Our blog about all things peachy
The Great British Bake Off is back – with its usual mix of people and personalities, this series looks to be as good as ever! Although the 12 contestants in this year’s Great British Bake Off are being described as the most polished in the competition’s history – the first week saw four contestants throw their creations in … Continued
Do you wake up in the morning feeling fresh and hoppy? Is your skin gold with colour and you’re bubbling with energy? Do you love food from the Mediterranean? Then Estrella is the one for you! *** Are you a smooth talker with a decent body? Are you fruity, sweet and bright? Give Sharp’s Cornish … Continued
It all started out as a little bit of fun, after seeing a clip of a similar looking guy dancing to his favourite song around the pool. Assistant Manager, Swifty, quickly decided to re-create the video in his Aspalls Cyder Garden at the The James Figg in Thame. The viral hit, showing him watering the new … Continued
It’s a weird thing to feel real sadness when someone you don’t know dies. But with artists (music or otherwise), if you love their work – and if their art has touched you in some way, (especially when heightened by the nostalgia of a parent playing their music in your childhood) brings a real sense … Continued
Coffee is a fashion victim. Time was, you wanted a cup of coffee in a restaurant or good food pub, you ordered a coffee. It came, fresh from the filter if you were lucky (stewed on a diabolical hot-plate if you weren’t). You added milk and sugar to taste and drank it. Then came the … Continued
By taking meat and fish from your plate, some people might be left thinking, “what will my meal be centred around? Where will I get my protein?”. Don’t despair, there is a huge variety of great dishes to rival your steak and chips, and I’m not talking about those dry tofu-based sausages you get in … Continued
Vintage champagne isn’t my everyday tipple. On very high days, when something in the business has gone staggeringly well, we open a bottle of Krug. It’s our “taking time to smell the roses” moment. But at £125 a bottle for the multi-vintage blend Grande Cuvée and nearly £200 for the 2000 Vintage, is it worth … Continued
Last Saturday, I was lucky enough to spend the day at the Big Feastival. My day was spent tasting food samples, 3 course lunches, wine, copious amounts of cheese and listening to music and cooking demos… dreamy! In the afternoon, I headed to the Open Table tent to hear Rachel Khoo, British chef, writer and … Continued
It was as though ghosts were walking through the throng at The Fishes on Sunday. Among groups of friends in deck-chairs and children playing Garden Jenga, strolled ladies in tailored dresses with velvet collars, Land Girls and men in uniform. An armoured Dingo Scout car guarded North Hinksey Lane. An Army truck and 1940s taxi … Continued
Farewell to welsh rarebit: our changing taste Looking at some old London restaurant menus we were given recently made me realise that if time travel were possible I’d not be spinning the dial back fifty years. Back then, starters really were confined to Orange Juice, Half a Grapefruit or Egg Mayonnaise, even at the finest … Continued