Who likes good food? Well I do as you know. This blog is about good food and places that you can get it. We are so blessed in West Berkshire, we have so many good pubs, restaurants and farmers markets. This post is about a new market that I went to recently. It is held on the First Saturday of each month and is at Chapel Row, Bucklebury. Those delightful readers who have been following my blog will know that I have a fondness for Chapel Row, it doesn’t have many shops but the three that they do have are amazing. L’Interiors is one of those shops that, when I enter, make me want to buy every single thing there. Lynda Tillotson, the owner has amazing taste and I could end up hugely poorer if I visited too often. If you want your home designed to perfection by a friendly but knowledgeable designer head to her shop.
The second shop in the Golden Triangle of Chapel Row is the Blackbird Cafe. Avoid this if you are on a strict diet. You will see pictured below the huge pillow of meringue slathered in thick cream and showered with beautiful red fruits. It was there until I arrived :-). They also sell coffee beans, coffee and tea to have there or take away and a super selection of bread from Borough Market. I am not going to list the selection of amazing cakes for two reasons, one, my fingers can only do so much typing and two, you need to go there to find out for yourself.
The third part of this Golden Triangle is, of course, the Bladebone Pub that sells the best food around. Feel free to look at the million posts I have done on their food and the very talented Kiren Puri (pictured with the fish below)
Kirens pub was playing a different role when I visited last. The Artisan Market is held in it’s grounds on the first Saturday of every month from 10am and you need to get there early. It was a lovely day and the market was heaving. The stalls all contained local produce, wild garlic, apple juice, cheeses, sausages (who knew that the butchers Cook & Butcher in Thatcham delivered). There was also food to taste from a local caterer which was delicious. I ended up leaving with carrier bags full of food. Amongst my favourites were the wild garlic pesto, the dried local mushrooms and the cep salt, the honesty box in front of the punnets of wild mushrooms (why didn’t I get more?) and the fish. I left with a bag of scallops and mussels but there was a great range of fresh fish. They have some of everything here, cup cakes, meringues and cookies, bread (which must be good as it had sold out!) and sausages with Marmite.
Matthews Catering, note his blatant use of his son as an advertisement, his food tasted great.
The cheeses and wild garlic pesto. This added a huge zing to my cooking over the next week. Also note the delectable Lynda Tillotson on the right at Blackberry Cottage. They make cakes out of vegetables, a great way to get you (and your family) to get their five a day without realising!
       
Blackberry Cottage, cider and Kiren Puri of the Bladebone with his fresh fish.
The lovely ladies from the Blackbird Cafe next door, see that pavlova, well you wouldn’t have when I left!
Such fun and so much local deliciousness. Be there, first Saturday of every month but do NOT buy up everything as we all want the lovely local produce.
Finally a picture of some of us at Smeaster (like Easter but a week after). My oldest son James is on the left, my stepson Sam is the rabbit, I am the kangaroo, then Noah, a grandson is, hmmm, maybe a bear, another grandson Dan is a dragon and my ex husbands daughter Hope is hmm maybe another rabbit.
Next big review is the Walmesley Restaurant tasting menu, coming soon, hopefully when I have a new front tooth. Sigh (the tooth not the tasting menu)