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

Spoil your mother with something a bit more interesting than flowers or chocolate this Mother’s Day by treating her to an indulgent Afternoon Tea at the Strand Palace Hotel.
With over 100 years of history, the Strand Palace Hotel is the ideal place to enjoy a traditional Afternoon Tea experience all of which can be served in the inviting surroundings of the Lounge Bar or the contemporary ambiance of the hotel’s restaurant Johnston’s Brasserie. What’s more if you book dinner in the hotel’s Carvery or Johnston’s Brasserie restaurants on Sunday 14th March, you’ll get a free cupcake from Ella’s Bakehouse.
Afternoon Tea is priced at £8.95 per person and includes scones served with clotted cream and jam and a selection of organic tea and coffee. The full Afternoon Tea experience, which additionally includes finger sandwiches and a selection of cakes, is priced at £12.95 and a glass of Champagne can be added for £8.00 per person.
The Strand Palace Hotel is situated in the heart of the West End, with Covent Garden and a host of London theatres within walking distance. To book your Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea experience, call 020 7379 4737, or visit www.strandpalacehotel.co.uk

Treat your mum to a 2 or 3 night weekend break at Retallack Resort & Spa in Cornwall this year.

With two fabulous packages to choose from, mums are guaranteed to feel thoroughly spoilt and the whole family can enjoy some quality time together. Offering a decleor spa, indoor swimming pool, fitness studio, tennis courts and 9-hole golf course, Retallack is the ideal place for mums to be treated to some time to relax and rejuvenate.

The resort is perfectly positioned only a few minutes drive from Padstow and Watergate Bay where Rick Steins and Jamie Olivers restaurants can provide a very special meal out whilst the rugged Cornish coastline and stunning beaches are the perfect place for long walks and plenty of fresh air.

For the ultimate indulgence why not give mum some much deserved time off cooking/serving and washing up and allow Retallack to organise a private chef to cook up a feast in the privacy of your own lodge, complete with local Cornish produce, a waitress and somebody to clear up along the way?
Package 1 ‘spoil her rotten’:
2 nights from £289 or 3 nights from £295 for a 2 bedroom lodge (sleeps 4)
Includes accommodation in a luxury 2 bedroom self-catering lodge, welcome hamper on arrival, complimentary bunch of spring flowers delivered to the lodge on mothering Sunday plus a half bottle of champagne and a half an hour Decleor aromatherapy facial.

Package 2 ‘Mums go free’ – Book a 4 bedroom lodge and mum will stay for free*.
2 nights from £259 or 3 nights from £267 for a 4 bedroom lodge (sleeps
Includes accommodation in a luxury 4 bedroom self-catering lodge, welcome hamper on arrival.
*Based on 8 sharing and includes a discount allowing mum to stay free.

On a unique, special website – www.thewoofguide.co.uk – Coastal Cottages of Pembrokeshire highlights lots of pet-friendly properties and also has sections highlighting dog-friendly pubs, restaurants and activities.

All featured cottages have been specially reviewed – with a ‘paw rating’ – for their suitability for five categories of pet – everything from pups to pensioners.

For example, a week’s stay at Rose Cottage (sleeps four) in the tiny hamlet of Lochvane near Newport is £427 in mid April. The cottage is set in two acres of gardens and is minutes from sandy beaches and the coastal path.

Tel: 01437 772760, www.coastalcottages.co.uk or visit www.thewoofguide.co.uk

This 2 night Mini Cruise Break to Alkmaar is a MUST for cheese lovers! From only £97pp this Alkmaar’s Cheese Festival is one of Holland’s most popular tourist attractions. Browse the stalls; watch the cheese men bringing their wares on barrows, and taste samples of Dutch cheese. Or explore the restaurants, cosy bars, extensive shopping offering and interesting museums.

Alkmaar’s historic town centre hasn’t changed really since the 17th century and with its pretty canals, cobbled streets and traditional gabled buildings it creates a fantastic atmosphere for the famous cheese market.

Sailing from Newcastle, enjoy two nights cruising, to and from Holland, where there is a whole host of great things to see and do onboard. From a cinema to a casino, a number of sumptuous restaurants and bars to enjoy a drink, there is something to keep everyone entertained.

Why not enjoy a summer drink on the sky deck as you sail to Holland and enjoy a romantic meal before retreating to your en suite cabin for a relaxing nights sleep.

On arrival into Holland you will be transferred to the famous cheese markets of Alkmaar. After a full day exploring the shopping and museums of Alkmaar it’s time for your return overnight cruise back to Newcastle.

2 nights from £97pp departing 27 May, 8 July, 19 August 2010

What’s Included

• 2 nights onboard in an en-suite cabin

• Coach transfers to and from Alkmaar

• Live entertainment onboard

Mini Cruise Prices

• Standard Mini Cruise
From £97pp

• With Breakfasts included
From £115pp

• With Breakfasts & Dinners included
From £155pp

Simply add meals or upgrade your cabin whilst making your booking.

In celebration of the rise in interest in quality British cooking, The Grill at The Dorchester will be honouring  St. George’s Day on Friday 23 April 2010 with a special menu.

Making the most of local produce, the menu will be available for lunch bookings and features beautifully cooked  classic British fare such as pressed terrine of Cornish lobster, Angus beef with Yorkshire pudding or Roasted rump  of lamb, priced at £55 per person.

The Grill at The Dorchester is one of London’s longest-standing traditional dining rooms. Head Chef, Brian Hughson  demonstrates a strong passion for sourcing quality, organic produce from around the British Isles wherever  possible. Together with Head Sommelier Jason McAuliffe, the British duo and their team create a welcoming, relaxed  atmosphere in which to enjoy classic British cuisine.

To make a reservation, please contact Restaurants at The Dorchester on +44 (0) 20 7629 8888 or email  restaurants@thedorchester.com.

St. George’s Day Menu

Wild Scottish smoked salmon and home cured gravadlax,carved at the table
or Carpaccio of beef, celery leaves and black truffle salad or Pressed terrine of Cornish lobster and tomato, sour cream dressing or Broccoli soup with Stilton beignets and red wine pears

Angus beef with Yorkshire pudding and seasonal vegetables or Roasted rump of lamb, confit tomatoes and courgette flowers or Potato and onion pie, wild mushroom and chervil cream or Roasted Pollack, lemon puree and brandade

Selection of Artisan British cheeses or Lemon tart with clotted cream ice cream
or Apple turnover or Bread & butter pudding with Baileys and chocolate ice cream

£55.00 per person
(Price inclusive of VAT at 17.5% and exclusive of 12.5% service charge)

Essential Italy are pleased to offer the following mid-season offer on these beautiful villa holiday options in Sardinia.

OFFER: 10% discount on bookings at these villas between 27 March – 30 June & 17 September – 24 October, 2010

Il Pagliaio (Sleeps 6)- http://www.essentialitaly.co.uk/il_pagliaio.php

Villa Il Pagliaio is surrounded by acres of countryside and offers a little bit of paradise with a good sized swimming pool and a characteristic restaurant serving breakfast and dinner. This original barn has been transformed into a stone-clad independent “villa” that is located close to the pool and comprises a spacious and comfortable lounge / dining area, kitchen 2 double bedrooms, a twin bedroom and two bathrooms. A private patio located at the back of the house ensures that you can relax under the fantastic dark blue starry sky.

Location: Arzachena 1.5km, nearest beach – Cannigione 10km, Pevero 18 hole golf course 15km, Olbia airport 35 kms, Alghero airport 150 kms

Prices: From £1050 – £2330 per week (high season price £2710)

Offer: 10% discount on bookings between 27 March – 30 June & 17 September – 24 October, 2010

Lo Stazzo (sleeps 6) – http://www.essentialitaly.co.uk/lo_stazzo.php

Lo Stazzo is an old traditional farm building which offers wonderful accommodation for up to 6 guests. The original wooden beams and stone walls all add to the charm of this independant house and the accommodation comprises of a large lounge / dining area, a real country kitchen complete with original stone fireplace, 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Going for perfection, Lo Stazzo has a great private external area at the back of the property with access to the gorgeous private pool sunk between the rocks.

Location: Arzachena 1.5km, nearest beach – Cannigione 10km, Pevero 18 hole golf course 15km, Olbia airport 35 kms, Alghero airport 150 kms

Prices: From £1480 – £2805 per week (high season price £3135)

Offer: 10% discount on bookings between 27 March – 30 June & 17 September – 24 October, 2010

The location of these properties is well placed for many of the famous stretches of coastline plus many more of the not so well known beaches and bays with easy access to local towns and villages.

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

In preparation for the launch of its new Website, http://www.hg2.com, high-end city guide publisher Hg2 has teamed up with travel social network Tripatini, http://www.tripatini.com, recently dubbed by the New York Post as “Facebook for travellers.”

As part of the partnership, Hg2 is providing Tripatini’s community of travellers and industry insiders with monthly reviews of the most hip and happening venues across the globe – all of which will draw on its vast database of hotels, restaurants, bars, clubs and shops. The reviews are being published in Tripatini’s weekly ‘Spotlight’ section, an editorial column that highlights must-see venues around the world. Hg2 and Tripatini also plan to collaborate on competitions and special offers later in 2010.

For this Valentines, treat your loved one to a long weekend away in Tenby, Pembrokeshire. Wander along the stunning sea front, enjoy a coffee overlooking the picture-postcard harbour, and dine in one of Tenbys famous restaurants.

Your accommodation is a cosy cottage or quaint town house, within easy reach of all that Tenby has to offer.

For example, stay in Lantern Suite is a perfect couple’s hideaway! Part of a Grade II listed building it offers spacious accommodation in a lower ground floor apartment. There is a stylish, but romantic bedroom with feature bath. The large open plan kitchen/dining area leads through to the lounge which opens onto a small terrace with 2 steps up to your own pebbled garden. A smart and highly recommended base for this beautiful town with all its great amenities & beaches an easy stroll away.

Cost – £499 for a romantic couple, four nights accommodation, roses and chocolates on arrival and gourmet dinner in a popular restaurant.