The curious case of The Squid at The Hoste and other tales

It really is very difficult to keep up to date with the comings and goings on the local food/drink front.  As soon as it seems safe to suggest somewhere, the wheels drop off. Or on the other hand having firmly fixed somewhere as a no-go area it emerges that all is well, and that it is serving the most fantastic food again.

However, there are some you can depend on and last week a return to two old favourites, The Hunny Bell and then The Hoste.  A visit from one of our favourite print makers MAX ANGUS, prompted a trip to Hunworth and it didn't disappoint. The beer is good, the staff friendly and the food as good as ever. Even better, there was live jazz in the shape of the very excellent Three in a Bar, of whom more will be heard later. 

The following evening found us slightly further afield - in Wimbledon. At home, actually. But not, if you see what I mean, as we were in The Fire Stables celebrating a friend's 25 years of continual working with one company.  This kind of thing must be getting increasingly rare in these days of constant change and mobility. Unsurprisingly, we have eaten and drunk there on previous occasions and again it came up to expectations. Always horrified by noise levels in London restaurants - it must be age - but was particularly impressed with the chap serving us who could be seen clearly checking his order against the number at the table (a lot) to make sure everyone was catered for, before heading for the pass.  Obvious - but often not done.  Food was very good and happily recommended - but maybe best left until after the end of the tennis.

Back in Norfolk a slightly alcoholic evening lead us from a small number of bottles in the gallery to a second visit to Burnham's recently re-opened second hostelry, The Nelson.  It's still early days and there have been reports of good lunch-time food, but this time we erred on the side of caution and went up west.  Delighted to find a table free in the bar at The Hoste, all the old favourites came up trumps... however an excursion by one of our number into squid territory proved interesting.  Not quite sure how it is described on the menu  - but apparently it was not what had been expected!  It looked absolutely fascinating and beautifully presented as ever, but call me cautious, I will be sticking with the Shredded Duck or my very good friend - the ever faithful Whittome Burger!

All that Jazz

One of the very few disappointments about being here in the Burnhams, has been that I arrived just too late for The Balcony.  By the end of 2007, the focus for Jazz here had moved to The Hoste.  Not knowing much about what had gone before, I couldn't believe my luck that, under the direction of Reg, each summer was punctuated by cool concerts in the Moroccan Garden featuring musicians like Ian Shaw and Sarah Jane Morris.  However - people kept talking about The Balcony.

Finally, last Saturday, jazz returned to The Balcony and this time I was there.  Two fabulous musicians - KIT DOWNES and LEWIS WRIGHT. The two of them have been playing together, Kit on piano and Lewis on vibes, for over 10 years having met as members of the Norwich Students Jazz Orchestra.  Since then they have moved onwards and upwards developing their musical relationship playing in Clark (son of the great Stan) Tracey's Sextet and other groups.  The current duo project is their latest collaboration with new music written by both Lewis and Kit - and on the basis of Saturday's showing this looks likely to run. What great music!  The understanding and synchronicity (is that a real word?) seemed seamless. Improvised or scripted? Difficult to tell - but just great. And on the doorstep, too.

If you want to get a flavour of Kit's jazz piano their are two albums readily available from Amazon and the like - 'Golden' from 2009 and 'Quiet Tiger' released earlier this year.