Attend : Woburn Coffee House

Woburn Coffee House, 21 Market Place, Woburn.

 Bank holiday weekend calls for a day out in the countryside : we visited historic Woburn, a perfect Georgian village. We were visiting to take afternoon tea at Woburn Coffee House.

 Situated in a 400 year old house on Market Place, Karen and her team have created a beautifully fresh boutique coffee house: a modern traditional interior, combining mix match crockery, and a beautiful walled garden to sip Pimms in the summer months.

 We were presented with an amazing 5 tier platter of finger sandwiches, scones, slices of cake, brandy snaps, Mille-Feuille and beautifully crafted cream profiteroles in the shape of swans.
 Whatever you can't manage can be taken home in a goody box...

Woburn Coffee Shop features a tranquil walled garden, opened up in Summer months for afternoon tea and Pimms.

 Woburn itself is a quintessentially British village - dating back to Saxon times. It's even been listed in The Sunday Times as one of the 'best places to live in Britain'
 The village has lots of cool antique shops, restaurants, gift shops, a farmers market and great scenery - all this, and only an hour from central London...

Woburn Coffee House
21 Market Place,
Woburn,
Bedfordshire.

Reservations : 01525 290050
Web : Woburn Coffee House 
Web : Woburn Village 

Attend : 'Fish & Chips', Prague

Fish and Chips, 21 Dlouha Street, Prague

 After a long weekend break in Prague, I stumbled upon a restaurant that was a pure case of right time, right place - there was nothing I fancied more on that Sunday afternoon than a good old English Fish & Chips.

 Quintessentially British in design, a rarity in the gothic architecture of Prague, this simple, stylish and modern Fish & Chip shop was both a 'take away' and a sit down restaurant.
 The simple design was paired with a simple menu, made modern with the additional serving of mini bottles of Veuve Clicquot.  

 The cod was perfect in beer batter, the chips were just the right 'chippy' chips - Gourmet Fish & Chips! The interiors had quirky takes on all things traditionally fish and chips - newspaper wallpaper, red phone boxes, soho writing and quirky 'Save Water - Drink Champagne' slogans.

 The dining area was reminiscent of London tube tiles with 60's pop art and an opulent glass chandelier centre piece. The swinging glass doors opened directly onto the street, ready for some people watching...

 Fish and Chips,
 21 Dlouha Stret, Prague
 Facebook page : Fish and Chips

Instagram : The last month

Photo update

I realize it's been a month since I've posted - it's been busy. This is what I've been up to:

 L-R: Damien Hirst at The Belvedere, Holland Park; Sunday outfit - A new Tom Ford pocket square and Louis Vuitton Electric boots; Patum Peperium 'The Gentleman's Relish' Ltd Ed porcelain cases at Partridges; Food Heaven at The Belvedere, Holland Park

 L-R: Snowy Days on my Vespa; Snowy Rooftops - A view from my apartment; Goyard on Mount Street - My new shopping destination street; Cable Knit - A new deep green cable knit with toggles from Joules

 L-R: Boulevard - in Paris for trade fairs, watching the sunset from the hotel; Folies Bergere - Stumbling across Art Deco Icons whilst shopping in Paris; Desert Retreat - Some relaxing time at Qasr Al Sarab, Liwa Desert, UAE; Dune Bashing - some adrenaline driving in the desert

 Follow me on Instagram : @opulentscrawls

 http://instagram.com/opulentscrawls

Attend : Hotel Chocolat Rabot Estate

The Hotel Chocolat Rabot Estate : Soufière, St Lucia

 Hotel Chocolat are the only UK company to own a cocoa estate. The 140 acre Rabot Estate is located near Soufière in St Lucia. The location is in the unique 'Cocoa belt' that spans the earth between 20 degrees north and 20 degrees south of the equator.

 The estate is home to a boutique hotel, and a restaurant 'Boucan', set amongst the rainforest and sun-dappled cocoa groves. Both have awe-inspiring views across to the world famous Pitons.

 The Boucan restaurant and bar feature a menu inspired by the cocoa growing around. They call it 'Cacao Cuisine'. Toasted bread comes with chocolate dipping sauce & cacao tip butter.
 Main courses include 'The Boucaneer Fish & Chips'; local fish in Piton beer and cacao tempura with potato fries. The 'Tomato, Chilli & Cacao Ravioli' is homemade pasta pockets spiced with local chilli and Rabot Estate cacao nibs.

 The estate also put on a 'From Tree to Bar' tour - here an agricultural worker walks you round the working estate, explaining their work with Reading university to genetically profile the trees at Rabot estate. There's a chance to graft your own Cacao tree which is then planted in your name, 18 months later this very tree will be used in the production of Hotel Chocolat's chocolate.

 Fascinatingly you also make your own bar of Hotel Chocolat chocolate. Starting out with just dried Cacao nibs and a Pestle & Mortar, this is turned into a chocolaty liquid just by continued grinding and grinding. Cacao butter and powdered sugar are then added and ground more, before pouring the mix into a mould.

 Boucan restaurant also has a gift shop; I purchased Cacao nibs and a nib grinder, for seasoning salads and other dishes, along with some pure cocoa sticks which will be used to make hot chocolate.
 You are also then presented with your freshly made Hotel Chocolat 65% dark chocolate bar. Believe me, it tastes amazing!

The Hotel Chocolat - Rabot estate website
Hotel Chocolat - Shop website

Make : Christmas Cake

Christmas : 8 weeks to go...

So, this weekend is the time to make your Christmas cake. I published the ingredients last weekend, so hopefully you've had time to go out and gather them.
Now, the cake recipe is in the 'Make - Guides & Recipes' section of this blog.

Click here for 'Make - Guides & Recipes'

Make : Christmas Cake

Christmas : 9 weeks to go...

 Christmas cakes are best made eight weeks before they are needed; maturing a rich fruit cake gives a much better taste. Next week is the ideal time to get it made.
 I love making Christmas cake as it really kick starts thinking about Christmas. I follow Delia Smith's classic Rich Fruit Cake recipe, from her classic book 'Delia's Complete Cookery Course'
 To be prepared here are the ingredients that I'll need to get this weekend:

 I love a cake that has taken real time and effort to make, the fact that you can attend to it over the weeks to give it a 'feed', and that ultimately you can be creative decorating it. The fact that everyone can share it at Christmas is even better.
 Over the coming weeks I'll be showing my progress and I'll put the recipe into the 'Make' section of this blog.      

Black Storm : Kitchen Aid

My new gadget : Kitchen Aid Artisan Mixer

 I've wanted a Kitchen Aid for a very long time. My want has, of course, been further heightened by 'The Great British Bakeoff'. At last I've taken the plunge and bought one.
 I chose the Black Storm Artisan Kitchen Aid with glass bowl.  

 It looks amazing in my kitchen: seen here with my Marcel Wanders glass cake stand, which will be filled with homemade bakes very soon.

 So the first bake I attempted in my new Artisan Kitchen Aid had to be my 'signature' Mini Victoria Sponges. I found using the machine to be so effortless, and it mixes so quickly and efficiently.

The quickness and efficiency of the Kitchen Aid was it's initial downfall though. I have made the mini sponges countless times by the old fashioned wooden spoon method.  I guess over time I have mastered the exact consistency of the mix, and the correct amount of mixture to put in the baking tray.
 With this new extra fluffy, extra airy mix - less is definitely more, and I'll have to control the amount of mix better next time, this will create more uniform rise.

 The Mini Victoria Sponges are so delicious and light. The cream whipped up in mere seconds (rather than the 5 minutes it used to take by hand)

 Black Storm Artisan Kitchen Aid : Kitchen Aid
 Marcel Wanders @ Marks & Spencer :  M&S
 

Tea Tuesday : (Well, Coffee today...)

Coffee : Poker Chips Espresso set

 A change from the normal 'Tea Tuesday', today it's coffee. An Espresso in a Poker Chip set that I purchased in a beautiful interiors boutique in Mauritius.

 The set is by 'Bruno Evrard Création', a French family company specializing in the creation of 'arts of the table'.

Espresso Set : Bruno Evrard Création

Tea Tuesday : Dilmah tea

Dilmah Tea & Kilner Jars

 I purchased some new Kilner Jars, these are great, British produced glass jars original invented in the 1840's. The traditional design of the Kilner Jar may have changed over the years but the principle of the family business has stayed the same right through to modern day.

 The airtight glass jars are ideal for storing tea. I had some new Dilmah tea bags to store, so the large jar was ideal. I first discovered Dilmah tea whilst staying at The Baros, Maldives.

 Dilmah tea is still true to it's Sri Lanka family business routes, and is the antidote to mult-origin blends now the norm in the UK. Dilmah remain faithful to Ceylon tea produced in the traditional way, perfected over centuries.

 I love the simplicity of the Dilmah tea packaging and their colourful wrappers, they complement the Kilner jars perfectly, making them look ultra modern.

 I also love the pairing of two family run businesses that have grown massively whilst still retaining their original values.

Website : Dilmah Tea

Website : Kilner Jars

French Manors

Chateau de Montreuil

Hotel & restaurant in historical town

 'Chateau de Montreuil' is a charming hotel and restaurant in Montreuil Sur Mer.
 Once the country retreat of the Rothschild family, this manor house now combines English charm with Fine French dining, all within a stones throw of the Channel Tunnel.
 Take lunch outside on the terrace, next to the small pool, with views down the lawn towards another majestic french manor full of faded grandeur.
 After a relaxing lunch of typically gourmet French food  - you can take a stroll around the town ramparts and visit some of the interesting vintage shops scattered around town.

Chateau de Montreuil
4, Chaussee des Capucins,
62170 Montreuil
France
http://www.chateaudemontreuil.com/