Category Archives: welcome

gastronomic heritage of sevilla…

03 Wednesday Jul 2013

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seville gastronomic heritageWell this came as a pleasant surprise! The other day I found out that I had been chosen to be one of the five gastronomy experts to take part in the final judging for an ambitious new project headed by the Sevilla Tourism Board, which is promoting Sevilla’s Gastronomic Heritage, AKA the tapa, as a tourist attraction.

The idea is that locals and visitors to Sevilla can vote for both their favourite tapa and favourite establishment and then on September 5th us judges will step in and create a concise list of the top 14 tapas in Sevilla and the best places to try them. To start things off around 18 dishes have been listed on the  Visit Sevilla Facebook Page but voters can also add their choices.

The other expert judges chosen are:

  • Julio Fernández, chef of Sevilla’s only Michelin star restaurant Abantal
  • Fernando Huidobro, president of the Acacademy of Gastronomy and Tourism
  • Javier Compass, culinary and tourism specialist
  • Paco Sanchez, hospitality professional and former owner of the Cervecería Giralda and Bar Estrella

So as you can see I am in excellent company. And as you can also see in the photo below taken at this morning’s presentation at City Hall (photo courtesy of Raúl Doblado ABC Sevilla) I’m not only the only non-Spaniard, but also the only woman. One step at a time…

patrimonio gastronomico

Sevilla’s Gastronomic Heritage

birthday boy

02 Saturday Mar 2013

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birthday party

My old friend and flatmate Peter turned 60 today! 60!!!

And as a treat he came out with me on my tapas tour tonight, met some great people, had lots to eat and drink, and even had lots of cakes and had Happy Birthday sung to him in both Spanish and English by a whole restaurant full of people.

Happy Birthday Peter! May you enjoy many more…

extreme sports

26 Tuesday Feb 2013

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cat and mouseSo there I was playing the Mouse Game with Loki this morning when my old back let out a very loud scream and I knew that I had DONE IT AGAIN. Goddam it. I never put my back out when I’m doing something stupid like lifting heavy objects. It’s always while doing something silly like bending over to pick up a mouse.

Anyhoodle, it’s not as bad as at other times – no need for crutches to get around – but man it hurts. I was thinking it might be better to invent a different game to occupy Loki and Luna, like the one in the pic, but tossing the mouse up the stairs is such good exercise for them, and usually doesn’t do me any harm.

And so today I am taking it easy, though making sure to move around enough so that things don’t seize up. I have to be better for my Flamenco & Tapas Tour tomorrow evening…

How are you guys?

liron & odelya

11 Monday Feb 2013

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liron and odelya
It happened again! The other day photojournalist Liron Shimoni got in touch with me to talk about my Sevilla Tapas Tour as he is working on an article about Andalucia for a prominent Israeli travel magazine, and so we arranged to meet up when he was in town. Turned out his wife Odelya and their baby were with him, so yesterday I took them all on a two-stop lunchtime tour. At first it felt odd being formally interviewed (Liron was even taping me!) but after awhile the recorder was forgotten and we just started chatting naturally. It was a great afternoon and I had the opportunity to experience what it’s like for other people who go out for lunch with me. 😉

Tomorrow gets even crazier as I am going to be filmed and interviewed for local TV – eek!