Escape to the past at the Spread Eagle in Midhurst
A truly romantic, ancient hotel but with all mod cons including a state of the art spa, the Spread Eagle in Midhurst offers all you need for a romantic and relaxing weekend break in the heart of the English countryside. Nick Harman donned his wellies and went down to kick back.
York Food & Drink Festival
This September the annual York Food & Drink Festival rolls around again. For gourmet delights pay a visit!
Hi-diddly-hi, it's Flanders again!
We've been to Flanders a lot this year, but that's because there's a lot to see. Anita Pati went there and developed a soft spot for a local fromage, sampled some rather strong beer and discovered the dubious delights of cheese on meat.
Cooking up a storm in Shropshire
A unique blend of country chic and contemporary design, Brompton Cookery School is the first of its kind on a National Trust property and offers fledging cooks a genuine opportunity to reconnect the food they prepare to the land from whence it came. Caroline Sargent puts on her pinny and goes back to the classroom.
Cedar Falls- Spa hotel in a Somerset style
Cedar Falls is one of the most refreshing places I have been to in a long while – figuratively speaking as much as anything else. A beautiful Georgian Manor House in the pretty village of Bishop’s Lydeard in Somerset, it’s a spa-and-stay kind of affair (although day guests are welcome too) with a very exciting and ambitious young chef to boot
Out on the Wild and Windy Moors
Unashamedly squeezing a Kate Bush song into her article title because she's a big fan, Caroline Sargent explores Northumbria and Hadrian's Wall Country with all that it has to offer the traveller and foodie. Staying in a dovecote, poking around castles and putting up with 4 star hotels are all on the menu. Running up that hill, hotly pursued by the hounds of love, will help lose any weight the visitor might put on
Unsung Italy - cookery classes with a difference in Abruzzo
A cookery course and foodie safari, all run from a restored palazzo high on a hill in Abruzzo, Italy? Nick Harman takes a three day sampler to see what this almost unknown region of Italy can bring to the table
Colette's at The Grove, Hertfordshire
Of course Foodepedia likes a nice room but the main attraction here is the food. The Grove is lucky enough to have its original walled vegetable garden still in full use and from this chef Russell Bateman pulls as much as he can to cook in the hotel’s 3 AA Rosette fine dining restaurant Colette’s.
A foodie weekend in Aberdeenshire
Venison and whisky lord over the menu when Anita Pati takes a foodie trip of Aberdeenshire. And the cock pheasants spar while the Cairngorms twinkle. What else in a land where monarch of the glen, stovies and a warming dram bring a welcome fit for royalty?
Chocolate heaven found in Flanders
Oh boy, in a country famed for Beer, TinTin, Magritte, Mussels and Chocolate, we found the finest creator of the latter in fusion chocolatier David Maenhout in Flanders. The creations he turns out here are so utterly fantastic it's almost a crime to eat them. Well, almost because you could claim 'crime of passion'. David lets us into his workshop and talks about how he makes his mini-masterpieces, in between sharing out the goodies.
The Flanders coast. A foody break with all the trimmings
The Flanders coast has so many Michelin Star restaurants, all vying for the local euro. I was over to visit one in particular, Bartholomeus in Knokke, but on the journey up there from Ostend I was able to take in a lot more of what the Flanders coast has to offer and get a taste of what makes it such a great and unusual foodie weekend break destination.
Rockliffe Hall Gourmet Breaks. A taste of the North
Kenny Atkinson is a Great British Chef with a Michelin Star to boot. He's now head chef at the new 5 star country house hotel Rockliffe Hall in County Durham and Nick Harman went up to sample the delights of their Gourmet Break, admire the historical setting and avoid the fabulous spa if he possibly could.
Snow Gastronomy a foodie winter break in Austria
"I'm not normally a winter sports person, to be honest. When I was growing up such a concept was foreign to our family. My father said 'Winter? Holiday?' in the much same way Peter Kay's father said 'Garlic? Bread?'" The lure of fine food and gentle, sensible fun in the snow finally gets Nick Harman on a plane to Austria.
Lime Wood – an impressive country retreat
Lime Wood had the travel, food and business press all a little bit hot under the collar when it opened at the tail-end of last year – the main reason being that it was one of the most interesting projects to launch in a long time. The newly-restored Georgian hotel is set in the deepest depths of the New Forest and looks like it could become the definitive country pile for visiting tourists.
Cliveden House - a home and a hotel
Cliveden House is one of the most gorgeous luxury hotels in the UK and just a short ride from London or Heathrow. Nick Harman went to sample life as lived by the infamous Cliveden set in the ‘30s and to eat at Waldo’s the hotel’s fine dining restaurant, one which puts the gourmet icing on the weekend stay cake.
A Break in The Peaks
Looking for a late summer getaway? The fabulous Peak District and Derbyshire arethere to be discovered with quality hotels, superb restaurants, local produce created with care, sites to see and of course fantastic scenery. We packed our bags and headed north to check out just some of what the region has to offer the Foode on a break.
Peak of perfection - The Peacock at Rowsley
Looking for a weekend break that combines stunning scenery, a fabulous hotel and fine dining? Us too, and always. We found it in the Peak district where the people are charming, the Peaks marvellous and the Peacock Hotel an oasis of quality service and food.
