18 Thursday Jul 2019
Posted in friends, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars
Martha @marthakimes is back in town for a few days, so we met up for an afternoon tapeo that took us from Las Teresas to La Barra de Inchausti and then finishing at La Azotea (Martha never truly feels she has arrived in Sevilla until she’s had their filo-prawn-cheese puffs). A fun and tasty afternoon.
09 Tuesday Jul 2019
Posted in food & drink, friends, sevilla, sherry, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours
Although I have met up with Phoebe & Oli a few times while visiting London, and they have both been to Sevilla separately, this is the first time we have all met up together here. Yay!
It was a lovely day starting off with – what else? sherry and jamón – which led to a lunchtime tapeo (Las Teresas, La Barra del Inchausti, Palo Cortao). Finishing around 5 pm we took a break before meeting up again at 8.30. The plan had been to introduce them to Esteban and his fabulous vermutería Yo Soy Tu Padre and then leave them to have dinner elsewhere, but somehow one vermouth led to another, and we finished up eating rabbit ribs at La Azotea at 11 pm. Like you do.
These guys are doing a Spain roadtrip before they head back to London, pack up, and move to Australia, where Phoebe is from. So I guess that means no more London meet ups, but they assure me they will be back to Spain again before too long.
06 Saturday Jul 2019
This weekend the Consejo Regulador’s Sherry Academy was holding one of its wonderful “sherry 101” tastings in Jerez, this time featuring the Premium range by Harveys, so off I went for a quick Jerez Getaway, which included lunch at the marvelous Mantúa, but more on that later.
Poor Harveys Bristol Cream has suffered from a bad rep over the years, largely due to grannies pouring a glass of it at Christmas and then leaving it in the cupboard until the next Christmas. And frankly, any wine would be undrinkable kept in those conditions. In fact, the cream style of sherry was invented by Harveys and, unlike most creams which are a blend of oloroso (75%) and PX (25%), Bristol Cream adds fino and amontillado to the recipe, making it a more complex wine than the others. Recently the iconic blue label has had a makeover. The new bottle features a thermochromic ink logo, which changes colour as it hits the perfect serving temperature. When the sherry is cold and ready to be poured, the Harveys logo on the label will turn blue.
All the wines were excellent, with possibly the amontillado being my favourite… tough call. And as always, the presentation was interesting and informative. The monthly tastings, excellent value at 12€, start up again in October.
Harveys was founded in Bristol in 1796 by merchant William Perry. During the 19th century, Harveys became one of the largest importers of sherry from the Bay of Cadiz to the port of Bristol. Harveys Bristol Cream, created in 1882 by John Harvey II and his brother Edward, is the result of a meticulous selection of over 30 blends of Fino, Oloroso, Amontillado and Pedro Ximenez grape. It is aged in American oak casks using the traditional system of soleras and criaderas and is a global icon of sherry.
05 Friday Jul 2019
Posted in friends, restaurants, sevilla, sherry, spain
What a lovely to surprise when Jason @CortadoIngles got in touch to say that he and his wife Louise @ingamell would be in town this week, as part of Jason’s 50th Birthday Roadtrip. So we met up for an afternoon of sherry and seafood. Great catching up. Oh, and you can listen to Jason’s new album Distance of Hope here…
04 Thursday Jul 2019
Posted in events, restaurants, sevilla
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Grupo La Raza invited a group of us “usual suspects” to try out their Tastes of the World menu at brand new T-Raza (terraza) restaurant. The venue is impressive, with a cocktail bar at street level and a large terrace restaurant overlooking the river.
T-Raza will only be open during the summer months, but the space is available for private events throughout the year. You can see the menu below. I suspect I was the only one at our table who had actually tasted the original versions of these dishes (other than a poké bowl), and of course Caesar salad didn’t originate in Italy, but it was a fun evening a lovely time out.
