Rickie writes….

As well as being the Community Manager for Yelp Birmingham, I also write reviews on places I visit in the city. It’s the go to place for what’s going on in Brummie land! Find all my reviews here

By guest blogger For special celebratory events – birthdays, graduations, weddings, anniversaries, etc. – it’s nice to have special decorations and features. Of course, not each and every birthday or graduation needs to be extravagant or particularly unique, but for major milestones it can certainly be nice to take steps to set an event apart [...]

You know I’m a big fan of Afternoon Tea and I’ve already tried out Mint Hotel (now Hilton), Hotel Du Vin and Hyatt Regency (twice for good measure). So I’m delighted to get an alert from new kid (although a mighty big kid) on the indie block, Hotel La Tour. It’s interesting that Hotel La [...]

As regular readers will know, I’m no stranger to baking having been attached to a wooden spoon before I could barely walk. However, it’s been many years though since I last worked out how many grammes to the ounce and whether I should really weight things or just rely on texture and taste (prefer the [...]

Michelin star food vs. good food On my actual birthday, I had the lovely treat of eating in the Tower Restaurant, whilst staying in the Tower Hotel, Lincoln. I’ve already reported the meal was amazing, one of the best I’ve had. So when it comes to going to Purnells, with all its Michelin star glory, [...]

I’ve been around the world, well around most of America and Canada, some of England and Scotland and all of northern Italy to be precise, always searching for the perfect coffee shop. Everyone knows that in Birmingham, my regular ‘home from home’ is Urban Coffee Company but if I can combine the ‘best bits’ from [...]

Why I (Still) Celebrate my Birthday After about the age of nineteen, for many, birthdays are greeted with much derision but me? I like to celebrate another year full of laughter, fun and of course new experiences. I think of a birthday as a celebration of being on this planet rather than having one year [...]

September 20th 2010 My fondness for Urban Coffee Co is very well documented. Nevertheless, particularly when I’m having a full on writing day (that is a short day with two breaks) the day is generally more productive with a change of scene so 2-3 coffee shops is ideal. In Glasgow and Edinburgh where until now [...]

It’s a short week but after being out of town with one thing another and it’s good to be back. Thursday is the inaugural meeting of what I style as the Fine Dining Club. That’s me and whoever wants to visit one of Birmingham’s more exceptional restaurants every 6-8 weeks. I chose Opus first as [...]

Sunday I miss breakfast at the hotel. I don’t like eating early, before 9am but it’s there for the taking. I just don’t know where the time goes. I’m looking forward to Sunday afternoon tea today at Cup, scene of gorgeous lunch last time but I’m not hungry enough. I delay until Monday, when it’s [...]