Hiking, Biking, Boating, Touring, Climbing, Riding, Flying, Running,
and Exploring in HOME AT FIRST's destinations.

ADVENTURE OF THE MONTH—JUNE, 2003

Here's a helpful resource for Home at First
travelers on the road in Britain & Ireland—

First Stop—ENGLAND

        It’s a clichι in the US to stop at places where truckers congregate to find the best road food. In pre-war France, Les Routiers was founded on the same principal as a network of hotels and restaurants offering French truckers home cooking and comfortable accommodation. Over the years the network has expanded to include other parts of the Continent and the British Isles.

        Restaurant recommendations for the British Isles from a group with a name like Les Routiers may be off-putting on several levels. Politically, at the moment, many Americans have, as we say, "a problem" with the French. What do the French know about British and Irish restaurants that the British and Irish themselves don’t know? First of all, the French know road food. Before they became Freedom Foods, they were French fries and French toast, and already staples of the US road food menu. In Britain and Ireland, Les Routiers has sniffed out the best of the local cuisine without being snooty. Their reviews are neither vicious nor Vichy. In fact, they are imaginative, clever, homey, personal, and sensible—the right set of adjectives also to apply to any cuisine that travels well.

        We’ve become so taken with the consistent quality and surprising individuality of the establishments that feature the red, white, and blue Les Routiers shield that we now look for it when we are on the road in Britain and Ireland. Here then, from each Home at First destination throughout the UK and Ireland, is a briefly described Les Routiers recommended restaurant. Click the link to see the complete info at the very good web site: LES ROUTIERS

ENGLAND
Selected Les Routiers
Restaurant Recommendations
in Six Home at First Locations:

1. DEVONSHIRE: Dartmoor Inn, Lydford.
        "On the edge of Dartmoor’s spectacular moorland landscape and just a short drive from Lydford Gorge, stands this unprepossessing 16th-century roadside-coaching inn…committed to creating sophisticated menus using first-class ingredients sourced from the very best suppliers in Devon and Cornwall. Light bites in the bar may include Quickes farmhouse cheddar with pickles and rustic bread, fishcakes and mash, and sausages with lentils, tomatoes and onions. The wine list is short, sharp and keenly priced. There's a lovely walled patio garden for summer dining."            HOME AT FIRST photo

       Dine at the Dartmoor Inn during your Home at First visit to Devon—it’s just a few miles north of Home at First's DEVONSHIRE cottages.

2. COTSWOLDS: Tetbury Gallery and Tea Room
        "Those in the know beat an immediate path to Jane Maile’s door – this is one of the best tearooms in the Cotswolds. She bakes all her cakes (carrot cake, orange cake, chocolate and coffee are popular choices), and scones are something of a specialty; hot cheese scone with cheddar and Devon chutney is a must try. In warm weather a small walled courtyard comes into its own."

HOME AT FIRST photo

        Have tea at the Tetbury Gallery and Tea Room as part of your Home at First visit to the COTSWOLDS. We have cottages in and around charming Tetbury, just a couple of minutes from the Tetbury Gallery and Tea Room.

3. LONDON: The Bridge House Bar & Dining Room
        "Converted former grain store beside Tower Bridge. Come for an exceptional pint of Suffolk ale and the amazing Thames and City views, but also expect to be surprised by the level of stylish refurbishment and the quality of food on offer. Expect starters along the lines of chicken liver and brandy parfait with roasted onion jam or wild mushroom risotto with winter herbs, cream and Parmesan, then for a hearty winter meal, lamb with parsley mash, butter bean, barley and vegetable broth, rib-eye steak with fat chips and bιarnaise, Broadside beer battered haddock and chips, or roast duck with lentil and basil mash and red wine gravy. Sweet ginger pudding and warm chocolate cake grace the pudding menu."                                         HOME AT FIRST photo

        Walk south across the Tower Bridge from Home at First’s London apartments at St. Katharine’s Marina. The Bridge House Bar & Dining Room is just 10 minutes away. Learn more about Home at First’s LONDON travel package.

4. SHROPSHIRE/CHESHIRE: The Dusty Miller, Wrenbury
        "This handsomely converted 19th-century watermill is lovely, beside the Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal and next to a striking counter-weighted drawbridge. The River Weaver also flows through the pub garden and picnic tables among rose bushes on a raised gravel terrace are popular with locals and narrowboat owners enjoying pints of Robinsons Ales and summer hog roasts. Good bar food is built around quality local ingredients and ranges from starters of Clewlows black pudding with smoked bacon and tomato relish, deep-fried organic buffalo cheese from (nearby) Nantwich with cranberry sauce, and cold roast ham with mixed salad and hot potatoes, to char grilled Lakeland lamb steak marinated in coconut and lime with red onion and mint salsa, and Cheshire beef braised in Old Tom ale with smoked bacon and mushrooms. A chalkboard lists fresh fish from Fleetwood, perhaps smoked haddock with prawns baked in mustard and cider sauce. The sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce or the unusual raspberry Pavlova ice cream (made at Drumlan Hall Farm, Tattenhall) served with lemon cream sauce and shortbread, come highly recommended."

      The Dusty Miller is in Wrenbury, just a couple of miles from Home at First’s lodgings in a former Cistercian abbey on the Shropshire/Cheshire border. Read all about travel to this beautiful part of rural WESTERN ENGLAND.

5. LAKE DISTRICT: Queen’s Head Hotel, Hawkshead
        "At the heart of a traffic-free village made famous as the home of Beatrix Potter, is a lovely 16th-century inn-cum-hotel. The black-and-white painted frontage hides an interior full of period character…offering traditional beamed bars with open fires, fresh flowers, and ales dispensed by bow-tied barmen. The inn may be traditional in its look, but the food on offer ranges far and wide. The salad bar brings Cumbrian roast beef with watercress, chili, radish and soy sauce, or the separate Herdwick lamb menu could include Herdwick sausage set on a savory cabbage with a rich red wine sauce, or tray-baked rack of lamb with aborigines, tomatoes and mint oil. Otherwise, a meal could open with hot broad bean and crispy pancetta crostini with a radicchio and mint dressing, and go on to marinated pork fillet roasted on rhubarb and served on a potato and sage rφsti. There’s a good vegetarian menu. Look out for the famous Cirt Clog (20 inches in length) displayed in the bar, it was made in 1820 for a local man who contracted elephantiasis."                                                                                HOME AT FIRST photo

       The Queen’s Head Hotel is one of many clustered half-timbered cottage-style villages that make up the pleasant jumble of pedestrians-only Hawkshead. Home at First’s Lake District lodgings are just a couple of minutes down the road in the heart of Beatrix Potter country. Get all the details about travel to this beautiful, traditional, and literary part England at: THE LAKE DISTRICT.

6. YORKSHIRE: Courtyard Restaurant, Harrogate
        "The menu remains laced with contemporary ideas and materials. Innovative treatment might team smoked trout with chorizo, asparagus and potato salad, while meat options have taken in fillet of beef with bubble and squeak, port jus and Yorkshire Blue beignet, and red wine-braised lamb, with pea and mint risotto and herb salad. Puddings range from a caramelized lemon tart with lime water ice to white chocolate and Bailey’s cheesecake. Set slightly below the pavement, this was a former stable and mews that has been turned into a small shopping arcade. Large picture windows are hung with natural wood blinds, the color scheme is built around natural, neutral shades of stone, beige, cream. Tables are simply laid, with white cloths. Future plans are to develop the eating area outside, under a canopy."                            HOME AT FIRST photo

      Home at First’s Harrogate apartments are within walking distance of the Courtyard Restaurant. Our cottages in and near the beautiful Dales are just minutes from Harrogate, the principal small city of the region. Harrogate itself is within 45 minutes drive of the fabulous city of York. There’s much more to do here than "bubble and squeak", see: YORKSHIRE.

Watch for more excellent eating along British and Irish waysides
in unusual establishments marked with the Les Routiers shield.
2nd Stop—SCOTLAND   3rd Stop—IRELAND    More to Come!
Les Routiers is an Anglo-French organization devoted to providing
recommendations of independent restaurants, food & wine sources,
lodging, and attractions throughout Britain and Ireland.
Les Routiers is in no way affiliated with Home At First.

HOME AT FIRST offers travel to six regions of England, four regions of Ireland, 
five regions of Scotland, and two regions of Wales. You can have your own
cottage or apartment in the British Isles location of your dreams.
Minimum rental is one week, and you can mix and match
with other HOME AT FIRST destinations:
SCOTLAND    ENGLAND    IRELAND  and  WALES

— YOUR DREAM TRIP BEGINS BY CONTACTING HOME AT FIRST —