14 Tuesday Jul 2015
Posted in food & drink, sevilla, tapas, tapas tours, wine, work
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Straight back to work after my wonderful week-long Málaga Getaway. But not only do I love my job, it felt great being home again. This was a pic taken on my way home from work…
08 Wednesday Jul 2015
Posted in food & drink, Malaga, malaga getaway, sevilla, tapas tours, we love tapas
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I’ve popped into the wonderfully cluttered La Recova many times but this was the first time I stopped in to eat. According to Victor @welovemalaga they serve an amazing breakfast so we chose to go there for our regular Tuesday morning We Love Tapas @welovetapastour meeting. We usually do this by Skype, so it was great to actually meet up in person and, well, have this amazing breakfast.
For a whopping 2.20€ you get coffee or tea, a thick slice of toasted country bread, and a whole whack of toppings: olive oil, butter, fresh tomatoes, peach jam, banana spread, sobrasada, two zurrapas (chicharrones and pork loin & pimentón) and paté. All served with a smile. We’re doing more breakfast research this week, but this one is going to be hard to beat.
30 Tuesday Jun 2015
Posted in restaurants, sevilla, sherry, tapas, tapas tours, we love tapas, wine, work
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I have to say that loving my job has taken on a whole other dimension since I began We Love Tapas last year. Which is that I now get to love other people’s jobs as well! This week I took Team Sevilla out on a couple of training sessions so they could also start doing our fabulous Oldest Taverns Tour. Previously only Peter was doing this tour, but it made sense to have more guide options, especially as it’s becoming very popular. As always, the owners and staff at our bars were keen to make us feel at home, and also to spend time telling the team all kinds of anecdotes along with the history of each bar. I mean, I could do that! But it’s even better when the team gets to hear all this from the people who have lived that history (or at least some of it). And each time I learn something new as well. Best job in the world. And best team ever! 🙂
29 Monday Jun 2015
Posted in food & drink, friends, tapas, tapas tours, twitter
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food, friends, ginger gourmand, sevilla, tapas tour, twitter
Last week while Anna @annalibera was here I also had a long-awaited visit from Naomi @gingergourmand and her husband Andrew @andrewknill. Naomi and I have been Twitter pals for years, so I was very excited when I found out they were coming to Sevilla to celebrate Andrew’s birthday. The night they arrived Anna and I crashed their first meal at Eslava and then we dragged them over to La Pepona because, well, Anna ALWAYS has to go to La Pepona. It’s a beard thing ;). Next day I met up with Naomi & Andrew in the evening for a spontaneous “gourmet tapas tour”, which took us to a few of my fave places. Usually I like to mix things up a bit, but that night we ended up at favourite traditional bars since N & A had already visited a few trendier places. It was lovely.
The cool thing about all the Twitter pals I’ve met over the years is that not only do we have a love of travel, food & wine in common, but usually we’ve been in touch for ages, and know a lot of the same people (either virtually or in person). So when we do finally get to meet up it’s like we’ve known each other for ages. Especially because ALL of us post photos of what we’ve had for lunch. 😛
18 Thursday Jun 2015
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Since launching We Love Tapas I’ve been thinking a lot about the relationships I’ve built over the years with the owners of my favourite bars in Sevilla. My connections with these people goes way back, long before I started doing my own food tours about six years ago. So it’s not just “business related”. Actually, it’s not based on business at all. We all just like and respect each other. So when I started my Sevilla Tapas blog back in 2007 they were keen to be a part of it, and when I began doing tours they were all very supportive.
With We Love Tapas I’ve been very fortunate, with everyone welcoming my fabulous Team just like they are an extension of me, and showing them every courtesy. You have to understand that these people don’t need my business. They are all very successful, with packed bars and regular clientelle. So it’s not like I’m doing them any favours by bringing my tours to their bars. Turns out that they end up doing me favours, by holding tables for me and making sure my people get top service, sometimes with a few perks thrown in. Blows me away. Especially as they are constantly being pestered by new food tour companies showing up and wanting deals. I don’t ask for deals. But they help me out and every now and then I’m asked a favour, and of course I’m always happy to help. Because we’re friends. It’s a wonderful working environment… stopping in to visit your friends all the time. I love my job. 🙂
casa azahar 