Tag Archives: tapas

back in the saddle

30 Thursday Sep 2021

Posted by in sevilla, sherry, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours

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clients

So it’s been a fun month, getting back to my beloved Sevilla Tapas Tours – even had a Sevilla Sherry Tasting last week! – and it’s all been great. It’s still very poco á poco, with restrictions slowly being lifted and all that. Of course this also means the greedy Tour Whores are out in full force, trying to cram large groups into small spaces, many of whom copied my tours but forgot the most important part – to respect both your clients and the bars you take them to. They don’t give a shit that their big noisy groups and shrill guides totally disrupt the nice local buzz, or even that they are loathed by all, including the bar owners.

But in spite of them, I’ve been having such a wonderful time, getting back into this thing I love so much. Let’s see what happens moving forward.

the almost party

09 Thursday Sep 2021

Posted by in food & drink, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars

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lima party

I was so pleased when chef Danny Cárdenes sent me a message inviting me to the opening party – or reopening party – following the expansion of his lovely Lima Street Food. This is a little sister to Danny’s fabulous Raices, but now she is not so little. Over the summer they expanded into a next door location and have now tripled the indoor seating (previously just 15) with another dining room that opens onto a side street.

Anyhow, got there early to discover that the many of the usual suspects (local “influencers”) were already there having beers out on the patio. So we got a couple of beers and waited to be invited inside for the actual party. About an hour later we were still waiting, which wasn’t a problem, these things sometimes take awhile to get going. The problem (for me) was that during that hour the number of guests had more than doubled and there was no way I was going to go inside with such a large group of people, unmasked because eating and drinking, and so we headed home, stopping off for a couple of tapitas at a place I hadn’t been to for a few years, La Monumental. It still ended up quite a nice evening, just not the one I’d been expecting. Also, got 8500 steps in (!!) and was in bed by midnight.

accidental tapas tour

01 Thursday Jul 2021

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accidental tour

This is Steven and Beatrice. We met via Kirby, a lovely young woman I’d met here a few years ago, and who now manages Steven’s organic food shop in Salt Lake City. They had come to Sevilla for a few days and I set them up with the fabulous José for a cultural walking tour (they said they didn’t want a food tour!) and so that was fine. Then on their last evening they asked if I wanted to meet them for a quick drink. A quick drink. Three hours later…

Yep, one drink at Casa Morales led to eating a plate of jamón, and more drinks, and then they told me that, although they had followed my tapas bar recommendations and had gone to Bodeguita Romero THEY DIDN’T HAVE A PRINGÁ! And so of course we had to remedy that situation and they were happy I did so. A fun and totally unexpected night out.

food ADD

09 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by in food & drink, home, homecooking, tapas

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food add

Over the years I have come to realise that, as much as I love good food, I can only take so much of it. First of all it’s a physical thing. I mean, aside from when I eat the wrong food (for me), I honestly cannot eat very much at one sitting, which I think is due to the post-op adhesions. I’ve never really been a big eater, but now I can fill up after just a few bites (yes I know, I am massively FAT, and much of that is to do post-chemo and other health issues, but I’m not here to talk about that today).

And so! It’s become important for me to get in as much flavour and variety within those few bites. Which is why tapas are so perfect for me. You can order as many (or few) of these small dishes as you want, and it’s even better when I can share the tapas. In fact, I almost never eat a whole tapa on my own. And this, aside from the physical factor, leads to my belief that I have developed a kind of  “food ADD” over the years. By which I mean that I can only concentrate on one dish for maybe one or two bites before I want to move on to something else. It’s always like “okay, that was great, what’s next?”.
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accidental lunch

09 Saturday Jan 2021

Posted by in coronavirus, covid, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars

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accidental lunch (1)

I was supposed to have a perfectly on purpose lunch with my friend Lucy, since our birthdays are a day apart and we haven’t seen each other in ages. But when we arrived at the bar I’d chosen (a new place being run by my friend chef Javi Abascal) it was fully booked. Should have known as it was the first Saturday since the January sales started, and also the first non-rainy day all week. After checking out a couple of other places (all fully booked) Lucy and I decided to postpone our birthday lunch for another day, preferably mid-week. To be honest, I have only been going out to eat during the week and at an early hour so I get to places before they get busy.

Anyhow, since I was already dressed and outside I decided to take a river walk, something I haven’t done in far too long. And it was lovely. Meanwhile, my friend Peter had been in touch so I told him I’d be in the Alameda in about half an hour if he wanted to meet for a beer. Then, while I was waiting for Peter (by chance I’d stopped to check my phone in front of Al Aljibe) I saw a couple of women at a table in the terrace paying up (it was 3 pm by this time) and so I took possession of the table and told Peter where I was.

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