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Category Archives: gastronomy

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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the blondes

28 Saturday Dec 2019

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

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sevilla, tapas, tapas tours, tasting triana tour, triana


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 azahar in friends, gastronomy, instagram, internet

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friends, instagram, internet, social media

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

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friends, sevilla, tapas

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

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