Guest Post by Anne Elizabeth Jordan
Summer is just around the corner, and with it comes the annual Foodies Festival events throughout Britain. These eight, three-day long food, drink, and music events are packed with popular guest chefs, well-known restaurant cooking demos, and delectable international foods to try. Michelin starred restaurants and celebrity chefs in the media continue to raise Britain’s status as a foodie nation, while protecting its history and produce. The Foodies Festivals embrace these new found strengths and showcase the best of them.
Thanks to the convenience of Travelodge locations, you can stay close to all of the Foodies locations from Edinburgh to London, Bristol to Oxford.
May 18, 19 and 20 at Tatton Park Cheshire – Local produce and cuisine will be championed throughout the Foodies Festival which is great news for all you locavores (people who eat local food whenever possible). Lincolnshire native, Rachel Green, who is a farmer’s daughter, local food enthusiast, and TV chef, will be at the Chefs Theatre to give a talk while Sciolti Chocolates, inspired by locally grown herbs and aromatics, will satisfy your sweet tooth. If you fancy something stronger, beer connoisseur, Melissa Cole, will entice your appetite for refreshing local ales. Children can even get involved with local cuisine while they’re creating honey muffins using local Sussex honey.
If local food isn’t your passion, Discover the Origin will be introducing you to European foods and wines. Francophiles can find their haven with Champagne and wine tastings held in the Drinks Tent by wine critic, Charles Metcalfe.
With all of that lovely food and wine, I’d suggest staying locally at the Knutsford Travelodge, which is only one mile away.
May 25, 26, and 27 at Hampton Court Palace – With so much amazing Indian cuisine found throughout Britain many have argued that it may be the best on offer outside India itself. The richly spiced and decadent food of the former British colony has reinvented itself – from simple street food to fine dining. Enjoy a pop-up from the Indian restaurant Masala Zone, and meet celebrity chef Vivek Singh, of famed London restaurant The Cinnamon Club. Angela Wilson, the founder of Anjula Devi Indian Cookery School, is a fine example of how Indian cuisine has transcended generations and cultures. As a child, she often cooked Indian cuisine with her father, who discovered Indian cooking from his father while growing up in Kenya. At the Chefs Theatre, you will have the unique opportunity to hear Angela teach you how to concoct the very same Chicken Tikka from the television show she stars in, Food, Glorious Food.
If you love Indian cuisine, then don’t miss out on this foodie event – why not book a room at the Travelodge Kingston Upon Thames which is only five minutes away?
June 7, 8 and 9 at London Clapham Common – Barbecoa, a Jamie Oliver restaurant with a passion for meat and fire will be holding a pop-up. Neat fact—the word Barbecoa originated in the new world and is where the modern word barbeque is thought to have been derived. Clare Smyth, who is head chef at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, is one of the few women who has worked as head chef in a three Michelin star restaurant and receive ‘Chef of the Year’ from the UK good food guide. She will undoubtedly steal the show at the Chefs Theatre on June 8th.
If you like a good steak, I’d recommend attending this one and staying close by—check out the London Clapham Junction Hotel which is a mere stones throw from the festivities.
August 24, 25 and 26 is the final event, in Oxford South Parks and easily accessible from the Oxford Wheatly Travelodge.
The Foodies Festival continues throughout the summer with new schedules updated online, so check regularly! Jamie’s Italian, Discover the Origins, Charles Metcalf, and more will be making repeat appearances at nearly all the Foodies Festival locations so if you’ve missed one, don’t worry…just hurry on to the next!
The daughter of a chef, Anne Elizabeth Jordan has been in love with food since birth and was asking for arugula and lamb by age three. She studied French Cuisine at ESCF-Ferrandi in Paris, France. She has recently been cooking for private yachts in the South of France and in the Paris restaurant, Verjus. She likes to blog about food and travel on www.ruedodessa.com.
