Sherry & Tapas at T

sherry at t

So this is exciting! This past weekend I got together with brothers Ricardo & Javi, who run the fabulous Restaurante ConTenedor in Sevilla, to try a new venue for my Sherry & Tapas Tastings. You may recall they also opened a very unique space just over a year ago, simply called T, and this is where we held the event. There were six lovely people from the UK attending, all friends travelling together, who had initially asked me for a tapas tour. But as this is just not possible at the moment I suggested a sherry tasting and they went for it. And they were so lovely! I can’t tell you how good it felt to get “back in the saddle” again, after not having worked in almost 7 months. Well, if you can call it work. For me it’s always so much fun doing this (same with my tapas tours) that I can’t believe how lucky I am to have work I love so much.

Anyhow, this group was amazing, so inquisitive and open to anything, and the tasting went so well that I was keen on working out a way we could do more. Like me, Ricardo & Javi have been feeling the loss of tourism in the city, especially as a lot of their regular clientele tend to be visitors. So we have come up with this new offer and I couldn’t be more delighted. Luckily International Sherry Week is just around the corner and this gives us another platform to let the world know about us.

sherry t (2)

And so we now have Sherry & Tapas at T, which really is a unique sherry tasting experience. I first met Ricardo many years ago at ConTenedor, and later Javi when T first opened. But somehow if feels like we were meant for each other, kindred spirits. So wish us luck! 🙂

La Azotea at Home

lunch (3)

La Azotea was the first restaurant in Sevilla (that I know of) to start offering pick up and delivery services. They were on it just like that, up and running just four days after Lockdown. Impressive. Co-owners Jeanine and Juan, along with their amazing team, have been keeping Sevilla fed and happy all this time, and now it was my turn thanks to my London friends Dan & Deb.

We’ve been staying in touch, and looking forward to meeting up again some day at Las Teresas. THEN, I got a surprise voice message from Jeanine the other day saying that those two lovelies had purchased a voucher for me to get some home delivery. So nice of them! As you know, I am still mostly keeping myself in Phase 1 of the de-escalation process, while the rest of the country has moved on to Phase 3. Which means I still haven’t dared to go out to a bar or restaurant, even for a Cold Beer O’clock. And as much as cooking lunch has been one of the things saving me from going completely bonkers from boredom at home, this was a total treat. Really my dream La Azotea meal.

lunch (1)

I got one of the saquitas (crispy pastry filled with prawns, cheese and leeks), my favourite battered prawn salad with kimchi sauce, THOSE rabbit ribs and a bottle of Chan de Rosas albariño. Heaven.

lunch (2)
Jeanine with my delivery
it was SO hard not to give her a big hug

azotea team
Team Azotea

Now La Azotea is open for restaurant service (at their Conde de Barajas location) and they have everything perfectly set up for proper social distancing, and are also continuing with take-away and delivery service. Whatever it takes, these guys are there for you. xx

Lockdown Food Home Delivery

El Mercado de Sevilla

Today I went out for my weekly supermarket run (and rubbish dump). My last time out was on Wednesday, when I noticed changes since the previous visit to El Corte Inglés supermarket at the beginning of the lockdown. Staff were all wearing gloves and masks and we were handed plastic gloves on our way in. Today security had been stepped up, with gloves and sanitiser left out for our use on a table on the way in, and cashiers were being protected behind hanging plexiglass shields.

All this time I’ve been feeling bad about not supporting local independents more but the sad truth is that the small guys aren’t able to offer the same protection for both staff and customers that the bigger supermarkets can. Being in a high risk demographic – over 60 with autoimmune issues going on due to previous stage 4 cancer & chemo – I just don’t want to take the extra risk.

Meanwhile, last week my friends Jeanine & Juan who run the amazing La Azotea, started offering daily menus for home delivery, along with selected items from their regular menu, and also wines. This is a great option for people who haven’t had time to shop, don’t like cooking, or simply miss their favourite La Azotea dishes. You can follow them on their Instagram stories to see the daily specials.

And today I found out about a new initiative started by four friends, including my pal Javier, chef and owner of Taberna Lalola, called El Mercado de Sevilla, offering an online platform for local independent food shops and suppliers to provide home delivery. It’s free of charge for suppliers to join and there is no delivery charge. It’s still early days, but the website is up and running as of today.

La Azotea Sevilla

Fall In Love With Sevilla

chef Jorge Manfredi with Pedro Sánchez-Cuerda, director of Grupo La Raza

Enamórate de Sevilla (Fall In Love with Sevilla) is the name of the latest tasting menu being offered at Ispal (Grupo La Raza) created by their new chef Jorge Manfredi. I had been invited to try the original tasting menu when Ispal first opened in 2018 and while they have kept about 30% of the previous chef’s menu, the rest is new by Manfredi. Also new is a much expanded wine list, which now boasts over 400 Andalusian wines.

It’s a “kilometre 0” menu, with locally sourced products and reinterpreted dishes that are based on traditional Sevilliano recipes, and is divided into four parts: Vamos de Tapeo!, Vámanos a la Feria, Paseo por Sevilla and Desserts. We started off with a vermouth cocktail and had some wonderful wine pairings throughout.

The tasting menu is 59€ per person, 89€ with wine pairing and 109€ with the premium wine pairing. For more information have a look at their website. Photos of the meal below…

Restaurante Ispal


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Sherry Pairing Dinner at Palo Cortao

My life does not suck. This is International Sherry Week and one of my favourite spots in Sevilla, Palo Cortao, had organised a special 6-course sherry pairing dinner to be hosted by Sherry Ambassador Pepe Ferrer. And they invited me to join them! Yay!

As expected the food and wine pairings were spectacular. You can see what we had below. Of course every week is Sherry Week at Palo Cortao. Then have a wonderful wine list with lots of them available by the glass. If you’re in Sevilla you really should stop in.

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