05 Wednesday Dec 2018
Posted in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars
Although I have happily hung out with Anne and Paul in Jerez on several occasions, this was the first time we have met up in Sevilla. As they happened to arrive in town the same day as the opening of my friend Ana’s new bar we stopped by there before heading out for some tapas at Palo Santo. Good times!
28 Wednesday Nov 2018
Posted in friends, gastronomy, sevilla
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So this was much more fun and interesting than I thought it would be! I was invited to an event held by Gurmé Sevilla – a chat with Michelin starred chef Ricard Camarena from Valencia (now with 2 stars!) and food critic Carlos Maribone, to be followed by a “cocktail party” afterwards, catered by La Azotea. I thought of it more of an opportunity to meet up with friends at the party. Also, I didn’t really know much about this chef, other than he had just received his second star a couple of weeks ago. And so we sat down and I took out my phone, expecting to Instagram while listening with one ear, but then Ricard starting talking…
He comes across as quite a serious and humble guy, answering the questions put to him in a thoughtful and unhurried manner. But although low-key, he was far from boring, talking about how he got started, his family, his wife (and business partner) and his thoughts about running a successful restaurant, or really a successful anything, since a lot of his opinions would apply to all kinds of endevours. Which I guess is what made it so interesting because everything he said was so relatable on different levels. He was actually quite inspiring.
Then it was time to party! I had already seen and greeted several friends on the way in, and had been especially happy to see Enrique Becerra, who was still recovering from recent surgery but now getting out and about. I also met a few new and interesting people, and talked to others I hadn’t seen in awhile. Good times.
10 Wednesday Oct 2018
Posted in food & drink, gastronomy, sevilla
This month Taberna del Alabardero is offering a special beer tasting menu at lunchtime. You can enjoy a four-course meal paired with four beers. Today we were invited to sample the tasting menu and I have to say that it was actually very good (though I don’t tend to drink beer throughout a meal). So if you love beer and good food, check it out.
05 Friday Oct 2018
Posted in events, gastronomy, hotels, sevilla
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Yes… ANOTHER event. Was kind of a crazy week that way. This time it was the inauguration of the new Quimera bar-restaurant on the rooftop of the Hotel Melia Sevilla. Pretty innit.
As well as the new rooftop area, the Meliá has recently undergone a major renovation of all its facilities, and although this was my first visit I was impressed by what I saw. We started with a tour of the main reception area and downstairs bar, which are very cleverly designed with “open frame” partitions that preserve the feeling of spaciousness, while giving a sense of intimacy to the different areas, followed by the various conference rooms, this obviously being a major target market for the hotel.
We then went upstairs to see a couple of the new rooms, a very nice standard double, and a distinctly luxurious suite with separate bedroom and living room, with a distinct “I could live there” feel to it. As a bonus there are great views of the back of the Plaza España, and also of the rooftop bar (which is on the lower roof above the reception area, not on the top roof), complete with swimming pool).
Finally to the new restaurant-bar Quimera itself, where we got to spend a pleasant couple of hours by the pool, sampling the food (actually pretty good) and wine, and listening to the entertainment – my new favourite crooner – Juanlu! By this time I was getting sufficiently tipsy to think that I could actually sing along and sound good! 😉
A fun evening, and as usual we met up with other friends that we often see at these things. Good times.
Hotel Meliá Sevilla
Dr Pedro de Castro, 1
Tel: +34 912 764 747
04 Thursday Oct 2018
Posted in food & drink, gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla, spain
This week (on October 4) I was invited, along with other journalists, bloggers and regular commentators, to the presentation of this season’s tasting menu at Restaurante Ispal. Ispal has been the dream of Pedro Sánchez-Cuerda Rodríguez (director of Grupo La Raza) for the past 15 years, and together with Antonio Bort (his executive chef), and Ispal’s new head chef Rubén García Chacón, Pedro’s dream has now been realised.
The objective of Ispal, which opened a year ago, is to showcase the traditional cooking of Sevilla, using indigenous products and providing support for local family businesses, and then reinterpreting these popular dishes by elevating them to haute cuisine. This, by definition, involves the use of the highest quality ingredients, meticulously prepared and presented.
The local ingredients include salt from the salt flats of Utrera, cheeses from Castilblanco de los Arroyos, the famous tomatoes of Los Palacios, goat kid from Los Corrales, fish from La Puebla del Río, wines from Sierra Norte de Sevilla, Ronda, and sherry wines from Jerez.
The tasting menu, which you can see below, was spectacular. Many thanks to Fernando Huibrodo for the invitation, and to the entire Ispal team, including maître Alonso Reche and sommelier Cisco Nuñez.
Pedro Sanchez-Cuerda Rodriguez – director of Grupo La Raza
Antonio Bort – executive chef of Grupo La Raza
Rubén Chacón – head chef at Ispal
Fernando Huidobro – president of Andalucía Academy of Gastronomy & Tourism
