Tags
Lovely to see my lovely friends featured in the autumn issue of Gurmé Magazine! You can see it here…
gurmé amigos
23 Wednesday Sep 2020
Posted in friends, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars
Category Archives: tapas bars
not for sale
18 Friday Sep 2020
Posted in sevilla, tapas, tapas bars
Tags
You may have noticed over the past few weeks that I have been putting up a lot of posts and stories on Instagram and FB about bars and restaurants that have reopened in Sevilla, as well as (since lockdown) posting archive pics of places that I hoped would be returning soon.
I just want to make it clear that I am doing this because I love these bars, I respect the people running them, and I want to help out in any way I can. Some places have asked if I could put something up, others I’ve just done on my own. And I am happy to do so, either way. But to be clear… I am not being paid to do this. My opinion is not for hire.
People often have the idea that I am always eating out for free and this isn’t true at all. I guess that makes me a lousy “influencer” 😉 . Sure, I sometimes get invited but I’d say that 99.9% of the time I am paying my way (and tipping well).
This has been a huge struggle for all of us. My life has also been turned upside down. But l think the best way forward is to work together and lend a hand whenever possible. ❤️
my 27th sevilla anniversary
16 Wednesday Sep 2020
Posted in casa azahar, friends, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars
Twenty-seven years ago today I drove down from Salamanca with a friend and with all my worldly belongings in the back of his car, along with some precious cargo – my two cats Lua and her son Sunny. We arrived in Sevilla at 8 pm, as previously arranged (to meet landlord and pick up keys), and miraculously found parking almost in front of my new home in calle Mateos Gago. But there was no landlord. And as this was 1993 there were no cell phones, so we just waited. And waited. Finally we asked the bar we were parked in front of if we could get something to eat and drink, but we didn’t really want to leave the car because of the cats and all. And bless them, the people at Bar Campanario actually brought food and drink out to our car, like we were at a drive in, and it was lovely. The landlord finally showed up at 11pm full of apologies, but we were fine (though the cats were happy to see a litter box!). Bar Campanario ended up becoming my local, heck even my living room (my studio apt across the street was tiny), and the owners became fast friends.
the return of the vermutería yo soy tu padre
10 Thursday Sep 2020
Posted in sevilla, tapas bars
My lovely friend Esteban has not only reopened his inimitable vermouth bar Vermutería Yo Soy Tu Padre today, he has also moved location. I stopped in to see the new place and it’s great. Cosy and friendly like the previous place, though I am a bit sad to now have to walk a full ten minutes from home instead of three. 😉
Same great vermouths, made by Esteban from a base of finos and manzanillas en rama, as well as the usual selection of exquisite small-production wines and E’s killer negronis. Tapas are also available. Only open in the evenings for now. Go show him some love guys!
Vermutería Yo Soy Tu Padre
Conde de Torrejón 21
bread baskets of death…
04 Friday Sep 2020
Posted in coronavirus, restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas bars
Tags
For the most part the tapas bars and restaurants I have been to over the past couple of months have been doing their best with taking precautions and keeping their establishments as safe as possible for both staff and clients. But you know, nobody’s perfect and also, as time passes, people tend to slack off a bit. Even as a second wave looms (reported cases and deaths keep mounting) some people are still in denial. Not me though! I am not only at a higher risk of catching this fucker due to previous cancer and chemo, but with my age, etc, I am also not likely to survive it. So yeah, you could say I have a vested interest in how the public is behaving in terms of the pandemic.
The other day I posted this photo of stacked up bread baskets on my Instagram. Some of you may remember that this disgusting practice has always been, well, disgusting to me. I mean, the baskets (filled with bread and often also napkins and cutlery) are put on tables, placed on chairs, passed from person to person, then taken away, stacked up, NEVER CLEANED, and then reused. In some cases, even the uneaten bread is “recycled” (yes, I have seen this happen with my own eyes). And while it was always an unsanitary and disgusting practice before COVID, now it’s actually criminal.
