An Evening Inspired by Studio Ghibli #3

I always get excited to hear about new events at The Vanguard, but most especially the Studio Ghibli themed ones. This chapter was held on Valentine’s Day, which suited me just fine! The venue could perhaps be quite intimate, but actually it’s pretty relaxed and welcoming too. Sam has pretty much run the bar on…

Champagne Afternoon Tea at Harvey Nichols

Before Christmas I won an afternoon tea for two at Harvey Nichols! This had to be taken during the week, but on the day that my friend and I chose to go the store surprisingly busy we thought. We were warmly greeted and shown to our booth. Our waitress explained everything to us and double…

A Winter Visit to the Cotswolds Distillery

One bright, cold weekend in January a group of 4 of us headed to the Cotswolds. This wasn’t a spur of the moment decision however, our main aim was to visit the Cotswolds Distillery. A few of us being keen whisky drinkers had sampled some of their delicious drinks before and were keen to see…

Piste, Tarporley, Cheshire

  In early Jan I headed up to Cheshire to visit the family for my birthday. Sadly at this time of year quite a few restaurants seem to close that are close to the family home, yet luckily Piste was open! Situated in the busy town of Tarporley, just outside Chester, I was more than…

Fazenda, Birmingham

On Friday I managed to secure a seat at one of the launches of Fazenda’s latest branch in the heart of the City, courtesy of I Choose Birmingham . I confess I’d never heard of this restaurant chain before, but working very close to the new premises, I was waiting with eager anticipation for the…

Jekyll and Hyde – New Cocktail Launch

I was invited last Friday evening to try out the new cocktail menu at the Jekyll and Hyde. This bar has always served delicious and refined concoctions and having not visited for a while I was keen to see what was had changed. The Jekyll is tucked away near the law courts. It’s quite easy…

Pint Shop, Birmingham

Just when you thought Birmingham couldn’t squeeze in another top notch venue, low and behold the eagerly awaited Pint Shop opens on Bennett’s Hill this month. With sites in Cambridge and Oxford it was good news for us that they have headed a little further north to open their new beer house up in Birmingham.…