News, views, city updates and more... to keep you going

OCTOBER ISSUE  |  OUT AND ABOUT & LOOKING GOOD

BIRTHDAY EXCITEMENT  |  WE'VE TURNED 18

As we mark our 18th birthday in October, we take a trip down memory lane, looking back fondly to the year we first brought out this publication – all about the city we love best!

In our latest issue, Emma Clegg goes back in time to when Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Prize, wedge flipflops were in, and Bath City were beaten by Yeovil Town.

Let the nostalgia wash over you as we take you back to 2002...

MIDWEEK BAKE  |  MUSHROOM MAGIC

This satisfying, speedy pasta dish combines a velvety mushroom sauce with fluffy goat's cheese and earthy thyme, with piquant sun-dried tomatoes and tender spinach adding a cheerful, uplifting vibe.

To give a lighter touch to what could, in its classic cream-based form, be an over-rich dish, crème fraiche is used to bind the textures and flavours together, but bear in mind that using the reduced-fat variety will give the sauce a slightly runny consistency. Adding a splash of wine to the mushrooms just before they brown and spritzing a squeeze of lemon juice across the finished dish at the finish adds further vibrancy. Use farfalle, fusilli or penne as the pasta of choice as these shapes hold the sauce well. 

Don't like that distinctively grassy goat's cheese flavour? You're not alone! Feta, blue cheese or mozzarella all work well in this dish.

Ingredients (serves two; can easily be doubled up to serve four)

150g farfalle, fusilli or penne 
200g closed cup brown mushrooms, sliced
125g sun-dried tomatoes
150g spinach, lightly steamed 
100g frozen peas
170g goat's cheese, chopped
3–4 sprigs fresh thyme
200ml crème fraiche
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp each of butter and olive oil; a splash of white wine; lemon juice to taste

Method

1. While the pasta is cooking (you want it to be just below al dente, usually around 10 minutes) sauté the mushrooms in the butter and olive oil until they start to release their juices. 

2. Add the crushed garlic and the stripped sprigs of thyme and cook for another two minutes, then splash in the wine and allow it to reduce for around a minute.

3. Put the peas to heat in a pan of water for 3 minutes, and then drain.

4. Meanwhile pour the crème fraiche into the pan and allow it to heat through before adding the sun-dried tomatoes. 

5. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce (never the other way around!) with a little bit of the cooking water to help thicken the sauce and bring it together. Stir to coat, then tumble the chopped goat's cheese, the peas and separated strands of spinach through the whole mixture.

6. Spritz with lemon juice and serve immediately in warm bowls. 

RESTAURANT REVIEW  |  A TASTE OF NEPAL

Bath's only authentic Nepalese restaurant – a family-run venture established by Sarah and Sera Gurung 16 years ago – is a subterranean beacon of congeniality that can't fail to warm the cockles of a jaded heart.

Expect fairyland-style atmospherics in an Aladdin's Cave for foodies in search of effortlessly charming fascination at every turn and prepare to get up-close-and-personal with momos, tamars and jhols alongside all manner of similarly exotically named dishes that are distinctly lesser-spotted in Bath. Nothing is so unfamiliar that we're anything close to discomfort zone territory, though; dish descriptions are refreshingly clear and accessible, and you can choose which heat-direction to take your tastebuds on. Meanwhile, the bespoke, handmade screens between tables make social distancing a uniquely beautiful experience.

Yak Yeti Yak
12 Pierrepont Street, Bath BA1 1LA

yakyetiyak.co.uk

MIDWEEK TIPPLES  |  AUTUMNO ITALIANOS

Prosecco Extra Dry by Fiol
This stylish Prosecco has a lemon colour with a bouquet reminiscent of wisteria flowers, acacia and ripe apple. Fresh, lively and appealing with slightly sweeter notes on the palate. £14.95

Gavi di Gavi, La Minaia
Gavi is one of the most fashionable white regions in Italy and the Cortese grape is king. Bergaglio's Gavi di Gavi La Minaia is 100% stainless steel fermented and left to rest in the bottle before being released. White peach and acacia aromatics, with soft honeyed richness, a cool mineral streak, beautifully balanced and fresh through to long finish. £14.50

Etna Rosso DOC Planeta
This wine is produced at the Feudo di Mezzo winery, situated in the heart of Etna viticulture. It comes from Nerello Mascalese grapes and perfectly reflects the unique and splendid terroir of Etna. A soft red wine with flesh and structure. Very typical of the area with notes of plums, raspberries and green tomato leaves. £23.50

All of the above have a multi-buy discount too!
For further details, visit greatwine.co.uk/offers...

ON THE BOOKSHELF  |  NEW RELEASES

ONLINE EXHIBITION  |  LIVE EVENTS

Running until 4 October, The Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution is hosting a series of events, remembering the work and life of Jane Austen. The online celebration will explore the world of Jane Austen and her writing in a week of live talks, videos, music, dance, readings – and even a quiz!

This evening at 7.30pm, Lecturer and Teacher Dr Georgina Newton, will be hosting Jane Austen's Feminist Message for Young Women Today – a video talk, which will be followed by a live Q&A.

Dr Newton will examine Jane Austen’s feminism through her literary works and consider how girls today also talk about feminism and feminist concerns. This will reflect on original research by the speaker to explore how far feminist thought and issues of equality have travelled since Jane Austen’s writing and how this is reflected in the concerns of girls today. 

To see more of the programme and to book a ticket for an event, head to the BRLSI website

TV ESSENTIALS  |  THE BAKING'S BACK 

Soggy bottoms, timing tantrums, fierce fanning – yup, the Great British Bake Off is back – the second episode, biscuit week, aired on Tuesday this week, and bread week follows next week. For the 2020 season (filmed in a Covid-friendly bubble), the inimitable Matt Lucas has taken over where Sandi Toksvig left off – his Boris parody in cake week was a show stealer – while co-host Noel Fielding ups the goth glamour/surreal frosting ante in fine style. Co-judge Paul Hollywood returns in all his twinkly eyed glory... and Prue Leith proves that if experience is the seasoning that's crucial to food-world longevity, she's the undisputed leader of the pedigree pack. What are Prue's views on the Hollywood Handshake? Melissa Blease talked handshakes with Prue not so long ago.

Read all about it here

OUT AND ABOUT  |  MIDWEEK NIBBLES

OBJECT OF INTEREST  |  MONTBLANC MEISTERSTÜCK

SPOTTED  |  ON THE STREETS OF BATH

McDonald & Dodds are back filming season two in and around Bath, and yesterday the crew were filming in front of the Royal Crescent. We can't wait to see Tala Gouveia and Jason Watkins back on our screens for three new episodes!

Read our interview ahead of season one here

ON THE BIG SCREEN  |  THE NATURAL WORLD

In his 93 years, David Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe and has seen more of the natural world than anyone else. Now, in a unique feature documentary, he reflects upon the defining moments of his lifetime as a naturalist. Honest, revealing and urgent, A Life On Our Planet is Sir David’s witness statement, and, despite devastating changes wrought by humanity on the natural world, his film carries a message of hope for future generations.

After the film, audiences will have the unique chance to watch a very special, exclusive conversation between Sir David Attenborough and Sir Michael Palin.

Showing at various times throughout the week, book via The Little Theatre Cinema's website.

ON THE BOX  |  TRAIL-BLAZING ACTIVIST

The Glorias follows the story of feminist icon Gloria Steinem's itinerant childhood and the influence it had on her life as a writer, activist and organiser for women's rights worldwide.

Tracing Steinem’s journey from her time in India as a young woman to the founding of Ms. magazine in New York and beyond, the movie explores her rise to become one of the world's leading women's rights advocates. The cast features Oscar winners Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander as Steinem; Tony winner Bette Midler as Bella Abzug; and Janelle Monáe as Dorothy Pitman Hughes.

The biopic from Tony-winning director Julie Taymor and playwright and Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl streams exclusively on Amazon’s Prime Video tonight.

Watch the full film on Amazon

THIS WORKING LIFE  |  ADVICE FOR PROFESSIONALS

All change in the workplace as Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ends and the Job Support Scheme Starts. Mogers Drewett solicitors explain more about the scheme and who is eligible to apply.

Read more from Mogers Drewett here

INTERIORS  |  THE BAR COMPANY

The Outdoor Bar Company is a new and exciting Bath-based business which brings the style and vibe of a custom-made Boutique Hotel Bar to your garden.

The Outdoor Bar Company specialises in delivering beautiful build solutions coupled with the high design that you expect to find in some the of the world’s best boutique hotels – right in your own garden.

Check out the array of styles and designs at outdoorbarco.co.uk

PROPERTY UPDATE  |  NEW TO THE MARKET

A handsome detached family home tucked away at the end of a quiet cul de sac. This attractive ‘Scandi’ style property has been comprehensively refurbished throughout and sympathetically extended by the current owners and provides a perfect blend of energy performant accommodation with lovely contemporary ‘Green’ finishes, which include seasoned Oak double glazed windows and a Sedum roof.

The property has been architecturally designed and extended to provide a beautifully presented, open-plan 4 bedroom family home with an adjoining self-contained 2 bedroom annexe. Both the house and annexe have pretty well stocked mature gardens and off-street parking, along with a large timber-framed garden store and an attractive garden pod that is currently being used as an at home office.

The main body of the house has a wonderful double aspect sitting room which is linked to a large, well-equipped, light and airy kitchen and dining room with handsome bi-fold doors that span the width of the property and lead on to the pretty gardens. In addition, there are 4 lovely bedrooms, the master has an en-suite wet room and there is also a family bathroom.

The annexe which can be independently accessed to the side of the property is linked via the main entrance hall and opens into a large open plan dining room, kitchen and a home office space. Leading from the kitchen there is a generously proportioned family room which leads through to 2 bedrooms and a bath and shower room.

This is an exceptional property and a viewing is strongly recommended by the sole agents Cobb Farr.