Category Archives: gastronomy

chef john

08 Tuesday Sep 2020

Posted by in gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla

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Back in July chef John Grabecki @grabecki1 got in touch with me about his new project Gitana Tapas @gitana.tapas which he hopes to start up in Sevilla soon. So after a bit of whatsapping, and also waiting after he arrived here to pass 14 days without any obvious covid symptoms, we met up for lunch at La Barra de Inchausti.

Some people (me included, initially) might think it’s a crazy idea for a chef from London to come to Sevilla in the middle of a pandemic to start a new business. On the other hand, well, why not? I should know better than anyone that sometimes you just have to follow your heart, and John not only has some family ties here (his sister is married to a Sevillano) but he also just loves it here.

Anyhow, lovely lunch, lovely company, and I am happy to help him out with connections, etc. So watch this space! Also go give John and Gitana Tapas a follow on Instagram!  🙂

out and about

21 Tuesday Jul 2020

Posted by in gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars, welcome

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out and about (1)
Have decided to try and get out and about once a week to visit my friends and their bars and restaurants. This was basically the idea behind the Patreon page, and so far I’ve got 4 patrons! So this money will go directly into keeping Sevilla Tapas alive, allowing me to keep it updated. But it also means I get to see my friends! Bonus.  🙂

On this outing I stopped in at Lama La Uva to see Ana Linares and enjoy a glass of manzanilla while catching up on all her news. And she had plenty! That gurl does not stay still. She hinted at a new project that she says she can’t talk about yet, a bit like naming your baby before it’s born. Meanwhile, she has expanded the menu at her second location Lama La Uva Sol, so I will have to get back there soon. Ana has been active all throughout the lockdown, offering online wine tastings and home delivery. She’s an unstoppable force of nature that one.

out and about (2)

Next stop was lunch at the recently reopened Lalola Restaurante, run by chef Javi Abascal in the spectacular courtyard of the boutique Hotel Conde de Torrejón. Speaking of unstoppable forces of nature… Javi (aka El Rey de la Casquería) is a social media monster and reopened last week with a bang, with a new menu, organised tasting menu events and a take-away option.

As always, the food was exceptional and the courtyard is bright and airy, so proper social distancing of tables is not a problem. The only sad bit was not being able to get the usual Javi bear hug, one of my favourite hugs in the city.  😉

out about

  • Succulent tuna belly with tangy tomate frito
  • Sautéed rabbit kidneys with mushrooms, potatoes, reisling sauce
  • Abanico Ibérco, grilled to crusty tender pink perfection
  • Silky buttery dijony mash

let’s lunch!

13 Monday Jul 2020

Posted by in amigos, food & drink, gastronomy, restaurants, tapas bars, video

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So we are just a week away from the first Amigo del Día campaign, called Let’s Lunch (Quedamos a Comer!), which I first mentioned to you all at the beginning of June. This is a non-profit initiative started by Chelsea Anton, with the aim of helping to promote independent bars and restaurants around the world as they begin to reopen after the Covid shutdown, and also while they recover.

The idea behind Let’s Lunch has evolved since its inception and is now simply a “challenge” to ask a friend to lunch at your favourite bar or restaurant, take photos and promote them on your social media using the following hashtags: #letslunch #quedamosacomer #amigodeldia. This is a global initiative and so you can take part anywhere you are. For some inspiration have a look at some of the places that have already registered for the event, which will tak place between July 20-30th.

AMIGO DEL DÍA – LET’S LUNCH

If you (or someone you know) have a bar or restaurant and would like to be featured on the Amigo del Día site, there is still time to register.  Meanwhile, who wants to meet me for lunch next week?  🙂

lockdown takeaway lunch

10 Wednesday Jun 2020

Posted by in coronavirus, friends, gastronomy, lockdown, lockdown sevilla, sevilla

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lunch (3)

So remember Dan & Deb? They are home in London wishing they were here, and cooking up a storm on Dan’s Instagram @dan.jamon. We’ve been staying in touch, and looking forward to meeting up again some day at Las Teresas. THEN, I got a surprise voice message from Jeanine (La Azotea) the other day saying that those two lovelies had purchased a voucher for me to get some home delivery. So nice of them! As you know, I am still mostly keeping myself in Phase 1 of the de-escalation process, while the rest of the country has moved on to Phase 3. Which means I still haven’t dared to go out to a bar or restaurant, even for a Cold Beer O’clock. And as much as cooking lunch has been one of the things saving me from going completely bonkers from boredom at home, this was a total treat. Really my dream La Azotea meal.

lunch (1)

I got one of the saquitas (crispy pastry filled with prawns, cheese and leeks), my favourite battered prawn salad with kimchi sauce, THOSE rabbit ribs and a bottle of Chan de Rosas albariño. Heaven.

Gotta say that La Azotea was the first restaurant in Sevilla (that I know of) to start offering pick up and delivery services. They were on it just like that, up and running four days after Lockdown. Impressive. Jeanine and Juan along with their amazing team have been keeping Sevilla fed and happy all this time, and now it was my turn thanks to Dan & Deb.

lunch (2)Jeanine with my delivery
it was SO hard not to give her a big hug

azotea teamTeam Azotea

Now La Azotea is open for restaurant service (at their Conde de Barajas location) and they have everything perfectly set up for proper social distancing, and are also continuing with take-away and delivery service. Whatever it takes, these guys are there for you. xx

amigo del día

01 Monday Jun 2020

Posted by in food & drink, gastronomy, restaurants, spain, welcome

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twitter header

So a couple of weeks ago my friend, and fellow sherry educator, Chelsea Anthon @chelsea_anthon got in touch to tell me about her new non-profit initiative Amigo del Día. It sounded like a great idea to me, so when she asked if I wanted to help out of course I was happy to get involved. For those of you who don’t know Chelsea, she is the founder and driving force behind Sherry Week, which has helped put sherry wines on the international map.

The idea behind Amigo del Día is to help promote independent bars and restaurants as they begin to reopen after the Covid shutdown, and also while they recover. The first campaign is called Let’s Lunch and it is based on the Spanish lunchtime set menu (menu del día) which traditionally includes a starter, main course, dessert, and beverage. Restaurants can register on the website and upload their own menu del día, which they will offer to the public between July 20-30. Registration is free of charge, as is the all the promotion provided, including material that can be downloaded.

For an extra fee Amigo del Día is offering restaurants the option of a menu app that their customers can access by scanning a QR Code with their phones. This digital menu is free for Amigo del Día participants from now until August 1st.

Within a couple of weeks hungry customers will be able to start searching on the Amigo del Día website for participating restaurants in their city, see the menus and check options available (takeaway, delivery, eat-in). They will also be able contact restaurants directly to either book a table or place orders.

It’s still early days but I remember the early days of Sherry Week too and believe that this initiative has legs. I think it’s a great way of not only helping our favourite bars and restaurants get back on their feet, but also to stay with us. Because the effects of Covid are going to be with us for some time to come. And remember that this is an international affair, so you can also look up great places to eat for once we get back to travelling again. I’m so happy to be a part of this.

If you’d like to help spread the word, and help get your own favourite restaurants involved, get in touch by emailing hola@amigodeldia.org and let them know you’d like to be a part of the Amigo del Día team of global ambassadors.

Meanwhile, you can follow @amigodeldia on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.