by Simone Sekers “WHY do restaurants have to be so noisy these days?” The friend who asked this question is not normally a peevish person; she is the godmother of our daughter, and has been chosen as great-godmother by our grandchildren; we eat out with her a good deal. She has introduced us to Le…
THE festive season is a time for indulgence, and few things are more indulgent than truffles. Chef Philippa Davis from Shaftesbury was busy before Christmas cooking at parties from the Highlands to Holland Park, and among the delights she served up to her clients and their friends, was this delicious White Truffle and Butter Taglierini…
IF there is one thing you won’t hear at the end of one of Steven Oxford’s baking courses at the historic family bakery near Sherborne, it is “We need more buns!” The five of us who enjoyed a baking day at Alweston before Christmas went home laden with enough mouth-watering baked goods to stock a…
AT this stage in the game season I have noticed it is definitely the keen beans, the obsessed and the hardy that do most of the shooting in Scotland. It is of course still incredibly beautiful up there and yes there should still be a good bag of game to be had – BUT it…
HAVING recently returned to Plumber Manor, near Sturminster Newton, which has been featured in the Good Food Guide since their first entry 43 years ago, and spending a few days on Orkney, I was keen to try and visit the only Guide entry on the Island, but a friend assured me that the best place…
THE life of a private chef is nothing if not varied – one week Philippa Davis is cooking for a family in Provence, the next she is off to Boston, then it’s a busy few days in Dublin or a shooting party in the Highlands. But the festive season beckons and Philippa’s diary is getting…
by Simone Sekers A WEEK or so ago the excellent Guardian mid-week food page ran a piece about how to pick a good restaurant, written by an anonymous inspector. He, or she detailed the ways you could spot a ‘real’ restaurant from one that buys in food from food manufacturers. Be suspicious of over-designed menus…
OUR “personal chef” (we wish!) has been back to the Highlands cooking for various grouse, partridge and pheasant shoots and in this Postcard Recipe she shows how to make the most of pheasant in season … I should quickly clarify the title as I have already had to dig myself out of trouble from the gamekeeper…
THERE’S no longer any such thing as a job for life and Jeanette Reid, co -owner of the Queen’s Arms in Corton Denham on the Dorset/Somerset border near Sherborne, is determined to enjoy the potential for variety. She started off with 13 years in the police force, changing tack to take on a high-powered human…
HERE in the UK we are using the week to pay homage to that wonderful sweet sticky substance that is made by bees from the nectar of flowers. Yes, National Honey Week is here and it’s time you too got stuck in. Besides keeping the peas on your knife (only joking, Mr Debrett, I know…