Great Week!
Hi all,
Had a fab time last weekend down in Devon. My old mate Mitch Tonks owns The Sea Horse; right on the harbour in Dartmouth, that man loves fish. We did an evening with Gregg and Mitch and it went down a storm. My daughter Libby did a shift in the kitchen and me and Mitch are now going to get arrested for under age labour .She had a great time dressing the salads and helping with the desserts. Problem is she now wants to be a chef -I should have guessed shouldn't I!
Managed to virtually have a day off last Monday. I say virtually because I worked from home in Kent. Lovely day, sandwich down in the town and walking along the almost deserted windy beach. I like Whitstable.
Really busy with professional MC right now and now I am working with Michel Roux .I love him, the man is an absolute legend and he won't stop giggling at my bad French pronunciation.
It was my son's birthday on Sunday he will be 15 we were both at Twickenham. 'Swing low sweet chariot'.
Speak soon,
Gregg
What a Week!
Hi all,
Had a completely mental time in Leeds-I am far too old for these sort of excesses. Got right on it with a group of blokes from Asda and QV foods. Didn't get to bed 'till 3AM then I had be up at five to get the train back to London, to meet my son so we could fly to Dublin.I then started drinking Guinness as soon as I arrived and I didn't stop until 1 AM -I still haven't recovered.
Dublin is fantastic and Dubliners have got to be some of the best people I have ever met. If there is a more hospitable and friendly bunch of revellers in the world I want to know where.
I have heard Irishmen in London say they don't drink Guinness over here as it is not as good as it is in Ireland. I have always been sceptical until I tasted it in Dublin. My word what a texture what a flavour . What you have bought me another one?!
Filming of Pro MC is going well. For the early parts of the filming I am working with Monica -Michel Roux's senior sous chef. What a tough lady - she scares me and I am judging! We have had one contestant try to poison us ,but you will have to watch to find out how.
Have had good dinners this week at Smiths and Rules. Apart form Dublin and Leeds I have managed to cut down the drink and my belly looks all the better for it.
Happy vegging,
Gregg
P.S What instant Gregg Wallace updates? Follow me on Twitter
It Has Been a Busy Week!
Hi Everyone,
Very good lunch at Scotts this week. I am a big fan of Scotts!My favourite thing to do is to sit at the bar; then you can virtually see the whole resturant. I was lucky enough to have the company of an attractive blond!
Everytime we do a series of Master Chef I get a budget for clothes ,so I was out shopping. My word there isĀ absolutely an economic downturn - I have never seen Selfridges so quiet. I was also on The One Show with my mate John T. That is a great show, they get very big viewing figures and I am not surprised -I thoroughly enjoyed it!
I had a very good dinner at Rules.As far as I know, Rules is the oldest restaurant in London. They have opened a bar upstairs now, run by the lovely New Yorker, who use to run Angela Hartnett's bar at Claridges.
On the Rugby front, I most certainly witnessed a better display from Martin Johnson's England. However, my under fifteens side at Whitstable were on the wrong end of a right bashing by the talented team at Black Heath. Thoroughly enjoyed the day though -Ā great hospitality and I got on very well with the Barmaid. Watch this space !
It is half term, so I have the kids with me for a few days went to visit my mate Deano who owns the Bath Arms in Crockerton Wiltshire. Great pub with rooms' lovely food and around the corner from Longleate. One day with Deano and you need three days rest.
I did make an appearance on the Alan Titchmarsh Show .I made Cauliflower Pies and forgot to put the Cauliflower in. Oh the joy of live TV!
The finals of Master Chef are underway - I find myself gripped and I know who is going to win!
Still obsessed with Twitter -@puddingface- and I love reading your blog comments!
Speak very soon,
Gregg
Valentines Day and Weather Madness!!!!
Hi!
So sorry for not blogging. It is a real shame because I actually really enjoy it and I am amazed by how many of you read it! So again Hello and I am sorry. I should offer some sort of explanation; work commitments meant I was unavailable for allot of it. We have been filming the finals of Celebrity MasterChef. No I don't know who is in it and I can't tell you who won it, I was actually blindfolded for the last few weeks. . . !The weather also hindered the rest of the blogging time. You see, I am not very good with computers and I need the talented Katie with me. Unfortunately she lives in Manchester and I live in Kent, or central London, so if it wasn't snowing in Kent or London it was doing it in Manchester. It was only over lunch today that Katie pointed out,we could probably do this over the phone !So no excuses anymore; lots of blogging that is what I say!
I do lead an eventful, some may say ridiculous, life. Since my last blog ( thanks so much for all of your comments , I really love reading them) I have managed to pass my RFU level 2 Rugby Coaching Certificate. I had a very memorable lunch at Rules resturant in London and I have been to Morocco. Where I experienced the worst weather they have had in years. I love a tagine, I just didn't expect to be eating one wrapped up in a duvet!
Oh, I did have a very good evening with the British Dairy council; fine people the Diary Council and it was a truly memorable evening. I think I finished around 3 am, but I could be mistaken; it is all a bit of a blur. I have come to the conclusion that I love Farmers. Not just Diary Farmers, all Farmers. They like a drink,they love food, they are happy to talk business and most of them love rugby! Defiantly my sort of people,these Farmers.
Now, there are a couple of things I want to chat to you about . One is Twitter, do you tweet? It is great! I am on there obviously, follow me! Search under the name of puddingface and there I am. Barak Obama is on there plus others, but none as bald and tubby as me! I update it constantly and am becoming a bit obssessed!
My final word is about Valentines. It is actually a plead to the chaps; do you have a lady love? Then cook her meal! It doesn't matter how good the meal is, that is not important. What is important, is that you have considered it, you have devoted time to it and you have made the effort. That is what will impress the ladies, Right girls????
If you are going to take the lady out for dinner, please follow my advice; seat the lady with her back to the wall, so that she sees the resturant and the resturant sees her. Stand up when she leaves the and comes back to the table. Pour her a big glass of water, only half fill her glass with wine .This is for a couple of reasons . . . the first is she wont think you are trying to get her drunk, the second is if you only partially fill the glass, you can keep topping it up, this means you are being attentive all night . Good luck happy hunting!!!
Speak very soon,
Gregg
New Year, New Diet!
Hi
Right, got all that stupid New Years eve stuff out of the way!
I am getting old I know, but I do get confused. I mostly get confused answering questions on a Masterchef series ,that I filmed six months ago, while I am in the middle of filming a completely different Celebrity MasterChef.!
We are not quite back filming yet, so between getting drunk at lunchtime (!) I have a bit of time on my hands. One afternoon I went to view an exhibition of Byzantine art at the Royal Academy ,you had no idea I was so cultured did you?! Don't worry it took me all of 30 mins to get round the whole lot.
London was desperately quiet last week, black cab drivers are the best gage of the economy in London and every one was moaning his head off. No one was coming into the city and none wanted to venture out in the freezing temperatures. At one point in a normally busy resturant I was the only table at 9.30!
I am trying to lose weight .It is not a silly New Year's resolution I have been trying to loose weight for 2 years. It is disconcerting watching Master Chef to see my stomach approach the contestant 30 seconds before I do! I am so not going to lose weight I had a really big boozy lunch at Le Gavroche this week, five fantastic courses and enough good wine to fill a bath. Even my usually sober professional friend Howard was in a pickle by the end of it.
Went to see my Doctor, still got a bit of trouble with the old cholesterol ,well there is a surprise! He is a good Doctor, but I don't think he has quite got a handle on what it is I actually do! I tried to explain Master Chef to him and he suggested that, rather than eat the food when tasting, I should chew it up and spit it into a bucket, can you imagine?!
Love life is going quite well ,in that it is not in the News of the World yet and I am nearly all the way through my Level 2 Rugby Coaching Badge . I am nursing the bruises as I sit here and write this .
For an up to date list of seasonal produce I would like to encourage you to sign up for a weekly newsletter, it's OK it's free! Then we have your email address so we can send you information about upcoming events and try and sell you stuff you may not want!
Happy vegging,
Gregg
Happy New Year!!!!
Happy New Year to one and all!
I very much hope your Christmas veg was a big success!
Every time I turn on the television or radio, somebody wearing a tie ,is telling me we are all going to have a really tough time this year. I am not going to let them get me down. I feel no shame in admitting I feel happy. I look forward to Spring and lots of new veg. In the meantime, there is plenty of home-grown produce for you to get your hands on.
Masterchef has started, Hooray!! BBC2 8.30 Monday to Thursday. This was one of the closet run Masterchef's ever, so enjoy. Strange for me to be watching Mastchef on the telly and be filming a celeb Masterchef at the same time.
I went skiing over Christmas to Italy - I love it! After, England it is my favourite place in the world. Their approach to food is so honest and natural. My skiing has improved considerably. Well, actually, it is only the second time I have been and I was so rubbish last time that it didnāt take a lot to improve me! I really enjoy skiing fresh air , light exercise, you have one glass of wine with your dinner and it feels like you have downed a bottle of night nurse!
I was tucked up in bed by 10.30 on New Year's eve. I have never enjoyed it, I suppose it because I eat out so much in London during the rest of year. Every resturant is packed you canāt get a taxi everything is twice as expensive. I was happy in bed until the neighbours woke me up with a firework show.
I may have a new girlfriend , watch this space . . .!
Once again Happy New Year ! Sign up for my newsletter to get some great recipe ideas for this time of year.
Speak soon,
Gregg
Christmas is on it's Way!!
Hi there,
Well , December is here, one of the most expensive times of year. I end up half drunk for most of it, there are so many people I promised to catch up with for Christmas, I just end up lunch dinner etc all the way through it. My belly swells to twice its normal size and my liver wants to leave home.
I am still busy filming Celebrity Master Chef.We have got come back contestants this week, Celebrities who have been on the show before and want another go.
I am also exploring to possibility of lending my name and help to growers who put packs of veg into the supermarket,we will see. I am not sure whether I mentioned it before, but I like the idea of Fruit and Veg shop's back in the High Street. Wallace & Co has a nice ring to it !
It was my daughter's Birthday and I managed to get us tickets to go and see Strictly Come Dancing, followed by dinner at John Torode's restaurant, Smiths. She is a very good girl my Libby and she is 12 now. I tried to tell her off the other day and she told me to 'build a bridge', I said what you are talking about ? To which she replied 'to get over it!'
I have has a couple of dates but I am still single ,which just goes to show how successful my dates have been. I agree with Graham Norton, he said being single is his choice but unfortunately it is his second choice!
Anyway, I'll chat to you again before Christmas,
Gregg.
Credit Crunchy Veg - I Don't Think So?!
Well it is still non stop at the moment ! We are really busy down at the farm, despite the credit crunch the restaurants seem to be gearing up for Christmas.
I do have nutritionist and I am supposed to be sticking to a diet as I was considering getting my belly down, but you know me and puddings. I was up in Birmingham at the BBC show and I gave the award for the best street market ,a subject very close to my heart, well done Bury Market!
Two very good dinners this week, one at Richard Corrigan's new resturant in Mayfair and one at Galvin's Bistro in Baker Street.
This is difficult for me to concentrate while I write this as I really fancy the girl who is doing the typing!
It is a shame I can't translate her blushes to the page.
We are speeding through Celebrity Masterchef, and I promise you are in for a treat. On a sporting front, my son's rugby team won their match and England badly lost theirs, so a mixed bag of rugby really. Oh, I did manage to make a wonderful cabbage and Stilton soup , very successful, everybody had seconds.
Look forward to talking to you again soon,
Gregg.
I am Back!
How are you doing?
I am busy filming a new series of Celebrity Master Chef. No, I cannot tell you who is on it and neither can I tell you when it will be on your television screens! We do have some very good people though, and the standard of is cracking. I think the celebrities have realised that this is a serious cookery competition, Apart from that I have managed to address both a gang of school kids and the leafy salad growers convention. I found the kids more responsive to my humour!
What is tricky for the salad growers, is trying to link in with the nations appetite for seasonal eating. Many of us still consider salads to be a summer dish. For a choice of winter leaves, have a look HERE.
I am also at the start of a gruelling four day programme to get my RFU Level two Rugby coaching badge. I am probably a bit to old and tubby but I will let you know how I get on! Part of the programme is nutrition the coach has realised who I am, so that should make for an interesting session.
Believe it or not I am also on a diet, luckily enough I am allowed to eat as much veg as I want. For the seasons best check out the newsletter.
Bye,
Gregg.
