It's almost two years since we last wrote a blog about food and undertook some serious Taste Swansea work, albeit I wrote at length about my health issues and how food has helped me turn around and incurable and irreversible life shortening illness, under the tab 'Health Thro' Food' on this website. But let's not dwell on that - that particular blog will be updated shortly as I get into the swing of getting back into writing rather than the consultancy work I have been undertaking for the past two years in helping businesses survive the economic downturn brought about by the Welsh Government under the guise of a health initiative resulting from a virus. 

So what's been happening in Swansea in regard to the food scene during the last two years? Rather a lot. And it isn't going to be addressed by a single blog post. From current workload it will take weeks if not months to catch up with all that's been occurring in my Taste Swansea absence. So without further ado I'll start the re-launch of the blog by supporting those hospitality businesses who truly have had and are still having a rough ride when it comes to 'staying afloat'. Enjoy the read and by all means let us have some feedback. Here is the next post...

On a crisp Winter morning with a sprinkling of thin frost over the garden, like someone has sifted icing sugar over nature, I decided to skip early breakfast and take to the covers for an extra hour...

By the time, I surfaced, showered, shaved and dressed intermingled with watching snippets of TV, and checking my phone for incoming (thankfully unimportant) messages it was 11.30 a.m. 

It's very unlike me to wallow under the covers for too long, especially as the sun rises early and on my side of the house. So, today was a New Year treat, after all I did work on New Year's Eve and last night, Saturday 2nd Jan, and the extra hour replenished my personal batteries. And, so it was that with breakfast time behind me, it had to be a Brunch. 

With Turkey leftovers and the gargantuan mountains of festive food well and truly behind me it was important to get back on track and so a light and healthy brunch was the order of the day.

Warm Ciabatta Toast, with a sprinkling of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, crushed garden peas (minted), flaked smoked mackerel dressed in horseradish. Cracked black pepper seasoning. What could be more simple? Packed with protein, heart-healthy and brain-boosting omega-3 fatty acids, as well as minerals and vitamins, smoked mackerel is a terrific fish to include in your diet. Omega-3 is a good fat found in oily fish and plays an essential role in keeping the heart healthy while aiding brain function and development.

Green peas are a great source of bone-building vitamin K and manganese. They will boost your levels of folate – a micronutrient that is crucial for heart health and foetal development – and their significant store of vitamin C supports your immune system.

Extra virgin olive oil is fairly nutritious. Apart from its beneficial fatty acids, it contains modest amounts of vitamins E and K. But olive oil is also loaded with powerful antioxidants. These antioxidants are biologically active and may reduce your risk of chronic diseases.

Horseradish is low in calories and fat. However, it contains good amounts of dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Eat well, but eat healthily.

NO SHOWS Continued To Blight Hospitality

We've written about this topic before and whilst it is not just a local problem here in south Wales, as we read and share reports from all over the country, it continues to be a 'real' issue for the hospitality industry. 

We aren't talking about genuine emergencies whereby a reasonable restaurateur will refund a deposit given sufficient proof of absence, but more so regarding those people who deliberately book two or three restaurant venues for a Friday or Saturday night only to decide on which venue to visit at the very last minute. And yes, I know of a 'group' of 28 people whom en mass decided to change venue at last minute, leaving a restaurant high and dry. 

But today it's 27th July 2020, and English restaurants have been open just under two weeks...and despite a nationwide 'No More No Shows' campaign, these are some twitter posts which we are reading today...

• "In the space of 2 hours we have had 3 tables #noshows totalling 15 people. We have turned tables away this evening as we were fully booked & paid for extra staff."
• "We have had 231 ‘no shows’ since we opened 1 week ago."
• "Seriously #Bristol. What the fuck? 50% #NoShows tonight. Even with deposits! You can't keep doing this to businesses if you want us to survive. We turned away lots of bookings as we were fully booked. At the reduced capacity we're limited too this behaviour will destroy us."
• "I messaged 5 people who were booked on an event asking for them to confirm definitely coming. Nothing yet they’ve read them."
• "In Aberdeen, Siberia Bar & Hotel experienced 1,010 cancellations/no-shows within the space of three days."

Without customer support these restaurants and eateries will vanish from existence, and that promise of going out to support them and championing local, will be nothing but empty words, a silence that will replace the hustle and bustle of dining rooms across the country.

So what's the answer? The sooner restaurants take non-refundable deposits for no shows the better - taking card details can reduce the no shows but it won't eliminate them.

In all seriousness, if the general public fail to come out to dine and support the eateries some of your most favourite establishments WILL GO BUST! 

Use Them Or Lose Them But Please Don't Abuse Them!

It seems to be far longer than two months since we re-launched the magazine with Issue 14. But it isn't and yes we finally made it! We really hope you enjoy this issue and we'd be delighted if you could drop us a line and give us some feedback on the mag. Maybe you would like us to consider some of your ideas for the magazine. (We can't promise we'd use them but we are willing to listen.) 

You'll note that since we have gone online rather than in print we no longer produce page numbers...that's because the system does that for us. 

So in the meantime, grab a coffee, a tea or a beverage of your choice, sit back and check out this issue - oh and by the way we have a very special contributor in this issue...and we'd love to know your reaction! As usual just CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO GO TO THE MAGAZINE... AND PLEASE SHARE THE MAGAZINE WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY! Thanks a million - stay safe!