Category Archives: gastronomy

martha & joe

29 Monday May 2017

Posted by in friends, gastronomy, sevilla, tapas, tapas tours, twitter, twitter friends

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I first met Martha @marthakimes when she joined one of my tapas tours as a solo traveller back in November 2014. She then came back on her own last November, which included a memorable evening out with Ania @ania_marchlik at La Azotea (I think that was the night I sold Ania my old iPhone…) and since then Martha decided that Sevilla is where she would like to live when she retires. To wit, this latest trip Martha dragged invited her husband Joe with her, hoping to get him to fall in love with her adopted city.

It’s quite impressive that Sevilla has won such an honour in Martha’s heart, since she has travelled pretty much everywhere, and has seen many amazing and beautiful places. And yet, this is where she wants to be. You can see how committed she is by the tattoo she had done between her last two visits.

NO8D0 … Sevilla’s official motto

Anyhow, Martha, Joe, Peter and I got together a few times during this visit, and we did our best to convince Joe that this is also where he wants to live when he retires. I hope we succeeded, because it would be great having M & J as neighbours.

caroline & sonja

15 Monday May 2017

Posted by in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, wine

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That’s the three of us – Caroline, Sonja and me – getting nicely squiffy last Sunday afternoon in Sevilla. Where to start with these two? Caroline first got in touch with me mid-September 2011, asking about booking a tapas tour for the end of that month. And since then they just keep coming back! To date they have taken THREE different tapas tours with me. The last couple of visits we just ended up meeting for tapas, and they have always been happy to help me out doing Tapas Research. Which is really what we were doing on Sunday. Honest. So five visits in total. So far.

On this occasion Caroline was here to celebrate a Very Important Birthday and she had invited 15 other friends to join her. I helped her with organizing the group dinners, and then we finally were able to get together, just the three of us. It’s funny how time goes by but then you meet up with people again and it just feels so comfortable. Anyhow, I am now being threatened with a SIXTH VISIT 🙂 in September. Can’t wait. xx

vermouth with a view

10 Wednesday May 2017

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Vermouth (or vermut in Spanish and vermú in Andalú) has become a big deal lately, with vermouth bars popping up around town and now almost every sherry producer coming up with their very own “special recipe” version, blending sherries with botanicals and fragrant plants. Bodegas Lustau was one of the first with their red vermouth (amontillado and PX). So I was happy to be invited to the launch party for Lustau’s new white vermouth (fino and moscatel) for two reasons. First, to try the wine, which is delicious. And second, to finally go inside the most hideous eyesore tallest tower in Sevilla, where the event was being held. Although we were only about half-way up, on the 21st floor, the views were quite spectacular, but I’m afraid my opinion of the Torre Sevilla hasn’t changed.

Fun event though! As usual I got to see and chat with many of the usual suspects who attend these things, as well as make some new contacts. A nice evening. You can read more about the event (more pics too!) over on the Azahar Sevilla blog.

luís

09 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by in gastronomy, tapas tours, work

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Peter & Luís at La Azotea

I’ve known Luís (and his biz partner David) from Really Discover for many years. So it was great to run into Luís at The Office (AKA La Azotea Santa Cruz) during a meeting there with the We Love Tapas team. After the meeting Peter and I ended up having lunch with Luís and “talking shop”, which proved both interesting and illuminating. We may also end up collaborating as our tour companies are complementary rather than being in direct competition. Love chance meetings like this…

my first big group sherry tasting!

04 Thursday May 2017

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I got a call from my friend Juan from Vineria San Telmo the other day asking me if I’d be interested in giving a sherry tasting to a group of 15 people from Australia and New Zealand and so of course I said YES. Though I was also a bit nervous as it would be the first time I’d be doing this with a larger group, and also as a “presentation” rather than as part of a tapas tour. My Sherry & Tapas Tours are just as much about the food pairings as they are about sherry, so this would be something quite different.

As you can see, it was very nicely set up by Juan and we also included snacks (olives, cheese, almonds, chocolate) and some printed material for the guests to take home. And they were a great group. Not total “sherry virgins” and clearly quite knowledgeable about wines, so they asked a lot of good questions.

We tried 5 different sherries, talking about each one along with the history of the region and the sherry making process. I soon forgot about being nervous and the time flew by. Hoping to do it again now!