26 Monday Jun 2017
Posted in andalucia, flamenco, music, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, work
So excited that my long-time Flamenco & Tapas Tour partners – the fabulous Museo del Baile Flamenco – have updated and upgraded their Momentos Flamencos show to include an extra dancer and singer. It adds not only more dancing, but more colour and passion. I mean, it was always wonderful, but now…? You really need to see this. 
19 Monday Jun 2017
Posted in andalucia, sevilla, sherry, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, wine
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Andalucia, sherry, tapas tours, wine tasting, wine tours, wines
I’ve been doing sherry tastings at various venues over the past few years, but recently I found a great place – and a great “biz partner” – that allows me to start offering them on a regular basis. But why stop there? To wit, I am now offering late afternoon sherry tastings and also regional wine tastings, perfectly paired with tasty tapas. Check em out…
09 Friday Jun 2017
Posted in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, sherry, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours
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copa jerez, fabiola bonke, jerez, sevilla, sherry, sherry educator
I first met fellow sherry educator (and professional venenciadora) Fabiola Bonke @spanjetotaal a couple of years ago at a casual sherry tasting held at Bodegas Faustino Gonzalez @cruzviejajerez in Jerez, which had been organized by my friend Tomoko @tomokotours. Fabiola is Dutch, but her parents are both Spanish, and she has become the most important sherry expert in Holland. Awhile back she got in touch saying she was going to be in Jerez for the Copa Jerez finals and would be staying overnight in Sevilla on the way.
So I recommended a couple of nice reasonably priced hotels and she chose one that is literally a stone’s throw from my house. And so just after she arrived and got settled in I picked Fabiola up for a sherry-based Tapeo Extremo. Our first stop was Las Teresas, my favourite place for both ambiance and jamón Ibérico de Bellota. They also have some excellent sherries.
After that we carried on to two more bars – Bodeguita Romero and La Cata Ciega, sampling amazing sherries and tasting delicious tapas. And all the while talking talking talking… what a lovely evening. And the good news is that we will be meeting up again in Jerez because I am also going to be at Copa Jerez. Yay!
29 Monday May 2017
Posted 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.
22 Monday May 2017
Posted in friends, sevilla, sherry, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, twitter, twitter friends
I met Tim @Biltawulf last year when he and his friend Ed came on a tapas tour with me. Then earlier this year Tim got in touch again – he was planning another trip to Sevilla, this time to celebrate his 40th birthday with four friends from London. I was looking for something different for him, and in the end took them out on Saturday afternoon for a Tasting Triana Tour. But as Tim arrived a day earlier than his friends, we met up on Friday afternoon too and he helped me with some Tapas Research. This turned into an impromptu tapeo, starting with cold beers in the sun before heading to Sahumo (which had a new tapas menu I was keen to try out), with a short detour to La Cata Ciega across the street, as we got there before Sahumo was open.
The next day was the tapas tour and then, after Tim’s friends left early Sunday afternoon, we met up again for yet another impromptu tapeo, this time taking in Casa Morales, Abacería Antigua de San Lorenzo and Eslava, finishing with a birthday cake and cava. Then it was time for Tim to catch his flight home. Looking forward to getting together again, either here or in London. Good ol’ Twitter does it again.
As you can see, the tapas tour was a serious affair. 
Birthday treats at Eslava.
15 Monday May 2017
Posted 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
12 Friday May 2017
Posted in food & drink, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, triana, we love tapas
I’ve been doing a fun Triana Tapas Tour for a few years now, but recently decided to modify it a bit for We Love Tapas. And so… introducing the new Tasting Triana Tour, which will include a market visit, 3 tapas bars and a relaxed stroll around Triana. First one will be this Saturday!
09 Tuesday May 2017
Posted 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…
02 Tuesday May 2017
Posted in friends, social media, tapas tours, twitter, twitter friends
Neither Barbara @emoticomma nor I can remember when we started following each other on Twitter, other than it was several years ago. But when I found out she was going to be making a one day only “cameo appearance” in Sevilla of course we had to meet up. We ended up doing a nice tapeo in barrio San Lorenzo, where mucho jamón was consumed. Also mucho vino, finishing with some lovely cava at La Azotea. Barbara promises to come back with her husband next time for a longer stay. Good ol’ Twitter. 🙂
11 Tuesday Apr 2017
Posted in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, home, restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, wine
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I kind of hit the ground running after getting back from my London Getaway. I had already planned to get together with Jane & John and Sue & Monty, but before those meet ups took place I had the pleasure of being introduced (via email by Annie Manson) to Fran & Kaz Kuzui. Fran & Kaz were travelling around Andalucía, doing some research on Japanese influence on southern Spanish cuisine, and would also be spending a couple of days in Sevilla, so we arranged to meet the evening after I got home from London. They had also tried to meet up with my friend Tomoko in Jerez, but there had been an email glitch, and so I invited Tomoko to come and stay over so we could all go out together.
It was a fabulous evening. Fran is a native New Yorker who now lives in Tokyo with her husband Kaz. Aside from being film producers and art lovers, they are both also food & wine lovers, and as usual Sevilla worked its magic on them. By the end of the evening we had all become fast friends and F & K were already talking about planning a return visit to Andalucía. Come back soon! xx
