Stellar Sportsmen – Stellar Restaurant

Dockside renovations are the order of the day. Almost every coastal town in the UK has seen some form of rejuvenation of the docks area - from London to Bristol, Cardiff to Swansea. And now Llanelli’s Sosban in the North Dock shows them definitively how it is done.

Their secret quite simply is the confident use of natural materials - slate, glass, wood, cotton - all handled with a fearless touch, glittering, glowing and gleaming, revealing the creative capability of a master of design. The lofty beamed ceilings, the wide expanses of glass windows and doors all speak of sympathetic restoration, creating an impressively chic atmosphere.

The transformation of the old pumping station on the North Dock in Llanelli from unsightly ruin to glamorous foodie destination is attraction enough - but it is additionally a suitable setting for an exceptionally comfortable restaurant. The food delivers the promise of the architectural design – it is sophisticated but unpretentious, offering natural local ingredients in stylish contemporary dishes.


The neo-classical style menu includes the heartiness of confit pork belly and salt-marsh lamb cooked three ways, and the delicacy of a cod brandade or a dozen oysters. It is in perfect keeping with the surroundings, modish, yet down-to-earth.

Sosban was the brainchild of rugby Internationals Stephen Jones and Dwayne Peel supported by a team of experts. It will quickly become a Llanelli landmark, celebrated for its beauty, food, and comfortable service.

A Favourite Re-visited
Tis soon time for the Christmas parties and I know absolutely the best venue ever – my favourite haunt Peachy Keens, the international buffet restaurant in Wind Street.

It’s absolutely ideal for a Christmas do.

Peachy Keens is large, airy and spacious and will easily accommodate groups of any size both noisy and quiet.

The vast array of hot dishes from all over the world makes certain that there is something to please everyone.

Authentic Thai, Italian, Indian, Chinese, English and vegetarian dishes, a huge salad selection and dessert table ensure that everybody finds the cuisine of their choice - with none of the fuss of pre-ordering.

A fixed price per head removes all doubt about the bill.

And the very attentive and friendly service makes for guaranteed festive cheer.

Booking is essential. Peachy Keens is open all day from 12noon – you won’t have to cut your party short.

 

Armchair Cooking: Cookery programmes on TV
I feel defeated by dull old-fashioned cookery programmes on TV where a boring and wooden-faced chef (Saturday Kitchen, Market Kitchen) stirs predictable food in dreary kitchens muttering instructions. I hate it when they don’t dress appropriately in whites or even an apron and I detest watching them break basic domestic rules of hygiene. They rub their noses (yuk), and they touch their hair, faces and bodies as they cook

Above all I hate the inane competitions like Master Chef with the inept competitors’ obligatory tears and the idiotic too-long pause before the reveal.

That eliminates 90% of all cookery programmes on TV.

However there are a few (very few) programmes that are not as annoying and pointless. These are not documentaries but their content focuses on food culture and history, and examines the science and the art of cooking.

The best series among these (now on Sky Atlantic), is No Reservations presented by American super-chef Anthony Bourdain who takes us around the culinary world, from San Salvador to Cambodia and all places in between.

Presenters like Bourdain, never cook themselves. They utilise their precious airtime to acquaint the viewer with the sociological and geographic imperatives that determine the boundaries of a country’s culinary repertoire and not just in the physical and mundane act of preparing and cooking food.

I find the gentle yet intense style of Nigel Slater‘s Simple Cooking (BBC1) to be a true representation of the ideal TV cook. It is a personal expression of his own preferences, ideas and methods, utterly absorbing as he shares the whys and wherefores of his culinary style with the viewer. He is among the few cultured, sensitive presenters who have a strong sense of terroir (the true taste of the area).

Eat Street is a robust series on the street food of the USA, broadcast on the Food Network channel. The viewer’s interest is maintained by the enormous variety of street food in towns and cities across the USA, and the ingenuity of the owners of the food vans that deliver an amazing range of ethnic and traditional American food.

Another manifestation of the culinary genre is the only too rare series like the innovative The People’s Kitchen that invites viewers with interesting recipes to present them and their history with the help of chefs Worrall Thompson and Paul Rankin. A current version of this type of cultural representation No Taste Like Home is on ITV1 with Italian chef Gino D’Acampo. Such programmes are an excellent reflection of the actuality of local and multicultural family life and culinary tradition in the UK and are the only ones worth watching.