This Week We Have Been . . .

Drinking Kir St Germain cocktails at the Mahogany Bar at Wilton’s Music hall. Dubbed as the city’s ‘hidden stage’, Wilton’s is the world’s oldest surviving Music Hall and has a gorgeous side bar with delicious cocktails and hand-made snacks. We didn’t make it beyond the bar this time (the cocktails were tooo good!), but the stunning venue is also home to a diverse programme of entertainment including theatre, music, comedy, cinema and cabaret to be checked out on future visits…

Getting our fix of seafood. A few of the Fever team took a day trip to Brighton this week and had an AMAZING seafood dining experience, we just had to share! Riddle and Finns is an absolute must visit. It’s notched up a fair few awards for its culinary excellence over the years, including a listing in the Michelin food guide and praise from top chefs including Gordon Ramsay. We know why! If you’re lucky enough to get a table (it has a no booking policy, so an early evening or lunch time visit is your best bet) you will not be disappointed. A real hidden gem tucked within Brighton’s famous ‘The Lanes’, it serves simple and gorgeous seafood, offers top notch service, a cracking wine and champagne list, and in a simple yet stylish candle-lit setting. We dined on fresh oysters, scallops in a chilli and chorizo dressing, potted shrimp and monk fish dippers – yum, yum, yum. Even the fresh bread with a selection of sauces was 10/10…

Reading our way through the Man Booker shortlist with a cuppa… Swimming Home by Deborah Levy tells the story of a middle-class summer holiday in South East France in July 1994 centering around two families who share a villa in apparent harmony before a stranger walks (or swims) into their lives. Without giving too much away the superficial calm and cordiality of the holiday soon spirals into darkness, relationships fracture and someone disappears. One of the central characters says more than once that “Life is only worth living because we hope it will get better and we’ll all get home safely” – this is a book that mesmerizes and unsettles you and leaves you willing the characters, and yourself, to all get home.