Morocco - Essaouria

The sights, smells, and sounds of Morocco were quite overwhelming and only to be taken in small doses. After landing in Marrakesh we were presented with a car that does not inspire confidence "Dacia Logan". Might I add that Dacia comes from Romania! After nearly 3 hours of following the behinds of donkeys that were carrying 10 times their own weight we made it to the port town of Essaouria. The smell of leather in the air, the bustling markets, and goats left right and centre was what turned out to be the subtle welcome to Morocco. The next day was in stark contrast with only the sounds from tourists. We discovered that it was a Muslim holiday and realised that the smell of wood fires were yesterday's goats.

Move Over Chicken

Trent's famous roast chicken is now 100x better using the Guinea Fowl! The aroma, texture and taste is so much more fragrant and juicy...MmMMmmmm....I dont think the roast chicken will ever be the same!

Piedmont - Truffle Hunting and Wine Festival

After our visit to Piedmont in Easter we knew we had to be back to hunt for the prized tartufo bianco (white truffles) in the autumn. Throwing away all concern for finances, we booked ourselves into La Villa and it had the feel of the Cheers bar where everyone knew your name. We absolutely loved it! We had planned the long weekend as such that we could do some truffle hunting with Mario and his dog Rocky for one day and the other would be boozing up at the Costiglione Barbera wine festival.

Birthday Dinner at Tom Aikens

Another year passes as I edge towards 30. It has been another great year, and anxious to see what the next year has installed for me. To mark this milestone, we had a last minute detour to the 1 star michelin restaurant Tom Aikens situated near Sloane Square. We were very impressed with the restaurant surpassing our expectations and has our personal ranking above some 2 star michelins. The food was all well balanced with complex flavours to tantalise the palette and the service attentive and friendly. Our menu consisted of;

Starters: Roast langoustine, braised pig cheeks with ginger sauce; Pan fried foie gras with roast apples

Mains: Roast turbot, sorrel leaf, samphire, confit of chicken, chicken and olive oil sauce; Seasonal game of venison with beetroot risotto and shallots

Desserts: Warm rice pudding with poached pear; Jasmine brulee with chocolate mousse.

You can see by the menu, we were stuffed by the end and had to take our petit four on the doggy bag. Unfortunately, we did not have our camera with us to share some of the experience.

Quiet Weekend

It was a nice sunny London saturday and with no specific plans for the weekend, we enjoyed a late lunch at Sloane Square. The area is always so poshy, mothers in Range Rovers, chauffeured Bentleys and today we saw a SLR McLaren.

On a different note, we did our usual supermarket run and Trent found a potato almost the size of his head! Check this out...