No, not fatty in the house, though that is a bit how I feel after 10 days on the Amalfi coast eating, drinking and sitting about in the sun.
 
'Fatti in casa' is Italian for homemade, and there was no end of homemade deliciousness to be had in this part of Italy. Luckily, staying in Positano there were also a lot of steps to climb on a daily basis, which meant it was easier to justify three course lunches and afternoon gelato. Difficult to choose what I enjoyed the most, but here are my top 5 food delights of   Positano.

A hotel and restaurant right on the beach front (Buca di Bacco means 'wine cellar'). We ate in the ground floor restaurant on a couple of nights but the star was the first floor terrace for drinks and lunch - shady with sea views and great pasta.

Dave had a vibrant trofie pasta with pesto and sundried tomato which I wished I’d had, the pesto was so green tasting, as well as looking. My favourite was this spaghetti with meatballs (pictured). The pasta was salty as the sea, with a fresh tomato sauce and two
huge flavour-packed meaty meatballs.

It's true that cake will figure in my top 5 of
anywhere or anything. Positano was certainly a paradise of handmade cake. Sfogliatina, crostata di frutta, capricciosa, rum babas - the list goes on.

I loved the delizia, which you find in most places in a sharp lemon version (lemon features very heavily on the Amalfi Coast). This version (pictured) in pistachio is from La Zagara bakery: fluffy pistachio sponge filled with cream, covered in pistachio butter icing. La Zagara was open with live music in the evening,  so you could have late night cocktails and cake. Bliss.

Yes, I know that cake has already featured, but it's only part of the story here. Bar Internazionale is a tiny bar open all day and night, which we found on our way from the apartment to the bus stop. The cake was
great, I particularly enjoyed a tiny pie filled with custard and black cherry, and the cornetto al cioccolato (pictured) which was even better dunked in the cappuccino.

And what a cappuccino. Served by a slightly surly coffee maestro behind a bar, I've never had a better tasting coffee anywhere.

Our first day in Positano was also our first wedding anniversary.  My husband made it a truly memorable one by booking dinner at La Sponda, the
Michelin starred restaurant at Le Sirenuse hotel.

One of the reasons I've always wanted to visit Positano is the film Only You with Marissa Tomei and
Robert Downey Jr (the number of times I've seen it has gone into double figures). But it was only when my husband mentioned the swimming pool behind us
that I realised it was the actual hotel used in the film. Yes, I was schoolgirl excited.

Some of the food would be best described as 'interesting but challenging' - the prawns pictured were on a bed of chopped baby squid in what I can only describe as slime. Other dishes were delicious though; green plums with almond ice-cream were beautiful.

They also made us a special anniversary dessert of very dark chocolate tart with raspberries and the musicians played The Wedding March while they carried it to our table.

That's where La Sponda really comes into its own. The service has the magic touch and you feel thoroughly spoilt every moment of the evening.

And the setting is stunning, perched high on the hills,
looking out at the sea and the lights of Positano. It was an incredibly romantic  way to spend our anniversary.

My only regret about Next2 is that we didn't find it until the last three days of our holiday - though we did still manage to fit in two visits.

I'd read a couple of reviews saying that it wasn't the place to go for authentic Italy but I totally disagree, it uses all local ingredients, and the menu is based around local specialities but usually with a more modern twist. This made for fresh, stunning dishes.

It's hard to pick a favourite dish but with a gun to my head I'd probably say this starter (pictured). I had it on both occasions because it was just so good. Courgette flowers were stuffed full of a mix of ricotta and mozzarella and served on very fine julienne of raw fennel and carrot.

My main courses on both nights were beautifully full of flavour.

The first night I had the ravioli stuffed with cabbage and ham in a parmesan sauce with shaved truffle. The strong flavour of the cabbage was a magnificent hit against the softness of the sauce and pasta.

The second night I had the pumpkin soup with porcini and a ricotta gnocchi (pictured). Again the balance between the smoky porcini, earthy pumpkin and sweet ricotta was perfect.

And oh I love a good dessert. This simple but fabulous concoction (pictured) was vanilla ice-cream and slivers of poached peaches layered between the thinnest, crispest pastry, liberally sprinkled with icing sugar and a drizzle of raspberry sauce. Right up there with a peach melba I once had at The Fishes in Oxford as best dessert ever.

The wines were beautiful, the service bang on and the candle-lit courtyard setting stylish and romantic. 

Definitely my number one food experience in Positano - though god knows there was a lot of competition. Torna a Positano? I absolutely hope so.

For Christmas I bought my husband the chance to drive fast cars round a track, and in August he finally got to do it. So it seemed a good excuse for an overnight stay in Wales.
 
The track was in Swansea (which meant an afternoon on the beach for me and the small brown dog) but looking online for somewhere good to eat nearby proved tricky until I realised that The Hardwick was quite close in Abergavenny. Ok, I appreciate that 50 miles isn’t that close when your poor husband has driven 4 hours to get to Swansea [thanks Olympics] and then round a track all afternoon.

The owner and chef, Stephen Terry, has worked in places such as La Gavroche and  The Canteen amongst others. Plus, the pub is listed in Sawdays Pubs and Inns,  which has never let us down yet.

Walking into the restaurant, it had  just the kind of pub feel that we love – comfy sofa for pre-dinner drink, lots of separate seating areas and a friendly relaxed atmosphere. Plus, always high  on my list, warm subdued lighting, as there’s nothing I hate more than sitting  in a brightly lit restaurant. You may as well be in a hospital waiting room. 

Though the darkness did make photographs a bit dodgy.

After quickly scoffing down gorgeous homemade bread [well, I had only had a 99  ice cream for lunch] I started with Chicken and Sweetcorn – a firm chicken
mousse with herby sweetcorn fritters.

I was sceptical about the fritters as they’re a real favourite in our house – could they possibly be as good?

Dammit, they were even better than mine!! And delicious with the savoury chicken mousse
and some crispy bacon.

Dave chose the Duck Leg and Duck Liver Hash with a fried egg and having tried it, I would have been equally happy with that.

For a long time I’ve said I wanted to try rabbit but not been sure if I wanted  to take the risk. I like the look of it but also feel it’s a bit like eating  kittens.

So if I was going to do it, I might as well be in for a penny, in for a  pound.

The Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit was a poached loin with creamed Swiss chard, rabbit faggot with peas and a mini rabbit burger with fried polenta. That’s a
whole lot of rabbit so definitely chancy but I really enjoyed it, especially the  faggot.

Just as well Dave didn’t choose it, as he tried the loin and the faggot and  hated both – clearly rabbit isn’t for him and he was very happy with Hake with
Pea and Polenta Chips and a smoky ketchup [though he did find the ketchup very  overpowering].

Surely we couldn’t squeeze in desserts after all that food? Never a problem for  the Hutchfields. My Warm Peaches in Honey with vanilla ice cream and crushed
amaretto biscuits were super-sweet but not a problem for my sweet tooth.

Husband went more adventurous and ordered the Basil Panacotta with olive oil, strawberries and balsamic. He made me try the basil panacotta against my better judgement, I think to get me back for the rabbit. Truly truly horrible.

Husband enjoyed it though, crazy fool, though he did say it didn’t need the olive oil.

Service throughout the evening was friendly and attentive without being rushed. Though one waitress clearly wasn’t expecting a unanimous ‘No’ to her question ‘So are you following the Olympics?’ and still went on to tell  us who had won medals that evening. We had no idea who or what events she was talking about but did our best polite faces, as she was clearly excited by it.

Washing down the whole thing with plenty of alcohol and lovely smooth coffees, we went back to out hotel tired, full and happy.

The Hardwick:
Old Raglan Road
Abergavenny
Monmouthshire NP7 9AA
01873 854220