I get asked a lot for suggestions and recommendations of things to do, read and eat, so I thought I’d start sending some ideas out each month. The first issue last month was all about Welsh wines, but this one is a round-up of things on my Welsh food and culture radar at the moment. Enjoy!
THE BOOK
Welsh Food Stories by Carwyn Graves


I’ve been working my way through this gorgeous new book on my tube and train rides. It’s the first proper look at the history of some of Wales’s most prolific foodstuffs, produce and ingredients, from salt to butter, cheese to chips. What I love is not just the historical research and delightful references to Welsh odes and poems, but how Carwyn meets the people producing and championing these products today – and offers an insight to what we need to do to ensure sustainable food production in Wales in the future.
THE EXPERIENCE
Cardiff Wine Passport 2022


The Cardiff Wine Passport is the brainchild of PR professional Jane Cook – who you might know from her blog HungryCityHippy – and is a wine trail that takes you around some of the Welsh capital’s best independent wine bars. You simply buy the passport online, pick it up at any of the 11 venues and exchange a stamp in your wine passport for a flight of specially chosen wines. It hopes to help the city centre hospitality scene boost its Sunday to Thursday takings, which have still not fully recovered post pandemic. The line-up of bars is exceptional and some of my absolute favourites, from Spanish-inspired Bar 44 and Curado, to Italian small plates hotspot Bacareto and Cardiff favourites Little Man Coffee and Gin & Juice.
THE ARTICLE
Around Cardiff in 50 snacks by Josh Ong
Okay, my recommendations might be getting a bit Cardiff heavy, but I read this the other day from Josh Ong and thought it was a brilliant idea – and a fantastic read. I had the great fortune of being Josh’s tutor when he studied for his MA in Magazine Journalism at Cardiff Uni and I’m so pleased he started writing his newsletter – bitten – all about food in South Wales and the West. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
THE VIDEO
Only You by Côr Y Boro | Borough Welsh Choir
A few weeks ago, Côr Y Boro (of which I am part) co-hosted its first post-covid concert along with male voice choir Eschoir at the Borough Welsh Congregational Chapel. It was incredible to be back performing for an audience and in customary fashion, there was a mix of singing, poetry and music, plus a raffle, plenty of food and drink, and a jolly good sing-song at the pub afterwards. This is Côr Y Boro’s version of Only You.