30 Thursday May 2024
Posted in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas tours
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What a lovely surprise to see Ishay again after… 9 years! Last time we were together was in London as part of a Foodie Hub global meet up. Ishay got in touch while I was in Jerez to say she’d be in town for a couple of days with her friend Tuanni and so last night they joined me on a tapas tour with a lovely couple from Australia. We had a great time and it was lovely to her again and catch up. Our last meal together (below) at Kitty Fisher’s in London.
21 Tuesday May 2024
Posted in andalucia, gastro guias, gastronomy, sevilla, spam
Today the Gastro Guías executive committee (don’t we sound posh!) met with Paco Ybarra and Claudia Guardiola from the Cruzcampo Foundation to to talk about possible workshops or courses that might be possible for our guides. Paco is the head chef of the foundation’s cooking school and Claudia is the foundation manager. It was a great meeting and we came away with so many ideas and, more importantly, we made another great contact that is keen on helping our association.
I mean, I already know Paco because he is also with the Academia Sevillana de Gastronomía y Turismo (we were both accepted as members at the same time last year) but I was surprised to discover Claudia is the sister of Jaime and Eduardo, both of whom I’ve known for ages. Really love the connections.
Step by step. I know we are going somewhere with this. I also know it’s been a steep learning curve for all four of us founding members and that in spite of some ups and downs we work very well together. Really proud to be a part of this whole adventure.
07 Tuesday May 2024
Posted in friends, gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla, tapas
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Lorena & Carmen
Last week I heard about this brand new restaurant that had just opened in my ‘hood so I asked my friend Reyes (tapas bar royalty and owner of Casa Morales) if she wanted to try it out with me. And well of course she did! This place is run by a young couple, Lorena (chef) and Carmen (front of house) who spent two summers running a beach restaurant in Punta Umbría before moving to Sevilla. This new location has seating for just 24, it’s cosy and minimalist, and omg the food is amazing.
Lorena, Carmen, Iván, Reyes & Jesús
While Reyes and I were eating my pal (and fellow Sevilla Academia member) Chencho showed up as he was also about to write something about Augurio for his long-running food blog. After he left Iván (chef and owner of Michelin-recommended Ivantxu) came in with a friend to eat, and later Jesús (co-owner of La Cayetana around the corner) stopped in for a coffee after his lunch service finished. And well, I mean… I had to take a photo. It was just so lovely to see see friends, colleagues and neighbours supporting each other and once again I was reminded how lucky I am to be a part of this fabulous, creative (and delicious!) local community.
26 Friday Apr 2024
Posted in friends, gastronomy, getaways
Met up with Anne & Paul at the Vinos de España event in Jerez yesterday and afterwards Paul treated us to a splendid lunch at the new El Bichero location just outside the city. El Bichero is famed for its fish and seafood and used to be in the centre of town just off the Plaza del Arenal. This new place has a distinct country club feel to it with sweeping views from the terrace (where we ended up enjoying an after-lunch penúlitima). After that it was back to theirs for yet another penúltima before heading home.
Thanks again for such a great afternoon and for treating us Anne & Paul. See you at Vinoble!
09 Tuesday Apr 2024
Posted in gastro guias, gastronomy, sevilla
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Sevirol is a brand new totally sevillano aperitif, a riff on aperol but this version is less bitter with the smell and taste of orange and orange blossom… Sevilla in a glass. This week the Gastro Guías had a private tasting of Sevirol, their two own-brand cavas (white and rosé) and a special cocktail for Feria – La Sevirolita 🍹 
casa azahar 