.

Then it was back to the station to collect my bag and taxi over to the Hotel Nuevo Madrid, which was way the hell out somewhere I’d never been before. Checked in and went down to meet the group that was to be my travelling companions over the next few days. I’m so not good at group stuff, especially meet and greets. Lovely to see Jorge & Anna again of course, and also Twitter pal Rachel @R_McCormack from Scotland, but l snuck away while desserts were being served because it was going to be an early morning and long (5 hour!) bus ride to Ourense in the morning.

Rachel, Jorge, Anna, Pepe

more fun with paul!

11 Friday Oct 2019

Posted by in friends, instagram, social media, tapas, tapas bars, twitter, twitter friends

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Yet another Twitter/Instagram Pal, Paul @pauljwhite is from Newcastle but he spends a lot of time travelling, especially to Spain. We first met in person earlier this year when he was in Sevilla and he’s been back a couple of times since. And guess what? He loves doing Tapas Research!

He was also very helpful this time because one of our dishes arrived way overcooked. As I had already *ahem* mentioned a couple of other things to the waiter I asked Paul if he could send back the offending tapa. Well, Paul speaks next to no Spanish, and the waiter spoke no English, so I called the waiter over and just pointed to Paul, who picked up a piece of the dried out solomillo with such a perfect scowly face and kind of shook the dead meat around… that plate was removed SO FAST and was quickly replaced with a perfectly cooked version. Ha.

Looking forward to Paul’s next visit in January, and to meeting his daughter Molly. 🙂

the renoir boys

01 Tuesday Oct 2019

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

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The boys were back in town for a brief stopover before heading to the Cádiz coast, so we met up for a tapeo. I’d first met Frank back in February when he was passing through and his friend Michael @renoirguides (who I’d known for ages on Twitter and first met in person last May in London) suggested we meet up. This time their friend Pankaj was with them and we spent a lovely evening bar hopping, eating, drinking, walking, talking… and finishing with penúltimas and desserts. Good times.  🙂