THE award-winning Eastbury Hotel in Sherborne has a new head chef, Matt Street, who has been working at the hotel for six years and aims to continue its tradition of serving outstanding, locally sourced food in the beautiful conservatory restaurant. Matt, who is 29, reached the knock-out stages of MasterChef The Professionals in the quarter…
DIANE Samuels’ play Kindertransport is a fictional account of the life of one Jewish girl sent from her affluent Hamburg home to England, where she was sponsored, and then adopted, by the kindly but ordinary Miller family. Told in a number of flashbacks, it runs from 1939, when Eva was nine years old, to the…
STURMINSTER Newton Amateur Dramatic Society has a new star in its 2014 pantomime – no mean feat in a show that features SNADS’ delicious regular dame, Ian Greig, as Mrs Twinkey the cook, and Giles Henschel channelling his inner villain as a dastardly Captain Hook. Holly Fripp, who plays Wendy in this new version of the…
DAWN King’s new play Ciphers, ending its tour at Salisbury, is an exploration of life in 21st century England, when surveillance and counter-intelligence are underpinned by rapidly developing technologies and espionage takes on a new importance. This production, directed by Blanche McIntyre for Out of Joint, Bush Theatre and Exeter Northcott, is performed on a…
MARY Anning should perhaps join Thomas Hardy as the first names to come to mind when Dorset is mentioned, and although her story has been better known in recent years, her extraordinary achievements are still not really synonymous with the Jurassic Coast, as it is now designated. That situation has been improved by Tracy Chevalier’s…
TOWN Mill Cheesemonger, Justin Tunstall’s tiny specialist cheese shop at Lyme Regis, has beaten nearly 300 entries nationwide to win the Cheesemonger Of The Year award in the annual Farm Shop & Deli Awards. Justin, who writes The Cheeseboard monthly article for the Fine Times Recorder, was understandably thrilled at the success. He said: “Wow!…
PATRICK Hamilton, who wrote Gaslight in 1938, went out of theatrical fashion long before his death in 1962. But many regard his works, notably Hanover Square and Rope as well as Gaslight, as superior to many of his more famous contemporaries. The thriller Gaslight, on stage at Salisbury until Saturday 1st March, has been a…
DAMON Runyan’s swirling, sleazy view of Prohibition New York, as encapsulated in his short stories Blood Pressure and The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown, inspired one of the great classics of musical theatre, Guys and Dolls. The Frank Loesser show has continued to excite directors, actors, singers, dancers and audiences since it first appeared in…
NORTH Dorset-based Japanese cook Teruko Chagrin has a warming traditional Japanese soup recipe for February, perfect for this raw cold winter. For 4 people Utensils: 4 small and shallow cups Colander Steamer (Chinese bamboo one is the best) Ingredients:: 2 cups (180ml x 2) Dashi stock • Dashi is Japanese sea stock made…
BIG hotel chains are not renowned for distinctive and original food. At their best, the dining can be fine indeed, but with only the merest nod to the local cuisine. International is the name of the game and you certainly don’t expect to know what farm your meat came from. But at the Bournemouth Marriott…