The Dutch are coming
In a matter of days the 2012 food festival, Spring Harvest, will be well under way and with it comes my own pet project: The International Chef Exchange. Some of you will have read about my excitement at having found The Beaumont Hotel in Maastricht and their very talented chef Audrey Eussen. It became a personal mission to try to get Audrey here and by instigating the International Chef Exchange programme she will now be here for the festival in the first week of April.
Her visit will include visits to local food producers, restaurants and an appearance at the Live Food show in Brighton Corn Exchange at noon on Friday 6 April with her host exchange chef, Andrew Mackenzie, of The Restaurant at Drakes.
It is at Drakes that she will be preparing the fabulous Limburg in Brighton dinner showcasing the superb cuisine that she has become famous for in The Beaumont Hotel’s beautiful restaurant. I’ve just had a sneak preview of the menu and after reading it I had to have a little lie down – Limburg monastery pork with black pudding, Limburg mustard and bay leaf apple, asparagus soup with grilled turbot, tarragon oil and green asparagus, veal loin, cheek and sweetbread… I have to stop, it’s making my tummy rumble just thinking about it. If you haven’t booked then do so now, at £55 a head for six courses this will be one of the highlights of Brighton’s culinary year.
Ticket include food and tasters of Dutch wines, and additional drinks are available to buy.
Drakes of Brighton, 43-44 Marine Parade, Brighton, BN2 1PE 01273 696934
www.drakesofbrighton.com
If, like me, you are an unlikely real ale liker then don’t miss out on the Sussex Beer Festival at Pub du Vin. Last year this was a huge success with a wide range of great beers sourced from across the county. What was most exciting though was the wide range of real ale fans that turned up. There were, of course, the expected real ale drinkers, CAMRA members and flat capped bitter boys. But there are a growing mumber of young real ale fans and in particular women who are becoming followers of traditional ales and seem to have a rather good palate for it, tasting beers as one would normally taste wine. I, for one, will be there looking out for some of my favourite tipples like Cherry Porter and seeing how the guys at Wobblegate are getting on with their new cider.
Sussex Beer Festival at Pub du Vin, Friday 30–Saturday 31 March
Tickets are now available from the bar at Pub du Vin, 6 Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AD
01273 718588, www.hotelduvin.com
The highlight of last year’s festival programme for many was the Sussex Gourmet Bus Tour; I went and it was obvious why. A fabulous day of drinking and tasting whilst gently travelling through the Sussex countryside. Along the way quizzes, a great lunch and lots of opportunities to taste and to buy great local produce. This year the tour takes in Cocoa Loco, Sussex Gold rape seed oil, Court Garden Vineyard, The Crabtree in Lower Beeding for lunch, WJ King Brewery, High Weald Dairy and Wobblegate apple juice and cider. Last time it sold out in just three days so don’t miss out this time.
Tickets available via Brighton & Hove Buses website – http://bookings.buses.co.uk £65 per person (including all visits and lunch), booking essential
