On the Menu

When spaniel eyes are calling

WE love Scotland and are green with envy of the amount of time our favourite travelling chef, Philippa Davis from Shaftesbury, spends cooking for clients in the Highlands. On her latest assignment north of the border she found a new best friend … I only have pies for you … I knew this was going…

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Summer Lodge – a perfect country house hotel

SUMMER Lodge at Evershot is the epitome of the country house hotel – a beautiful old house, set in gorgeous gardens, overflowing with flowers, vegetables and fruit, with a mouthwatering menu of mainly locally sourced food, an internationally famous wine list and stunning West Dorset scenery for walks and drives. What Summer Lodge is NOT is…

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Eastbury sets the gold standard for local food

A QUICK glance at the long list of awards won by the Eastbury Hotel at Sherborne leads the visitor to expect a memorable experience – particularly in the Conservatory Restaurant – and you won’t be disappointed. The hotel, in an 18th century former town house, is a lovely old brick and stone building with a…

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Extreme picnicking with Philippa Davis

TRAVELLING chef Philippa Davis is nothing if not adventurous – but driving a Land Rover miles across rutted Highland tracks, including a nerve-shredding bridge, proved quite a challenge, as she describes in her latest Postcard Recipe. “I AM looking for someone to share an adventure” … that’s what she should have said, but instead she…

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Autumn in a jar

TRAVELLING chef Philippa Davis from Shaftesbury has been cooking for a shooting party in West Sussex, before heading back to Scotland. The Sussex trip started with the usual treasure hunt to the bottom of the client’s freezer … The shooting party in West Sussex was indeed jolly. Although the day started a little overcast, after…

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The Dining Room – a Weymouth taste of the Med

LUNCH at The Dining Room is a pleasure – the restaurant in the pedestrianised heart of Weymouth’s old town is contemporary and light and welcoming, the food is colourful and delicious, with an emphasis on seafood. Quite right too – some of the best sustainably caught fish and shellfish you will ever eat is brought…

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Thali – a great find in Bedminster

LIVING in South Somerset, we always have to leave ourselves with plenty of time to get to Bristol, if we are reviewing productions at the Old Vic, the Hippodrome, the Redgrave (up in Clifton) or the Tobacco Factory in Bedminster. Sometimes we eat first, sometimes we take sandwiches, sometimes we stop at a favourite fish…

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Philippa tackles a plum problem

PHILIPPA Davis, the travelling chef from Shaftesbury, has been swamped with plums on her recent engagement in the south of France where she faced an almost impossible task of making use of all the plums growing in the garden. For her latest trip she was in Stirlingshire in Scotland where she found a freezer full…

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Chilli fest and hedgerow harvest

TRAVELLING chef Philippa Davis was back in Dorset in time for the annual Great Dorset Chilli Fest at St Giles Park near Wimborne – and the hedgerow harvest of blackberries … The tropical sun set a thousand colours over the lush vegetation as the choruses of tuneful birds swooped through the warm evening air back…

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