The Primitivo Pheasant

After exploring different summer destinations in recent years, 2017 was the year to head back to Greece. With family originating from the small Saronic island of Poros, I try to go every few years and this time I took K for his induction! On the island, big family lunches lasted until 4pm and dinners showed no sign of slowing down at midnight, meaning there was lots of opportunity to try the whole the range of local cuisine. At many restaurants, when enquiring about the fish selection we were ushered to the kitchen to pick from their catches of the day. From bream, to brill, red snapper, bass, sardines and plaice, it was always a fantastic selection. Most fish was just simply grilled whole with olive oil and lemon, served with olive oil cooked chips and Greek salad. Delicious! At the family’s favourite beachside lunch taverna, we’d eat slow cooked feasts of stuffed peppers and tomatoes, aubergine with mince and potato, roasted potatoes, sardines, green beans, gig...

Eagle-eyed readers of the Primitivo Pheasant may have noticed I reviewed Brown & Bean fairly recently. But since the last visit there's been a change of head chef, with two new up-and-coming chefs, Jimmy and Joe Cotton, taking the reins. It was only right to try what they had to offer! Unable to resist the tasting menu, K and I placed our order and had a G&T to start which came with a slice of frozen pink grapefruit, a great idea which we have already replicated at home! Instead of bread came some homemade flatbread and hummus, which as you can see, was hardly a standard affair. An upgrade from the norm and was polished off in no time. Next came a plate of 'snacks' which consisted of: pork & black pudding on a skewer; a little pot of celeriac soup with fresh truffle; a salt cod scotch egg with fennel puree; and a madras brown shrimp & crab poppadom with mango puree. All of these little bites had big flavour and the scotch egg was still runny in...

On the afternoon of my Birthday I was finally let in on the secret of where we were eating that evening... Michael Caines' Lympstone Manor! Wow, I was not expecting that! K couldn't have made a better choice.  As we walked from the car park, the recently renovated Lympstone Manor appeared majestically from behind the trees, with gorgeous grounds and a stunning backdrop of the Exe Estuary.  Sat in the bar area we chose drinks whilst perusing the menu. I felt it rude not to go for a glass of Michael Caines own Blanc de Blancs. We had a choice of A La Carte, Signature Tasting Menu (with meat and fish) and the Estuary Tasting Menu (purely fish). Being my Birthday, I had the choice so the Signature Tasting Menu it was! With the wine flight of course... We started with some canapes of carrot and coriander, lamb parfait cube and salmon rillettes which was served on a decorative silver spoon. Although tiny, these were packed full of flavour and set our hopes high for the...

Undecided about where to eat that evening we realised we hadn't eaten French for a while, so decided to go to Côte on Exeter's Cathedral Green. It was a gorgeous evening and we were seated upstairs so were treated to a sunset view of the Cathedral, perfect.  To drink, we chose a Chateau des Gravieres 2014 Graves. It was a lovely choice, very enjoyable and extremely drinkable...  For starters, K chose the steak tartare and I the chicken liver parfait. The parfait came in a miniature kilner jar with slices of toasted brioche tucked into a folded napkin and spiced apple chutney on the side. As you can see, I was so hungry that I dove straight in, forgetting to take the photo before I started! The rest was soon devoured.  For the main course K went for the roast duck with shredded cabbage with a cherry sauce and a side of parmentier potatoes. This did look particularly tempting, I liked the cherry twist, and I almost wished I'd picked that! ...

Anton Piotrowski, winner of Masterchef: The Professionals 2012, previously of the Treby Arms, has recently opened 'Brown and Bean' restaurant in Plymouth city centre. I was in Plymouth one lunchtime so decided to pop by and try it out with my friend Fifi. The decor was stylish and rustic with numerous photos of the proprietors on the walls, giving it a cosy, family feel. Napkins covered the newly printed menus so viewing it was like uncovering a surprise. And what a surprise it was. Some fantastic options, with enough details to intrigue but not too much that you can guess what it'll look like! Being lunchtime and having a drive back to Exeter ahead of us, we just stuck to water to drink. The bread and butter came out and was announced as homemade sourdough bread with marmite butter. Marmite and butter in one lovely smooth combination? Yes please! I then had to fight the urge not to make the classic mistake of filling up on bread, normally a simple task, but with the ad...

A new Venetian Italian opening in Exeter? Get us a table! When we heard the news that Polpo, a proper Italian, and not another burger restaurant, was opening in Exeter, we rejoiced. Being opening week, we were presented with complimentary starters in the form of arancini balls and basil, mozzarella & tomato skewers. Also, complimentary drinks; soft and alcoholic. We went for the alcoholic option of belinis (peach puree and prosecco). The skewers were the first thing we tasted in this restaurant and as soon as popped them in our mouths, we smiled and knew this was going to be good. There's no hiding from low quality ingredients with something this simple, but this was gorgeous, Polpo clearly know how important good ingredients are. The first plates to come out were the fennel, green bean & almond salad and roasted red chicory with grana padano. Both delicious veggie plates with plenty of flavour and a nice crunch of almonds. We then chose another drink. I wen...

After ordering a meat box from Pipers Farm, our evening meals suddenly upgraded. With meat that good, the rest of the dish has to do it justice. Alongside the biggest sausages I've ever seen, the meat box had a fantastic selection of seasonal, sustainable, local, slow-reared meat fit for any foodie (or body builder alike!) which all came packaged in natural lambs wool. Tonight was the turn of two of the Ruby Red steaks, which K decided to cook with a Nigella-inspired orzotto and green beans. Nigella says: "An orzotto is like a risotto but instead of being made with rice it’s made with barley – orzo being the Italian for barley." That was a new one for me! First, shallots were fried off in a pan with garlic oil and pearl barley was stirred through. Then chicken stock was added and some saffron and chopped green beans. This was all left to simmer. Release date Once cooked down, dry vermouth and parmesan cheese were added to the mixture. Now on to th...