Category Archives: spain

bar rioja

24 Wednesday Oct 2018

Posted by in sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars

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A positive outcome of yesterday’s duvet disaster was that I revisited a very unique bar that, although in my neighbourhood, I’d only been to once before. I mean, it’s tiny, and so I always supposed it was just a place for a quick beer. Which was why I was there this time, while waiting for my duvet to finish washing at the laundrette just up the street. But then I saw they did a lot of fresh fish tapas, as well as some traditional stews and other meat dishes. We opted for a dish of chicharrones to go with the beer, but I will definitely be back.

ispal – new chef, new menu

04 Thursday Oct 2018

Posted by in food & drink, gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla, spain

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This week (on October 4) I was invited, along with other journalists, bloggers and regular commentators, to the presentation of this season’s tasting menu at Restaurante Ispal. Ispal has been the dream of Pedro Sánchez-Cuerda Rodríguez (director of Grupo La Raza) for the past 15 years, and together with Antonio Bort (his executive chef), and Ispal’s new head chef Rubén García Chacón, Pedro’s dream has now been realised.

The objective of Ispal, which opened a year ago, is to showcase the traditional cooking of Sevilla, using indigenous products and providing support for local family businesses, and then reinterpreting these popular dishes by elevating them to haute cuisine. This, by definition, involves the use of the highest quality ingredients, meticulously prepared and presented.

The local ingredients include salt from the salt flats of Utrera, cheeses from Castilblanco de los Arroyos, the famous tomatoes of Los Palacios, goat kid from Los Corrales, fish from La Puebla del Río, wines from Sierra Norte de Sevilla, Ronda, and sherry wines from Jerez.

The tasting menu, which you can see below, was spectacular. Many thanks to Fernando Huibrodo for the invitation, and to the entire Ispal team, including maître Alonso Reche and sommelier Cisco Nuñez.

Pedro Sanchez-Cuerda Rodriguez – director of Grupo La Raza
Antonio Bort – executive chef of Grupo La Raza
Rubén Chacón – head chef at Ispal
Fernando Huidobro – president of Andalucía Academy of Gastronomy & Tourism

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sevilla silver anniversary

17 Monday Sep 2018

Posted by in 25th anniversary, casa azahar, cats, home, sevilla, spain

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Yesterday was my Sevilla Silver Anniversary! 25 years ago I moved into that studio apartment up there in calle Mateos Gago, which was where I spent my first year in Sevilla. It was a memorable day for many reasons, arriving in town at precisely 8 pm on September 16th after a long drive from Salamanca with all my worldly possessions and two screaming cats (Lua and Sunny). And THEN having to wait in the car for three hours because the landlord was late. Luckily we found parking right out front, and the friendly gang at Bar Campanario brought drinks and snacks out to the car for us.

Somehow this year the date had slipped my mind, so there was no time to organize a special party like I did for my 20th anniversary. Though that party didn’t take place on the 16th either, so I guess there’s still time. We’ll see.

To celebrate I almost did another getaway with Peter, this time to Mérida and Cáceres (which would have also fit as they were on my route Salamanca-Sevilla), but that was also a bit too last minute to organize. So instead I met Peter at midday yesterday and we went on a little tapeo, visiting some of the places I’ve known and loved all this time – Las Teresas, Bodeguita Romero, Casa Román – and finishing at La Azotea (where Bar Campanario used to be). It was a lovely day.

Back then it would never have occurred to me that I would end up working with all these fabulous bars on my Sevilla Tapas Tours. Something that has become somewhat tainted by recent copy-cat tours (while we were at Las Teresas one was there with a big group, overtaking the bar, being loud and obvious, and ruining the natural bar ambiance) but you know what? I was there long before these wanna-bes and I also know they are merely “tolerated” by my bars, not loved by them like I am. It’s a shame these other companies can’t use their imagination and create their own tours like I did. After all, there are more than 3,000 tapas bars in Sevilla.

But yeah, I’ve come a long way. From a young-ish 36-year-old arriving in this glorious city on a wing and a prayer in 1993. And after close to 15 years teaching English, and then almost 2 years being laid low by cancer and treatment, I ended up finding the work I was always meant to do. I get to meet people from all over the world, share my experiences to optimize their enjoyment of Sevilla and its fabulous food and wine, and – I won’t lie 😉 – I also get to TALK A LOT. Love it.

So… 25 years.  Wow. Seriously wow.