Author: St Nicholas Jenkins

And now, a piece from the Saint Mother, Mrs St Nick We arrived at the Aiolos restaurant after dark on a balmy evening during our stay in Nafplio, on the East coast of the Peloponnese. It‘s one of the most popular restaurants on the Odos Vasilissis Olga, a lovely marble paved street typical of the old town, with bright blossoms climbing up the sides of the houses. We ordered a local red wine, from nearby Nemea, dry but very smooth. Our starter, following an amuse bouche of home made hummus, was called Bougiourdi, a piquant combination of baked feta...

The Heuriger is an institution in Vienna. The idea is simple: serve new wines, locally sourced, together with a largely cold buffet, add some traditional Viennese songs in the background for some extra Gemütlichkeit, and watch the paying public come rolling on in. It’s easy to see why these wine taverns are so successful, especially the one dad and I visited in Grinzing, a suburb north of the city centre. Heuriger translates to “this year’s wine” in Austrian and Bavarian dialects of German. The tradition of serving new wines like this dates back to the reign of enlightened Habsburg...

Many people have inquired from me how to go about life without being blown-over with awed appreciation. To this I invariably reply that one should start by not asking for restaurant recommendations from Cedric Conboy. You see this mutual friend of ours has an extraordinary knack of finding eateries that make one’s jaw hang open. I don’t suppose that Cedric has ever visited Melk, yet when Dad and I turned to him for a place to have dinner in the charming little town during our recent cycle ride along the Danube, he came up with the goods as if...

Dear loyal readers, I return, but this time exiled to Hull, and surprisingly enjoying it. I suppose it will now become my task to persuade the world that there is more than just the letter e that separates Hull from Hell. But believe me, it is not all Stygian gloom up here, the people are friendly and I have fallen in love with the old town with its cobbled streets and many pubs. One place that has become a bit of a staple for me is the Brain Jar. The Brain Jar, in case you were wondering, is a...