Isle of Wight News on Ventnor Blog

When l was a kid, scrabbling about bomb sites in search of shrapnel to add to my collection, the words ‘fruit’ and ‘apple’ were interchangeable.

Simply because there wasn’t anything else.

They came in three varieties.

Eating apples, which were crisp and sweet and juicy and red. Cooking apples, huge and green and incredibly sour and eaten not only baked and swimming in Lyle’s Golden but also bitten into raw so as to prove your manliness. (more…)

Restaurants on the Island get a glowing write up today in the online version of The Telegraph’s travel section.

The article, which is led with a picture looking out from the dining room at The Hambrough, features some of the best places to eat on the Island.

We’re not sure whether the writer himself (Nick Dalton) has actually visited the Island, as he places St Helens near Bonchurch(!), but he’s certainly picked some great places to temp visitors out to.

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Mothering Sunday is fast approaching.

It’s that time of year when we push the boat out to show our dear Mums how much we appreciate them.

So if you’re wondering what to do for your Mum this year, why not consider a taking her along to an award winning country house?

Skip the traditional big lunch and delight your Mum with a very special High Tea, served on traditional cake stands with Champagne and red roses!

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Congrats to The Ellen MacArthur Trust Website who picked up two aeards at today’s HantsWeb Awards by winning ‘best charity’ and best ‘life changing’ site. The site was designed by Wez Maynard and built by @Goffik from the OC Group.

Also making their way to the podium today were the ladies from The Real Island Food Company who picked up ‘Best Business Innovation’ award. The site was designed by Matrix e-Business.

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The recent discussions in the forum regarding the merits of various Indian restaurants has made me smile. A bit smugly, I must confess.

Everyone is thinking of ‘posh’ curry of course. The sort served up to maharajas on silver platters.

My early experience of the dish was a little different. (No inferences here, I must stress, to any restaurants on the Island, all of whom have a justifiably good reputation)

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You don’t have to work in the catering or hospitality industry for the Island Expo to be of interest, but if you do, this is ‘the’ place to be next week.

Taking place at Cowes Yacht Haven the hugely successful annual event features Island producers and service providers to the catering and hospitality industry.

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We were just wondering what to have for dinner tonight, when someone reminded us it’s pancake day (thanks Dizzy).

Always on the lookout for further inspiration, we checked out what was on offer on YouTube.

The result was this great piece of stop motion animation which must’ve taken forever to make.

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Those of you who can’t eat anything without chips being part of the meal, will be pleased to hear that it’s National Chip Week this week.

That means you can eat chips every day to celebrate.

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If you’re wondering what to get up to over the next week, the Island isn’t short of things to do.

Our usual weekly round of events is coming to you a little later than usual, because this week we tried a different format.

Having missed our slot on IW Radio yesterday, we were short of a podcast to put out on VB today.

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The Pudding Club at St Catherine’s School in Ventnor returns this Friday.

These popular events are a great way of raising cash for the charity as well as trying out different puddings.

There are limited places, so register asap if you fancy a night of puddings.

Check the full details over on Events on The Wight.

Image: Bad Housewife under CC BY 2.0

The Island Expo Catering and Hospitality Exhibition returns to Cowes Yacht Haven later in the month with yet another star studded lineup for the Expo Kitchen.

As covered on VB over the last couple of years, the Expo which was launched in 2008 has firmly established itself as ‘the’ annual meeting place for the Island’s catering and hospitality industry.

It provides a great opportunity for suppliers and producers to showcase their products and services.

Each year the Expo Kitchen has proved very popular with visitors and exhibitors and with Cyrus Todiwala wowing the crowds last year, the celebrity slot will be a hard act to follow.

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We caught up with Terry Ashdown, one of the organisers of the Pickled Onion competition that ran on Sunday.

In the podcat, Terry tells us why he got involved with the event that raises money for the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation. His grandson was born with a genetic liver condition, that he will have for all of his life.

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If you like pickled onions, you are in for a massive treat on Sunday.

The Woodvale in Gurnard is once again hosting its free annual Pickled Onion competition, now in its ninth year.

While chomping on a wide variety of pickled onions, taking part in a raffle and auction with top prizes, you’ll be contributing to raising money for the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation, which The Woodvale event normally raises in the order of £5,000 each year.

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People often get in touch with VentnorBlog and ask us questions – some easy to answer, others much more of a challenge. We thought we’d share one of the recent ones with you as you might find it helpful – Ed

We were contacted by ZoZo on Twitter (What’s Twitter?) who asked us if we knew where to buy the Japanese rice wine, Sake.

After a bit of head scratching we hadn’t come up with anything, so we sent an appeal out to our Island Twitter and Facebook pals and we’re delighted to say that they came up trumps.

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Owner of The Royal Hotel in Ventnor, William Bailey is planning to really push the boat out tomorrow night for The Isle of Wight Youth Trust Inaugural Gala Dinner.

He will be playing host to 160 very special guests at the sparkling Gala Dinner and from what we understand, will be footing the entire bill himself.

It’s his way of helping to raise the profile of the Youth Trust, which in turn, he hopes will raise at least £30,000 for the charity that does such important work on the Island.

The lucky guests will be treated to sensational food, wonderful champagne and the outstanding live music from Liane Carroll and her band.

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We went along to the opening of a new Indian restaurant – the Purple Mango – in Shanklin last night.

It’s a good-sized upmarket venue with quality finish and includes features like a waterfall built into one of the walls.

To celebrate the opening, those there were treated to a free, two course meal.

We were really impressed with the flavour and freshness of the food, as were others who were there.

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Regular customers of The Local in Ventnor may already be aware, but if you haven’t heard, the popular off-licence in Pier Street is due to close next month.

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If you were planning to head into Newport today for the Farmers’ Market, don’t bother.

Isle of Wight Radio are reporting that it has been cancelled today due to the threat of bad weather.

Update: It is St James’ farmers’ market that is cancelled, not both of them.

Severe Weather Warning
The high winds and heavy rain are the culprits and we’re being told by the Met Office that there’s a severe weather warning for the South of the UK, so if you have to venture out on the roads, do take care.

Reacting to the current craze for binge drinking, a team of researchers suggest that parents should allow their children to drink alcohol at home. Thus lessening their keenness to obtain it elsewhere.

The responses to this idea will be mixed. But I am reminded of something that happened to me a long time ago in a country far away.

The country was Malta.

The Grand Harbour at Valleta in fact.

A certain local Superintendent of Police at the time was in the habit of befriending crew members of British vessels and during his off-duty hours, taking them on a tour of Valleta’s night spots.

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There is a Psychic Supper taking place tonight (as if you didn’t know already).

The Culver Haven Inn is the location for an evening of clairvoyance with Caroline McReynolds.

A fish and chip supper is included in the ticket price of £15 per person.

Starts at 8pm, call 406107 to book your place.

Image: Chiara under CC BY-SA 2.0

Paul Rodgers, one of the Rural Chef team will be at Ventnor Library later in the month.

He will be demonstrating some thrifty and interesting cookery.

The event is free of charge, so why not pop along?

You never, know you might learn something new!

Don’t forget to say where you heard about it.

British Sausage Week kicks off on Monday (2nd Nov) and a love of the beautiful banger will not be going un-noticed on the Island.

On Friday morning this week, Jon Gilbey of the Paramount Restaurant in Shanklin will be combining a celebration of National Sausage Week with the relaunch of his restaurant.

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Next Saturday sees the return of Community Dinners at the Ventnor Community Cafe.

Celebrating Halloween, a local chef will cook a seasonal three course meal.

The menu will feature pumpkin & tomato soup and of either vegetable or lamb curry finished off with Halloween spicy ginger cake.

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If you’re a budding young chef who loves a challenge, it’s not too late to enter yourself for The Wight Rotary ‘Good Cooks Challenge’.

Last year’s ‘Rotary Young Chef of the Year’ competition was a huge success and this event hopes to build on that.

Entrants are encouraged to focus on the Island’s local produce, whether it is bought from a local butcher, greengrocer or gathered from the garden.

The competition will be split into categories, ‘Blue’ for 12-17 year olds, and ‘Red’ category for over 18s.

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Regular readers will remember how impressed we were with the Community Chef at the Family Cookery Courses.

For those who are cooking shy and keen to pick up some basic skills to get them into the kitchen, a new one-day session has been organised.

The four hour course will provide you with basic culinary skills for everyday cooking.

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