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A Tavola Gastronomia – Alessio’s sweet taste of Sicily in the High Peak

High summer in Sicily and the carefree boys will be leaping off the quayside at Cefalu,  location for Cinema Paradiso; in New Mills fewer, if any, will fancy a dive into the murky Peak Forest Canal or the River Goyt.  Taking a plunge on Cannoli, now that’s another matter. At A Tavola Gastronomia Sicilia I’ve […]

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Pollo Orvietano and Pheasant’s Tears – homage to the late, great Alastair Little

How best to pay homage to the passing of one of the greatest chefs of his generation? No brainer: cook one of his signature dishes. But will my take on Alastair Little’s Pollo Orvietano evoke the tastes and aromas of a chicken cooked with wild fennel and local olives at La Cacciata, the farmhouse cookery […]

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Stunning shortlists for the 2022 Manchester Food and Drink Awards – make your vote count

It’s been amazing stepping back inside restaurants and bars post-pandemic. From those first, tentative socially distanced steps to the current slightly strained normality in these difficult economic times. Still the sheer joy of shared conviviality fuels my renewed enthusiasm for the Manchester Food and Drink Awards (here’s my preview). As a veteran judge, helping to […]

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Cheers to The Angel at Hetton – a culinary blessing that doesn’t need the ‘gastropub’ disguise

We are in the dog-friendly ‘No Man’s Land’ between restaurant and pubby bit. If I wanted, I could cross to an actual bar with hand pumps and order a pint of cask ale brewed under a mile away in an old Dales laithe (hay barn). Instead I sip my 125ml measure (I’m driving) of Swartland […]

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Are you ready for a grilling? Firestarter Rob and BBQ brigade toast of MFDF 25th Anniversary

Cast your mind back a quarter of a century. ‘Craft beer’ didn’t exist, street food was probably a bag of chips and fusion sounded like something electrical. OK, a certain Robert Owen Brown (above) was probably spit-roasting a whole steer in a car park somewhere, but without his carnivore core audience baying for a commentary. […]

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