Food & Drink

Why Are Chain Restaurants Bad?

Published on 19 May, 2015

Hands up: I’ve eaten at many chain restaurants in my life and in all likelihood I’ll eat at them again, but is anyone else starting to feel increasingly uncomfortable at their growing dominance across the dining-out landscape? I get it – chain restaurants are easy, they can be comforting if you have a favourite dish and, let’s face it, you… Read more →

Share6

Flip

Stumble

Shares 6

Why are chain restaurants? And how do you stop eating at them? From a food lover who eats out a lot, here are the facts.... Read more →

Regional Food in Puglia: What And Where to Eat

Published on 6 May, 2015

If you’re searching for information about regional food in Puglia, you’re already steps ahead of most of the millions of foreign visitors who arrive in Italy each year. Just recently, strolling down a side-street in Florence I had a waiter holler at me across the street: “pizza, pasta, spaghetti”. It was as though he were enlightening me to a food… Read more →

Shares 137

Regional food in Puglia is a blend of local produce & slow food traditions with space for gourmet and play - street food and spontaneous vegetables, anyone?... Read more →

Italian Food in NYC – A Greenwich Village Food Tour

Published on 27 January, 2015

The last time I ate Italian food in New York I was taken to a tourist joint just off Times Square, which felt a little bit like walking onto a replica set of the Godfather. Diners were sat with red-checked waxy napkins tucked into their collars, twirling and forking colossal mounds of tomato drenched spaghetti and fist-sized meatballs into their mouths. As I sat down and donned… Read more →

Shares 64

Every wanted to taste authentic Italian food in New York City? Then take a greenwich village food tour - where we went and what we ate, in pictures.... Read more →

How to Make Sausages from Scratch

Published on 20 November, 2014

Feeling adventurous? Want to learn how to make sausages from scratch? And not only that, want to learn how to make some fairly healthy-sausages? Then I have a little treat for you! I recently spent a few days at Lake Austin Spa Resort (more coming on that soon) and while I was there, I attended a cooking demonstration where one… Read more →

Shares 34

Whether you want to know how to make sausages from scratch for Thanksgiving, Christmas or just a weekend treat, here's a simple, tasty and healthy recipe!... Read more →

What & Where to Eat in New Orleans: An Itinerary

Published on 14 November, 2014

Want to know what and where to eat in New Orleans? From fancy lunches complete with 25¢ martinis (yep, you heard me right) to the best breakfast in New Orleans (hint: beignets) – brunches, lunches, dinners and cocktails, I spent a week expanding my waistline in the Big Easy to bring you this 7-day itinerary of what and where to eat in… Read more →

Shares 4K

Want to know what and where to eat in New Orleans? From 25 cent martinis to the best gumbo, jambalaya, po' boys and brunch, here's a 7-day eating itinerary.... Read more →

20 Tips for Eating Out Alone – From A Seasoned Solo Diner

Published on 2 September, 2014

Eating out alone can be an incredibly daunting prospect and it took me a very long time (I’m talking years not days weeks or months) to become fully comfortable with the act. Read on for my tips that helped me get comfortable with regularly eating out alone. 20 Tips For Eating out Alone After strolling up to a packed restaurant on… Read more →

Shares 112

Eating out alone makes a lot of people nervous but after 4 years of travel, I'm fully comfortable with solo dining. Here's my 20 tips for eating out alone.... Read more →

How to Drink Tequila Like a Mexican

Published on 22 August, 2014

Do you have a (completely rational) fear of tequila? Do you flat-out hate the stuff? If so, I can almost guarantee that you’re drinking it wrong. After spending a year in Mexico, I finally learned the secret: how to drink tequila like a Mexican… and actually enjoy this potent drink. How to drink Tequila like a European /American /Canadian /Australian… Read more →

Shares 145

Want to know how to drink tequila like a Mexican? Understand your anjeo from your reposado and find out how to visit tequila in Mexico -on the tequila train... Read more →

Quick and Easy Guacamole Recipe: From Mexico

Published on 30 June, 2014

Looking for a quick and easy guacamole recipe…one that I picked up from a local in México? Read on… I used to have a very complicated method for making guacamole. There would be toasting of crushed cumin seeds, pestle & mortar blending of spices, gentle frying of chilli powder, garlic mincing, coriander chopping and general dicing, tasting, resting, salting and… Read more →

Shares 52

With only four main ingredients (plus lime and salt) I picked up this quick and easy guacamole recipe from a Méxican lady. Preparation time: 5 minutes.... Read more →

When in Rome, Eat Like the Romans

Published on 4 December, 2013

We’ve all heard the saying, “When in Rome do as the Romans do.” But considering the amazing Italian cuisine available there, it could be said that, “When in Rome, gain 10 pounds.” I did a touristy trip to Rome back in 2010 as part of my round-the-world adventure (if you want to travel back into my archives, here’s the post… Read more →

Shares 47

When in Rome, Eat like the Romans. Many people don't realise that Italian Cuisine varies dramatically by region. Here's what to eat when you visit Rome.... Read more →

Tavarnelle val di Pesa: A Place Worth Leaving Florence For

Published on 1 December, 2013

My trip to Florence was fundamentally flawed. It was July and on a whim I’d decided to re-route my ticket from Asia to spend a month in Italy. And, as habit would have it, I didn’t have a single plan to my name. For a style of travel that is theoretically carefree, it can come with an awful lot of… Read more →

Shares 166

Cooking classes: €25, free wine tasting in Chianti, vineyards, sunflower fields and prices that put Florence to shame - introducing Tavarnelle val di Pesa.... Read more →