Grady Atkins’ Paysan residency at Canton’s Bloc Coffee has been a big hit this summer. Former head chef at Le Gallois, (late Arbenning, now Heaney’s) and named in interviews as ‘mentor’ by the man the Guardian called ‘Britain’s Hottest Chef‘, Tomos ‘Brat’ Parry, he has vast experience of kitchens the world over. Friday nights have Read More
I’ve been wanting to try Leyli Joon’s cooking for a good while now, a situation only heightened by m’colleague Soliciting Flavours’ love letter to his December meal last year, all wrapped up in a righteous grumble about how Christmas meals out typically offer little of interest. (I couldn’t help but envy him: working in education, Read More
Look deep into the Parka… There are many things in here, things you could never dream of. – Like what? – Rubies. -l’ve dreamed of rubies. …Lesbian ham..? [The Mighty Boosh, ‘Tundra’] There are some words which don’t belong together. Or at least, not until someone welds them together in some inspired culinary cut-and-shut and Read More
‘I went here. I ate this. It was nice. I ate another thing. It was nice. Here is a picture. Isn’t it nice?’ So runs my brother’s pretty withering critique of much ‘food blogging.’ Often on this blog I’ve tried to come up with a narrative, to come to terms with a restaurant on more Read More
On the face of it, Santiago’s marketing has done them few favours. You could almost hear people choking on their morcilla de Burgos at their initial claim to be the ‘only place in Cardiff to experience an authentic Spanish dining experience‘. That’s a stout boast, especially in this resturant ecosystem. The cut and paste likes Read More
I don’t like people telling me what to have for dinner. Anticipating the menu is half the fun, a few minutes of weighing the claims of each dish, making those decisions, playing them off against one another in your head. Delaying the pleasure: an act of culinary foreplay. A well written menu seduces. A ‘large Read More
This blog is a very simple thing.
I won’t try to sell you any hand lotion, exercise programmes, coffee syrups or Patagonian nose flutes. You won’t find tips on dating, ‘wellness’ or yoga mats.
I write because I love it (and food, as indicated by my increasing girth). Greed happens to be my Deadly Sin of choice, but at least it is never shy of providing me with subject matter.
A simple thing, then: all you get is me wittering on semi-coherently about places I’ve eaten at; hence a ‘restaurant blog’ rather than a ‘food blog’, although there are a few recipes scattered throughout.
From mezze to Michelin ‘fine dining’ and all points in between.