][1]Strap on the snow shoes, hitch up the thermals and make tracks to Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms where the Foodies Festival is just about to kick off.
Running from today until Sunday, it has plenty to offer those of us whose thoughts are largely governed by our stomachs.
Foodies and 5pm have joined forces (linked forks?) to offer two-for-one on entry to the Festival. Get your tix here.
Among the highlights are oyster-shucking classes, chocolate tastings, cocktail classes and, my favourite, gin masterclasses with Geraldine Coates of Gintime.
A new development at this Foodies is the Whisky Lounge which will host a series of tutored tastings over the weekend. These range from introductory whisky lessons to tastings of rare and vintage malts.
The Chefs’ Theatre has a packed schedule with over a dozen of Scotland’s top kitchen talents sharing their secrets and demonstrating their skills.
A large number of them are 5pm members so if you like what you see at the Festival then you can look up their 5pm offers and explore their food more thoroughly.
Neil Forbes of The Atrium; Stephen Newman of Yo Sushi; Jacqueline O’Donnell of The Sisters; Mattia Camorani of Cucina at Hotel Missoni; Fred Berkmiller of L’Escargot Bleu; John Quigley of Red Onion; Craig Dunn at aBode and ****Paul Tamburrini of Hotel du Vin at One Devonshire Gardens are among the chefs appearing over the course of the weekend.