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Learn more about food and wine around the world with TV cook and respected food writer, Sophie Grigson.
We are delighted to be able to offer a range of food and wine tours to different cities around the world with respected food writer, Sophie Grigson. Sophie has appeared in her own TV series on BBC, Channel 4 and most recently on Sky's Food channels. Although Sophie is no stranger to 'fine dining', she comes into her own as an enthusiast for regional cookery and her love of cooking with fresh local ingredients and learning from the local experts as to what makes the cuisine of their region so special is her real passion. She has just finished writing her latest book which explores cooking with herbs and spices, and like her other publications, it is sure to be a great success.
Many people have written to Sophie questioning how it is that other celebrity chefs in their TV programmes have the knack of unearthing the hidden gems - the small, family-run restaurants serving exquisite food which no 'normal tourist' simply stumbles upon by accident. Of course, what we don't see, and don't experience, is the countless hours and many dreadful hours that a dedicated team of researchers spend going to different cities, well in advance of the camera crew with their celebrity chef in tow, just to bring you a few minutes of great television - and of course, a wonderful meal.
On our food and wine tours programme with Sophie, we will be visiting some of the cities and areas that she knows well. She will take groups - no more than 16 people on each tour - on visits to local markets or to see artisanal suppliers of the great raw ingredients that go into wonderful local food. We have arranged for her to meet with chefs at a number of different hotels and restaurants and they will arrange for cookery demonstrations to show you how many local specialities are prepared, so that you can bring this knowledge back with you to the UK at the end of your trip.
Of course, along with great food, often goes get wine, or other local drinks. Where appropriate, and taking account of local culture and sensitivities, we will also be arranging wine-tastings and 'master classes' with local wine-makers in their vineyards.
We are currently in the process of finalising the dates for Sophie's tour programme to fit around her other writing and broadcasting commitments. The current cities and destinations that we have on the plans include: Marrakech, Istanbul, Lisbon and rural Portugal, Bergerac/Bordeaux, Vienna and New York. All tours will be 3 or 4 nights in duration and will include a varied itinerary of market and supplier visits, cookery demonstrations, wine-tastings (as applicable) and, of course, plenty of time to talk to Sophie and share your, and her, passion for great food and wine around the world.
If you would like to receive more information about Sophie's tour programme for 2011 and 2012, please use the Contact Us facility on this website to register your interest and tell us which of our current list of cities you would like to visit, and any other places that you think would be particularly interesting for us to include in our itinerary plans for the future.
