Linton: the new Saffron Walden?

I love discovering a new place; somewhere I can take my one year old daughter, Tilly for a stroll and pick up some nice food at the same time. My staple favourites are Great Shelford, Mill Road and Saffron Walden because they all have that lovely community feeling and numerous places to browse. And now, rather splendidly, I can add Linton to my list. It's not too far from me in Duxford and recently both Jigsaw Bakery and The Linton Kitchen have sprung up on the High Street. Rumour has it there is a butchers on the way too.
The idea of wandering from one end of the high street to the other picking up fresh bread, popping in for some meat and then stopping by the Linton Kitchen for some veg, cake and a cup of tea really appeals to my romantic notion of going back to the old style of shopping.

Jigsaw Bakery
The bakery is run by Matthew Whitby who is up early on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Friday and Saturdays to bake his wonderful loaves. He puts on daily specials, from beetroot and feta focaccia to cranberry and white chocolate scones, plus staples such as bloomers, sourdough and baguettes.  
The bakery is open from 11am to 6pm Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and 11am to 2pm on a Saturday. A mummy tip: pick up an olive oil grissini for the journey home - it keeps Tilly occupied every time.

You can follow Jigsaw Bakery on Twitter and keep up to date on their specials on their Facebook page. Matthew is also a keen Morris dancer so expect some fine bell jangling on the Facebook page as well!

The Linton Kitchen
A girl after my own heart, Gemma Whiting loves local food so much that just last week she realised her dream of opening her own shop-cum-cafe. At the Linton Kitchen you can sit down to a cup of Hot Numbers coffee and slice of cake or be tempted by a hearty lunch - all lovely and all local. 

You can also pick up all sorts of essentials, including the most critical item of all - cake. The kitchen is open 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 3pm Sundays.  

Find out more on their website lintonkitchen.co.uk. Or through Twitter and Facebook.

The Flower Boutique
Just opposite the kitchen you can find The Flower Boutique. It might not sell anything edible but it's still right up my street - there's nothing like a few stems to brighten up a room. I normally justify buying them by thinking how many times they will make me smile when I walk in the room and somehow it makes them seem just as necessary as bread.

Have a look at some of their beautiful bouquets at theflowerboutique.co.uk.

And now work is afoot for the butchers to open up next to flower shop soon so the high street will be even more bustling. 

Linton looks quaint and feels full of friendly faces so as far as I can see it is starting to give the likes of Saffron Walden and Ely a run for their money. I will be visiting often for a sourdough and a good cup of coffee. A village with a thriving high street is a great thing to see; they are few and far between in the age of the supermarket so do use these local spots as often as you can.

Mums - as an aside there is also The Spotted Giraffe for little ones, I am yet to visit but it looks nice. It's always good to know that there is somewhere for toddlers to wear themselves out - you might even get them to have a nap so you can enjoy a coffee in peace and quiet!

I'm back and Eat Cambridge

I know, I know, I have severely neglected this blog for some time. Life seemed to get in the way for a while there but I am finally through the haze of becoming a first time mum and ready to get back out and eat my way round Cambridge again. 

You can expect more reviews and news to come very soon, but in the meantime I wanted to tell you more about my newest baby, Eat Cambridge. I am working with a team of other local food devotees to set up Cambridge's first proper food festival. It's going to be stupendously exciting and I can not wait for it to come to life in March. Bookings for the various events will open very soon. Please click on the image below to take a nosey at our website and follow us on Twitter for regular updates.

Review: The Tickell Arms, Whittlesford

The new and improved Tickell Arms

And so, finally, The Tickell Arms in Whittlesford is back in business. The last time I went along (just a few weeks before it shut for over two years) it was in a very sorry state. It was charming, quaint and very lovely, but in a dilapidated sort of way. The trees were growing through the conservatory roof and the bar area looked very old and tired. But we still loved it, the food was pretty good and without sounding too much like a Disney fairytale, we had an enchanting evening.

The reclaimed furniture

After various rumours of takeovers and re-openings it was finally announced earlier this year that the Cambscuisine group had taken over and that the new and improved Tickell Arms would open at the end of May. The group already run four successful pubs including the two Chophouses,The Cock at Hemingford Grey and The Boathouse in Ely.

As it turns out it opened on Friday 1 June(a day over schedule isn’t bad going if you saw just how much needed doing). Assoon as I spied Mr Oliver Thain’s (from Cambscuisine and well worth a follow) pictures on Twitter on Sunday evening I convinced our band of Jubilee visitors to head there for lunch on Monday. So here's my verdict…

The décor is tastefully done, with almost all the original features restored in a sympathetic style. Some of the charm of the old place has been lost, but I think that’s inevitable when bringing something up to date. Plus, realistically the only other alternative was that it was left to fall down. The new owners have kept lots of touches that harken back to the days when the legendary Squire Kim Tickell was at the helm. For example they attempted to restore the old beer pump handles to working order but when that didn’t work, rather than get rid of them, they installed them as a centre piece in thebar area. In the snug room off the bar they have hung a copy of Tickell’s rules(no long-haired lefties and no men with earrings being some of the favourites) and his original crests. On our visit some locals who remembered the Squire well told us that the original rules had a rude word printed in large print at the top to make sure visitors’ attention was well and truly grabbed on the way in. (There are so many stories about Squire Tickell that I won't try and recount them here, plus they are not mine to tell. If you want to know more just pull up a pew in the bar and talk to a Whittlesford resident.)

Squire Tickell's infamous rules

The bar area

The old beer pumps installed on bar table

The food we sampled was top-class gastro pub style. It’s seasonal, hearty and very nicely presented. I would say it's just what you fancy nine times out of 10 when you go out to eat. Good, down-to-earth stuff, served in a decent portion and with fancy twists here and there. And with a set menu at £12 for two courses and £17 for three from Monday to Friday it’s very well priced for a mid-week supper out. My beetroot and goats cheese tian was a stand out dish for me, as was the duck parcel (both starters) and the men in our party thoroughly enjoyed their bangers and mash. We enjoyed a few bottles of the Malbec round the table and it was highly quaffable. We couldn’t find room for dessert this time around but we will do on our next visit.

Coarse chicken liver paté       

Beetroot and goats cheese tian

Posh bangers and mash

Chicken breast with tarragon risotto

I am chuffed to have such a great pub and restaurant within cycling distance of our house and I am quite sure we will become regulars. In fact I am planning our next visit very soon – mainly because I want to try someof the snacks they offer in the bar area. Pork scratchings are enough to get meon my bike any day of the week!

TheTickell, 1 North Road, Whittlesford CB22 4NZ. 01223 833025, cambscuisine.com/the-tickell-whittlesford

Review: Balzano's delicatessen and café

One of the best things about being pregnant in January is that you can completely and utterly ignore all detox and diet resolutions. I'm already not drinking - except for the odd half pint of Guinness and black, purely for the iron content of course. And the idea of giving up cake or chocolate is simply laughable; they make up about 60 per cent of my diet at the moment. So for me and baby A, January is all about the cake. I've been trying out quite a few local spots and will blog about them all, but for now, the all-new Balzano's.

Tea and cake visit one: Balzano's

I met a lovely foodie friend (@VanessaFarrow) recently for tea and cake at Balzano's on Cherry Hinton Road. I have to admit that before our visit all I knew about the delicatessen was that their bread was unbeatable. Gog Magog Hills Farm Shop (@gogmagogshop) sell their granary cob and I can't get enough of it. With cheese, with a slab of butter, or best of all, with a bowl of hot chilli.

I'd heard all about the new cafe and the refurb late last year and been told it was lovely. And the rumours were right; Balzano's new look reminded me of the trendy Notting Hill delis that I frequented in a past London life. All the fixtures and fittings are a nice mix of modern and quirky, with wallpaper that you'd never be brave enough to go for yourself, but that completes the look perfectly. There's a big communial table to perch at while you have a coffee and lights that could have come out of a space ship. As for the deli itself, there's gleaming white shelves stretching the length of the shop, laden with lovely products and a cold cabinet full of various cheeses and charcuterie.

The lunch options were rather limited - from what we could work out it was a sandwich of your choice, filled with anything from the cold cabinet. Toasted or un-toasted. I had a simple Montgomery's cheddar and English roasted ham sandwich and my friend had aubergine and cheese toasty.

Cake options were numerous though. In my current baby-oven state all I want day and night is chocolate cake. And Balzano's devil's chocolate cake didn't disappoint my cocoa craving tastebuds. The cake was dense and soft, the icing chocolatey without being sickly. I could have had another slice.

The best bit: The overall look and feel of the place, it's fresh and modern and just what that end of Cambridge needs.

To work on: The lunch options - there's not a lot of choice yet and more hot options would be nice.

Balzano's 204 Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge CB1 7AW. 01223 246168, facebook.com/balzanos

Lunch at Ladurée

This week's blog post takes a short trip away from Cambridge to our fine, foodie capital. A few weekends ago we spent the day in London as a birthday treat for my husband. Having splurged on theatre tickets and a posh dinner reservation we thought we'd go for a cheap lunch. Fair enough I felt, and I truly believed we would. Until we decided to look at the baby things in Harrods(purely for a bit of a giggle, a £3,500 crystal encrusted Moses basket isn't really for us) and I spotted a sign for Ladurée. That was it, I couldn't not go and I promptly dragged my poor man through the corridors towards certain expense. After all Miss B, from agirlastyle raves about Ladurée macarons and I'd never tried one. 

I assured Mr BWC that it would just be a cuppa and a macaron or five and we sat down. Two club sandwiches (£16.50 each), a strawberry milkshake (£5.80) and a cup of Thé Jardin Bleu Royal (£2.95) later he was full, but a little shellshocked.

The club sandwich was good, as far as club sandwiches go and the milkshake was a delightfully fruity and creamy concoction, but for me it was my tea that made lunch so special. It was infused with wild strawberry and rhubarb and was like a taste of summer in a china cup. Being a girl with a penchant for all things afternoon tea I felt the whole experience made up for the rather steep prices. The birthday boy wasn't convinced, but I don't suppose a selection of tiny puffs of meringue in pastel shades were ever aimed at a Geordie rugby player.


The best bit After our sandwiches I got to go and choose a selection of macarons. Just the beauty of the box alone made me smile, and tucking into them as we enjoyed our front row Warhorse seats made a lovely change from rustling a box of Maltesers.


Something to work on The clientele. Surrounded by minor royals, Russian oligarchs and American billionaires, we felt positively inadequate. I can imagine there might be a flaw in my request here, so more realistically, perhaps they could remember to put the bacon inside the sandwich next time? [see picture above]


Ladurée Tea Rooms, Ground Floor, Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road  Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7XL 020 7730 1234, harrods.com/visiting/restaurants/laduree

Recipe - Jammy Biscuits

When days are dull and dreary, there's only one thing to brighten your mood and that's some good old-fashioned baking. In my book the most heart-warming kind includes recipes that reminds you of your childhood. For me that's gooey apple and saltana flapjack (we used to add at least double the golden syrup), simple fairy cakes decorated with crazy faces and jammy biscuits, the ones with a large thumb print in the middle, filled with strawberry jam. 


I remember loving pushing my thumb into each one and dolloping a big spoonful of jam on top. I think my mum liked making them because they are nice and easy and she could leave me to finish them without worrying about me. [And she did have reason to worry, I was so greedy as a child that I once pushed my finger through a metal icing nozzle (one with very sharp 'teeth') to get the last bit of icing out, and then couldn't get my finger back out again. Hours, and many tears, later dad had to saw the nozzle off. I wasn't allowed to ice things after that.]   


I made these biscuits again recently and because I had been bought some lovely edible flowers for my birthday I sprinkled them on top for a nice, grown-up touch. I also used my very own homemade rhubarb jam instead of the traditional strawberry. The best bit about these biscuits is that although I say biscuits they are really a cake-cum-biscuit. Because of the self-raising flour they rise a bit and the final result is soft and chewy.

Jammy biscuits
200g self-raising flour
100g caster sugar
100g butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 tbsp jam - whatever flavour you like best

Heat oven to 190C/gas mark 5. 

Get your hands stuck in and rub the flour, sugar and butter together and then add the egg until the mixture comes together to form a stiff dough. Tip: If you want your jammy biscuits to come out perfectly round then put the dough in the fridge for an hour at this point, if you're not that fussy then read on.

Divide your dough up into even, small balls, remember these will spread and rise slightly and so they will come out bigger than they go in. Place on baking tray and push down, making a small dent with your thumb (or end of wooden spoon if you don't want to use your hands), then drop a teaspoon (or more) of jam in the centre. Bake for 10-15 mins until slightly risen and just golden. 

Perfect at 3pm with a glass of milk.

Review: The Red Lion at Whittlesford Bridge

The newly refurbished Red Lion at Whittlesford Bridge

I like to think I keep up-to-date with the comings and goings on the local food scene, but when I saw various Twitter mentions of a new and improved restaurant just a mile from my front door, I realised I might have fallen behind a tad. The Red Lion at Whittlesford Bridge has been around for quite sometime (since the 13^th century in fact), but it's one of those places I've never thought to visit. It might have something to do with the fact that I stared at it every morning for two years when commuting to London from Whittlesford station next door. But now the pub, hotel and restaurant has undergone a major refurbishment and boasts a large conference room, a cosy bar and restaurant, and most importantly, a tempting new menu. The words 'home-cooked' 'hearty' and 'traditional favourites' had me booking a table in no time.

We popped along quite early on a Thursday evening and the bar area was already bustling and had a lovely, welcoming atmosphere. The pub is right next door to a large new Holiday Inn Express but far from competing with the budget hotel, they warmly welcome residents for dinner and a drink in the evening. This means the pub has a nice mix of business types sitting down to dinner, locals in need of a pint and families after a homemade bite to eat. There are lots of cosy little alcoves to hide away in and the pub plans to have a roaring inglenook fireplace in the snug area very soon. 

Homemade pork cracklings

We decided to indulge in some homemade pork crackling while we decided what to eat. It was very good indeed, crispy but not teeth-breakingly so, chewy but not in that undercooked, limp way. It came with a nice pot of sweet apple sauce, and the sweet and salty appetiser was a great start to our meal.

I've gone from being a 'leave-room-for-sweet girl' to one who much prefers a starter. I always find starters the most tempting dishes on the menu. And in this case it was an easy choice for me. I can't get enough beetroot at this time of year and so I tucked into a starter of beetroot carpaccio. Carpaccio is perhaps a little too grand an explanation for the dish but it was a lovely salad nonetheless, with walnuts and slivers of Grana Padano to compliment the earthy beetroot.

Beetroot carpaccio

I am a real retro lover and the mere whiff of the past attracts me, so obviously I had to go for the 1970s style homemade chicken kiev. It was perfect – oozing garlic butter and served with creamy mash and a deep fried leek. I should have ordered some fresh veg as could have done with some crisp freshness to go with it but that was my oversight. My ever-predictable husband tested the bangers and mash. It’s the marker he tests every cook by and he certain wolfed this one down quickly.

1970s style chicken kiev

The lovely general manager, Ross from Edinburgh, showed us around the renovated hotel. There are 18 unique guest rooms, we had a peak in what would be the bridal suite (the hotel does weddings too) and it was very luxurious. It had a bath in the bedroom and was beautifully decked out in cosy looking fabrics and vintage furniture. As a hotel, The Red Lion is the perfect option for visiting family or those who fancy a trip to the war museum nearby. Ross also filled us in on some interesting facts about the historic building - for example the alcohol license dates back to a visit from James I in 1619, and the large oak table in the new atrium area in made from an old beam that used to run the length of the hotel.  

We enjoyed our visit and will certainly be returning for more hearty food soon. And once that inglenook fireplace goes in you'll have to get there early to beat us to the sofas in front of it!

The best bit The pub and restaurant is a cosy cuddle of a place. Everything about The Red Lion is welcoming - from the staff to the traditional food on offer. 

Something to work on As a local girl I would love to see the pub on Twitter and tweeting regular offers and incentives – but then I would say that!

Station Road East, Whittlesford, Cambridge CB22 4NL

01223 832047, trlh.co.uk (new look website coming soon)