Chris Delaney, Head Chef of privately owned 18th century mansion, Close House Hotel in Northumberland has launched the calendar for his seven course Degustation Tasting Menu, kicking off on March 18th 2010, for the gourmet traveller to enjoy. The seven course menu will be available for these exclusive dates only, and will be served with carefully selected pairing wines. The tasting menu will include dishes from the new seasons a la carte menu and will be served in the award winning Berwicke Restaurant. The evenings are expected to be very popular, so early booking is advised. £69.95 per person or £49.95 without the wine selection.

For information on accommodation or the Degustation Tasting evenings email events@closehouse.co.uk

Located just 10 minutes from Newcastle airport and the city centre, along with their resident chauffeur, this is an ideal destination for anywhere around the UK, for something a little bit different. www.closehouse.co.uk

Treat mum to an exciting hands-on cookery course this Mother’s Day with a gift voucher from the new Ashburton Cookery School in South Devon. Designed to inspire, there are over 40 courses from which to choose such as Express Dinner Parties for home entertaining, Chef Skills for the more advanced and family dinners – a new one-day course ideal for busy mums juggling work with looking after the home.

With a gift voucher mum can select a course and date to suit her lifestyle. Valid for nine months, they can be purchased for the one, two or five day courses, which are priced from £99 per person. Alternatively, vouchers are available in denominations of £25 upwards and can be put towards the cost of any course. You can choose to have a printed voucher sent to either yourself or the recipient direct, while for last minute gifts you can send a voucher via email from the school’s website.

Ashburton Cookery School has just moved to a new, ultra-modern building with three superbly equipped teaching kitchens. The hands-on courses, which are split into five levels of ability, teach fundamental techniques that can be applied when cooking at home, entertaining family and friends or working in a professional kitchen. The popular one and two day course include canapés, desserts, fish and seafood, gastro and modern vegetarian. There are also courses inspired by a country’s cuisine such as Italian, French and Thai.

To order a gift voucher call the Ashburton Cookery School on telephone 01364 652784 or visit www.ashburtoncookeryschool.co.ushe sk. B&B accommodation is available at the school from £59 per night.

The Bell at Skenfrith is happy to welcome its new head chef Rupert Taylor, 29. Having studied in Bath, Rupert’sfirst position was at Homewood Park as commis chef to Gary Jones (now executive head chef at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons) where he was part of the team that gained three AA rosettes and a Michelin star.

Rupert left to join Bath’s Royal Crescent hotel and then to Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in Bray, where he workedfor 3½ years. He left the Fat Duck to work for Jamie Oliver at his Fifteen restaurant in Cornwall where he spent ayear before leaving to travel the world. Rupert linked his travels to working for the Mark warner company inbetween indulging his passion for snowboarding or surfing. Upon his return to the UK in 2009, Rupert joined TheBell at Skenfrith as Head Chef.

Since it opened ten years ago, The Bell’s ethos has always been to offer seasonal menus using local ingredients,much from its own organic kitchen garden. This is at one with Rupert’s style of cooking. Using local ingredientsis of paramount importance to him, as is the presentation of them which he stresses can be as important as theflavour; some of his plate settings are positively Picasso!

Since taking up his first head chef position, Rupert has brought in a fresh twist to The Bell’s menus, whilecontinuing its reputation for offering delicious, modern British cooking using fresh, locally-sourced and seasonalingredients. He works closely with Michele Civil, The Bell’s organic kitchen gardener, when creating his menus andlikes to be very involved with what is being grown in the kitchen garden.

Originally inspired to take up cooking by his grandmother, Rupert’s most influential mentor has been HestonBlumenthal. When not cooking at The Bell, Rupert likes to snowboard, surf and work out at the gym. William andJanet Hutchings are delighted to welcome Rupert to their team. His enthusiasm and wealth of experience will helppush The Bell to even greater heights on the culinary scene!

Yorkshire South Tourism unveils a new regional Food Trail which offers a fresh perspective on the culinary offerings, local suppliers and fresh produce available in the region.

The Yorkshire South Food Trail covers the key locations of the region, which includes Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster and parts of The Peak District National Park.

By no means exhaustive, the Food Trail offers a starting point to showcase the diverse foodie options available, sometimes unexpectedly, to visitors to the Yorkshire South region.

Sample gastro cuisine, Michelin starred menus, authentic family run restaurants, organic and locally grown produce from farmshops and delis. With cookery classes and themed dinner events running throughout the year, there’s no excuse not to join in!

Organically Yours

Adjacent to Sheffield Hallam University, the Butcher Works on Arundel Street is a 19th century Grade II listed building and former cutlery works. Recently transformed, it is now home to one of the city’s best kept secrets – Fusion Organic Café, which offers organic food in atmospheric, historical surroundings. Across in Barnsley , Glenroyd Organics are a husband and wife team that have created a fantastic range of organic products which can be purchased online or at food fayres across the region, including the regular Sheffield Farmer’s Market. In Hathersage, just west of Sheffield, The Walnut Club is a Michelin star-aspiring eatery on the edge of the Peak District and is one of the UK’s first strictly Organic Restaurants, where Head Chef John Oates sources wholesome organic food and offers a wide range of vegan and gluten free cuisine.

Fresh from the Farm

McCallums Farmshop in Doncaster is an impressive converted barn that makes a great stop off. Buy homegrown farm produce onsite or online, explore the three fishing lakes and quench your thirst at the onsite cafe. The award winning Cannon Hall Farm Shop offers a real farming experience for the whole family. Situated in the pretty village of Cawthorne in Barnsley, visitors can purchase fresh produce from the farm shop and delicatessen to take home, while kids of all ages can enjoy the adventure playground and farm experience. Still in Barnsley, the place for homebred free range meats is Broad Close Farm Shop which sells Tamworth Pork from free roaming woodland pigs, homebred, free range Dexter beef and lamb. Pick your Own Fruit at Eastfield Farm Shop in Tickhill where a wide range of home grown soft fruits are available to harvest during June & July, and homegrown vegetables are available year round.

Michelin Stars

For a special treat visit Tessa Bramley, the chef patron of Sheffield’s only Michelin restaurant The Old Vicarage in Ridgeway on the outskirts of Sheffield. Her seasonal menus use ingredients from the acres of gardens that surround this country house restaurant, with its stunning countryside views. On the edge of the Yorkshire South region, bordering the Chatsworth Estate in The Peak District stands the stunning manor house and private grounds of Fischer’s Baslow Hall. This renowned Michelin starred restaurant is rated for both its classical favourites and more adventurous dishes using the best of local produce.

Offbeat & Quirky Views to Dine For

Get away from it all and see the region from a different perspective, with some of the more unusual places to dine in Yorkshire South.

Combine food with travel and hop aboard A&G Passenger Boats. Their Cruise and Dine packages on the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal run through from the heart of the city and offer a unique perspective to enjoy a British menu. For a real blast, head for the quirky ambience of The Garrison Hotel Sheffield, situated in the Hillsborough Barracks. This Grade II listed building houses a former jail, guardhouse and ammunition building. With many buildings unchanged from the exterior, you can easily envisage troops parading whilst dining in the Jailhouse Bar and Restaurant or enjoy drinks al fresco the Outdoor Terrace. Sprotbrough, near Doncaster is home to The Boat Inn, a 17th Century pub serving quality food on the grassy banks of the River Don, next to Sprotbrough Lock. For true character, history, distinctive surroundings and some lovely riverside walks, look no further.

World Cuisine

Platillos Bar & Restaurant is all about little plates and big Mediterranean and Latin American flavours. Eating with abandon is encouraged and has earned this atmospheric restaurant in the heart of Sheffield ‘Best Tapas Menu’ award and ‘Restaurateurs Restaurant of the Year’ award in the local EatSheffield Food Awards 2009.
No trip to Sheffield would be complete without a taste of Nonna’s. Sheffield’s best loved Italian restaurant serves authentic Italian food, over 120 Italian wines with a Latin passion. It has been critically acclaimed, included in The Independent’s Top 10 places to eat Italian in the UK and named as one of the UK’s Best Restaurants in The Observer Food Monthly Awards 2008.

Doncaster offers some of the region’s most exciting and exotic cuisine. For an authentic taste of Nepal try Balrams Neplese Restaurant. The husband and wife team run a homely restaurant that delivers first class food and service with a smile. With no set sittings, they open when you arrive and close when you leave, and even offer kitchen tours and cookery lessons. For a taste of sunshine, try Doncaster’s first Caribbean restaurant. Banana Boat Caribbean Restaurant & Bar uses authentic ingredients to create traditional dishes such as ackee and salt fish, jerk pork and curried goat. Alternatively, try the Jinja Tree in Bawtry, an oriental infused restaurant, where your personal chef will cook you vegetables, fish or meat dishes on a hot griddle right before your very eyes.

Gastronomic Delights

Tucked away in the heart of Sheffield’s cultural quarter, Silversmiths Restaurant & Bar is housed in the former premises of George Ellis (Silversmiths) Ltd, a producer of silverware and cutlery. Diners can take in the city’s industrial past, with Sheffield made cutlery, artworks and exhibits, while sampling a simple yet stylish contemporary British menu. On the outskirts of the city in a suburb of Dore, lies Moran’s Restaurant & Wine Bar. Its modern European menu has attracted praise from some of the UK’s toughest food critics who have unearthed one of the city’s hidden culinary gems. The industrial heritage of Kelham Island is home to one of the city’s top dining hotspots, The Milestone. This chic gastropub raise their own free range rare breed pigs, offer cookery classes and cocktail evenings. It has recently been awarded a coveted Michelin recommendation, joining fellow Michelin acclaimed Sheffield eatery Artisan, a modern, bistro style restaurant. The stylish Leopold Square hosts The Wig & Pen in the heart of the city, where British recipes are reinvented with a contemporary twist and served in the relaxed Georgian dining room. Further afield is Nordest, Doncaster’s leading gastro restaurant. This former fish restaurant now serves traditional Anglo-Italian food with a modern feel.

A Taste of the Country

Famed for its traditional country inns, the region has become synonymous with real ale drinkers and is responding to the needs of visitors and changing tastes that want high quality fayre in countryside, ambient, historic settings. On the boundary between Barnsley and Sheffield, the former 18th century coaching inn, the Wortley Arms and Montagu’s Restaurant retains a real sense of history with period features including revolving doors, oak beams and open fires. The Spencer Arms is simply one of the region’s finest gastropubs, set in the delightful Pennine village of Cawthorne, Barnsley. The cosy pub atmosphere and bar full of real ales is complemented by an exciting new contemporary dining space. Traditional country cooking is celebrated at The Beaters Restaurant at The Dog and Partridge Inn, on the edge of the rugged northern Peak District, an ancient Inn with a history that can be traced back to the Elizabethan period. As CAMRA award winner, visitors can enjoy cosy log fires, stunning moorland and real ales. Iconic Sheffield pub, The Cricket Inn is located on the edge of the Peak District, with a feel of a great country pub only minutes from city life and is one of the most popular foodie haunts in the area.

Now we’re cooking!

Why not take home some of the region’s top fayre with a day of cooking? The Milestone in Kelham Island, Sheffield offers a range of cookery classes for all abilities. Learn the basics or enhance your skills, with themed classes on meat, fish, dinner party food and more. Or try your hand with a course at Coghlans Cookery School in the outskirts of Sheffield, from a Half Day Chocolate Team Building Day, to Foraging for Wild Foods.

For more information about the culinary delights of the South Yorkshire region, start your visit at www.yorkshiresouth.com/dine

If you would like to recommend somewhere to add to the Food Trail, then Yorkshire South Tourism would love to hear from you. Please send your suggestions to visitor@yorkshiresouth.com

Budding chefs and food lovers have a packed menu to choose from over the next few months in Eastbourne as the resort’s Culinary Arts Studio introduces new evening demonstrations designed to set taste buds alive.

From combining flavours and spices with Pan Asian Cooking to Eating Humble Pie, and from learning how to use all of the meat with Butchering and Cooking Meat to a Mystery Basket, an evening finding out how to produce wow factor dishes with a versatile mix of ingredients. Eastbourne will be hosting a series of exciting evening events from March to May this year, with those attending invited to learn from the best with professional Chef Steven Cooke leading the demonstrations with lots of tasters, recipes, and questions and answers throughout.

Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Member for Tourism, Cllr Susan Morris said “The new cookery demonstrations from the Culinary Arts Studio are a fantastic idea for the spring months ahead and the perfect excuse for a fun evening out, while learning some great culinary skills at the same time! The Studio is a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen and anyone attending will be able to view top techniques up close, before taking recipes home to try out for themselves.”

With spring fast approaching and the evenings getting lighter the new evening demonstrations offer an alternative night out for both residents and visitors.

Located at the Eastbourne campus of the University of brighton, the Culinary Arts Studio is located in a beautiful position at the foot of the South Downs and offers a unique experience for anybody visiting the town.

Taking place on Wednesday evenings from 6.30pm – 9pm the courses make a great excuse for a mid-week break and leave visitors with the day free to explore the seaside resort.

By day, budding chefs can be inspired by a vast selection of local restaurants including the award-winning Hungry Monk at Jevington, famous for inventing the Banoffi Pie, or explore local food and drink makers including the nearby English Wine Centre or Middle Farm, home to the National Collection of Cider and Perry.

The Culinary Arts Studio evening demonstrations cost just £25+VAT and include the chance to sample dishes, take recipes home, and pick up tips from Chef Steven Cooke.

To book visit the online shop at www.visiteastbourne.com or telephone the Studio on 01273 643361.

Plus the demonstrations are also available to book online from www.cookery-holidays.com with a stay at an Eastbourne hotel.

A Shropshire-based artisan food company, Ludlow Food Centre, is encouraging others to follow its example and enter a prestigious marmalade competition that could provide new opportunities and additional custom.

Ludlow Food Centre was the winner of two Gold awards and one Silver award in the 2009 World’s Original Marmalade Festival held at Dalemain mansion and historic gardens, near Penrith in Cumbria, in support of leading charities and with the ambition of rekindling a love of marmalade across the world.

Ludlow Food Centre is currently preparing its 2010 entries and will again be competing in the Artisan category, in which any winner of a double Gold award will this year have the opportunity to have their marmalade on sale in Fortnum & Mason, London.

Entries can be submitted until February 1 in this category and until February 7 in the ten amateur categories and Ludlow Foods is already putting its entries together.

Ludlow Food Centre, established in April 2007, found out about the Festival from a friend in the trade and submitted its Lemon and Lime Marmalade, its Medium Cut Seville Orange Marmalade and its Handcut Marmalade for judging in 2009. The Handcut won the Silver accolade, whilst the other two won Gold.

The artisan food company did not expect to win with all three products, but has found that the kudos of being a Dalemain Marmalade Festival winner has helped it market its products and take advantage of new opportunities.

Managing Director for Ludlow Food Centre, Sandy Boyd, says: “It would be marvellous to achieve a double gold award and take our products to an audience outside the Food Centre. To see our product on the shelf in Fortnum & Mason would be a real achievement. We have been thinking about ways to wholesale our products and this would be a perfect opportunity to test the water.”

Ludlow Food Centre is a unique shopping experience on the Earl of Plymouth’s Estate in Shropshire. Farming, food production and retailing fuse together, with 8 kitchen units, a large retail shopping area, conference centre, café and Post Office all housed under one roof.

The Centre’s kitchen units include a dairy, coffee roasting room, butchery, production kitchen, bakery and jam and pickle room.

The Centre sells fresh, local, seasonal and handmade food. More than 80 per cent comes from Shropshire and the surrounding counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Powys. More than 50 per cent of the products sold are made at the Food Centre, using the same local ingredients sold in the shop.

Jam and pickles experts, Darren Marsh and Tess Slater, have had much success with their products, winning many different awards. Customers can watch them at work, every weekday, thanks to large windows that help showcase the artisan food production. In total, they make six varieties of marmalade, the most popular being Medium Cut Seville Orange Marmalade.

Ludlow Food Centre is fully behind the ambition of World’s Original Marmalade Festival founder and organiser, Jane Hasell-McCosh, to spread the love of marmalade across the world.

Sandy Boyd says: “We would like to rekindle the love of marmalade in Britain, where it is viewed as quite an old-fashioned and traditional product. Any attempt to support real food, made by real people, must be applauded.”

Dalemain Marmalade Festival organiser, Jane Hasell-McCosh, says: “Ludlow Food Centre is a shining example of the food enthusiast that the Festival aims to support. These food producers have a passion for their food and are generating vital income within local economies. They are putting real food back on the plate and helping to spread a love for marmalade not just across Britain, but across the world.”

Rules for both artisan and amateur competitions are online at www.marmaladefestival.com Now is the perfect time to enter, as Seville oranges in the shops, but oranges are not the only fruit for marmalade.

The Festival is this year sponsored by Tiptree, Robertson’s, Rose’s and Frank Cooper’s, with support from Farm Stay UK and Fortnum & Mason.

The public can taste some of the most delicious marmalades in the world on February 14, when Dalemain mansion and gardens will be open to the public for sampling and hosting a food fair and fun and games with Paddington Bear – a patron of the Festival.

Entrance on the day costs £4 for an adult and is free for children. Entries to the marmalade competition cost £5 for an amateur adult, £1 for a child and £25 for an artisan producer. Additional artisan entries then cost £18 each.

All entry fees and profits from admission go to charity. This year’s supported charities are Hospice at Home and Help For Heroes.

ASHBURTON COOKERY SCHOOL, SOUTH DEVON

Treat mum to an exciting hands-on cookery course this Mother’s Day with a gift voucher from the new Ashburton Cookery School in South Devon. Designed to inspire, there are over 40 courses from which to choose such as Express Dinner Parties for home entertaining, Chef Skills for the more advanced and family dinners – a new one-day course ideal for busy mums juggling work with looking after the home.

With a gift voucher mum can select a course and date to suit her lifestyle. Valid for nine months, they can be purchased for the one, two or five day courses, which are priced from £149 per person. Alternatively, vouchers are available in denominations of £25 upwards and can be put towards the cost of any course. You can choose to have a printed voucher sent to either yourself or the recipient direct, while for last minute gifts you can send a voucher via email from the school’s website.

Ashburton Cookery School has just moved to a new, ultra-modern building with three superbly equipped teaching kitchens. The hands-on courses, which are split into five levels of ability, teach fundamental techniques that can be applied when cooking at home, entertaining family and friends or working in a professional kitchen. The popular one and two day course include canapés, desserts, fish and seafood, gastro and modern vegetarian. There are also courses inspired by a country’s cuisine such as Italian, French and Thai.

What better way to get to see what has been hailed as one of the top global destinations in 2010 than walking across the Islands that make up the Isles of Scilly.

After being named by International Travel Guide Frommer’s as one of its must visit 2010 global destinations, one of the best ways to see real Scilly is through Walk Scilly 2010 – the fourth annual Isles of Scilly walking festival.

This year’s festival sees a range of new walks and themes added to the itinerary as well as a series of evening events and special travel and accommodation offers.

New walks for what is the UK’s most westerly walking festival include, walks between the Islands (which are only possible at low tides), wild food walks (led by local experts) and artistic walks, where visitors can interpret and capture the natural environment on canvas with the help and guidance of local artists.

And for the first time, this year’s Festival also offers visitors a range of roam-alone routes recommended by leading walkers, and supported by the Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The seven day festival, which takes place across the Islands from 27th March to the 3rd April, offers visitors over 30 guided walks which are graded easy, moderate or hard and which showcase the stunning natural environment flora, fauna and rich history and archaeology that make up the Isles of Scilly.

Organisers have also organised a range of special events every evening of the Festival, including slideshows, ghost walks, talks, and music. These will include popular folk music, traditional Cornish music and dinner and dance, where visitors and locals alike can enjoy the best of Scillonian hospitality.

Travel and accommodation special offers for the festival include:

The recently refurbuished St Mary’s Hall Hotel is offering Walk Scilly Specials: 3, 4 or 7 nights from 27 March to 3 April. Offer includes return transport and dinner bed & breakfast, in addition to a reflexology, massage or pedicure session to relax you after a long walk.

Prices are per person based on two adults sharing, with options including Skybus from Lands End: 3 nights = £405; 4 nights = £490; 7 nights = £745 Skybus from Newquay: 3 nights = £415; 4 nights = £500; 7 nights = £755. Scillonian III passenger ferry from Penzance: 3 nights = £373; 4 nights = £458; 7 nights = £713. Helicopter from Penzance: 3 nights = £405; 4 nights = £490; 7 nights = £745

To book, contact St Mary’s Hall Hotel on 01720 422316 or email contactus@stmaryshallhotel.co.uk

For more information on the Walks available at this year’s festival, visit www.walkscilly.co.uk or call the Tourist Information Centre on Scilly on 01720 424 031.

A glorious foodie experience, sure to spread happiness whatever the winter weather, can be enjoyed on England’s most beautiful lake in February 2010, when the iconic Ullswater ‘Steamers’ lay on fabulous marmalade cruises, in conjunction with mansion and historic gardens, Dalemain.

Passengers on board the 11am ‘A Taste of Marmalade’ cruise, departing Pooley Bridge on February 4. 2009, will be able to test some very special, connoisseur’s marmalades during a one-hour cruise on Ullswater.

Having built up an appetite for all types of top quality marmalade, from traditional Seville orange to other citrus fruit-based marmalades and even merry marmalade – including alcohol – cruise passengers will enjoy a tasty two-course lunch at historic Dalemain.

This will present an opportunity for any marmalade-making cruisers to submit their entries to the World’s Original Marmalade Festival marmalade competition, for which the closing date for 2010 is February 1 for artisan producer and February 7 for home cooks.

The Festival will be held at Dalemain over National Marmalade Weekend (February 13-14) and the judges’ decisions on winners across all 11 categories will be announces on February 14, 2010.

A choice of tea or coffee will be served on board the Ullswater ‘Steamers’ boat, as the cruise takes in some of the most stunning scenery that can be enjoyed in any part of Britain.

Ullswater ‘Steamers’ Rachel Bell says: “The World’s Original Marmalade Festival is spreading the love of marmalade further across the globe with each passing year and this special Marmalade Cruise is helping the Festival to achieve its goal.

“This marmalade-focused experience will not only delight the taste-buds, but also inspire marmalade lovers to get into the kitchen and attempt to create a pot of marmalade that could win top marks and a commemorative prize at the world’s most prestigious preserve Festival.”

The Spanish use olive oil as a standard accompaniment to most meals, so why not stay in a wonderfully restored 200 year old olive mill in Andalucía for a chance to experience some of Spain’s most exquisite food. Using The Hotel Finca el Cerillo as a base, follow the ancient ‘Silk Route’ between Cómpeta and Granada and walk beneath the majestic peaks of the Sierra Almijara. After strolling through sweet chestnuts and olive and citrus groves, visit tiny hamlets where famers still travel by mule or take advantage of the hotel gardens with 100 year old carob and palm trees.

The pool has stunning views across the valley below and the Moorish village of Archez with its 13th Century tower. For cosy winter nights there is even a beamed lounge with a blazing log fire to relax in front of. The seven night guided walking holiday “Secrets of Andalucía” starts from £978 per person departing 23rd January 2010, including 4* full board (with wine) accommodation, walking briefing, local information, route notes and map kit. Prices inclusive of flights start from £1163 per person from Gatwick to Malaga with British Airways, including transfers. Flights can be arranged from most UK airports. Call Headwater Reservations Line 01606 720199 or book on line at www.headwater.com