Tom Ives 
Reviewing Strada in Leamington
Posted on December 1, 2012
I entered a competition on the Strada website to become a restaurant reviewer. To win I simply had to justify why I deserved it – so I directed them to the food section of this very blog! It obviously worked, as I was invited to taste the new season menu with three quests. One review would be asked of me in return – and it got me thinking about how you become a professional food critic. Jennie and I have become obsessed with Masterchef the professionals this year, after overdosing on previous seasons, we had taken a break from it and come back to it fascinated once again. My mind was firmly on fine dining and all things food, so it was good timing.
My nearest Strada is in Leamington Spa, just down the road from our new house in Warwick. My parents have slaved tirelessly to help us buy our first home and move in, with countless baby sitting duties through the turbulent times. So I invited them along for the meal with Jennie and Bella along too.
We booked an early table – 5pm on Saturday so it was very quiet. Our short walk through Leamington was great – the Christmas lights were on all the way up the parade. Christmas shopping has not been a problem this year – with so many amazing little shops in Leamington. The best finds are the awesome vintage shop Barderie and the unlikely but incredible olive oil and balsamic vinegar specialist in the Royal Priors Shopping Centre.
We wheeled Bella’s pram into the restaurant and our waiter took us to a big table with plenty space around it, and even provided what we needed to give Bella her bottle. Bella was full and happy staring at the waiters coming and going – we were off to a good start.
So – on to the food! Before our starter arrived we had Castelvetrano olives which are my all time favourite. These were crisp and sweet, but not as buttery as others I’ve had, but this may be due to previous ones I’ve tried being in more salted oils. The starter then arrived and it was beautiful – hand stretched rosemary flatbreads that were fluffy and crispy with a platter of antipasti to share. We had Parma ham, Napoli salami, Trentino speck ham, mozzarella and tomatoes and crispy bruschetta. My favourite was the black olive tapenade which was rich and tasty.
Onto the next course – pasta, pizza and risotto.
The pasta dish was Strozzapreti Pugliese which was simple and stunning. Fresh, meaty, al dente twisted pasta (which I think is made in house – at least it was in the Birmingham one.) This was dressed in a chilli butter with sliced sausage, pancetta and broccoli – cooked perfectly to have the same slight bite as the pasta.
The pumpkin, squash, spinach and pine nut risotto had the pancetta removed to make it vegetarian for Jennie, and it was rich and smooth. The pizza was Quattro stagioni – and a fine example with great chunks of chestnut mushrooms, spicy Luganica sausage, ham and a personal fave – roasted artichoke. Served on a perfectly crisps thin base it had the slight edge on our homemade efforts.
Onto the fish and meat! The next two dishes were the showstoppers – a whole sea bream seasoned with lemon and thyme, served with green beans and slices of roasted new potatoes. This was simple and refreshing – exactly how good fish should be cooked. The other dish I thought initially was rose veal because it was light in colour and sweet, but looking at the menu later it was ‘Saltimbocca Maiale’ pork fillet with crispy parma ham wrapped around. This was sat on bed of smooth mashed potato, green beans and covered in sage butter. The whole shabang was rich, hearty and hard not to finish, even though desert looked as epic as the other courses.
The first dessert Affogato looked stunning – a generous scoop of nougat semi freddo ice cream in an oval bowl, with an espresso shot to pour over it, so that it pooled below and slowly mixed as it melted the ice cream.
The second also contrasted two different elements perfectly. Pannacotta style set custard made with chocolate, hazelnuts and crushed Amaretti biscuits was served with a splash of amaretto.
Silkly pistachio gelato came last, which was the perfect palate cleanser to end the meal.
Service was friendly and attentive, with each course arriving as the last was finished.
All in all the new menu is up to Strada’s high standards, with a few new stand out options to try.
Odd Kid
Posted on October 28, 2012
I wrote a lot as a kid, encouraged by my parents and school. On Monday morning we had a lesson called ‘News’ and we were asked to write in our notebook what we had done at the weekend. I clearly had a colourful and unsatisfied imagination as I would embellish more and more each week. If we walked on the Malvern Hills I would write that we hand-glided from the summit all the way to sea, where we went sailing. I clearly had no fear (or possibly understanding) of these fantastic stories being investigated, because one day when my younger brother was off school with a cold I told my teacher and class he was seriously ill and in hospital. Even when our entire school said a prayer for him in assembly I didn’t worry about the consequences – I loved the sense of drama! This soon changed when my mum picked me up from school of course.
My earliest stab at a novel was ‘Noabra the sad and lonely dragon.’ I wrote the name before drawing the front cover, and with these two complete I quickly fleshed out a 5 page story about an orphaned dragon that had to fend for itself – eating local sentient animals that were inherently evil.
I wrote poetry too – and when I was 11 one was published in a book called ‘The Library Lady.’ This was an anthology of poetry by the young people of Hereford and Worcester. The other poems vary hugely, and although there are other similarly dark tales, I do wonder where this came from. I still love the twist at the end, and I’m sure a psychoanalyst would have a field day pulling out conclusions.
The Traveller
A large man stomps through a copse.
A tall collar pulled up over his ears.
Coat wrapped tight over his body,
Large heavy boots sink into the deep snow.
Eyes fixed on the path,
Face down,
Mind empty and blank,
The blustering wind whirls around him,
The bleak frost bites into his face,
He shakes off the cold and carries on.
A glimpse of a dim light in a faraway cottage,
Now it’s gone!
The muffled hoot of an owl in a tree,
White and invisible,
A tall gate post looks like a standing person,
Blanketed with white snow.
A wandering lamb bleats for its mother,
On, the dark figure goes past a stone wall,
Past a hedge piled high with drifted snow.
And then stops,
Like a towering building
Limbs stiff and frozen,
Starting on again past the gate,
There’s the light again clearer now.
A loud creak of a branch as the wind batters it’s trunk,
As the fields slope downwards,
He is aware of a light on the horizon.
Stopping once more he looks down onto a well lit village,
The sparkling lights and the smell of rich hot food.
He goes down and through the gates past some houses,
The fire light glares,
The warmth calls,
But our lonely traveller has no place there,
On he goes following the road,
Into the darkness again.
Black Hatter
Posted on October 23, 2012
I wrote this for the RBH blog, but its needs to live here too…
I’m a doubting Thomas, a died in the wool cynic who never takes his black hat off – even on good days. Against my better judgement, there are still reasons to be cheerful…
Pretty soon I’m going to be proud father to a little girl. May 1st is the due date, but I’ve been told to expect arrivals two weeks before, or possibly after. Given how close this is I now have a short shortlist of possible names that my wife and I can agree on.
Inevitably the meanings of names come under some scrutiny when managing a project such as this, and this has led to some good office banter. Looking up the meanings of the people who sit near me I have found out that Matthew is a gift from the gods, Felicity is the patron saint of pregnant women and Gemma is a jewel (or gem.) All hilarious for different reasons, but what about me? I share my name with world famous disbeliever ‘doubting Thomas’ who required proof that Jesus had arisen from the grave.
This was a comedic treat to my colleagues – but how did my parents get my name so absolutely bang on? I’m a skeptic to the core – a cynical, glass half empty kind of guy who isn’t ideally suited to the ever positive, blue sky world of marketing. Or am I? As a project manager of large digital projects, a hefty slice of pessimism and obsessive attention to detail is required – the goal – to eliminate every possible risk in order to be confident whatever happens. Although I’ve studied the titanic project management system PRINCE and found it thoroughly sensible it can be too time consuming and unwieldy for some smaller jobs. That’s why I think project management is more of an attitude, or possibly a philosophy for life. Some people will never be wholly suited to it, conversely regimented thinking probably wont spark the ‘between the lines’ thinking required for big creative ideas. Such is life, we are all different and a good team needs many different dynamics to work well.
This is what Edward de Bono theorised with his 6 thinking hats model. I’m likely to wear a black hat to work – looking at decisions cautiously and defensively, considering why something wouldn’t work. My colleague Rob Hemus had his green hat on when he drew the illustration for this blog post – as this is the creative hat that considers any and all angles, using an ‘anything’s possible’ approach to free the mind from the day to day assumptions and preconceptions. There are four other hats we all wear from time to time – and we are often invited to make rapid outfit changes at RBH, when in a planning or brainstorm session for a new brief.
So how much of my nature will I pass on to my child I wonder? And how will I pick a name that I like, and will suit the poor child? I think I need a flow chart… oh god I’m doing it again.
Great British Triathlon (of food)
Posted on October 23, 2012
We have cooking competitions at work every now and then to mark big occasions like company birthdays.
I came third in the first one I entered (a soup competition) for my Christmassy sprout and chestnut soup. I was lucky enough to judge the second competition and tasted some awesome entrants. The third competition was to mark and celebrate the Olympics (or the Ale-impics as our client Church End Brewery has re-named it with a tribute ale.)
All entrants could make any dish as long as it was British inspired – using the three colours of the union jack.
I racked my brains for a summer dish that uses the union jack colours without food colouring. Unsatisfied with any of my options I struck on an another way to make the red, white and blue from the different countries of Great Britain.
Starter – Wales
If you visit Barmouth you may be lucky enough to have a traditional Welsh breakfast that comes straight from the chilly coastal waters; Laverbread crab cakes
Laverbread is made from the green seaweed that clings to the rocks, providing cover for the brown crabs, which turn a beautiful red colour when cooked.
Welsh 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist: Tom James (Rowing)
Main – England
Great Britain controlled the mighty India until 1947. The rich cultures from the subcontinent migrated to the British Isles with the Indian people – including their amazing food. Indian food is now so familiar to the British that it’s as typical as fish and chips. Fish and chips were popularised by Italian immigrants – using the potato – itself an immigrant from South America! So what is British anyway?
Tandoori Chicken, very plain rice and yoghurt.
English 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist: Mo Farah (10k)
Pudding – Scotland
As we travel North for afters the weather draws in and hearty fodder is required. What could be more Scottish than a blueberry scone? These are stodgier than Andy Murray’s social skills, and served with Cornish clotted cream they complete the tour to create a truly Great British meal.
Scottish 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist: Andy Murray (Tennis)
The results were great – but took far too long (i did it all the night before an was up till midnight.) Consequently my presentation was lacking, and I guess the idea was a bit wacky compared to the other more traditional entries.
I came third and received a bronze medal at the closing ceremony – more of which can be read on the RBH website here.
Foodie review – Kings Heath and Moseley
Posted on May 9, 2012
In December last year Jennie and I moved to leafy Solihull from Kings Heath. We moved to Solihull to prepare for the arrival of our daughter Bella, and I swapped the daily two hours of stop-start rush hour commuting for a ten minute scenic drive or even a nice bike ride. Our new house and area is lovely – we’ve got a cosey house with a great garden, nice neighbours in a very quiet neighborhood. The only thing the place is lacking in is good food. Typically – I can now look back and see that the gritty charm of Kings Heath attracted people like us and was therefore responsible for the amazing variety of places to eat.
I feel compelled to sing the praises of my favourite culinary haunts in South Birmingham
Maison Maycie
An artisan French bakers with tonnes of speciality breads, cakes and savouries. You can also have a sit down light meals which are always fresh and hearty.
Website
Byzantium
This Mediterranean restaurant is real hidden gem. The menu is varied, rich and authentic covering Spanish, Greek, Morrocan & Turkish tapas. The restaurant is small so books up early, but guarantees great atmosphere.
Website
Cherry Reds
Cherry Reds is a tiny bar with artisan beers that also does hot and cold food. The bar caters for vegans and Jen considers their dairy and gluten free cakes second to none.
Website
Manic Organic
Another veggie specialist – this cafe serves up hearty fry up breakfasts and lunches that will surprise any hungry carnivores.
Website
Spice Merchant
The Spice Merchant was our reliable Indian restaurant. They offer all the traditional dishes – which are always spot on. Staff are really friendly and prices reasonable.
Capeling & Co
This artisan delicatessen has an amazing selection of world cheeses and cured meats.
Website
Hare & Hounds – Soul Food Kitchen
The Soul Food Kitchen has changed my life. To discover a completely new cuisine on my doorstep (in a great pub) made leaving Kings Heath even harder. Soul Food Kitchen serve very fresh, beautifully presented American deep south and Cajun dishes.
Website
Moseley Farmers Market
The Farmers market can be found on Saturday at either Kings Norton, Harborne, Kings Heath or Moseley. Moseley village is always packed with hungry punters and so attracts the most vendors. Amazing hot food from Japan, Morocco and Italy is available alongside proper English staples of hog roasts, ostrich burgers and artisan pies. There is also a fish monger stall that comes from Hull with great fish and seafood.
Website
Ponte Di Legno
My favourite Italian sit down restaurant – they aren’t licensed so you can bring your own booze too. A few doors down is an incredible off license with hundreds of real ales. The pizzas are very authentic and they offer some really good steaks too.
La Fibule
This Moroccan restaurant is easy to miss but once you’ve tried it you’ll be coming back. The interior design has a simple charm to it and the tagines are very authentic.
Sabai Sabai
If you want a proper Thai blow out this is the place for you. The food is as hot, sweet and rich as real Thai food should be and the soft shelled crab is a guilty pleasure of mine. Another small and atmospheric place that books up early.
Website
Fighting Cocks
The best pub in the Midlands? In my opinion it could be. The drinks selection is huge with Belgian bottled beers, Bavarian lagers on tap and several great British ales on rotation. Food is hearty English staples and one of the best Sunday lunches around.
Website
Lasan Eatery
Lasan have several restaurants that are pushing a more modern, gourmet take on Indian cooking. The eatery is the least formal outlet – but still books up on the weekend. The food is outstanding – I recommend trying a dosa (crispy rice pancakes stuffed with savouries.)
Website
Here is a map I’ve created if you fancy a foodie tour day
Launching the new Range Rover
Posted on January 26, 2012 1 Comment
I was lucky enough to go to an induction day in 2011 at Land Rover just for their marketing agencies – it was a whole day entitled ‘launch the launcher.’ And that’s exactly what it did. The day started with a rousing speech from the MD and I did believe the hype. Lines like this certainly motivated me: ‘the Range Rover Evoque is going to be a hit – we knew that when we created it, its up to each of you how much of a hit it becomes’. After that we had a mix of technical and experiential seminars, introduction to the marketing launch strategy and finally a drive of the car. Driving any new car around JLR’s test facility would have been special for anyone interested in cars, so driving the top spec Evoque at 70 mph over speed bumps, drains and hump back bridges was a real treat.
A lot of the excitement of that day stayed with me and helped to make the life cycle assessment website and video a satisfyingly good project to work on. I’m very proud of it, and it’s by far the best project I’ve worked on.
The Range Rover Evoque Life Cycle Assessment from RBH on Vimeo.
Notes from my honeymoon
Posted on September 24, 2011
Jennie and I spent our two week honeymoon in a secluded cabin in the countryside near Cadiz, in Andalucia, Southern Spain. We flew into Jerez and picked up our awesome little hire car – a Mini Cooper. The weather was wonderfully hot when we arrived – and remained between 28 – 38 degrees for the whole duration.
We drove to our cabina and met our hosts Rob and Flavia who built the cabina on their land. Our little wooden cabin had everything we needed for a self catering get away, with a swimming pool next door too. The owners live off the grid, and so pump water from a well, generate electricity from solar panels and a generator. Neither are from Spain; Rob was a landscape gardener in London and Flavia is from South America, both decided to move to Andalucia for the weather and the culture. They were perfect guides for our stay, and often invited us for meals and drinks with their local friends which was a great insight into the local ways. Our hosts rescued animals in distress and when we arrived they had five dogs, two cats and three chickens. Along with home grown vegetables from their amazing patch, we felt like we had the best things in life around us.
The nearest town of any size is Conil, where we made our visit for the huge beach, the amazing markets and the stunning old town. We returned many times for great food and atmosphere in the evening and empty beaches for swimming and surfing in the day.
We soon got into the holiday spirit – having late lie-ins and local food for breakfast on our decking under the shade of the fig trees. We would dip in the pool most days and doze in the heat of the day, before venturing out to a different town when it cooled down in the afternoon. We had plenty of time to read, talk and reflect on getting married, and what we would do next when we got back to the UK.
We often went driving to explore the area – which is made up of mostly farm land on rolling hills down to the sea. It was very dry when we were there but has varied seasons so is still very green and lush with a huge variety of wildlife around. We explored lots of nearby towns and enjoyed them all in different ways; Cadiz had great architecture and restaurants, Barbate had great character and scenery and the Moroccan style hill top town Vejer was stunning. We travelled down the coast to Tarifa to go on a whale and dolphin watching boat trip, where we were lucky to see bottle nose dolphins riding the bow wave of a huge liner. Each place we visited we picked up more of the language and with our pocket phrase book we enjoyed trying to figure it all out. The highlight of the holiday was a stay over in a hotel in Vejer for a big night out at the best restaurant in town and an amazing live Flamenco show.
The food in Andalucia is incredible; it has the best (and cheapest) fish and seafood in the world, some of the most free range pigs and cows, local fruit and veg of every variety and hundreds of delicious wines and beers. We sampled everything we could and were pleasantly surprised to find plenty of vegetable options for Jennie with a strong Moroccan influence in the area. I thought Italian cuisine was the best, most varied in the world but the Spanish definitely give them some competition. There are little ice cream stalls or parlors on most street corners and the helados flavours were as good as an gelato I’ve had.
We came back totally refreshed and inspired to learn to cook and speak Andaluz, and to try and remember some of the laid back way of life we lived for two weeks – mañana!
See our gallery from the holiday here: Flickr gallery
See some of our wedding photos here: Flickr gallery
2010 in a nutshell
Posted on November 15, 2010
Sheesh! Blimey it’s been a while… I’ve either been busy or I’ve been seduced by the convenience of the micro blog culture. Probably a bit of both.
So, here is 2010 in a nutshell;
After an intense period of web antics in Leamington, I left BPI to take the plunge into self employment. I’ve wanted to give freelancing a go for a long time; and I was soon travelling back to Worcester to work with some old friends. Blue Box have come on in leaps and bounds in 2009 and I worked on some fantastic projects; from Monks looking to sell their incense online to Fearnley cricket supplies. Two of my favourite sites created in this period are L&L Installations; a boring subject matter given a personality (I hope!) and FATA Automation; a remnant of Britain’s great manufacturing prowess striving to remain competitive.
Self employment was great, especially the timescales for paying tax, which still bemuses me. When a great offer came along, however, I was seduced back to employment at the mighty Rees Bradley Hepburn. This integrated agency offers me the chance to work on the kind of projects I have developed an appetite for, on some of the biggest brands in the UK.
In 6 months at RBH my pet project has been the redevelopment of Land Rover’s Sustainability website; Our Planet. The folk of RBH are as rich and varied as the ale available in any of the many local pubs.
Life is good! Add to this some dabbling with house buying and deciding to marry my amazing partner Jennie, and you have a year of intense graft and learning!
Dining at Filini
Posted on May 12, 2010
I tried the Filini on a whim; it looked good and I was celebrating.
The decor and general ambience was excellent – really different to any restaurant in Birmingham that I have been to. It reminded me of the stylish 60s tv drama – Madmen, with retro furniture, subtle mood lighting and elegant sculpture.
The food started surprisingly well with a huge bowl of complementary italians breads for dipping. The dipping oil and balsamic were excellent quality – small details but a great start! Our starters varied in size, my beef carpaccio was tasty any small – how I like a starter, while Jennie’s vegetable anti pasti selection was huge (and also very tasty)
For main I had the monkfish with walnut pesto with a side of roasted rosemary potatoes. The artistically piled dish was impressive but the dribble of pesto dissapointed me until I tasted it and realised how little you required due to it’s powerful and delicious taste. Overall excellent main for me. My wine was also excellent (recommended by our waiter) and suited this dish, i think it was Masi Venezie Modello.
When we explained that Jennie is vegetarian with a dairy intolerance – the chef came to our table to discuss what she could have, in the end choosing a tasty if a little basic tomato and roast vegetable risotto.
Our waiter was friendly and helpful if a little disorganised. I told him I was celebrating getting a new job and soon after he brought complementary champagne to our table. The fruit sorbets were also excellent, tasting strikingly similar to blackcurrant and mango, rather than being over sweet.
The price wasnt cheap, but not much more than strada or pasta di piazza, whereas the food and experience was easily better.
Overall this was an excellent evening – I’ve no idea why this place isn’t more popular.
Goat Wars
Posted on June 2, 2009
I had great fun recording the daily battle between Geoffrey the house pup (the newcomer; a four month old Beagle) and the two resident goats Billy & Buxton.
Goat Wars (Round 1) from Tom Ives on Vimeo.
Tom Ives 