Author: No Expert

Tapas Fantasticas – Hotter than Spain!

Glorious sunny day at Tapas Fantasticas in Potters Fields Park.  This is my second year attending this food and drink festival, last year it was in a more cramped location in Brick Lane.  I really like the new site, nestled in between landmark buildings like Tower Bridge and City Hall, it is a stunning setting.  The festival which is organised by Wines from Rioja seems to be very lucky with the weather – it was on during a heat wave last year as well.   It is such a civilized day out,  entrance is free and there are no real queues for any of the stands which sell reasonably priced wine by the glass and off course some rather good Tapas.

There are also organised wine tastings, we booked a session with Iron Chefs Olly Smith, who is always good value and guaranteed entertainment.

However my favourite wine of the day wasn’t at the tasting, but was from the El Coto de Rioja stand. It was a really smooth Coto de Imaz Reserva.

I also tried a couple of Tapas dishes – Salt cod fried in batter, and some blue cheese and ham croquettes, both delicious.

Next years festival will be in my diary too, weather permitting off course.

 

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Blueprint Cafe – focusing on the view

Had lunch at the Blueprint Cafe, it’s a hard location to beat.  They sat us at a great table by the window with a panoramic view of Tower Bridge and the Thames.  They also supplied a pair of binoculars, so the view is obviously a big attraction.

It’s been years since my last visit, and  the decor/style of the place has certainly changed. It’s a much more casual venue these days.

Food wise it was a bit hit and miss (more miss than hit).  The Razor clams I had were nothing special, too much lemon juice for my taste. The mackerel was a bit overcooked, but the pickled cucumbers with mustard and dill that accompanied it was delicious – click here for a recipe

For main course I had grilled leg of lamb with tomatoes and courgettes, the lamb was perfect (well apart from the fact there was not enough of it and there was a real glut of vegetables).  The meringue dessert was rather messy looking but tasted good, however the strawberry shortcake was less successful,  not my idea of shortcake. It was  more like oatcake, with cream and strawberries, basically rather dull.

So in conclusion, great view, OK food. I would make a return visit, but next time I will lower my expectations and focus on the view.

 

 

Update : April 2012 – The Blueprint Cafe has a new chef, Mark Jarvis. He has worked at Texture and spent some time working for Raymond Blanc.

 

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Toast – Food, Wine, Music and Polo!

Made the trek out to Ham Polo Club, to attend the 10th Anniversary Toast New Zealand Event.  It was a trek, 20 minutes on a very busy train to Richmond from Waterloo, another 20 minutes on a packed local bus – seemed like all the Kiwi’s in London were heading for the event. Then a long walk to get to the ticket office to pick up our complementary tickets (longer because we were wrongly directed to go to the VIP entrance).  We eventually got in, pretty much as the England v New Zealand Polo match was finishing.

There were just two rows of stalls, laid out in the best possible way to cause congestion. I would have been horrified if I had paid for my ticket – ticket  prices were between £20 and £150.   However there was live music and the weather was good.  We stayed for about two and a half hours, which was two hours longer than we would have, if we had not been lucky enough to grab a couple of seats at one of the tables next to the stands and have a few glasses of a rather lovely Pinot Noir from the Saveé Sea Vineyards.

The highlight of the day was actually the walk back from Ham to Richmond.  Next time I will just bring a picnic and find a good spot by the river.

This was a special one off Toast event, so not 100% typical, but based on my experience at this event and my friends experience at past Toast events.  I would not recommend them if you are seriously into Food and Wine.  Toast is really just somewhere to socialise with a group of friends and listen to the music, more a concert than a food event.

 

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Berowra Waters Inn

This is the first post from our “Australian correspondent”. A foodie friend who has emigrated to warmer climes. The subject is Berowra Waters Inn an amazing venue reachable by seaplane.

Berowra Waters Inn – High Flyer or Car Crash?
Berowra Waters Inn is uniquely located in the the stunning Hawkesbury River, and is only accessible by “seaplane, boat or the restaurant’s own private ferry”. Originally opened by  Tony and Gay Bilson,  and recently re-opened by Dietmar Sawyer,  the restaurant is frequented by both epicures, and those celebrating special occasions. It was just such a special occasion, my birthday,  that took us to Berowra. We chose to arrive in style by seaplane from Rose Bay, a high flying start to the day! Our original delight at the restaurant’s location, and our wonderful window seat, grew to dismay at the simply shocking service.  Menus were slow to arrive, as was the taking of our orders. Having placed our order for 6 courses, one couldn’t help but begin to wonder when we might see the first one! An hour and a half after sitting down, we only had one course, by which point we were simply starving! After sharp words, and a call to our pilot to delay our return, our next 3 courses arrived in rapid succession! And what amazing courses they were!
The food at Berowra is simply exquisite, world class. I was blown away by the Langoustine Pastilla and Wagyu Beef dishes. Food quality was on par with some of my favourite London Michelin Starred restaurants, such as Tom Aikens and Foliage. In light of this, we think we might forgive Berowra Waters it’s awful service, and will certainly be back for another visit!

Marks out of 10

Food 8.4

Service 3.9

Ambience 8.5

 

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Foodies Festival @ Hampton Court

Spent most of bank holiday Sunday at the Foodies Festival in Hampton Court.  They are set up at  different locations throughout the year.  There is going to be one in Edinburgh for example during the Edinburgh Festival in August. Foodies focuses on seasonal food and drink, specialty and local produce and local restaurant talent.

The weather was good, always a real bonus at this type of event. The show itself is not as big or as well attended as Taste, but I have to admit I prefer this one. Very few queues,  space to see what you want to see, easy access to tables and chairs.

We attended several sessions at the Chefs Theatre, including  the one from Gary Lee of The Ivy, who made a real point of stating that he was not a celebrity chef.  The highlight here though, had to be Katie & Giancarlo Caldesi of Caffe Caldesi. Katie had been on Saturday Kitchen the previous day and there was some hilarity as she compared cooking with James Martin to cooking with her husband. The BBC missed a trick not having them both on together. They are a great double act.

There were unfortunately not too many top restaurant stands.  Benares was the most high profile one. However there were some very good small stands.  They included Lauden, one of my favorite chocolatiers, Doughmasters who made lovely club sandwiches using bread that was baked while you wait (not something you see often) and a stand selling Whoopie Pies – the trend following on from Cup Cakes,  I had a maple syrup one, delicious.

On the drinks front, Joe Wadsack at the Cordorniu wine presentation was very good. He is a real raconteur. The El Dorado Rum tasting was fun and the champagne supplied by Eminent Wines (pictured), much to my surprise, really cut through a spicy Jamaican Pattie I had just eaten. So yes maybe good Champagne does go with everything.

Will definitely try and do this event again next year.

 

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