To The Table

18 June

by Alice

It began in January. An idea that bubbled up on a murky weekday evening and refused to go away. Dom and I were driving through town, talking about hot Italian summers and the trappings of a 9-5 job, when we came to it. “Why don’t we just leave it all? Move abroad, write for a living”, I half joked. Dom was silent for a while. “Ok.” Then we went into the supermarket and schemed, with trepidation at first, like two people planning what they’d buy with a winning lottery ticket. We’d get a van, we told ourselves. Then we’d spend the summer in Europe – oh, could we get a dog? – yes, alright. We’d spend half our time writing, the other half eating, travelling, living. Over the next few weeks, the idea morphed, and as it did it became a real thing. Instead of the van we decided to rent an apartment for the winter in Sicily. And in the spring we’d travel to Japan, Canada, New Zealand. All the places we’d wanted...

Spice-Rubbed Cauliflower Steaks

by Alice

Hello 2017 – and hello to all of you – sorry I’m horribly late. Everything’s gone by so quickly – Christmas, New Year, delicious food – and I’ve let them slip away because, with time, the thought of recording them all has become more and more tiresome. A job for a long afternoon of nothingness, and how often do those come about? Anyway, I’m now on a train on my way home from London and I feel the urge to write. Not quite a long afternoon, but it’ll do. I know the middle of January is hardly the time for yearly reviews, but I do want to talk a bit about my 2016 (wow, doesn’t that seem a while ago?). Now contrary to popular opinion, I liked 2016. Political strife and numerous celebrity deaths aside, it was actually quite good, and without sounding too unbearable, I think I might have learned some important things. Here they are: 9-5 (who am I kidding – 9-6) jobs are, for the most part, intolerably shit. Well, in any case...

December 21

by Alice

In the days since we last spoke I’ve taken my last trip to London for the year. I’ve also eaten all the mince pies and decided that in the New Year I will be a svelte fitness queen. I’ve written my Christmas cards while listening to carols from King’s. I’ve come down with a wretched cold. I haven’t done my tax return yet. I’ve driven – or rather Dom’s driven – to Cheshire, and we’ve wandered through the dark cloisters of Chester cathedral. I’ve explored the city walls, heavy with fog, silent except for the rush of the weir. I’ve waited, with family, for a 9pm table reservation at the Chef’s Table. A tiny restaurant, tucked away in the old alleys of Chester – enough room for 24. The food unbelievably good. Marinated quail, served with clementine, chicory and spiced nuts. Then a Christmas dinner of duck – duck breast, duck stuffing, duck sausages. And yes, I’ve put down my knife and fork every so often and sighed. And all that, (minus the tax return, and the cold),...

Day Five: Crickets

Published by Alice

It must be a funny thing, to live with the constant hum of crickets – like tinnitus, I suppose. A long time today I sat listening to those crickets,...

June 19, 2016

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Travel

Day Four: Skala

Published by Alice

Skala reminds me of holidays as a child, in Spain, where you pay €6 for a pair of sunbeds and stay there all day. We do just that. The...

June 18, 2016

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Travel

Day Three: Fiscardo

Published by Alice

We wind our way along Kefalonia’s western coast, toing and froing from the ocean to the rocky headland, and after two hours of hairpin bends, we arrive at Fiscardo...

June 17, 2016

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Travel

Day Two: Sami and Melissani Cave

Published by Alice

A morning swim in an empty cove, the fishes tickling our toes. We watch another snorkeler stride out of the water holding a spear and his catch – an...

June 16, 2016

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Travel

Day One – Kefalonia

Published by Alice

We go to sleep to the conspiring whispers of crickets and wake up to the rattling song of the Sardinian Warblers nested in the olive trees. Kefalonia. It’s greener...

June 15, 2016

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Travel

Letters to Santa Lucia

Published by Alice

In Verona, children don’t leave letters by the fireplace for Father Christmas, but for Santa Lucia – the patron saint of the blind. She visits on the 12th December...

December 8, 2015

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Life, Travel

Italian sausages and beans (and Verona)

Published by Alice

I was planning to write about sausages and beans, but then I remembered that I haven’t properly told you about Verona. About the way the crisp morning air nips...

November 17, 2015

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Italian, Main Course, Recipes, Travel

Taverna Tipica Veneziana: the Venetian chippy that’s bringing life back to Torcello

Published by Alice

The Venetian island of Torcello has 11 inhabitants. Last year there were 16, but then Carmen’s cousins upped sticks and moved to Burano. Apparently they didn’t have a boat...

November 11, 2015

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Travel