Category Archives: gastronomy

the blondes

28 Saturday Dec 2019

Posted by in food & drink, gastronomy, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, triana

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Every now and then clients turn into friends. This happened most recently during a Tasting Triana Tour with Edye, her husband Steven and their two daughters (aka The Blondes). Well, Steven is an honourary blonde. Anyhow, we started off as usual with a walk through Triana Market and stopping for jamón, cheese and manzanilla sherry. Then it was off to three other bars. And well, we just hit it off and everyone had such a great time. They even totally loved the fried quails, the presentation of which sometimes put people off (see below) but in fact they are delicious. By the end of the tour it was hugs all around and we continued to “chat” by text message while they were in Córdoba. Really hope they will be back.

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cathy

27 Wednesday Nov 2019

Posted by in friends, gastronomy, instagram, internet

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Yet another social media connection. Cathy sent me an email a couple of weeks ago saying “I hope you don’t think this is weird but I’ve been wanting to message you for years but never got around to it and was a little intimidated.” She went on to say that she’d be back in Sevilla soon (she’s been here many times) and that she’d love to meet up. So today was the day.

We went to Bartolomea, a place I’d been meaning to go back to for awhile (so many bars, so little time…) and since Cathy is staying right above the bar it seemed like a good time. We had a fab lunch, and a few wines, and really hit it off. Afterwards we stopped in at Vermutería Yo Soy Tu Padre for a penúltima and to visit Esteban (my future husband 😉 ). Made tentative plans with Esteban and his friend Jota to do some Bodega Research over the next month or so, which is quite exciting for me. More on that later.

Anyhow, it was lovely meeting a new friend and possible future neighbour. Cathy will be back soon and also has plans to retire somewhere in Andalucía. Meanwhile we’ll stay in touch.

La Penúltima!

an unexpected feast

19 Tuesday Nov 2019

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

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So there I was yesterday morning, settling in for a morning of writing with plans to take my WALK after lunch, when I got a message from my friend Gabriella (AKA Shawn of the North) that she and some friends were coming to town. That day. For lunch. In fact, she was texting me from the runway at Bilbao airport and wanted to know if I could recommend somewhere nice where they could eat before heading to Jerez. Tricky as they would be arriving when most (good) bars and restaurants close for the afternoon, and on top of that it was a Monday, but I knew La Antigua Abacería de San Lorenzo would be the perfect choice. And it was.

I was also invited to join them! Gabriella’s friends were a group of six, winemakers and tour operators from Rioja, so we hit it off right away. We opted for Lo Que Diga Ramón (What Ramón Says), a set menu that Ramón makes up as he goes along, and I paired our dishes with different sherry wines, giving the group a bit of sherry education before they hit Jerez. I also recommended that they eat at Mantúa while there, so they will be doing that tonight.

Needless to say I didn’t get any more work done that day. Nor did I take my walk. By the time we said our goodbyes (7-ish?) I knew I had a serious date with my comfy chair, Netflix and the cats. What a great day though!  🙂

Ramón & Carmen with son Ignacio

sherry pairing dinner at palo cortao

08 Friday Nov 2019

Posted by in gastronomy, sevilla, sherry, wine

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My life does not suck. This is International Sherry Week and one of my favourite spots in Sevilla, Palo Cortao, had organised a special 6-course sherry pairing dinner to be hosted by Sherry Ambassador Pepe Ferrer. And they invited me to join them! Yay!

As expected the food and wine pairings were spectacular. You can see what we had below. Of course every week is Sherry Week at Palo Cortao. Then have a wonderful wine list with lots of them available by the glass. If you’re in Sevilla you really should stop in.

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de perdidos al río

05 Tuesday Nov 2019

Posted by in friends, gastronomy, tapas, wine

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So I got this invitation to a wine salon being hosted at Taberna Alabardero and thought I’d pop over to see which bodegas were showing there. Then I found out that Esteban and Jota were also on their way and… well… I should have known it was not going to end with me trying a few wines and then going to do my 10,000 step walk.

Jota, Jorge, Esteban, me!, Domingo

I actually don’t like going to these events alone, and so it was great to be following Esteban around, especially as he knows a lot about wines and also knows many of the producers. Then we bumped into a couple other of his friends, Domingo and Jorge, and somehow became a group of five moving from table to table.

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