Follas’s love of foraging is evident right from the starter: both are delivered in hearty portions on wooden butcher’s blocks garnished with wild leaves and edible flowers. The brill ceviche is fresh and delicate with a whisper of zest, lacking only a grain or two of salt for my taste. A flash-fried and optimally cooked pigeon breast comes with a chunky compote of dark berries and beetroot. It’s delicious.

Mains are equally generous in size and flavour. A whole baked lemon sole appears on a plate of hubcap dimensions, but still looks elegant. It’s a classic recipe, with a lemon caper-butter sauce, and executed to classic standards. Better still are a pair of Barnsley chops, pink and succulent and complemented with a coarse, crunchy pesto. The head waiter suggests local beers from Bath Ales and Weymouth’s Dorset Brewing Company to pair with the food, and his advice is right on the money.

The common thread through each of the savoury dishes is the taste of every ingredient. Follas doesn’t flummox my palate by throwing the larder at every plate. Good produce and well though-out combinations do all the work. I can only imagine that the baked Dorset mackerel with a tomato and tamarind sauce and the spelt nettle risotto were infused with the same ethos. Desserts, in contrast, are competent but unspectacular. Eton mess is tidily presented in a tower nest, and tastes as it should; a well-built lime tart is a bit short on the lime, and therefore tang. But they are my only real reservation about the food. The Wild Garlic serves up cooking of the highest quality in surroundings designed not to intimidate—there’s highchairs for the kids, well-pitched service, and even a pack of Huggies waiting in the baby-change room. Good portions and fair prices ensure that Follas’s small dining room (just 30 covers or so) is often full, and rightly so. I’m planning to head back again next month.

The Wild Garlic
4 The Square, Beaminster, Dorset DT8 3AS
+44 (0) 1308 861446
Lunch £70 for two inc. drinks

8 Italian masterpieces that barely survived

War after war, occupation followed by revolution, bad luck combined with bad judgment — all have contributed to the destruction of Italy’s art treasures. A fire in the Sala del Scrutinio and the Sala del Maggior Consiglio in Venice’s Doge’s Palace destroyed several Titians as well as work by Bellini, Gentile da Fabriano, and Pisanello. A half-crazed Botticelli tossed several of his own “decadent” works onto the Bonfire of the Vanities in 1497.

Italian art has, unfortunately, not been immune from the turbulent influence of the peninsula. But the history of Italian art and architecture isn’t short of happy endings, either. Many works we admire today have dodged a bullet or two during the journey to the 21st century.

It’s not every resort that can keep a variety-hungry skier or boarder happy for a whole week. Pick your spot right, however, and you can ride a different hill every day. The Valle d’Aosta (or Aosta Valley), in Italy‘s far northwest, is perfectly laid out for a multi-center European ski safari. The A5 autostrada that bisects it was recently lengthened to span the valley from France to the border with Piedmont. World-class ski centers are arranged among the high peaks north and south of the highway, and wherever you are, you’re rarely more than 90 minutes from everywhere else.

As I step out of the car, a bitter spring wind howls straight from Norway, over the flyover on the A1261 and up my sweater. Small sacrifices. I’m hunting the freshest fish in London, at Billingsgate Market, which has already closed by the time any advanced civilization is eating breakfast.

Read the rest at Perceptive Travel

Smarter search

Searching the web means typing in words and expecting Google, Bing or Yahoo! to deliver the answer. It’s the way we’ve got used to working, but it’s not how real human beings sift information. We want to know what’s nearby, what our friends like. Improvements in local search, social search and visual search will do just that.

An Android-iPhone Shootout

Apple won’t have it all its own way this year. We’ll hear a lot more from Google’s Android mobile operating system, which is available free for phone hardware manufacturers to install. Several new handsets from Sony Ericsson, Motorola, HTC, Samsung and Google itself (the Nexus One) are Android-powered.

Read it all at Telegraph.co.uk


Then read my guide to the best iPhone and Android apps, eReaders, Augmented Reality, travel inspiration websites, and freebies for travellers (also at Telegraph.co.uk).

Wondering: in the medium term, which is worth more to a tourism business: 1. Nice mention in a guidebook. 2. Nice mention in a paper. Ideas? [@hackneye]

I  didn’t really have a motive for asking this, other than genuine, theoretical curiosity. It strikes me that many PR companies put a lot of effort into courting periodical, weekly and daily media, and a whole lot less time on guidebook writers. Maybe PRs know something that isn’t immediately apparent to me. I write this, partly, as an ill-informed outsider (though both a guidebook writer and journalist). For all kinds of reasons, I don’t take press trips, and only very rarely accept freebies of any kind. I find good PRs vital when I’m researching an article. But, on the whole, I’m more of a ‘pull’ user of PR than a ‘push’, and am certainly less knowledgeable about the PR business than most travel writers… and thus my general impression could be totally incorrect. I asked my question, in part, to alleviate this ignorance.

Alas, one of Twitter’s (also many) weaknesses is the transitory nature of the value it generates. Stuff just gets lost (though I use my tumblr to try and store mine, with mixed success). So, I collated some of the interesting answers I received below (some slightly edited for context). I’d suggest, as an aside, that the kind of people who take the time to answer questions like mine are the kind of people you should follow on Twitter. But that’s just my opinion, again.

Assuming equal reach, seems like the guidebook would have more shelf life, thus would more valuable – even in the medium term. @iKangaroo (also an excellent travel podcaster)

Depends on the quality of the guide or newspaper. Guides bring in more punters for longer. @MichelleChaplow

Depends on book / paper and business – different readerships. I would say, mid-range hotel or hostel = guidebook; 5 star = paper. Would also say resorts reliant on package tourism are better in a paper. Most attractions, tours, restaurants probably better in a guidebook. And another point (the one we don’t like to talk about): If it’s in the book, it’s far more likely to be picked up & used in a paper.  @mrdavidwhitley (also an excellent travel blogger)

This is a guess – guidebook. People keep it and use it again and again. Paper may cause a spike but it’ll pass. @lemondrizzle

Newspaper, assuming it also publishes online. Search engine possibilities plus (with most) higher potential readership. Paper with, say, 100k readers, c.3k likely to read travel review. Most guidebooks don’t sell that, and few are read cover to cover. @Nosemonkey (also an excellent EU politics blogger)

That would depend on the demographic of the paper and the circulation of the guidebook for starters… but the paper possibly attracts a new customer base. @lsdscuba

I would think papers make you more findable (online) during planning – but guidebooks make you more visible once there. @evaapp

I think one interesting aspect about a guidebook is that you probably have it to hand at precisely the moment when you’re booking. Or, better still, at the precise moment you’re hungry. (Eating is more spur-of-the moment than a hotel reservation, usually.) Of course, that doesn’t really work for ‘destination’ hotels and eateries. Luxury probably works better in the colour supplement of your weekend paper. Even if that paper is flying through the ether to your iPad.

If I get any more replies via Twitter, I’ll keep the post updated. Do feel free to add comments below.

Some more that came via Twitter:

Add that many newspaper journos doing round-up pieces source material from the guidebooks, and guides live on in libraries. @melissashales

Depends what type of tourism business you are I’d say: on location attraction = guidebook; flights/hotels = newspaper @keeling

New ways to save money with your phone appear almost weekly. If you’re not confident on the web, invest in a Multi IMSI travel SIM card. This new generation of SIM slots into any unlocked mobile and can come with two numbers (one UK, one US). Callers can dial either number to reach you, wherever you are in the world.

Read about Multi IMSI and VoIP technologies for your travels at Telegraph.co.uk

Do you want a 10 per cent discount on your next weekend away, no strings attached? With planning and basic web-savvy, that’s how much you could save if you currently buy your spending money in high street or airport bureaux de change. Even habitual credit and debit-card travellers could secure savings of about five per cent.

Read about prepaid currency cards and the best places to buy travel money online at Telegraph.co.uk

For travellers who are comfortable booking on the internet, cashback websites can unlock a new tier of savings. With very little effort, you could pocket six per cent off an Istanbul city tour with Isango!, or hundreds of other deals – on top of any discounts or offers available booking direct with these operators.

Read about cashback websites, and the savings you can bag booking travel with them, at Telegraph.co.uk

Which is a shame. Under-rated Turin is northern Italy’s culinary capital, a Wonka-esque paradise for chocolate lovers, home of Europe’s longest-lasting royal house, Catholic Christianity’s holiest relic, and the best collection of Egyptian artefacts outside Cairo.

So, my advice for this winter’s skiers is to book the last flight home (Ryanair’s late Stansted departure is 8.30pm), deposit your bags at the airport early and make the 19-minute train ride into town your first departure of the day.

Read the rest at Timesonline

In the spirit of open data, crunch her numbers however you wish. They are after the fold / below the photo.

Adventureland
La Cabane des Robinson: 9/10

Le Passage Enchante d’Aladdin: 5/10

Frontierland

Big Thunder Mountain: 3/10 [Yes, I know, I really shouldn't have "persuaded" her to ride this with me...]

Legends of the Wild West: 8/10

Rustler Roundup Gallery: 5/10

Main Street U.S.A.

Shopping, shopping, and more shopping: 7/10

Mickey’s Magical Party (show): 10/10

Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade: 20/10

Castle Lighting show with Mickey and Friends: 10/10

Fantasyland

Sleeping Beauty Castle: 9/10

La Carrousel de Lancelot: 2/10

Peter Pan’s Flight: 3/10

Dumbo the Flying Elephant: 10/10

Alice’s Curious Labyrinth: 10/10

Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups: 8/10

“It’s a small world”: 10/10

Discoveryland

Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast: 10/10

Orbitron: 9/10

Videopolis: 7/10

Autopia: 10/10

Disney Studios

Playhouse Disney Live on Stage!: 10/10

Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic: 4/10

Flying Carpets Over Agrabah: 10/10

I must also give a shout out to the kind folk at Frommer’s who gave me their Paris & Disneyland Resort Paris With Your Family to test-drive for the weekend. Remembering (in the spirit of disclosure) that I also write for them, I’d give the book’s Disneyland chapter 8 or 9 out of 10 myself. Crisp descriptions helped me immensely in choosing rides age-appropriate for my little companions. (I take full responsibility for the distinctly ill received decision to ride Big Thunder Mountain, okay.) We’d have achieved much less without the book’s explanation of the FastPass system. Perhaps the only thing missing was a bit of help finding our way to the shortest queues. But then, in the run-up to Christmas, maybe there just aren’t any after the park opens to the public at 10 a.m.

If you have any Disney feedback, or scores of your own to share, please do leave a comment. I’ll see it gets back to the appropriate six-year-old.

Once again, we’re hoping that a combination of photo-driven menus, original content, and a keen price (£1.79/$2.99) will be a winner. We certainly think the app is pitched just right for anyone spending a weekend in the capital of Piedmont. Turin is a great (and much under-rated) city, and I hope my love for the place comes across in the app.

If you want to buy Instant Turin, this link opens iTunes and takes you straight to it. If you would like to review the app for your website or publication, then drop me a line and I’ll arrange a review copy for you.

If you’ve used the app and have any comments, then please leave them below. We’re always trying to make better stuff, and feedback really helps.