Best foodie moments from the last decade

Another year…another decade. Where does the time go? As you can see from my blogs, food is my passion. I spend my spare time in search of the best foods, ingredients, chefs and restaurants. I was asked what my best foodie moments were from the last decade, so I thought I’d share them with you all!

Best restaurant moment

It has to be from Phil Howard when he was at The Square. It was around when he got his 2 stars. He served me lobster ravioli; I remember it like it was yesterday. He came out and said to me that he’d made it specially for me. It wasn’t on the menu. He was doing it for his new menu – it was mind blowing. Best meal I’ve ever had. I had a crab lasagne to start and the lobster ravioli as my main. Phil is all about flavours and all about seasons. That lobster ravioli was the best meal I’ve ever had. www.squarerestaurant.com

Classic food moment

This is actually one of my most recent finds - the classic Greek Salad that I tasted in Athens. This is a dish that I will remember til I die. It’s only a Greek salad but it was amazing! The little baby olives and the fresh herb croutons but the stars of the show were the cheese and tomatoes. There were also capers, olives and spring onions. The little olives were mind blowing but it was the cheese as well. I’m going to write about my trip soon.

Hidden gem moment

This is a recent one, finding the best Tortilla in the world, in San Sebastian. Take a look at my blog on San Sebastian here.

Foodie moment at home

This is probably a lads’ ski trip. Our group included Heston Blumenthal, Nigel Howarth, Phil Howard, John Campbell, myself and others. There were 13 Michelin Stars around that table! We all bought a load of food and also bought some stuff from UK. Heston had some beef ribs. John Campbell had some veal from the UK. We took it to such a level that we actually lit a fire, took all the coals out of the fire, brushed it and rolled the veal onto the hot plate of the fireplace (John Campbell’s meal). Heston made amazing beef ribs with a reduced red wine. Phil did an 8 hour shoulder of lamb. The lamb went on, we went skiing all day and then we came back to eat. Amazing!

We didn’t go out for dinner once. Why would you?! That was an amazing week of food. Not officially competitive…but with Chefs of this calibre how could it not be?!! There was also a great restaurant that we’d go to for lunch. It was as far as it could be, away from our chalet. It took 4 hours non-stop skiing to get to. You had to eat quickly to get back! One day we didn’t make it and had to take a very long taxi trip back. Worth it! La Ferme was the restaurant – in Villaroger.

New find moment

I think this would be a restaurant called Sarong in Bali with Chef Will Meyrick. I just thought the flavours, the look, the length of cooking and the intensity was amazing. It’s not new food but a new experience for me. www.sarongbali.com

Simplicity moment

The fried eggs with white truffle in Istria. Take a look at my blog on Istria. We went truffle hunting in the morning, came back and then had fried egg with truffle on top. We took Ivan’s dog with us. Here he is hunting for our white truffles.

Luxury moment

Definitely Portugal in a place called Ocean restaurant in Porches. Here are some of the photos. This is tuna – it looks like watermelon. Look at the butter. It’s not olives, but it is olive butter. Amazing! You can see they are heading for 3 stars – stunning. www.restauranteocean.com

Most memorable moment

This has to be a restaurant called Favakin in Northern Sweden. It was run by chef Magnus Nilsson from 2008-2019. Phil took me there for my 50th birthday. We had 29 courses! I have photos of the whole meal. It’s 2 Michelin stars. If you headed out of his door and went north you’d get to north pole! After the meal, Magnus went up to Phil and said shall we go fishing – so we went trout fishing, after he had cooked for everyone, with me and Phil…and at midnight. It was still light!

Best pudding over the last decade

Tarte Tatin at Chez Bruce. When it’s done well, this is the best pudding in the world. It’s a piece of art when it’s right and this was done right…with the caramelisation and the gooeyness – it was pretty special. www.chezbruce.co.uk