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St Patrick’s Day - Celebrate the ‘non’ traditional way!

Philippe Boucheron

Philippe Boucheron

To celebrate Paddy’s Day, our food and drinks writer, Philippe Boucheron uncorks Whiskey with an ‘e’ for Irish Excellence

On the 17th March (this Wednesday) the Irish all over the world celebrate the feast day of St Patrick, their patron saint, who incidentally came from Wales!  As well as countless pints of Guinness they will be enjoying their other national drink – whiskey which was first created in Ireland around 630 AD.

It all came about in the fourth century when crusading monks from Rome watched with fascination while Arabs using alembic stills made perfumes from rosewater. They asked themselves what would happen if they did the same to their rather coarse wines - the result was brandy! Two hundred years later Irish monks visiting Rome witnessed this phenomenon, and since they had no wines repeated the experiment with their beers to produce the very first whiskey.  Some five hundred years later Irish monks landed in Scotland taking with them the two great blessings of civilisation – Christianity and whiskey. Read more »

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La Becasse ~ Michelin Food and Chateauneuf du Pape Evening

La Becasse, Ludlow

La Becasse, Ludlow

La Becasse Michelin Star Restaurant, Ludlow ~ Chateauneuf du Pape, and Michelin Menu Selection Evening

Wednesday 14th April 2010, 7.30pm

“Wine from Châteauneuf brings courage, melody, love and joy”

Frederic Mistral - poet, author and Nobel Prize Winner for literature.

Gourmet-Life Midlands Lifestyle Dining Club are delighted to be associated with this exceptional event hosted by our very own wine expert Phillipe Boucheron to guide guests through the superb wines to be featured during this very special evening at La Becasse.  For Philippe, wine is not a just a hobby, it’s a way of life, having spent over three decades studying, writing and broadcasting about wine.  Philippe will enlighten guests on the unique qualities of each wine tasted during the evening and be available to answer questions - in this 75th anniversary year of  Châteauneuf du Pape.

Head Chef Will Holland, one of only 5 Michelin chefs under 30 in the UK, is creating a bespoke 7 course tasting menu especially for this event to ensure that guests can fully appreciate the superb wines to be featured during the evening.  These include: Read More HERE

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The Arch of Perfection

The new Arch Hotel and Restaurant London Review

The Arch Hotel, London

The Arch Hotel, London

I often like to escape the beauty of the countryside and indulge in some city life and its related adrenalin, with all the trappings of convenience, opulence and pampering – what better place than one of the new London Gourmet-Set additions to Gourmet Life, Midlands’ based rapidly growing lifestyle dining club  – The newly opened ‘Arch’ hotel, conveniently located 5 mins walk from Marylebone station, the High Street, and just around the corner from Marble Arch, as its adopted name suggests.

Officially opened for less than a calendar month at the time for visiting, The Arch offers friendly, personable, and re-assurringly genuine hospitality, set in the unique environment of seven Georgian houses which have been ‘merged’ into this luxurious boutique hotel – no doubt on a very un-limited budget. The ground floor has also encapsulated two mews houses, to accommodate its already popular restaurant and lounge bar. Red full review and more photos  HERE

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Arch London ~ The Perfect Afternoon Tea!

Arch London Afternoon Tea - Champagne & Strwberry Eclair!

Arch London Afternoon Tea - Champagne & Strawberry Eclair!

Many visitors from overseas still imagine that we are a nation where at half past three, everything stops for tea!

Sadly these days Afternoon Tea is usually only an occasional luxury for us mere mortals, a Sunday treat in a country house hotel, or a welcome break from a hectic days shopping “in the city”. More’s the pity I say, especially when you find a place that has the perfect excuse to indulge in this tradition whether it is a special occasion or not. The place is The Arch Hotel located in the fashionable area between Marylebone and Mayfair in a converted row of Georgian Houses.

We decided to take our afternoon tea in the drawing room; it was cold and wet outside and the lure of this beautifully appointed room with its soft furnishings, carefully chosen books and accents and flickering fire was the perfect backdrop to this fine English tradition. More HERE

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Lowfield Inn, Shropshire ~ The low down on our experience

Lowfield Inn, Shropshire Borders

Lowfield Inn, Shropshire Borders

Like many of my fellow foodies, I’ve found recent weeks a bit frustrating – snow, ice, more snow, and, according to restaurateurs – shortage of consumer funds due to a maxing out on credit cards during December.

To counteract the gloom I jumped in my car and made my way with my guest to The Lowfield Inn at Marton on the Shropshire/Powys border. Like Princess Diana, I felt that there were three of us in on this relationship: me, my human companion, and the necessary evil of my sat nav who took us all the way there – lazy I know, but I didn’t want to find myself in the Welsh hills, for no other reason than time constraints. Read more HERE

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Saffron Birmingham Chef - Acclaim

Head Chef Sudha from Saffron Birmingham

Head Chef Sudha from Saffron Birmingham

Birmingham chef Sudha Shankar Saha took Centre Stage at Hotelympia in London as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations.

The talented Executive Chef from Saffron fine dining Indian restaurant on Wolverhampton Road, Birmingham joined celebrity chefs including Gary Rhodes to demonstrate their cookery skills in front of hundreds of visitors to the five day event. After the demonstration, Chef Sudha spent time explaining the nutritional values of the dish to eager spectators who flocked to him with further questions.

Sudha, who specialises in exquisite fish dishes, prepared a pan-fried spice scented Alaskan salmon dish with baby spinach, assorted mushroom bahji, tomato Achar and Moilee sauce. It was the same presentation which helped him to win the National Alaska Seafood Recipe Challenge organised in association with The Craft Guild of Chefs – and the opportunity to participate in the event.

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No Palm Oil ~ The support a Midlands chocolatier is giving the rainforests

Louis Barnett of Chokolit

Louis Barnett of Chokolit

Louis Barnett of Chokolit, who recently returned from a trip to sauce ethical chocolate from Mexcio, explains the impact of Palm Oil on our endangered species and what he is doing to help reduce the impact.

“The impact of the palm oil production in Indonesia and Malaysia is dominating the global palm oil market much of this is produced in Borneo. Read more »

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Midlands Mexican Chocolate Success

Louis Barnett stands next to the giant 40ft poster of him with the other top international chefs and chocolatiers
Louis Barnett stands next to the giant 40ft poster of him with the other top international chefs and chocolatiers

Watch Louis Barnett’s video introducing the Mexican Chocolate Experience

Mexican Chok-Quest, a great success for the Midlands and the UK chocolate industry

Louis Barnett, the youngest qualified chocolatier in the UK, based in Shropshire,  is celebrating the past week in Mexico City, where he was invited to attend the Mexican International Chocolate Experience as the youngest ever chocolatier, performing to many of the 10,000 visitors.

Louis (pictured left by one of the City’s giant posters)  is delighted at the success of his trip “The Mexican Experience has been an incredible opportunity for me, and one which I will never forget.” He continued “The people of Mexico have been wonderful hosts, and their generosity has been unbelievable. My research into the origins of chocolate, and learning about the processes involved in creating the best flavours and textures has resulted in what we think is the opportunity to source some of the finest single origin cacao for my new range of bars.During my demos, to 100’s of keen Mexcian’s it was evident that their passions for chocolate run deep, and they were eager to learn more about the UK chocolate market, our tastes, and my story. I think they too were prettty amazed I am just 18″

Louis added; “I have also managed to source some Molinillos (Mexican whisk/stirrer) which are the ancient stirring sticks used to create the Tegate Y Champurrado – which is the oldest recorded chocolate drink in the world – created by the ancient Aztec people over 2500 years ago – I have always talked about this as part of my demonstrations, and I will be showing the Molinillos when I create my secret recipe for Tegate at this years regional food festivals, were people can try it for themselves ” Read more »

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Top Award for Birmingham’s Saffron Restaurant Chef

Left to right; winner Mr Sudha Shankar Saha, Group Executive Chef, Saffron Restaurant with Andrew Brown, Alaska Seafood

Left to right; winner Mr Sudha Shankar Saha, Group Executive Chef, Saffron Restaurant with Andrew Brown, Alaska Seafood

One of Birmingham’s top chefs has beaten off competition from Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant at Claridge’s to win a prestigious seafood recipe award.
Sudha Shankar Saha, Executive Chef at the leading Indian restaurant Saffron on Wolverhampton Road, triumphed in the Alaska Seafood Recipe Challenge, organised in association with The Craft Guild of Chefs, and held at the M&J Seafood development kitchen in London’s Covent Garden.
He was rewarded with a trophy, voucher for a set of professional knives and a day’s work experience in a top restaurant kitchen. He has also been invited to cook and present his winning dish at the Craft Guild of Chefs skillery at Hotel Olympia in London on March 1st. Read more »

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Birmingham ~ Best Broad Street Awards Pushkar

BOBS Award Winners ~ Pushka

BOBS Award Winners ~ Pushkar

The BOBS Awards saw the biggest celebration to date of the talents behind the scenes of Birmingham’s Golden Mile.

The Best of Broad Street Awards (BOBS) 2010 honored the best bars, nightclubs, hotels and restaurants in a glittering presentation ceremony at the ICC attended by 350 local businessmen, VIP guests and local dignitaries.

Undoubtedly the biggest and best BOBS to date the evening began with Gary Taylor, Chairman of the Broad Street BID, congratulating the teams behind the great venues on Broad Street and thanking them for their efforts throughout 2009.

Gary was followed on stage by the singing talents of X Factor finalist Stacey Solomon who performed a set that included songs from her time on the hit show.

The big winner of the night was Pushkar, which won Best Newcomer, Best Chef for Bishal Rasaily and  Ariane Howa was highly commended in the Best Waitress category

Mike Olley, Broad Street Manager said “The BOBS is a fantastic event, held to celebrate the unseen talents that make Broad Street the entertainment district of the Midlands. It is great to be able to host such an event to recognise the hard work and effort that goes into running our venues and making them the success that they are”.

There were 25 awards in total including Best Bar Staff, Best Waiting Staff, Best Door Supervisor, Best Police Officer, Best Manager, Best Chef, Best Bar, Best Restaurant, Best International Restaurant, Best Themed Restaurant, Best Hotel, Best Outstanding Contribution, Best Casual Dining, Best Newcomer and Best Overall Venue.

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