December, 2010 Archive

Boot Inn Pub Berwick St James Off A303

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With a hearty Christmas over and done with friends, it was off down to the West Country to visit family in Devon and Somerset.

The route from Richmond towards where the famous Cornish Pasty was invented is easiest via the M3 motorway and the long and winding A303 road that takes you through Hampshire, past Stonehenge in Wiltshire and beyond.

A typical trip might take 4 hours, so we decided to venture off the melting track and try and discover a local hostelry which served a decent lunch and, more importantly, a decent pint of real ale.

A couple of searches pointed to The Boot Inn, a beautiful pub snow-nestled in a quaintly named village called Berwick St James, just 7 miles from Salisbury.

We had booked a table as it was the holidays, and we did call twice on the way to say we were going to be late because of the damn traffic.

Fortunately they held the table, a snug one for the two of us right next to a crackling fire adorned with pottery beer mugs, and set about serving some cracking Wadworth 6X beer and pointing out all the different food choices they had on.

We could either choose from an extensive bar menu, or opt for a smorgasbord of British a la carte dishes all cooked to order.

Ashley went for the steak and cheese sarnie, while I plumped (literally) for the devilled chicken livers with mushrooms on toast AND slow-roasted duck and new potatoes with a glazed orange and watercress salad drizzled with truffle oil.

The liver and mushrooms was a kicksome creamy concoction; a pink-in-the-middle delight that simply oozed decadence (and I’m sure a large dollop of cholesterol too)!

I should have stopped there, but I had been intrigued as to what a glazed orange salad might turn out to be, and I wasn’t disappointed.

It appears the chef could be bothered to sprinkle the semi-tart orange slices with sugar and blow-torch them into a crispy sweet toffee that mixed with the duck, zesty orange and divine truffle flavour, created a taste bud sensation that I’m still fondly savouring 4 days later!

Ashley’s steak sandwich was gobbled up with some crispy potato wedges – consumed by way of defence from the cold I was told – and they even happily wrapped up half of the meaty/cheesy goo to be finished off by me the next day for lunch.

A quick double espresso set me up for the 2 hour drive ahead, and when Ashley paid the bill, the damage was a paltry £40 including tip.

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I picked Berwick St James off the map, but I was not expecting the best pub lunch I’ve had in years.

Now I kind of wish it was Christmas once a month so I’d have an excuse to visit family via The Boot Inn more often.

Well……I did say kind of….

There’s Only One Ronnie Corbett and Harry Enfield!

Terrific stuff from two British comedy legends poking fun at Apple, Orange, Blackberry and Microsoft in this Christmas Special video.

Can’t help noticing the glaring omission in that line up though! Smile

New Blog & New Life

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RIP Old Blog

They say “a change is as good as a rest” and, although I’ve always wondered who “they” are, I have to agree in a couple of ways.

Firstly with my writing this blog post.

My blog has always tended to slant towards internet marketing because that’s what I do.

Me writing about digital has always made perfect sense to most people and I’ve had a lot of contact regarding speaking opportunities etc as a result of me being out there in a personal way.

Well recently I’ve been writing more and more about my experiences on my travels, on the way to or at conferences around the world, and finding folks taking a lot more interest in those because there’s been more of an everyday insight element to some of the entries.

This got me thinking about how I could combine my love for my work with my love for wine, food, hopping on planes, gadgets, photography, messing about in boats and general all-round globetrotting.

After a bit of noodling and a lot of generous help from Jon, Dave and the very talented Kean………….Technology – Taste – Travel was born.

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Welcome New Blog

We hope the design speaks for itself. As it give me more scope to talk about other things, you’ll being see a lot more entries from me, even if it’s just the odd photo or location update. P1000041

Rest assured it’ll have everything the previous incarnation had, but it’ll be enhanced with travel tips, restaurant reviews and a lot more video/photography from wherever I am in the world.

I hope you enjoy it and please let me know if you have any thoughts or observations on what you’d like to see……

So that’s the new blog!

What about the new life?

Well, after 20 years working in the UK and 5.5 at Microsoft in London, I’m moving to Seattle, Washington.

Ashley and I will be upping sticks from Richmond in SW London and rolling up in Redmond to work for Microsoft over there in March 2011.

My role will be much of the same and more,  evangelising Microsoft Advertising, and doing my best to help marketers deliver their dreams.

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Burley Lagoon – Gig Harbor – Washington

We’re looking forward to a fantastic life on the other side of the pond, and although it’s a change, I’m not sure our feet will touch the ground long enough to call it a rest!

For those of you too sad for words (and I know there are at the most two of you) we’ll be back often as my job has always been global.

So despite moving lock stock and barrel, you’ll find me propping up the bar in some conference venue somewhere in the world very soon!

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