Food and Drink

  Apple Tarte Tatin Serves 2-3 Ingredients: 3 – 4 Pink Lady apples, 100g unsalted butter, 100g caster sugar, ¼ vanilla pod, a pinch of ground cinnamon, 2 sheets puff pastry, egg wash to brush. Method: 1. Place soft butter in smaller sauce pot and spread evenly on bottom. 2. …

There will not be many foodies out there who will not have heard of The Ivy restaurant. It has been a staple on the capital’s dining scene, much-loved by actors, celebrities and those from the arts. First opened in 1917, it has occupied its landmark building in London’s West End …

Phil Kemp meets artisan cheesemakers Pam and Francis Gimblett Operating from a well-equipped micro-dairy in the Surrey Hills near Haslemere, Pam and Francis Gimblett produce a fragrant soft washed-rind cheese they endearingly call Floyd, to their own unique recipe developed through sheer hard work and undoubtedly mixed with an intuitive …

On Friday 1st June a couple of the VantagePoint team went for lunch at the Giggling Squid in Guildford.  It was a sunny afternoon, so we decided to sit at a table outside by the cobbles of Chapel Street, which was reminiscent of eating outside a restaurant on holiday in …

Are you a local wine lover? Then the Albury Wine Club is for you!  Albury Vineyard is located in the beautiful Surrey Hills just outside Guildford and produces award-winning English wines from its 12 acres of organic grapes. Membership of the wine club for 2018/2019 starts on 1st May and …

British Asparagus & Cheese Brunch Muffins Ingredients: 12 spears of British asparagus, 400g self raising flour, 200g Cheshire cheese, cut into small cubes, 125g butter, 1 small bunch chives, snipped into pieces, 150ml milk, 100ml plain yogurt, 1tsp English mustard, 2 eggs, salt & freshly ground black pepper. Makes 12 …

Phil Kemp visits the award-winning vineyard on the Hog’s Back The chalky south-facing slopes of the North Downs provides a perfect setting to reward a small group of pioneering vineyard owners for their forward-thinking adventure, this being to establish English wine as not only a popular choice for wine-lovers but …

Watercress Soup Ingredients: 1.5 onions; diced; 3 cloves garlic; peeled and crushed; 3 medium potatoes; peeled and sliced; 300g watercress; 1 vegetable stock cube; 125ml double cream; 75g unsalted butter; salt and pepper; 1 tbsp olive oil; 2 litres boiling water. Serves 5. Method: 1. Heat the olive oil in …

The word gastronomic and Holiday Inn do not usually sit easily alongside one another, but in this case they very much do. The Holiday Inn Winchester is just outside the city, just off the A31 near the Science Centre. I was unaware that most Holiday Inns are actually franchises and …

Phil Kemp has his Christmas palate tantalised and teased by Kevin Depree of The Godalming Food Company Every year in the run-up to Christmas, we invariably suffer from a promotional tidal wave of publicity from the large manufacturers and national retailers who want us to fill our homes with their …

Christmas for me is a time for family traditions, whether long-established ones or newly added. This recipe is my mum’s mince pie pastry recipe; although she sadly died almost 17 years ago a lot of my recipes that I use today constantly evoke her memory. I have a small A6 …

We have a couple of recipes from Jack Sturgess, who runs Bake with Jack. He hosts private courses and also runs classes in Surrey. You can book him to entertain friends with an evening’s bread making demonstration in your own home, or celebrate together with a bread making party with …

Paul Howard discusses sparkling alternatives to Champagne… Despite these economically challenged times there are always reasons to celebrate – a new job, a promotion, a birthday, a wedding, an anniversary, Christmas, New Year, even a humble bank holiday. And while Champagne is rightly the undisputed champion of all things fizzy, …

In advance of the three VantagePoint Wine Festivals next year, we are revisiting some of our past wine articles. Tickets to one or all of the Wine Festivals, taking place in Farnham in April, Guildford in May and Dorking in September. Tickets are on sale now at www.vantagepointevents.co.uk and make great Christmas …

Jeremy Blood discusses wine courses… Have you ever wanted to be more daring whilst choosing a bottle of wine in the supermarket or restaurant? Have you ever wanted to astound your guests with your wine choice at dinner? If you have, then read on. There are more and more choices …