Meet and Two Veg

We're Jammin'

2009-10-08T05:52:00.000-07:00

"YOU were weaned on cauliflower cheese," my mum always tells me, when I wrinkle my nose up at the old choufleur.Think it must have been a cauliflower overload, cos I can't stand the stuff now.So, it will be as big of a surprise to my mother, as it was to me, that I order cauliflower soup at the start of a meal at Birmingham's Jam House last night.I think it was the magic word 'cumin' that sold it

All You Need is Love (s)

2009-09-30T01:42:00.000-07:00

'ALL you need is love', sang the Beatles.None a truer word spoken. Especially on your birthday.And while I was lucky enough to be lavished with love on my birthday, I was also treated to a meal at Loves, Birmingham's newest fine dining restaurant - and that was rather good too.The boy and I visited when the restaurant, situated on Canal Square, was just ten days old, but with slick service there

Everyone's a Winner

2009-09-14T03:12:00.000-07:00

LUDLOW food festival, and the annual excuse to binge-eat on morsels of the best food Shropshire and the surrounding counties have to offer.This year was no different, except the festival's growing reputation, with the addition of sunshine to rival the Costa Del Sol, meant that fellow foodies turned out in their tens of thousands to do the same.So, it was time for the elbows to make a guest

Let them eat cake

2009-09-11T02:50:00.000-07:00

IF YOU really need an excuse to enjoy a slice of cake and a brew, then Friday, September 25 should be it.Macmillan Cancer Support is holding its annual Biggest Coffee Morning in the World event and one of Brum's newest coffee shops it getting in on the act.Miss Latte, at 245 Broad Street, which has taken the old Del Villaggio deli premises, is hosting an all day coffee morning in aid of the

All roads lead to...

2009-09-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

THEY say all roads lead to Rome.Well, I say that all roads lead to Birmingham. Because no matter where I am in the world, from Norwich to New York, I am guaranteed to bump into someone from Brum.And a recent meal at Napa restaurant at the Chiswick Moran Hotel in west London proved no exception.On introduction, it transpired that Napa's restaurant manager - an Italian named Mark - had arrived in

Kai, Mayfair

2009-09-03T00:30:00.000-07:00

IN my experience really great meals fall into two categories. There are those which at the time were sublime, but afterwards evaporate into the darkest confines of your memory, only to be revisited in a moment of reminiscence.Then there are those - relatively few - dining experiences where the tastes are so incredible that they will linger on your lips forever and, no matter where you are in the

Festival Feasting

2009-08-24T00:55:00.000-07:00

THE beauty of music festivals isn't just the fact that they attract a melting pot of people and a mix of top bands - but that during a three-day event, you can pretty much eat your way around the world.Gone are the days when the only food you can get to soak up the ale is a greasy burger; and the nearest you get to a taste of the exotic is a box of oily, lukewarm noodles.Now festival-goers need

Take a Chance

2009-08-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

THOSE lovely people over at Gekko are offering readers of this blog the chance to live it up in London with a one night stay at the newly refurbished Langham Hotel.The historic five star Regents Street hotel has just undergone an £80million transformation, and boasts facilities including a fine dining restaurant The Landau, and luxury health suite.It's perfectly situated for all the big smoke's

In Mint Condition

2009-08-18T02:28:00.000-07:00

I HAD the privilege of eating at Mint last night, which reopens its doors to the public tonight.The Sutton Coldfield restaurant was forced to shut after being flooded but, after a bit of a revamp, it's ready to feed the chic set once again.I was one of the select few to sample some of the new dishes on the menu in a seven-course tasting extravaganza.It's an attractive little restaurant - both

What's Yours is Mine....

2009-08-17T06:26:00.000-07:00

I AM a firm believer in sharing.I think that pudding - ordered by him - should always come with two spoons, drinks with a pair of straws, and a bag of chips should always have room for my grubby little fingers to prize out a few hot tatties.I can't say I always reciprocate the generosity, especially when it comes to Diet Coke, or 'my Diet Coke' as it's usually known - after all, what's yours is

Hit and Miss

2009-08-10T07:42:00.000-07:00

WE went out to La Tasca, Broad Street, clutching one of those vouchers promising fifty per cent off your food bill.Unlike many other money-off vouchers it can be redeemed all day, every day, so cut-price food on a Saturday night seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.However, it was rather fortunate we only paid for half our food because while some of it was tapas-tastic, the rest feel short

Packaged Perfection

2009-08-06T02:33:00.000-07:00

THE boy and I would probably argue over who knew about Daylesford Organic first.He claims to have pointed it out in an article in the Sunday Times Style magazine yonks ago; I say I knew about it way before then. Like before he was born (after all, I am two years older).Whatever the case, I think it's a given that we both wanted to go.So on our way to the Noel Arms hotel we took a minor detour to

Trip down Memory Lane

2009-08-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

WHEN I was a little girl sunny Sunday afternoons were often spent pottering round the Cotswolds village of Broadway.Then the Scandinavians invaded, and our cream teas and browse around the Edinburgh Woolen Mill was replaced with trips to Ikea and - more often than not - a plate of meatballs.So our weekend trip to the Cotswolds was not only delightful, but delightfully nostalgic.Our night away was

Thai-mes have changed

2009-07-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

THEY say the true test of a relationship is your first holiday together.If you can survive that, then you can survive anything.Not ones to do things by half, when the boy and I first started dating we decided the perfect test of our blossoming relationship was a two-week trip around Thailand.He'd never flown before, I'd only holidayed in the Med and North Africa. It was leap into the

Criminal Record

2009-07-22T22:52:00.000-07:00

I'VE criminally neglected my own kitchen, eating out six times in six days.My only mitigation is that I am single-handedly reviving the flagging British economy, even if that means purging my own bank account.Here is the evidence....Friday, July 17 12:30hoursCrime: Lunch Break (Like Prison Break, but with fewer tattoos)Scene: Marks and Spencer Cafe Revive, High Street, WorcesterAccomplice:

Ring me!

2009-07-18T02:01:00.000-07:00

MAYBE it's the woman in me, but I've always liked foods that come in the shape of a ring.Golden rings of pineapple. Yes please!Glistening onion rings (au naturel, deep fried or the onion-flavoured maize snacks). Delicious!Apple rings, ring donuts, Hula Hoops, spaghetti hoops, polo mints. You name it, if it's edible, circular and comes with a whole in the middle, I am on it.But squid rings?I've

Spotted!

2009-07-15T07:26:00.000-07:00

I'VE been asked to contribute to a new travel/dining website called Gekko.Mentioned recently in a round-up of hot new websites in The Guardian, Gekko gives users the opportunity to create a unique profile which then matches them up with suitably chic hotels and restaurants, in the world's premier cities such as London, New York and Paris.Having signed up for a profile, I can tell you that it's a

Joys of Jyotis

2009-07-06T05:48:00.000-07:00

AS a young teenager I was best friends with an Indian girl, who I nicknamed Indie.Our days together were spent listening to the ballads of Mariah Carey and Boyz 2 Men, while day dreaming of unrequited loves. And consoling ourselves with pizza.Her mum used to ply us with pizza presumably because she thought that's what teenage girls wanted to eat. And generally, it was.However, the gorgeous

Escape to the Country

2009-05-25T06:34:00.000-07:00

CLEARWELL sounds like the name of a place in a J.R.R Tolkien novel.So it should be no surprise that this picturesque Gloucestershire shire village is buried in the Royal Forest of Dean, which is thought to have inspired Tolkien's Middle Earth.I have to admit, when the boy and I first visited Clearwell in February - to attend a wedding at its regal castle - it felt like the back-end of nowhereBut

Local Produce for Local People

2009-05-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

I LOVE nothing more than whiling away the hours at a farmer's market.Here in Birmingham, we are very lucky to be frequented by decent farmer's market in one district, or another, pretty much every weekend.I am never short of finding somewhere to pick up a punnet of freshly-picked blackberries, a homemade loaf of artisan bread, or a handful of venison sausages.However, I was over the moon to

Bit of a Veg

2009-05-18T05:57:00.000-07:00

WHEN people see how I spell the name of my blog, they often assume I am vegetarian.Truth be told, I replaced the 'a' in meat with an 'e' because I thought it might inspire this to become a place for foodies to come together and discuss their passion.That said, other than the odd craving for a sublime steak, a late night chicken tikka masala or a fillet of coconut-poached sea bass, I probably

Fitting the Bill

2009-05-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

GOURMET Chick has just shared with me an exciting piece of news.The fellow food fanatic says that Australian wonder-chef Bill Granger is planning to open a restaurant in London.How flippin' exciting!Bill has God-like status in my household and I partly attribute his Bill Granger Every Day cookbook for igniting my passion for food some two years ago.Since then we have bought all but one of his

Come Dine With Me

2009-05-12T07:41:00.001-07:00

IN ONE of Bill Granger's wonderful cookbooks he says that he gets real pleasure from being invited to someone else's for dinner.Whether it's beans on toast, a takeaway pizza or a gourmet feast, he remarks that there is no bigger compliment than having someone else cater for you.However, he goes on to say that he rarely gets a dinner invite - suggesting that, because he is a chef, people worry

Wonky Thinking

2009-05-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

IF there was ever a 'just for fun' magazine quiz to determine which character I was most like out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory I think I'd fall somewhere between Augustus Gloop and Veruca Salt.I am not modest, meek or puke-inducing enough to be Charlie Bucket (even though he did win the ultimate prize at the end of the book/film so it could be worth peeking at the answers), and I don't

In the Pink

2009-05-07T11:51:00.001-07:00

'YUCK, it tastes like soil,' was my mantra if anyone dare offer me beetroot.And as mother and the boy piled their plates high with the ruby root I would contort my face and make retching sounds, scouring disapprovingly at their pink-stained tongues.In my opinion, it was the (beet)root of all evil.But then a fortnight ago, at a family barbecue, it suddenly started to wink cheekily at me as it lay