Not A Trace Awards 2016

Regular readers will know that each year I have my own little awards ‘ceremony’ where I acknowledge the best products / companies in various categories.

The awards for 2016 are obviously a little late(!) and as my blog posts were few and far between last year, due to a certain little person taking all my attention, the 2016 awards are more a summary of my blog reviews from last year.

Despite my inability to blog of late, it’s great to have had over 58,000 blog views since Not A Trace began. I am also very proud to see the constant stream of views every day even if I haven’t blogged for a while. Thank you to you all!

So, on to the awards / 2016 round-up….

Salt & Malt, Chew Valley Lake

I first ventured out to Chew Valley Lake last year and experienced the fish and chips at Salt & Malt, an amazing restaurant overlooking the lake. I enjoyed it so much that I didn’t have time for photos, so promised myself that the next time I went I would write a review….

Before I get on to that, if you haven’t heard of Salt & Malt where have you been? Not only do they have a restaurant, but they also have a takeaway so you can have the same great food whilst enjoying a walk around the stunning lake.

However, the best thing about Salt & Malt is that a large number of their items are gluten free as standard! 🙂

Georges Fish Bar, Hanham

Social media really is a wonderful thing…. You’ll be aware that I set up the Coeliacs in Bristol Facebook group with the intention of forming an official Coeliac UK group (more on that to follow….), but it’s also used as a forum for sharing new finds and asking for advice.

One of the suggestions posted by the lovely Sonia was regarding Georges Fish Bar in Hanham and that they are now serving gluten free fish and chips. Having moved to Hanham earlier this year, this was amazing news, so I contacted them for some more information.

At present they only offer gluten free fish and chips on the first Monday of every month between the hours of 17:00 – 20:30, but hopefully with a bit more advertising and interest I’m hoping they may increase this….

Vinegar Jones Fish & Chips, Bowness-on-Windermere

My first blog post back has to be about one of the best examples of gluten free food that we’ve had over recent months.

A few months ago we visited the Lake District for our final break before the baby arrived. We’d visited Windermere a few years ago but that was in my pre-coeliac days, so I did some research into hotels and eateries before we booked our trip, just to make sure I would be ok.

We arrived quite late in the day on our first night due to a very long drive up from Bristol. As a result, I liked the idea of going for a walk rather than sitting down to a meal, so we decided to get fish and chips.

Not A Trace Awards 2015

Better late than never, welcome to my summary of the products and brands that caught my eye last year.

Unfortunately my blogging has once again had to take a back seat due to various commitments and the small matter of a wedding, but I’m very grateful to all of my readers that have stayed with me!

In the first year of my awards the blog had passed 9,000 views and last year it had reached 28,000, but I’m delighted that it’s now passed 46,000 views, even with limited blogging, so thank you very much! 🙂

So, let’s kick off the awards…..

Leon Restaurants

One of the perks of my job is my occasional visits to London, as that means a visit to a Leon restaurant!

I hadn’t come across a Leon restaurant before, but it’s rise on social media made me want to give it a go and now I am totally hooked! Its convenient location between the London office and the tube station means it’s the only place I have lunch when I’m there on a day trip.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with Leon, their slogan is ‘naturally fast food’ and it is just that. Think of the immediate turnaround of food in somewhere like McDonalds and it is the same in Leon, but the food is considerably healthier.

Here’s the Leon Vision, taken from their website:

There is something magical about fast food. Both of us, as children, considered a trip to a fast food joint the biggest treat imaginable. John used to lie on his back and wave his arms and legs in the air with excitement before his once-a-term visit to McDonalds. But then we grew up, and realised that most fast food makes you fall asleep and wake up fat. So, we asked ourselves: why can’t fast food be good food?

We opened Leon because we wanted to prove that it was possible to serve food that both tastes good and does you good. We want to make it easy for people to eat well on the high street. We want to do this in every major city in the world.

Not A Trace Awards 2014

Slightly later than last year, here are my Not A Trace Awards 2014. These awards provide me with an opportunity to look back over the last year and remind you of my highlights.

Unfortunately my blogging has taken a bit of a back seat over the past year due to work commitments and this year my time will also be restricted due to house moving and wedding planning, but I hope to blog whenever I can to bring you all the best brands, restaurants etc.

This time last year my blog had passed 9,000 views, and I’m extremely delighted to say that my views have now passed 28,000 which is a massive jump, so thank you all so much for continuing to read my blog! 🙂

So, let’s kick off the awards…..

D Fecci & Sons Fish & Chips, Tenby

Earlier this week I travelled to Pembrokeshire for work and I asked my Facebook and Twitter followers for suggestions of good gluten free places in the area. I normally eat in my hotel when I’m in Pembroke, but after some disappointing meals I thought I’d see what else was on offer.

A couple of places were recommended by my followers and I did some of my own research too, with one place coming up in a number of different searches, D Fecci & Sons, a fish and chip shop in Tenby.

Ideally I didn’t want to have to travel too far to get my tea, so I decided to stop off in Tenby on my way to Pembroke, just so that I didn’t have to go back out again!

I’ve heard a lot about Tenby, but I’d never visited before. It is a very pretty little town with the most stunning coastline and views and a quaint little high street, which is where I headed to try to find the fish and chip shop.

The shop wasn’t particularly difficult to find as Tenby isn’t one of the largest towns, but it certainly seems to have a lot of fish and chip shops!

My Gluten Free Cornish Birthday Celebrations!

As part of my birthday celebrations last month, Rich and I went back to Cornwall to visit my family, and on my actual birthday we spent some time visiting St Michael’s Mount and Marazion.

First up was our trip to St Michael’s Mount.

To most local folk who have been away, you know you’re home when you see St Michael’s Mount on the horizon. It’s certainly been a tearjerker for me when I haven’t been home for a while!

Rich had never visited the Mount himself so I was keen for him to visit and take in the beautiful scenery. For those not familiar with St Michael’s Mount, there are two ways main ways to get there (unless you fancy swimming!) and those are by boat or by foot across the causeway. Obviously there are only certain times when the causeway is accessible due to the tide so I made sure we visited during these times, as I’m not a massive fan of boats myself….

Meluha, Bristol – Thirty Minute Menu Review

Last Friday I was invited along to the launch of Meluha’s new Thirty Minute Menu which is great for lunch, after work and pre-theatre.

At just £10 for two courses, but with all of the food served to Meluha’s extremely high standard, I just had to give it a go!

Unfortunately Rich wasn’t able to come with me due to work so I invited my close friend Mary along with me and this was to be her first experience of Meluha!

On our arrival at Meluha we were greeted by the lovely Rebecca, who I hadn’t seen for at least 8 months, so it was lovely to have a catch up. When we were the given a glass or orange juice, although there was also the option of bubbly if you didn’t have to get back to work, before being seated in the waiting area.

After a few minutes of chatting we were then also treated to a cocktail or in my case a mocktail! As ever Rebecca was on top of the glutenfreeness and went to check that I could drink it. There was an element that I couldn’t have so a fresh one was made just for me. 🙂