Big British Food Map Sheffield's silver service

Date Published:

02/09/2008

Andrew headed south to sample Sheffield's silver service and took a peek at the Peaks

Ta rah Yorkshire. It's a huge, stunning county with bags of character and produce. There's a deep respect for tea, pastry goods and some quality meat. There are also some very talented and friendly people making some top food. I've pushed on to Derbyshire now and from here will explore the Eastern Peak District as well as exploring Lincolnshire and the East Midlands. So if you know of anywhere good to shop, buy or eat there please add it to the Map.

Something for the mind...

I set out for an exploration around my rented lair, Rose Cottage, this morning. I was heading for the Scarthin Cafe, added to the Map by Julie Rowley. It's nestled on the top floor of the Scarthin Bookshop and I particularly enjoyed the fact that the cookery books were in the same room. There's something nice about smelling coffee and pastry when you're nosing through food books.

...and the body

And so to lunch - the first thing to note is it's veggie but given that it's more a cafe centred on selling cakes, pastries, soups and such, you'd hardly notice the lack of flesh. There was a good range of soups on offer - I went for the bean and cabbage topped with home made parsnip crisps and followed it with the falafel and humus pitta pockets with salad.
A chat with Jools revealed them all to be made by her. What they don't make they get in from regional suppliers such as Lembas, a wholefood wholesaler in Sheffield. And on the whole I enjoyed it - great value for money, endless rooms, cubby-holes and inglemooks stuffed with books and even a tiny little tea garden and conservatory with vines growing in it. Lovely stuff.

Not just another brick in the wall

Went to the Yorkshire Crisp Company today then in the afternoon I headed to the Welbeck farm shop. One point of note - what is now the car park was once the walled garden for the estate, which during it's prime ensured self sufficiency and provided for nearly a 1000 employees. It's the size of a football pitch.
Michael my guide pointed to some bricked up squares in the walls: "Those once held fires, that were set each night in the winter to keep the frost at bay." Also worthy of a mention were the secret tunnels, ballroom and the library the fifth Duke of Portland had built under the estate. The tunnels - all 15 miles of them - were able to take a horse drawn carriage. They allowed him to move about without being seen and one even went to Worksop railway station.

Pass the crisps

Sheffield, the steel city and home of the Blades. This is a city that knows about hitting metal with a hammer. I took my nieces to Magnaan interactive science experience for kids and one of the few indoor (and therefore dry) attractions in the area. It's based in an old steel works. And to complete a true British family outing we had a picnic in the rain.

The best name for a greengrocers ever?

Today I headed to Belper for a chat with the people at Fresh Basil. I parked at the top end of town, donned my sou'wester and had a stroll round to get a sense of the place. It seemed a fine example of a Derbyshire market town.
The Devonshire Arms looked a nice watering hole and opposite that was a new greengrocers called Fruit Flies Like A Banana. The phrase comes from a Groucho Marx quote, the full context being: "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." Arf! Surely a contender for the best name for a greengrocers ever. As well as fruit and veg, there's ice cream, drinks and cakes.

The puddings went down well too

Italians adore children and the family, so the theory goes, and Map user Sarah added Little Italy in Dronfield saying: "I have children and finding somewhere of quality that doesn't blanche at the very idea of having the little darlings in their precious restaurant is very rare. Little Italy is one of the friendliest restaurants I have ever been into - with or without my offspring - the atmosphere is wonderfully warm and welcoming, the service excellent and the food is just fabulous."

So last night I press ganged my sister, brother-in-law and nieces Hannah, aged five, and Jessica, aged three, to put this child-friendly theory to the test. We got there early, 11 minutes after it opened at 6pm, The food is familiar UK/Italian - pastas, pizza, as well as meat and fish, the sort you find all over the UK. The decor is modern and bright, no cannon sized pepper mills, gingham or framed 1970s prints of Roma.

It's a family affair

They kindly made my sister a veggie version of one of the meaty pasta dishes. I went for a lasagne which arrived the temperature of liquid rock but was nice once it'd cooled down a bit - but a touch too much sauce if I'm honest. The kids enjoyed mushrooms, and the plain buttered pasta with a spoonful of our sauces. The littlest one managed to stab my sister in the face with a fork accidently, cue drama - all of which the staff handled with aplomb. We were done by 8pm, just when couples on dates started to arrive.

Kids in restaurants is also a topic to provoke debate - it's either something high-fat, face-shaped and chips, or specialist kid-friendly places like Giraffe. Have you any experiences - good or bad - with children in restaurants? Let me know at bigfoodmap@channel4.com. We had fun on the way home pretending to be a sat-nav, each holding the map to our faces and each doing a silly voice.

Last week Andrew was in East Yorkshire.

Next he's off to Lincolnshire.

Back to top