By Judith Schrut email

Summertime Britain is a food lovers’ paradise, with dozens of festivals, fairs and other tasty offerings where food and cooking take centre stage.

That’s certainly true at the Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall. Enjoying a magnificent setting on the grounds, woodlands and riverside of an historic house and former medieval monastery, Port Eliot has grown a reputation for words, music, fashion, flowers and extremely good food.

Over its four packed days and nights, festival goers can savour a delicious blend of chefs, cooks, bakers, brewers and growers as they share skills, kitchen secrets and top quality eats. Caught by the River and other stages welcome writers, musicians, conversationalists and comedians, Sipsmith Gin Palace hosts jazz parties, martini masterclasses and plenty of opportunities for G&T by the river, and the Fashion Foundation takes fashion to imaginative new heights.

Wellbeing and wildlife have a big part to play at Port Eliot. There are activities like astronomy walks, wild cookery, fire building, flamenco dancing, herbal first aid and wild swimming. You can stop by Larks Haven for wellness workshops, disco yoga, hot tubs and mindful masculinity sessions. We recommend signing up early for the wilderness survival masterclass with award-winning actress Teri Hatcher (aka Susan from Desperate Housewives). This year sees the debut of Wildlings Wood, a magical forest glade where children can dance, sing, frolic and forage all day long.

As nowhere is considered off limits, the Festival also wends its way into Port Eliot House itself for tours, talks and films.

If, like the Hungry Caterpillar, you are still hungry, there’s plenty more on this summer’s culinary menu. You might even say there’s a festival for every food fetish. You can gorge on local oysters, crabs and whelks washed down with champagne at Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival or turn up the heat at the Northeast Chilli Festival. Experience all things sausage at Lincoln’s Sausage Festival or hone the art of keeping vampires away at Isle of Wight’s Garlic Food Festival. And Corfe Castle Food and Drink Festival looks perfect for lovers of romantic castle ruins and spectacular country views.

Further information: Port Eliot Festival, Cornwall, 26-29 July, www.porteliotfestival.com

Image: Glamping, Port Eliot Festival.  Photo credit Michael Bowles.

Mondrian London has announced a programme of American-inspired events throughout the hotel to celebrate July 4th this summer and honour the hotel’s heritage.

The hotel’s restaurant Sea Containers, will draw on its American legacy to create a special 4th July menu, comprising classic American dishes including, ‘Maryland Crab Cakes’, ‘All American Barbecue Ribs’ and for dessert, ‘Strawberries and Cream Donut’. Sitting alongside the menu will be a special Woodford Reserve cocktail and boozy hard shake. The menu will be available to enjoy from 4th – 8th July, alongside the restaurants a la carte menu. Should London be graced with sunshine, guests will also be able to enjoy the American menu on the recently opened Midsummer Terrace, which is located directly on the Thames River path.

Reservations are available online and by telephone so guests can reserve their spot to raise a toast to 4th July at Mondrian London.

Details of all the 4th July activities are available via www.mondrianlondon.com

Mondrian London 20 Upper Ground, London SE1 9PD

Call: 020 37471063

By Amy Patrick

Back in April I was lucky enough to participate in a site visit to the Collateral Repair Project (CRP) in Amman, Jordan, with 22 other American  ladies from the Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas (FAWCO). The FAWCO Foundation’s current two-year Target Project, called Hope Beyond Displacement, is providing funds directly to CRP, a grass roots effort to bring much-needed assistance to refugees - those commonly referred to as ‘collateral damage.’ Our mission was to see the programmes we are funding and bear witness to the stories of the refugees served. Two other American ladies from FAWCO Region 1 – currently living in Edinburgh and Dublin – met me at Heathrow (after the long drive down from my home near Birmingham) to board the flight to Amman. We weren’t fully prepared for what we would see and hear.

According to UNHCR, Jordan hosts the second-largest refugee population in the world and about 80% of the refugees live outside of UN-funded camps. They are called ‘urban refugees’ and this population in Amman consists mainly of those who have fled Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan. With few exceptions, refugees are not legally allowed to work in Jordan. For these people, CRP extends lifelines such as food vouchers, English classes, children’s programmes, skills training, trauma relief and women’s empowerment.

Amanda Lane, Executive Director of CRP and American expat, told me about the refugee population in Jordan and how CRP has been able to build community services to help them in Amman:

“Less than 1% of the people that apply... get resettled. It’s interesting because when I go to Europe, people are like, ‘Yes, we have some refugees here.’ Actually, you really don’t. In Jordan, one in every ten people is a refugee and Lebanon one in every four. Yes, the reality is the vast majority of refugees are here in these primary host countries...It’s actually much more cost-effective to help people here because the vast majority of them are going to be staying here”.

“What has changed in the past five years is that we’ve really been consistently growing. Whereas we were feeding about 15 families right now, in the past month we fed over 400 families. We have a lot more self-care and wellness programming that fits into helping people to heal from trauma. We have a computer lab and lots of computer classes. We also have an after-school club for kids that takes place every day”.

Amanda lives in Amman with her Jordanian husband, Samer, and their two children. Her story began the same way as many Americans living in Britain: she met a man from another country, fell in love, got married, had kids, and in her words, ‘got sidetracked.’

“We were living in Seattle for about six years, and then we decided to come back [to Jordan]. It was actually me who pulled us back more than my husband because I really wanted my kids to feel like they could relate to half of their heritage, or to be able to relate to being Arab, and to be able to learn Arabic as well”.

I asked Amanda about the challenges of Lunch at CRP - Collateral Repair Project being an American living in Jordan and raising children abroad. I explained that I know many expat women in Britain who feel that they are trying to raise children between two different countries. She said:

“I don’t feel I’m raising them between countries much anymore. I think they’re comfortable wherever. I don’t feel like it’s a challenge. We certainly live, like many expat families, in a weird middle place. It’s really weird to me because I grew up in southern Ohio and never left, until I was out of college, really”.

Expats Jason and Judy Wilson knew Amanda and her husband and jumped at the chance to move to Amman to work for CRP. Jason is now the Director of Data and Marketing at CRP and Judy is the Director of Grants and Communications. Jason explained how they got back to Jordan, a country they had fallen in love with during previous travels:

“Amanda was in town, she came to Seattle for a [CRP] fund-raising trip and she met up with us just to say ‘hi’ and have some coffee, and that’s when she asked, ‘Do you want to come help with this?’ We had said if we had ever had the opportunity to live in Amman, we should do it and then, this opportunity to come and use our talents to help these people appeared... I’ve never worked harder, been paid less or been happier in my entire life!”. Jason left his job as a data analyst to help modernise processes at CRP. He explained:

“Our challenge is we’re trying to do a lot, we’re trying to keep track of everything that we’re doing, and understand it, build out a measurement and evaluation practice, build out a better way to track people who are receiving our food vouchers, and our programmes. A couple of years ago, this was literally all being done on paper. What I’ve been trying to do is put together a technology stack using software that is available. I’m still working on a way to develop a pipeline of interns or volunteers who have the hard skills that we really need for this”.

The site visit to CRP was the first of its kind to support FAWCO’s Target Project programme. FAWCO’s funding is specifically used for the SuperGirls after school programme, women’s vocational training, the Women’s Empowerment 101 programme, and a men’s gender-based violence prevention course. We learned so much more about why grassroots programmes are vital by being on the ground in Jordan than we ever would by watching news reports or documentaries. We knew there would be heartbreaking stories shared, but there was no preparation to keep the tears from flowing as we were told of one impossible, horrific personal experience after another. We had no idea that so many of the refugees had stopped living their lives completely, i.e. not working, not sending their children to school, etc., or that they feel just as hopeless now as they did when they made the decision to flee dangerous conflict zones.

During our visit, one of the beneficiaries, Sara*, had asked to share her story with us. After explaining that she and her family had left the ‘hell’ of one of the largest refugee camps in the world, without any national identity papers for herself or her family, she became too upset to finish her story. Jason Wilson, Director of Data and Marketing at CRP, later filled in the gaps during our interview:

[Sara’s father] is from Syria and he was involved very early on when the [Arab Spring] protests began. He’s a lawyer and he advocated for the young men who had been charged. As a result of his defense of these young men, his family was targeted by the regime. They were attacked.

His young daughter [Sara’s younger sister] was alone in the home and they dropped a bomb on his house. His daughter was grievously injured, they ended up having to flee in the night. They went to a hospital. Many of the hospitals wouldn’t take them in, because the government was searching for their family. They finally found a hospital to help stabilise the daughter and then, in the middle of the night, someone from the hospital came and said, ‘They’re here. They’re looking for you. You need to go.’

His daughter was in a coma, he put her over his shoulder and they ended up crossing from Syria into Jordan, being pursued. When Amanda and CRP ended up finding them, they were living under a bridge in winter with no proper clothing and they had no options. Their daughter was still unconscious. CRP was able to find some medical help and support for them. The daughter lived and they really started to build their life here.

Sara’s parents and sister now live in the UK. Sara, her husband and two young children hope to be allowed to join them one day.

*Name has been changed.

Many of us who are members of FAWCO-affiliated American Women’s Clubs in the UK are happy to fundraise for local British charities, but we sometimes lose sight of the work FAWCO is doing in the name of American women all over the world. The programmes and assistance offered by CRP helps refugees to start living again by building a community on shared experiences that transcends race, religion or political leanings. The beneficiaries of these programmes were excited to share their progress with us and stressed how they have found dignity again by helping others at the centre. They want people in the UK and all over the world to know what has happened to them and what challenges they continue to face. They were incredibly welcoming, resilient women who were happy to cook their favourite dishes and share them with us. Every expat knows how comforting tastes of home can be!

Read more about the Collateral Repair Project at www.collateralrepairproject.org and about FAWCO’s Target Project Hope Beyond Displacement here. See even more about Amy’s visit to CRP at iceberglife.net/asia/jordan.

I have worked at Canary Wharf on and off for over 25 years, from when it didn’t have the Jubilee Line, and at weekends the only way in or out was by bus that took an hour to get from Canary Wharf to Bank. Now it has grown three fold, and is about to welcome Cross Rail, but what hasn’t changed in all that time is its style. Canary Wharf is a place with grandiose buildings with vast atriums, high ceilings, an abundance of marble and unfeasibly large doors that are almost impossible to push open!

Although Boisdale is located in Canary Wharf, its charm is how different it is, as it has the feel of a Mayfair men’s club in the heart of Canary Wharf and is certainly unique to all the bars and restaurants here.

Boisdale is situated on two floors overlooking Cabot Square, and regardless of whether you are on the first floor on the terrace surrounding the oyster bar or in the restaurant on the second, the view out over Cabot Square fountains is a wonderful backdrop. The oyster bar is an art deco connoisseur’s dream, and has arched bar mirrors the shape of the window leading to the terrace where those looking for an after work drink or an informal bite to eat can sip a drink and watch people making their weary way home.

If you take the elevator to the second floor rather than the first you come out into one the more majestic restaurants you will find. Canary Wharf restaurants are all glass and white walls whereas here the walls are Boisdale’s distinctive lacquer red and dark green with rich mahogany panelling, more at home in St James’ rather than the modern Canary Wharf, but Boisdale dares to be different and stands out because of it. The feeling is warm and classy and the colourful walls are adorned with pictures of stars who have played the venue along with a few artistic nudes! Your route to your table is flanked on one side by an awe inspiring 12 metre long glowing amber whisky bar. The bar holds approximately 1,000 different bottles of malt whisky and I think can rightly claim to have one of the most extensive and magnificent whisky selections in the world.

The Boisdale is not just a restaurant and bar, it is a music venue as well, and regularly has jazz, blues and soul music sourced by its patron of music, Jules Holland. It also has bands/singers and that list of performers is impressive. We visited when Alexander O’Neal was playing and took advantage of their Dinner and Show Club, and other famous artists in recent months include Melanie C (the one Spice girl who could sing), Rita Coolidge and Marcella Detroit (from Shakespears Sister).

Our evening started with dinner followed by a performance from one of THE soul singers of the 80’s. For starters I selected the Mini Roast Dumfriesshire Blackface Haggis with mashed potatoes and bashed neeps, and my wife the Crispy Szechaun Pepper & Chilli Squid with lime and chilli mayonnaise. Haggis is not everyone’s cup of tea, indeed it is not my favourite, but as Boisdale has Scottish roots and I was promised it was something special I plumped for it and was glad I did. The tastes were rich and rewarding and the special secret ingredients and spices resulted in a very special sauce, and earthy neeps and creamy potatoes were perfect accompaniments. The Szechuan and Chilli Squid was light and crispy and packed a fair punch, and the lime in the creamy mayonnaise added a slight hint of sharpness which married with the heat nicely.

Portion sizes are generous and none more so with our selections for mains. My wife opted for the Truffle Aberdeenshire Rib-Steak Hamburger with black truffle mayonnaise, gruyere de comte cheese, roast mushrooms and thrice cooked chips, and I the 12oz Dry Aged Aberdeenshire Ribeye Steak with thrice cooked chips. The burger was a gooey delight as the juices from the meat soaked into the bread, and my steak melted in my mouth and had that lovely chargrilled flavour with a slightly crispy outer skin. The chips were gorgeous and the light fluffy potato encased in a crispy skin was perfect.

As said the portions are generous, so we paused for a while before tackling dessert and enjoyed the happy buzz generated by contented diners whilst sipping on a crisp and light house Sauvignon Blanc. When we were ready my wife was served the Apple Tarte Fine with Burbon Vanilla Ice Cream and I went with the Dark Chocolate & Caramel Marquise with Honeycomb. The tartness of the apple and the sweetness of the pastry were perfect partners and that contrast was also exhibited with the sweet caramel and the bitter dark chocolate in the marquise. The marquise was indulgently smooth, and although I had eaten well, it was just so good I felt I could have eaten another slice!

Alexander O’Neal, featured on our cover, played a great set, and as we left we remarked that Boisdale has something for everyone and is a perfect way to spend an evening, as where else can you get such a perfect combination of drink, food and music, all set in an eclectic mix of styles and colours which combine to provide a unique venue. But don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself.

The stunning Michelin-starred restaurant Galvin at Windows, is located on the 28th Floor of London Hilton on Park Lane and was launched in May 2006. It is superbly situated in the heart of Mayfair. With an interior evoking the glamour of the 1930s, we were intrigued to find out why this bar and restaurant has become one of the most talked about destinations since opening, and has maintained its Michelin- starred status each year since 2009.

On arrival we were taken to the Galvin at Windows bar where they offer a wide range of cocktails, from the classic martini and negroni to the specially created ‘signature cocktails’ that showcase the knowledge and expertise of the team. We were able to relax with a glass of Galvin champagne, whilst we marvelled over the 360 degree stunning views over the capital, including some of the most iconic sites: from the sky scrapers of the City and Canary Wharf, to the London Eye, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace and Wembley Stadium. This bar and restaurant certainly boasts some of the most spectacular views of London.

Chef Patron Chris Galvin and his team create seasonally inspired menus based around modern French haute cuisine. All of which make this a sought-after dining experience and a definite place to go if you are looking to impress, celebrate a special occasion or just have a great time with friends, colleagues or family. The kitchen is led by Head Chef Joo Won, who has been at the restaurant since 2006 and has worked his way up the ranks from Chef de Partie to Head Chef.

We enjoyed the Menu Prestige, priced at £82 for three sumptuous courses. But, there are a range of other menus available including a 7-course tasting menu at £119 per head, and some fabulous ‘affordable’ offers on the website.

The seasonally inspired Menu Prestige offers a good variety of dishes, and gives you the option of starting the meal with a choice of caviar (at an additional cost). Starters include Ballotine of Foie Gras with spice salt, orange, pistachio, & honey millefeuille, Marinated Iberico Pork with mooli and pickled mushroom, and Salad of Asparagus, Turnips, Lemon Grass & Romseco. I opted for the Cured Loch Fyne Salmon, brown crab mousseline & celeriac remoulade. My wife chose the Velouté of Mushrooms, hen egg, confit duck legs & wild garlic pesto. Both of these dishes were beautifully presented and memorable for their flavours, quality and texture.

The main course selection held great appeal to me, including such offerings as Lobster Risotto & tarragon oil, Fillet of Scotch Beef, braised shallot, short rib beignet, ox tongue & red wine jus (both dishes supplement £6), or the Pan-Fried Red Mullet with shellfish ravioli, aioli & spinach. I selected the Rump of Lamb, glazed breast, Bolognese, goat cheese & jus gras. The lamb was perfectly lean, with a deliciously rich jus. I enjoyed the pairing of goats cheese and Bolognese too, giving an exciting twist to the dish. The friendly Sommelier had recommended matching this with a glass of Chianti, which provided the perfect accompaniment. My wife ordered the Fillet of Stone Bass, caponata, olive, crispy baby squid & courgette. This dish did not disappoint - the delicate flavour of the fish still discernible amongst the olive, caponata and baby squid.

Ahead of dessert we enjoyed a selection of seasonal cheeses by Maître affineur ‘Buchanans’. This is available as an additional course for £18 or as a dessert choice for a £12 supplement. The selection of desserts is one of the best I have seen in a long time, with recommended wines to complement each choice. I was won over by the Valrhona Chocolate “Cigar ”, Tonka, Coffee, Bourbon Sponge & Hazelnut Ice Cream (with a delicious glass of Madeira), whilst my wife opted for the Pear Soufflé with warm Salt Caramel Fudge and Cinnamon Ice Cream. This she declared to be heaven on a plate, and I have to say I was blown away by the delicacy of the texture.

The whole experience was enhanced by the easy-going, friendly attention of our Sommelier. She did a fantastic job of pairing each course perfectly with wines from a wide- ranging list. The Cognac trolley is, in itself, a sight to behold, made up of some of the most beautifully ornate bottles I have seen. A the end of the meal, with the gentlest of persuasion, she suggested that a digestif was a perfect idea. She was right, of course!

The highly attentive, yet unobtrusive service, coupled with some of the most jaw-dropping views of London, makes this restaurant a real destination, but your reason for visiting Galvin at Windows should first and foremost be for the food. With menus to suit a wide range of occasions and budgets - including a dedicated Kids Menu and Sunday Lunch Menu, Michelin-star cuisine is more accessible than you might think.

Galvin at Windows London Hilton on Park Lane, Mayfair, London W1K 1BE - Telephone 020 7208 4021 - website