One of my favourite walks is from Penzance to Mousehole. It's an easy walk, a stroll really, along pavement that runs along the water's edge, so perfect when I feel the need for exercise but don't feel like clambering over boulders or walking along cliff tops. I've done this walk many, many times and each time I've passed the entrance to The Rock Pool café and thought about going up the steps to check it out.
This morning I cheated, and parked on the rough patch of ground behind Newlyn, making the walk even easier. The sun was shining in a pale blue sky, strips of cloud dispensing well-being, and when I passed the steps up to the Rock Pool café on the way to Mousehole Harbour, I promised myself that I would explore today.
The Rock Pool Café is in beach hut. I love beach huts, as anyone who has read my book, The Dangerous Truth about Mad cat women will know. There's also a small one on the terrace with just room for 4 people to sit in. But I sat on the edge of the terrace gazing at the sun sparkling on the deep turquoise sea, and watching a seal playing in the swell. I didn't have my camera with me, so click here for the cafe's Facebook page where there are images of the terrace, lots more pics there which give you a flavour of the place.
But to really get a flavour, you need to visit, and try one of their chocolate brownies, (which I see they've put on the Facebook page this morning), or one of the other delicious looking cakes. I'm very partial to a brownie, but they are so often disappointing; too dry, not chocolate-y enough, over-cooked - many things can go wrong. But this was a perfect brownie, squidgy and rich, but not too sweet and not too claggy. And the coffee was pretty good too.
We are blessed with fab cafes in Cornwall. With a view like that at the Rock Pool café, once upon a time one might have feared that the cafe owners would trade on that and settle for dishing up mediocre food. I honestly don't think that happens very often anymore in Cornwall,and certainly not at the Rock Pool. After my 'slice of heaven' this morning, I'm going to try lunch next time!
Friday, 29 August 2014
Friday, 1 August 2014
The Bay Brasserie
When you are invited to lunch by a very good restaurant to try their new menu, it would be rude to say no, and rude not to write a review.
I haven't covered The Bay before in Café Shots, because it's a restaurant, but it is transforming itself into a Brasserie, so I think the point can be stretched.
The transformation though is all about style of eating, not quality of the food served. The Bay has always been a destination restaurant for high days and holidays, and that has been reflected in the quite formal approach to dining, especially on the evening menu.
But a new Executive Development Chef has joined. Bruce Rennie known locally from the Gurnards Head, and more widely from Wisharts, and other Michelin starred restaurants. And Bruce has introduced the Brasserie menu - same standard of food, but a more relaxed approach to eating.
I went with a friend; we sat outside on the terrace overlooking the harbour in the distance, and the flower-filled garden immediately below. Service was a little slow to start with. I had to ask for a pre-lunch drink, rather than being offered one as I joined my friend, but the restaurant was packed and it was all uphill after that. Actually, both Natalie and Monika were excellent ambassadors for the new style approach - friendly, professional, helpful - both delightful. Both Teresa & I ordered Bavette Steak with Café de Paris butter, which was delicious but I was torn between the steak, the lamb cutlets with spiced aubergine, or the roast duck with cherry jus. There is a great choice for fish lovers too, and the aromas from the next table were mouth-watering. Think they had the monkfish.
We pushed the boat out and had dessert. Dark Chocolate Delice for me and caramelised passion fruit tart for Teresa, though we shared both. The passion fruit tart was our favourite- sweet, sharp, melt in the mouth, but the Chocolate Delice was also all a chocolate dessert should be. Dark, smooth and rich. But the stand out taste sensation was the Basil sorbet which we asked to try because it sounded so interesting, and it was exquisite. One of the best things I've ever eaten!
Highly recommend the new Brasserie Menu, and look forward to future delights.
The Bay is on Briton's Hill Penzance. 01736 366 890
I haven't covered The Bay before in Café Shots, because it's a restaurant, but it is transforming itself into a Brasserie, so I think the point can be stretched.
The transformation though is all about style of eating, not quality of the food served. The Bay has always been a destination restaurant for high days and holidays, and that has been reflected in the quite formal approach to dining, especially on the evening menu.
But a new Executive Development Chef has joined. Bruce Rennie known locally from the Gurnards Head, and more widely from Wisharts, and other Michelin starred restaurants. And Bruce has introduced the Brasserie menu - same standard of food, but a more relaxed approach to eating.
I went with a friend; we sat outside on the terrace overlooking the harbour in the distance, and the flower-filled garden immediately below. Service was a little slow to start with. I had to ask for a pre-lunch drink, rather than being offered one as I joined my friend, but the restaurant was packed and it was all uphill after that. Actually, both Natalie and Monika were excellent ambassadors for the new style approach - friendly, professional, helpful - both delightful. Both Teresa & I ordered Bavette Steak with Café de Paris butter, which was delicious but I was torn between the steak, the lamb cutlets with spiced aubergine, or the roast duck with cherry jus. There is a great choice for fish lovers too, and the aromas from the next table were mouth-watering. Think they had the monkfish.
We pushed the boat out and had dessert. Dark Chocolate Delice for me and caramelised passion fruit tart for Teresa, though we shared both. The passion fruit tart was our favourite- sweet, sharp, melt in the mouth, but the Chocolate Delice was also all a chocolate dessert should be. Dark, smooth and rich. But the stand out taste sensation was the Basil sorbet which we asked to try because it sounded so interesting, and it was exquisite. One of the best things I've ever eaten!
Highly recommend the new Brasserie Menu, and look forward to future delights.
The Bay is on Briton's Hill Penzance. 01736 366 890
Friday, 14 March 2014
The Front Room, Market Jew St, Penzance
Rather a lot of time has been spent in cafes this week. We are blessed with very many in Penzance, but however many there are, they always seem to attract a crowd. Take the Front Room, on Market Jew St, Penzance for example, It's only been open five minutes but looks like it's already a popular favourite. A month actually, but today was the first time I'd been in. There were a few familiar faces in there, one of them being Sara MacDonald, whose book 'The hour before dawn' has been one of my favourite reads this year, and I urge everybody to read it.
I was meeting Lucy Cooper, who is also on The Penzance Litfest organising team. Partly to talk Litfest, partly just to catch up. We did the Professional Writing MA together at Falmouth. Lucy is a Penwith girl and the café is the work of her friend Kate Jamieson, so it was good to go in and see how it was doing.
First impression is that it's a TARDIS of a café. It goes back a long way, and has an upstairs, so plenty of room for gatherings. In fact the upstairs room would be ideal for small meetings and groups.
We were just meeting for coffee, but what with one thing and another, it turned out to be brunch time before we sat down, and the brunch menu offered Eggs Benedict, which is kind of irresistible, though often disappointing. Not this time though. The hollandaise sauce was just right, a good balance of acidity and richness and the perfect amount - not mean, and not selfish. It left room for the delicious ham and sunshine-yellow yolked eggs to shine through too.
I should be the size of a house. I'm not. I just drink tea in the evenings while working on the second Winciette Jenkins novel, (The Dangerous Lies of Blue-Eyed Boys) and chew on a lettuce leaf or a carrot stick. It's ALL about balance.
The Front Room, Market Jew St, Penzance https://www.facebook.com/thefrontroom.penzance
I was meeting Lucy Cooper, who is also on The Penzance Litfest organising team. Partly to talk Litfest, partly just to catch up. We did the Professional Writing MA together at Falmouth. Lucy is a Penwith girl and the café is the work of her friend Kate Jamieson, so it was good to go in and see how it was doing.
First impression is that it's a TARDIS of a café. It goes back a long way, and has an upstairs, so plenty of room for gatherings. In fact the upstairs room would be ideal for small meetings and groups.
We were just meeting for coffee, but what with one thing and another, it turned out to be brunch time before we sat down, and the brunch menu offered Eggs Benedict, which is kind of irresistible, though often disappointing. Not this time though. The hollandaise sauce was just right, a good balance of acidity and richness and the perfect amount - not mean, and not selfish. It left room for the delicious ham and sunshine-yellow yolked eggs to shine through too.
I should be the size of a house. I'm not. I just drink tea in the evenings while working on the second Winciette Jenkins novel, (The Dangerous Lies of Blue-Eyed Boys) and chew on a lettuce leaf or a carrot stick. It's ALL about balance.
The Front Room, Market Jew St, Penzance https://www.facebook.com/thefrontroom.penzance
Evie Rose'sVintage Tea Room, Goldsithney. A hidden gem
Tucked away amongst the Nanturras Workshops, is Evie Rose's Vintage Tea Rooms. Evie Rose herself was taken out, not altogether willingly, as I arrived. Perhaps because she didn't want to be separated from the array of fantastic looking cakes cooked up by her grandmother and on display behind the counter.
A few months ago, I decided to try every café between Penzance and Penzance via Land's End. The second part of that was supposed to be a blog post, which is the bit that doesn't always happen.
Strictly speaking, Goldsithney is out of the catchment area, but anyone who knows the joys of driving down Cornish country lanes will tell you that you often end up somewhere back where you started and nowhere near where you were aiming for, so I could have gone via Goldsithney, and did.
Evie Rose's Vintage Tea Rooms has a display of delightful Vintage/retro clothes including Wedding dresses; glass and crockery; bits & bobs (always my favourite) and the furniture is all in Vintage style. It's quite small, and I suspect once people discover it, booking will become advisable. There were five of us. Three of us had salads. Too few places, in my opinion, have good salads on the menu, and these are really good salads. I had a Goats Cheese and Red Onion quiche, which was home-made, delicious and a very generous helping. The salad accompaniment was imaginative and varied - good green leaves, spicy cous cous, a little pop of raspberry, and delicious dressing. Two of the others had a Roasted Pepper and Tomato soup which they said was very good, thick with vegetables and flavour.
We had cake after too - pure gluttony, but hard to resist. A Chocolate Fudge cake with bits of fudge on the top; a Victoria Sandwich and a Blackberry & Apple pie were sampled and all deemed very good indeed.
Go find it. It's off the Goldsithney Road. You won't be disappointed.
Evie Rose's Vintage Tea Rooms, Nanturras Workshops, Goldsithney TR20 9HE
t: 07930 655467 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Evie-Roses-vintage-tea-rooms/1470281889861094
A few months ago, I decided to try every café between Penzance and Penzance via Land's End. The second part of that was supposed to be a blog post, which is the bit that doesn't always happen.
Strictly speaking, Goldsithney is out of the catchment area, but anyone who knows the joys of driving down Cornish country lanes will tell you that you often end up somewhere back where you started and nowhere near where you were aiming for, so I could have gone via Goldsithney, and did.
Evie Rose's Vintage Tea Rooms has a display of delightful Vintage/retro clothes including Wedding dresses; glass and crockery; bits & bobs (always my favourite) and the furniture is all in Vintage style. It's quite small, and I suspect once people discover it, booking will become advisable. There were five of us. Three of us had salads. Too few places, in my opinion, have good salads on the menu, and these are really good salads. I had a Goats Cheese and Red Onion quiche, which was home-made, delicious and a very generous helping. The salad accompaniment was imaginative and varied - good green leaves, spicy cous cous, a little pop of raspberry, and delicious dressing. Two of the others had a Roasted Pepper and Tomato soup which they said was very good, thick with vegetables and flavour.
We had cake after too - pure gluttony, but hard to resist. A Chocolate Fudge cake with bits of fudge on the top; a Victoria Sandwich and a Blackberry & Apple pie were sampled and all deemed very good indeed.
Go find it. It's off the Goldsithney Road. You won't be disappointed.
Evie Rose's Vintage Tea Rooms, Nanturras Workshops, Goldsithney TR20 9HE
t: 07930 655467 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Evie-Roses-vintage-tea-rooms/1470281889861094
Wednesday, 19 February 2014
Writers' fees, and Litfest planning
I should start off by saying that I am writing as me, and not in any way on behalf of the Penzance Litfest. I say that, because this probably isn't going to make me popular with some of the Writing fraternity, and I wouldn't want that to reflect on any of the other people giving their time to make the Litfest happen.
I am a writer. I'm not earning much from my writing yet, and in order to live I also do Marketing Consultancy and Commercial Copywriting - for which I can earn a reasonable day rate. Certainly far more than from my writing at the moment, although I hope that will change.
I see a lot of Twitter and Facebook ramblings from other writers and people in the writing business. Currently there is a lot of talk about writers being expected to work for free. This, I agree, is a bad thing.
However, one of the targets is Literary Festivals, and at this point my loyalties become divided as I am co-Chair of the Penzance Literary Festival.
Penzance is a poor area. People don't have high disposable incomes but they are interested in art, culture, literature and have supported the Litfest for the past 4 years, and we hope they will this year, in its 5th year.
It is a community event, put on and run by people who give time, energy, professional skills, commitment FOR FREE.
The Litfest doesn't set out to make any money and it doesn't. It isn't supported by anybody, but relies on ticket sales to pay for venues, and programmes, and all the other things that are needed for a five day, 100 session event. Ticket prices are low because people don't have much money, and we want locals to come. We certainly don't want residents to let out their homes in Litfest week to visitors, as we understand happens in some places. We welcome visitors too, and lots of visitors come, but our primary target audience is the Penzance and West Cornwall residents.
Until this year, our Contributors were happy to enter into the spirit of the Litfest, and shared its community ethos. We've had all sorts of people who have come to this beautiful area of the country to sit on our platforms, to talk about their writing, and their books, and their enthusiasms, and had a very good time.
But this year, people are wanting to be paid, being strident and angry about it, talking as if Literary Festivals are trying to rip them off.
I thought getting involved in a Litfest helped writers, it gave them access to the audiences, a platform to talk about their work. But now, apparently Literary Festival organisers are the bad guys.
Well, let me tell you, our Litfest organisers are marvellous. They/we all work really hard to put on this event, for no money, no reward, and apparently, as of this year, no thanks.
And I feel like a complete mug. I've been giving up my own writing time, and my earning time, to the tune of one or two days a week since November. That is unusual, and is because I'm co-Chair. In past years, I've been involved just in Press & Publicity and the workload was lighter - but still significant.
I did it willingly until this issue started to prevail. But I don't want to give my professional skills for free any more for months on end, if the contributors don't want to sell their books for free for a couple of hours.
We're not Hay, or Oxford, or Cheltenham. Session prices are £3-5.00, not £12-15.00. Perhaps the big boys do make money. Perhaps contributors have a case in those instances.
But I suspect the truth is, more Litfests work like ours does, than work like those three.
In my opinion, if we pay Contributors, we should also pay organisers. It's far less fun sorting out insurance and contracts than it is standing on a platform talking for an hour or two, so its only fair. I know, I do both.
And in order to do that, ticket prices would become prohibitive. So people wouldn't come. And the small Literary Festivals wouldn't be able to operate. And instead of around 250 Literary Festivals there would probably just be a few giants where writers would be desperate to get a slot - and almost certainly wouldn't be arguing about payment.
So here's my view. No speaker is forced to come. They are invited - usually in response to an approach either from themselves or their publisher.
As a Literary Festival we should accept that we can only have contributors who share our ethos, and appreciate the effort we make to offer them a platform.
As an independent writer, I should only undertake to participate in Literary Festivals that are close to my home, or that I want to be at enough to make the time and commitment myself.
For traditionally published writers, you have the option of asking for publisher support, which one or two of our contributors this year have successfully received.
As I said, it's just my view. And it does involve a café as I'll be at the Lost & Found, Chapel St. talking about the Litfest with members of the Penzance Literary Festival Association this afternoon - a bunch of brilliant people who also give their time, ideas, and energy to bring this lovely, local Litfest to life.
I am a writer. I'm not earning much from my writing yet, and in order to live I also do Marketing Consultancy and Commercial Copywriting - for which I can earn a reasonable day rate. Certainly far more than from my writing at the moment, although I hope that will change.
I see a lot of Twitter and Facebook ramblings from other writers and people in the writing business. Currently there is a lot of talk about writers being expected to work for free. This, I agree, is a bad thing.
However, one of the targets is Literary Festivals, and at this point my loyalties become divided as I am co-Chair of the Penzance Literary Festival.
Penzance is a poor area. People don't have high disposable incomes but they are interested in art, culture, literature and have supported the Litfest for the past 4 years, and we hope they will this year, in its 5th year.
It is a community event, put on and run by people who give time, energy, professional skills, commitment FOR FREE.
The Litfest doesn't set out to make any money and it doesn't. It isn't supported by anybody, but relies on ticket sales to pay for venues, and programmes, and all the other things that are needed for a five day, 100 session event. Ticket prices are low because people don't have much money, and we want locals to come. We certainly don't want residents to let out their homes in Litfest week to visitors, as we understand happens in some places. We welcome visitors too, and lots of visitors come, but our primary target audience is the Penzance and West Cornwall residents.
Until this year, our Contributors were happy to enter into the spirit of the Litfest, and shared its community ethos. We've had all sorts of people who have come to this beautiful area of the country to sit on our platforms, to talk about their writing, and their books, and their enthusiasms, and had a very good time.
But this year, people are wanting to be paid, being strident and angry about it, talking as if Literary Festivals are trying to rip them off.
I thought getting involved in a Litfest helped writers, it gave them access to the audiences, a platform to talk about their work. But now, apparently Literary Festival organisers are the bad guys.
Well, let me tell you, our Litfest organisers are marvellous. They/we all work really hard to put on this event, for no money, no reward, and apparently, as of this year, no thanks.
And I feel like a complete mug. I've been giving up my own writing time, and my earning time, to the tune of one or two days a week since November. That is unusual, and is because I'm co-Chair. In past years, I've been involved just in Press & Publicity and the workload was lighter - but still significant.
I did it willingly until this issue started to prevail. But I don't want to give my professional skills for free any more for months on end, if the contributors don't want to sell their books for free for a couple of hours.
We're not Hay, or Oxford, or Cheltenham. Session prices are £3-5.00, not £12-15.00. Perhaps the big boys do make money. Perhaps contributors have a case in those instances.
But I suspect the truth is, more Litfests work like ours does, than work like those three.
In my opinion, if we pay Contributors, we should also pay organisers. It's far less fun sorting out insurance and contracts than it is standing on a platform talking for an hour or two, so its only fair. I know, I do both.
And in order to do that, ticket prices would become prohibitive. So people wouldn't come. And the small Literary Festivals wouldn't be able to operate. And instead of around 250 Literary Festivals there would probably just be a few giants where writers would be desperate to get a slot - and almost certainly wouldn't be arguing about payment.
So here's my view. No speaker is forced to come. They are invited - usually in response to an approach either from themselves or their publisher.
As a Literary Festival we should accept that we can only have contributors who share our ethos, and appreciate the effort we make to offer them a platform.
As an independent writer, I should only undertake to participate in Literary Festivals that are close to my home, or that I want to be at enough to make the time and commitment myself.
For traditionally published writers, you have the option of asking for publisher support, which one or two of our contributors this year have successfully received.
As I said, it's just my view. And it does involve a café as I'll be at the Lost & Found, Chapel St. talking about the Litfest with members of the Penzance Literary Festival Association this afternoon - a bunch of brilliant people who also give their time, ideas, and energy to bring this lovely, local Litfest to life.
Friday, 3 January 2014
Change for change's sake not Change for the better.
I like change, I do. But I don't like random programme changes to software on my laptop that, as far as I'm aware, is working perfectly well. So since I last posted, Blogger has stopped working with my browser, and I should 'expect errors.' So any typos are down to Google from now on.
An eventful few weeks. Birthday, Christmas, New Year. Many café experiences in London, Stroud and Cornwall. One of my recent discoveries is Black Book in Stroud. They too love coffee, writing and books, so there's a natural synergy. And fabulous coffee. In London, I was sad to learn that Ozer, my favourite Turkish restaurant, was due to close on the Friday before Christmas. Such a shame - all down to high rents apparently - I'm sure it will be greatly missed. It was part of the Sofra Chain, and there are others, but Ozer was the best.
So back to work with a vengeance today. Penzance Litfest 2014 is taking shape. We'll be putting the first items into the programme this afternoon, and will soon be releasing details about the early bird speakers and guests to be signed up. We'll have talks from authors, workshops, some brilliant panel discussions, a big Literary Quiz. It's going to be a rich mix of Crime fiction; historical fact and fiction; some fabulous performances from musicians, poets and story-tellers; and some discussion events hosted by readers talking about their own favourite books. For me its Poldark - and I look forward to sharing my love with other Poldark fans- and having an excuse to re-read them all between now and July.
The Litfest takes place around Chapel St in Penzance where we are spoilt for choice on the Café front - Mr Billys, the Honeypot, and the lovely Lost & Found to mention just three. Mr Billy's does the best chips EVER. Fact.
An eventful few weeks. Birthday, Christmas, New Year. Many café experiences in London, Stroud and Cornwall. One of my recent discoveries is Black Book in Stroud. They too love coffee, writing and books, so there's a natural synergy. And fabulous coffee. In London, I was sad to learn that Ozer, my favourite Turkish restaurant, was due to close on the Friday before Christmas. Such a shame - all down to high rents apparently - I'm sure it will be greatly missed. It was part of the Sofra Chain, and there are others, but Ozer was the best.
So back to work with a vengeance today. Penzance Litfest 2014 is taking shape. We'll be putting the first items into the programme this afternoon, and will soon be releasing details about the early bird speakers and guests to be signed up. We'll have talks from authors, workshops, some brilliant panel discussions, a big Literary Quiz. It's going to be a rich mix of Crime fiction; historical fact and fiction; some fabulous performances from musicians, poets and story-tellers; and some discussion events hosted by readers talking about their own favourite books. For me its Poldark - and I look forward to sharing my love with other Poldark fans- and having an excuse to re-read them all between now and July.
The Litfest takes place around Chapel St in Penzance where we are spoilt for choice on the Café front - Mr Billys, the Honeypot, and the lovely Lost & Found to mention just three. Mr Billy's does the best chips EVER. Fact.
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