The Venner Bar is a happening little place. Tucked away at the back of Bridport’s Bull Hotel, it has established itself a reputation for outstanding cocktails, served with panache. It has an old-fashioned gentleman’s club feel which belies the innovative slant of the cocktails on offer; alongside the classics,...
I confess, when I first heard about the Onion Jack Festival I thought it an odd premise – a four day festival celebrating French Onions in West Dorset – an unusual concept to say the least. However with Washingpool Farm hosting and the release of a vibrant schedule of events...
Gloriously eccentric and refreshingly different The Onion Jack Festival looks to be an interesting addition to the autumn’s foodie event calendar. Hosted by Bridport’s award winning Washingpool Farm, the festival celebrates a unique Anglo-French relationship. The festival runs from this Thursday 22nd October until Sunday. I spoke to Jo from Washingpool to find...
Most of us keep onions and sugar or honey in the cupboard and now is the time that the onion harvest starts to come in from the veg patch. If any of those winter bugs develops into a cough, onion and garlic syrup is a winner to help fix...
It’s one of our most recognisable signs of the imminent advance of summer; the transformation of great swaths of our green and pleasant land into a blazing carpet of yellow with the flowering of the rapeseed fields each May. For me it also brings with it a great sense...
From the moment I planned my pregnancy I knew that optimising my diet was going to be a high priority. From the off I followed all the rules; 9 months with not a scrap of chorizo, nor a sliver of gravadlax, not whiff of brie nor a juicy pink steak;...
I am not in the habit of writing restaurant reviews. Being employed in the trade I would be considered somewhat biased and likely also unduly harsh. However I will not shy away from highlighting the new and exceptional where I see it as was the case this week. I...
There can be few places of such ever changing yet forever enduring beauty as Lyme Regis. At night, the Cobb, unlit but for a bulb or two at its extremities, at once romantic and yet menacing; in a winter storm, the mighty waves dwarfing its’ walls, an awesome reminder of...
The “Great British Bake Off Effect” has been well documented but how did a homely baking show cause a seven-tiered wedding cake sized baking revolution? An average of 2.8 million viewers watched the first series in 2010; by the 5th series in 2014 this had ballooned to 10.1 million. But this...
The EU Commission has signalled it will consider allowing a tax exemption for Dorset’s small cider and perry producers.It follows sustained pressure from local MEP Ashley Fox who along with CAMRA has been campaigning for a rule change to allow a duty exemption.Earlier this year the EU Commission ordered...
