There are times, dear reader, when your kitchen is home to enough coffee makers, brie bakers, chopping boards and the like. Or so I am told. Fortunately, I have not yet reached that stage, though I do have to keep extending my kitchen to accommodate all the stuff I keep buying, which, in my head, guarantees my passage to the next level of culinary excellence.
Hence, Corbridge Larder’s gift and kitchenware displayed on the shelves which line its café are invariably quite a distraction, no matter how good the food. Top of my Christmas list is an AeroPress coffee maker (£24.99), and my Christmas Day table will include a selection of cheeses from the excellent deli downstairs, where the breads, biscuits, olives, preserves, smoked goods etc.
The new owners, who have breathed fresh air into the excellent deli, have done a grand job with the newly re-branded Heron Café upstairs. Lunch when we dropped by comprised an excellent fish plate of smoked salmon, a heavenly trout paté, and smoked mackerel, accompanied by dressed leaves with pumpkin seeds and a wee pot of excellent mini gherkins. The baked potatoes are done properly (in the oven) and ours with cottage cheese and pineapple was virtuous, too.
Corbridge Larder, Hill St, Corbridge, Northumberland, NE45 5AA
tel 01434 632 948, www.corbridgelarder.co.uk
