This weekend, sunny Hartlepool played host to an amazing number of visitors from all over.
Parades, fancy-dressed entertainers, cookery demonstrations, fairground attractions, music and comedy shows, etc...
Hartlepool showed that, given the weather, it can be a very attractive town with lots to do.
The weekend finished with a comedy evening, headlined by Sean Lock.
In Spring 2008, I took a course in web design. Last month, I was invited to collect the certificate below. I could not make it though I wish I had, because the ceremony would have meant wearing a robe, hood and mortarboard.
When Krimo's was at Seaton Carew, I often took advantage of the rare warm Summer evenings to catch the last rays of sunshine. Just before the service, around 7pm, I sometimes sat a for a short while by the paddling pool across the road from the restaurant, facing the North sea and fantasizing it was the Mediterranean.
The Longest Day. Father's Day. A warm day...
I got presents, cinema tickets, Amazon vouchers, chocolates, cards...
And a crateful of vegetables!!
Leslie brought me it from the allotment he tends in Blackhall.
Onions,
Potatoes,
Broad beans,
Radishes,
Cauliflower,
Cabbage,
Lollo Rosso,
Frisee lettuce,
Baby kale,
Pak Choi,
and he said he had forgotten the potted coriander and basil.
Absolutely priceless!
Over the last 15 years Hartlepool has been transformed into a fantastic town...
Judge for yourselves...
Mushrooms can be used in so many dishes from soups to stews, pastas to pizzas. I often wish I could go picking my own in nearby forests.
Two inconvenients: lack of time and lack of knowledge. I can imagine myself dying a slow death after enjoying a poisonous mushroom omelette.
The following video is quite useful in helping us choose from a few edible varieties.
The first time I tried Enoki mushrooms was in Spain where they called them Hedgehog Eggs... (Huevas de Erizo)
Being the inquisitive type, I wanted to know what these eggs looked and tasted like. I ordered them in a starter with scrambled eggs and discovered that in reality they were a variety of mushroom. I googled them the following day and found out they were widely used in Japan. Since then, I have enjoyed them raw in salads and sauteed in stir-fries.
Yep! We did it!
Twenty four years after we opened at Seaton Carew!
Actually, this is the first year for the new category of Tourism and Leisure at the awards.
I am very proud, chuffed, pleased, honoured... to have been shortlisted along two other businesses.
My friend, Daniel of the York House Hotel has also been shortlisted. We met last week at a PR and Marketing seminar and joked about our respective chances of winning. We both said that we'd be happy if the other won, but added that we each would like to win the Award on its first year. "May the best man win!" while crossing our fingers behind our backs.
We will find out on Thursday evening.
May the Fourth be with you!
Another year ticks by...
Who would've thought twenty four years after Karen and I opened our little restaurant on Seaton Carew seafront on May 4th 1985 that Krimo's would still be going strong?
And according to a survey I conducted a couple of weeks ago it still is the place for special celebrations in Hartlepool?
I tell people we did it with £250 of our own money but it was less than that. It was actually £240! One week's wages and one week's holiday pay.
But all the credit goes to Bert Bryden, our bank manager who started the ball rolling. He gave us a personal loan to put down as a 10% deposit for our 90% building society mortgage to purchase the freehold property.
Bert knew Steve Adams, the building society manager and I had already cooked for him in a small restaurant in Peterlee. Between them they provided us with a 100% mortgage. They must either have had a lot of faith in us or lots of money to dish out. Was that the start of this current credit crunch?
In the three weeks before the Grand Opening, family and friends helped us scrub clean "Davy Jones’ Locker" as the restaurant had been known prior to closing down two years earlier. They painted, decorated, plastered, shopped, sewed, stitched...
Three weeks after opening, as the Saturdays began to be booked up well in advance, we felt so confident about the future that we organised a get-together with everyone that helped out, including Bert and Steve, to thank them for giving us the chance to take our life in our hands.
And, today, we are grateful to all the customers who have kept us going over the years, and allowed us to expand with a further two restaurants.
There is a saying in the motivational business guru's handbook which tells you to "fall in love with your customers". I guess our saga was love at first sight!
The rest is history...
Adam was 3½ when we opened. Nowadays, he runs Casa del Mar. The photo below was taken outside the original Krimo's in July 86 with his Parisian cousin, Mélissa...
Hawaiian shirts, Latino and Salsa sounds... The last Wednesday of every month at Casa del Mar.
Tropicana North East is a group of music lovers who play around... yes, you've guessed it, the North East. They meet up at Casa one a month to rehearse, exchange ideas and prepare from their forthcoming gigs.
Last Wednesday was the first time they had their new colourful Hawaiian shirts on. The odd one out at the back, the drummer arrived late and was left with a medium shirt which was a bit too snug.
I watched them play "Oye como va!"and dreamed of playing the bongos with them, the Santana way.
Do tapas taste better when one listens to this kind of music?
Yes, they do!
...Is not bad for you!
Fast food can be anything from an omelet to a grilled steak, a salad to a pasta...
One has to be organised and prepared.
A simple omelet will take less than one minute to cook. Getting the eggs out of the fridge, cracking them, whisking them and heating the frying pan is what takes time.
The same thing goes for a steak. If you like it medium-rare, it won't take longer than five minutes as long as the pan is hot and the olive oil smoking.
Just imagine a bowl of steamed mussels! Five minutes.
A mixed salad: Ten minutes!
A pasta: Twelve minutes!
A risotto: Twelve minutes!
Cajun chicken: Six minutes!
Fast food doesn't have to be burgers, fried chicken or fish and chips but even then, there is nothing at all wrong with these, as long as they are consumed in moderation.
So, next time you fancy some fast food, check out your fridge and larder...
You might rustle up something faster than your local takeaway will.
Saturday afternoon, Hartlepool Marina put on its best clothes for the benefit of the Sick Children Trust and showed how businesses can come together to help.
Christine Blakey worked very hard to ensure all the restaurants and cafés participated in this, hopefully first of many events on Navigation Point.
Each restaurants provided samples of dishes for the visitors to enjoy.
There was a lot of singing and dancing throughout the afternoon.
