BADGER Ales, produced by family firm Hall & Woodhouse at the Blandford St Mary brewery, has won a Silver Award in the 2014 Design Effectiveness Awards for its new brand identity created by BrandOpus. The award acknowledges the success of Badger’s rebranding across the nine-bottle range. This new identity has created a strong on-shelf presence,…
WHAT do we need? Sunshine! When do we need it? Now! Most of us would give our eye-teeth for a few weeks of sunshine – frosty would be fine! So who can blame travelling chef Philippa Davis from Shaftesbury if she grabbed with both hands and the first available plane an invitation to go and…
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…
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!…
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…
TRAVELLING chef Philippa Davis from Shaftesbury is back in Scotland, cooking for a shooting party on the Cawdor Estate near Inverness, home to many game birds and beasts, wild salmon, and Shakespeare’s Macbeth (which inspired her to flights of verse and fancy but probably didn’t harm the food!) … The train journey up from…
WEST Country beef and lamb have been awarded protected status by the European Commission. Regional meat has been given Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status while another specialist regional product, Anglesey Sea Salt, has been given Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. The EU designations give the products similar protected status to 60 other UK foods,…
A monthly column by Justin Tunstall of Town Mill Cheesemonger, Lyme Regis FRANCIS is an outstanding Dorset cheese success story. Few cheeses win consecutive Best in Category gongs at the British Cheese Awards (our Oscars), yet Francis, a lovely washed-rind gem from Child Okeford has achieved this feat, scooping Best New British Cheese in 2012…
IT probably isn’t sunny all the time at Wrington – it just seems like that to us. On the two occasions that we have had lunch at The Ethicurean restaurant in the Barley Wood Walled Garden, despite cold and wet weather before and after our visits, the sun has been shining and the peaceful valley…