Long Lunch

Claire preps the salad

One of my favourite days of the week is Sunday - probably because it’s my only day off.  I prefer a complete break from the demands of retail and always try and go out for a change of scenery.  One pleasure is a long relaxing lunch with friends, though personally I am not a fan of the traditional Sunday roast.  Claire, a friend from Lorfords Antiques Tetbury, a very stylish shop for antiques & decorators pieces all chosen with a very discerning eye - appealing very much to the interiors and collectors market.  She invited us to lunch with a mutual friend Rebecca who has recently taken over Belgrave House Tetbury and is hard at work transforming it in to a stylish boutique B&B with a delightful quirky edge that will set it apart from the run of the mill establishments.

Cullen Skink

Claire is a naturally gifted cook inspired by my favourite cookery writer Elizabeth David who started writing in the 1950’ inspiring a new generation to be more adventurous.  Her style of writing is chatty and enthusiastic with easy to follow recipes - notable successes were Mediterranean food, French country cookery, Italian food, & French provincial food.  All books are still in print; do buy as her style will inspire you.  Claire being Scottish prepared a starter of Cullen Skink a classic smoked haddock soup, which was absolutely delicious.  She followed this with pieces of chicken baked with lemon and cardamom served with braised Puy lentils, a small green lentil that has a peppery flavour - grown in the Le Puy region of France and a salad of dressed mixed leaves and avocado.  The combination of these dishes was wonderful.  To finish we had a selection of French cheeses and rustic bread.  Conversation flowed along with the wine, totally unaware of the time we eventually staggered home as the Market House clock struck 8pm, we had been there since 1.30pm, and this really was a long happy lunch with friends - the mark of an excellent host.

Rebecca & Colin

Frome - Refreshingly Different

Having spent the last two weeks suffering from the awful coughing flu bug that’s doing the rounds here in Tetbury - now feeling on the mend a change of scenery was in order!  A recent customer mentioned the market town of Frome in Somerset was worth visiting because of the large number of interesting, quirky independent shops on St. Catherine’s Hill.

Having spent an hour in Bath, Frome is an easy 20 minute drive from there, on arrival we found parking easy and free on Sunday’s.  With the dog in tow we headed into town via medieval Cheap Street, which has a good mix of independents - I noticed an excellent book/card shop ‘Hunting Raven Books’.  Running the length of the street is a narrow leat, quite common in the south west of England - I wondered how often people had tripped on this open gulley?  The town itself is architecturally well preserved with many listed buildings.  Our destination was St. Catherine’s Hill, a steep cobbled street flanked by eclectic shops with imaginative window displays that entice you in.  The shops have a charm that is not in anyway pretentious - just a group of like minded creative bohemian traders that sell all manner of goods from artisan products, vintage finds, clothes, haberdashery flowers and hardware.

St. Catherine's Hill

The first Sunday of each month St Catherine’s Hill is closed for the local Artisan and flea market - looks like a great day out.  This market town has a lot to offer, definitely worth a revisit.