Cooking, eating and drinking is fun as well as necessary. I do food for fun and I write for a living. Good food makes the world a more delicious and satisfying place. Good writing, meanwhile, can make the world a less confusing place.
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The Festival(s) are over and Edinburgh is peculiarly quiet. The students aren’t back yet but most of the tourists are gone. The sky is grey, the air cool. For the next month or so I’ll be mostly staying in and cooking. And since I long for entertainment – non-stop brain…
I was emailed by Ombar to see if I liked chocolate and was interested in trying some of theirs. Ombars are raw chocolate bars made from Equadorian cacao, coconut and a variety of fruits, berries and nuts. They come in full-sized bars (70 grams) and small bars (35 grams).
My friend and I were talking about what the building that houses Courtyard by Marriott used to be. We remember walking past it and seeing it boarded up for years, buddleia growing in the gutters, sun-bleached crisp bags stuck on the railings. It was a sad end to the party street…
The West End is full of bars and restaurants so it’s easy for any one of them to be overlooked. Despite the fact that Amy reviewed it a couple of years ago, I think of Foundry 39 as a pub/bar rather than a restaurant. I’ve gone there for a quick…
A couple of years ago, Kerry and Nicki visited Wahaca. Their only sadness was that they’d run out of the cricket brownie. Wahaca have a new menu and it was time for us to revisit. This time, Kerry and I went. It was a brilliantly sunny day, one of those…
‘Hey,’ isn’t quite what the email said, ‘do you like pasta?’ Do I? Yes, I do! Pasta is my go to food: hungry but can’t be bothered to cook? Linguine al olio takes as long to make as the pasta takes to cook (11 minutes). Cold and tired? Spaghetti with…
The Manna House Bakery will be well known to people who enjoy the café life in Edinburgh. They make bread and pastries for cafés around town. To me, their brand is a selling point: a place with Union of Genius soup and Manna House bread is a place where I…
The Scotch Whisky Experience, the attraction tucked into Castlehill next to the Witchery and opposite the Camera Obscura, turns 30 this year. I worked there as a tour guide back in my student days. When I was invited to take a tour and have a cheese and whisky pairing, I…
When you get an invitation to anything at Cafe St Honoré, you say yes. The restaurant is lovely and chef Neil Forbes’ work is always excellent. This Tuesday, he hosted the Scottish launch of One Planet Plate, an initiative from the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA). The combination of great food…
Last year I had problems with sciatica and an inflamed muscle attachment with the result that I couldn’t sit comfortably. November to March I did what I could to avoid sitting. I got a standing desk at work, found a space at home where I can stand and work. As…
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