Harvest At Jimmy’s Festival, Suffolk

I’m back from a whirlwind weekend at Harvest at Jimmy’s Farm in Suffolk. The access all areas pass and role of looking after all press for the weekend certainly gave me a different viewpoint of the festival happenings and an excuse to…

1.Grab Antony Worrall Thomson as he came off the Chef’s Stage and ask him to taste Andy Bates AKA Pie Man’s rhubarb and custard pie – he obliged most charmingly.

2. Take photographers into the pit right at the front of the Village Garden stage and get a chance to see the acts so close I was practically up there with them. Highlight: the amazing Fat Freddy’s Drop in glorious melodic action right in-front of my face.

3.Run around after the delightful Jimmy Doherty asking him to talk to various people and take numerous press snaps – despite having 20,000 people pile onto his farm over the weekend, not once did he stop smiling.

4. Get the front row action of Jimmy’s sausage eating contest – the winner was a svelte-looking teenage Suffolk boy who pretty much ate his own body weight in sausages.

5. See the lovely Street Kitchen collect the award for best main dish - well done guys!

6. Watch Dobie from Fat Freddy's Drop prepare his dinner party favourite wonton with prawn and abelone, (a New Zealand shellfish), at the Chef's Unplugged stage.

7.Meet the guinea pigs with the best home in the UK.

See you next year: harvestatjimmys.com

Carnivore Club at The Blues Kitchen

Blues Kitchen, What’s The Deal: When I arrived at the Blues Kitchen early on Tuesday evening, I was surprised how busy it was. There was a great buzz about the place and a real mix of people. Female Blues singer Bex Marshall was playing live later in the evening, which may have been why it was so busy, however mine was a different agenda ...MEAT.

Blues Kitchen, Toilet Watch: As my ‘date’ was running late, I headed downstairs to get acquainted with the powder room. Thanks to an unruly soap dispenser, I managed to cover my top with a large dollop of liquid hand wash. I then tried to rinse this out which resulted in a large wet patch across my front which I attempted to dry off under the hand-dryer. I gave up and left the loos with a big wet stain.

Blues Kitchen, The Food: Carnivore Club is taking place on a serious of Tuesdays, giving adventurous eaters the chance to try a different rare meat each week. When we visited, kudu (a type of antelope found in Africa), was on the menu.

I started with a delightful (and very generous sized) glass of Chilean Merlot and thought carefully about which side dishes I would choose from the regular Blues Kitchen menus to go with my meat.

My dining pal hungrybecs finally arrived and tucked straight into a Dark & Stormy - a mix of Gosling's Dark Seal Rum, fresh lime juice and ginger beer.

Our kudu arrived on a large butcher’s block, along with our chosen side orders of coleslaw, sweet potato fries and green salad. The kudu itself if I’m honest was not that tasty. It was slightly on the tough side and a lot leaner and less juicer than many red meats. On the plus side however, as kudu is such a lean meat it is much healthier for you and it was accompanied with a very good spicy pepper sauce.

Blues Kitchen, Dessert: To finish, we shared a brownie with vanilla ice cream and Charlie the waiter’s favourite milkshake – vanilla and peanut butter which was AMAZING. I'm a sucker for anything peanut-butter based.

The Blues Kitchen, The Final Word: This joint is rockin’ and serves up decent southern American fare. Check out the website to see their regular menus and live music schedule: www.theblueskitchen.com