La Primavera Hungerford

Well did you know there was a wonderful Italian restaurant in Hungerford with its own pizza oven?  It is at the bottom of Hungerford High Street and is so lovely inside, open fires, lots of little rooms, delightful staff and magnificent food.

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A picture of the inside, very well set out with open fires, secluded corners, very welcoming, clean and well decorated.

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One of the clientele, there was an interesting mix of people who appeared to be locals and diners who had driven there just for the food.  Always a good sign in my thinking.

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A slightly blurred picture of my dining partner, Rachel, who isn’t really blurred although you would be forgiven for thinking that if you listen to the radio interview where I am trying to make sense of our conversation which is made totally in food stuffed laugh talk.  Translating this is a true skill and does show how good the food was that neither of us could bear to waste a breath on talking when we could be eating.

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This was my starter of garlic bread with mozzarella and was totally garlicky and delicious.  It was seriously garlicky but in a very good way, it shouted its flavour rather than whispered it, we are not talking gentle tones or notes we are talking about the best garlic bread ever screaming ‘eat me, eat me”.  It could be used as a form of contraception, in fact why not buy some to take away and give it to your naughty teenage children while they are off school.

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Rachel’s calamari fritti, deep fried calamari with rocket and lemon aioli.  Perfectly cooked calamari, tender squid with a crisp coating served with a lovely sauce which provided more garlic.  We were going to be smelt long before we were seen for the next few days.

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I don’t think this photo does Rachel’s calzone justice.  It was massive, like a giant pasty but made with the lightest dough and an incredible range of fillings which included a range of italian meats and cheeses.  Delving in was like diving for treasure, ooh what would come out next on Rachel’s fork to face the world for a millisecond before diving into different depths.

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My main dish was superb, grilled rack of lamb cooked exactly in the way I asked for, rare.  This was served with sauteed new potatoes and braised red cabbage and a scrummy red wine jus.  This dish is the kind of thing I dream of every time I go on holiday to Thailand.  I have no idea why but to me it is perfection.  I love the meat when it is cooked perfectly like this, I love it if I am in a place where I feel able to pick all the meat off the bones and get every last morsel of juice off the plate.

There were specials on offer and dishes like stone baked sea bass and chicken al mattone with a beetroot salsa verde.  There was also a wide range of pizzas from the pizza oven which I should have got a picture of.  The pizza that the calzone was made of was perfect so I would be very happy to get any of their pizzas although they also do a great range of pasta  including a very tempting lobster tortelloni.

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This was my pannacotta, isnt it cute with its tuile curl and range of fruits and sauces dotted around the outside, tasted great too.

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Rachel had ice cream which she said was good but I liked mine more, mwahahaha

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Rachel’s coffee, I don’t drink coffee or tea but just liked the stripe.  Simple to please me!

Yes La Primavera is a great place to go to, the food was great, the service was lovely and the surroundings were beautiful.  Weekday lunchtimes you will find a decent two course meal offered for £9.95

I didn’t pay for my food and these opinions are my own.

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Taste of Christmas at the Vineyard 2013

This was indeed magnificent.  I should have realised when I got the last parking space in the car park and another 100 cars had to park elsewhere.  The Vineyard was buzzing and as I entered the lobby I saw with delight that it had turned into a stunning Christmas market.  On the right were the very welcoming members of the committee who charged £5 entrance fee which gave you a chance to enter a prize draw to win a night at the Vineyard or a photographic session with Adam Hillier.  The front lobby had several stalls and I have done interviews which will be broadcast on Kennetradio.com.

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The setting was stunning, so Christmassy and I really felt festive (that was even before I hit the Pinksters Pink Gin stall).

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Pinksters Gin, I so want that tapped dispenser you can see on the left.  Perfect for a Martini.

2013-12-02 13.15.33Marsden Confectionery, fudge of a very high standard, try the lavender

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These are all cheeses from Just Add Grapes, a shop based in Weavers Walk in Newbury and well worth a visit, note the wonderful fruits  which are cheddar infused with liquor.

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The perfect stall for those obsessed with high quality stationery, leather bound diaries of all sorts and sizes, absolutely wonderful.

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Ok I was tempted here and bought some lovely drop earrings, irresistible.

2013-12-02 13.47.31Ahem, this was the perfect stall for anyone with a tiny girl, can my children please start breeding, I love my grandbots to bits but need a girl as well although it may bankrupt me

2013-12-02 13.54.00Such lovely tableware, I can envisage my Christmas table covered with it, huge bowls of roast potatoes and vegetables beautifully presented.

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Amazing jewellery made from aluminium and very non allergenic

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These are the spa stalls from the Vineyard, smelt delicious and I flipping forgot to buy the Daniel Galmiche cook book which contains the best mushroom risotto in the history of the universe.  Dear Vineyard, next time I visit please remind me that I need to buy one!

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The Wonderful Wessex Wild Plum Company – white bullace liqueur and other wild plum drinks.  Delicious.

N

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Aha – food! I had to stop for sustenance so had the charcuterie board, the pumpkin risotto which were of course delicious (although nothing, and I mean NOTHING will beat the wild mushroom risotto),  Next to that are some canapés, after I had looked at it and inhaled there were just empty spoons left!!  As CEO of a significant charity I thought it best not to leave visible bite marks in the hands of anyone who tried to get in my way.

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Look at the lovely canapes makers, how sad it must have been for them to see their delicious salmon and caviare, game and fous gras and hock canapes (I may have all of those names wrong) disappear so fast.  Plus they had a Thermomix producing amazing sorbets and dry ice producing iced custard that tasted of Christmas pudding.  They looked like they were having fun.

All in all a great event to attend, charities benefit plus you get the chance to buy high quality goods.

I did not pay for my food but really appreciated it!