Friday-Milford on Sea Food Week Diary

Blue sky, shorts on, I was ready for another day munching across the village. I headed for the start of the ‘Make More Room for Food’ Walk. The assembled crowd seemed keen for an energetic ramble, & I mused about joining in. But, on reflection they looked a bit too keen at walking for me, so I decided to go for a bacon sandwich in Polly’s Pantry instead. My mate Dave was due to arrive for the night, so unfortunately no time to get to the First Friday Charity Lunch. The plan for the afternoon was to enjoy the Pudding Afternoon at Westover Hall, my wife had decided to miss this one as she is not a chocoholic (I know, she’s very strange). Dave’s eyes however lit up at the idea, so the two of us skipped up Park Lane to the hotel. I guess it looked a bit odd, but Dave seemed to enjoy it, & the exercise was good for me. A menu greeted us with around twenty pudding choices, from which we could select two each. Over a coffee we made our selection & waited in anticipation. When they arrived, each dish was art on a plate, which came as no surprise when we learned that the chef had been trained at the Michelin starred Le Gavroche Restaurant in London. In my normal style a hiccup occurred when my phone rang to tell me the skip for the Food Market was arriving in the village. By the time I had returned fifteen minutes later, Dave had eaten his two puddings. In fact to be more accurate he had eaten one of his, & the banana one I was particularly looking forward to. To make matters worse I had wanted to take photos of them all for the website. Dave’s yelp as I kicked him in the shin was only heard by the closest waitress. Ignoring his pain, I tucked into his sticky toffee pudding and my amazing chocolate stove. Yes, a model stove made out of dark & milk chocolate, filled with chocolate mousse & complimented with two chocolate saucepans containing two fruit sauces. All of the puddings were exotic & delicious creations. As we left we gave our compliments, Rachel told us no one has so far been able to eat a complete chocolate stove, little did she know that I had left an empty plate.


After a swift beer & afternoon nap it was time to head for Ashtons Real Estate’s ‘Cheese & Wine Evening’, a lively throng of local residents were already enjoying themselves & it was not long before we all had a glass of wine in hand. There was also an impressive spread of fine cheeses & olives which I quickly tucked into. All of the food & wine served had been generously supplied by Paul from Hollands. We had heard all week that people had been having a fun time at Belle Epoque, and had planned to pop in, but unfortunately time was against us, as we wanted to get to Braxton Gardens to see the village’s Total Voice Choir’s second performance of the week.

Tonight people were also arriving at South Lawn Hotel to enjoy the ‘Chefs Fish & Seafood Night’ & Westover Hall were hosting a sold out ‘Five Course Gourmet Evening’. As we drove past the village green we spotted Dave Gregory’s village minibus operating a free shuttle bus service that was taking people up to Braxton Gardens. On arriving, there was no available parking spaces & the closest we could park was near Lytton Lawn Touring Park. I suggested calling a taxi, but Dave & my wife thought it would be fine to walk to the concert. On arrival we found there had been an unfortunate hiccup with the cocktail & canapés, but the assembled crowd of around 200 were still in good spirits & spread across the gardens in anticipation. As the choir paraded onto the floodlit terrace everyone became very excited. The outdoor performance gave the night a special atmosphere, as our local choir demonstrated their fine harmonies & impressive solo’s. The fine dry evening had a slight spring chill, but no one seemed to notice, as after every song the audience burst into rapturous hand warming applause. During a minor technical microphone hitch, a wag in the crowd started an impromptu acapella song & he was soon joined by other members of the audience in party mood. It was impossible for anyone there on the night not to have been proud of the new choir we now have in the village.

On the way home we grabbed a takeaway pizza from Piccolo Mondo. Once home, we opened one of the bottles of Row Ash Red wine we had bought on a Food Week special offer from WineShak, the wine had been made in their own Wickham Vineyard in the countryside near Southampton. Not normally someone who would buy English wine, I was very pleased to find it had the flavour of a good French Beaujolais. The evening then took its expected course, as Dave & my wife encouraged me to stay up late enjoying more drink & conversation. I think I will regret this in the morning.

Today’s weight: 19 stone 14 lbs (Scales creaking a little bit)

See the photo’s & stories from each day at:
www.milfordonseafoodweek.org/2010-diary