Fine Food, Fine Wine, Fine Hotel.

I achieved the landmark that is my 52nd birthday on Halloween and by way of celebration decided to stay overnight at The Palace Hotel in Sliema, Malta.


The staff were wonderful and the room and views were great and I would highly recommend it. The main reason for going was to try the TemptAsian restaurant and lounge bar situated on the 9th floor of the hotel, with fantastic Panoramic views of the Grand Harbour, all the tables offer a great view.
The restaurant offers food from China, India Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Thailand. We decided to opt for one of the set menus, this offered a selection of starters a selection of main courses and desert for the price of just €35.00 a head, given the high standard of food this offers outstanding value for money, and no we could not finish this veritable feast and believe me when I say I can put away some food.

Now the wine I decided to drink with this meal was a favorite of mine since moving to the Islands to live, Marsovin's Marnisi 2006, not an obvious choice to complement spicy food but it worked well, a more obvious choice might have been the Cassar De Malte, (methode traditionelle) that I was pleased to see on the wine list. I often feel that a good sparkling wine complements spicy food well.

The waiter that served us did not profess to be an expert on matching food and wine and when asked by me, explained what he liked to drink with the food that was being offered and I thought that this is a great way for restaurant staff to advise customers without being at all pretentious.

We had a superb meal and superb evening, a big thank you to all the staff.

"It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm." Sam Levinson.

Setting up a Business in Malta.

One reason for not having posted here for weeks is I have been going through the process of setting up a business here in Malta, I am sure it is no harder here than any where else in the world. If I had set up my business in the UK I would probably have gone pamphlet happy, the UK system have all information available for the purpose of setting up a business either in pamphlet / brochure form or it's available on the Internet, so professional advise would not normally be required, certainly not for a small one man band such as a self employed Fire Safety Consultant.

Here in Malta it is no more complicated, it is just that some of information is available and some not, so after spending many hours trying to find the information out myself, and failing, I employed the help of a Lawyer and an Accountant, after a one hour consultation all the forms were filled in and and in the post. So in one hour I have VAT, personal tax, work permit and company registration all sorted out. Sometimes it's worth paying for advise, and I feel it was money well spent.

I have also been doing a bit of networking, finding new friends and contacts of potential clients, with lots of positive noises being made, lets see if they turn in to firm, money paying leads.
I can not start until all the paperwork has been processed, so next on the cards are stationary, and website. As of November 1st I should be up and running.

"Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you're not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were". David Rockefeller.

Storms arrive in Malta & Gozo.

I spoke to a neighbour yesterday about the important things going on in the village of Munxar, things like how busy the village has been with tourists this year when the rest of the island is complaining that fewer tourist have been arriving here since the world recession. The conversation then drifted on to the weather, (it's not just the British that talk about the weather you know) and she asked me if I had heard about the storms arriving tomorrow night? no says I.

Sure enough 12 hours later force 8 gales hit our shores here, the aftermath consisted of damaged cars, fallen trees, collapsed walls, boats breaking away from the moorings and crashing on the rocks.


Fortunately for us here in the farmhouse we suffered no more inconvenience than a puddle of water on the bedroom floor, a result of the horizontal rain finding it's way past the window, and a few broken plants in the garden. And now today is a beautiful warm day again. That reminds me I must fish those leaves out of the pool.

"Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation." Kin Hubbard

Delicata Classic Wine festival 09

I attended the wine festival in Nadur Gozo on Sunday for the first time. I purchased my glass for €10.00 picked up the festival program that told you where to find the 24 wines that Delicata were showing. Also a string of side shows were to be found, music from a variety of local artists and a wide and varied selection of food from Chinese to local rabbit.
It is not a serious wine tasting more a festival with the main theme being wine although you are at liberty to enjoy a serious wine tasting session if you should wish to.

The best wine for me was the Gran Cavalier Syrah, almost inky black in colour, with soft red fruits on the nose, medium to long spicy, vanilla finish.

I still think that an enjoyable drink from Delicata and personal summer favorite of mine, is the Rose Frizzante Gellewza (pronounced jellowza) a Maltese variety of grape. A vivid pink colour with a pleasant stream of bubbles, strawberries without being completely dry this wine is light, simple and well made and does not pretend to be anything different. A great BBQ wine for the hot summer evenings.

So what would I do if I was running this event? I would add a formal tasting (for an additional fee of course) comparing the different vintages of some of Delicata's high end wines for the wine geeks like myself.

Looking forward to the 2010 wine festival.

Strive for excellence, not perfection. H. Jackson Brown

Gozo's New Premier Restuarant.

At the end of last year a great restaurant here in Gozo closed it's doors for the last time, It-Tmun Xlendi was to be no more. A restaurant that Gill and I had frequented on many occasions over the years, and one of our favorites. This small restaurant in Xlendi Bay run by the Buttigieg family, with great food, wonderful atmosphere, and service combined, for an experience found rarely in one's lifetime. We were sad.

And then a few months later the rumours started circulating, (the rumour mill here in Gozo is just incredible.) that It-Tmun Xlendi was to be reborn in a new location and was to be called Tmun Mgarr. Last night (Wednesday) 8 months later we attended the opening party night with Friday to be the first night trading as a restaurant.

First let me set the scene, Tmun Mgarr is located in the main harbour area, a large building set back from the road facing the moored boats, we parked the car, the air was fresh with the scent of the sea, the sun was setting in a cloudless sky and the heat of the day was dissipating, it was humid with just a slight breeze. The event started at 8.00pm, the time was now 8.30pm and we thought, we will be first to arrive. We were wrong, as we turned the corner to see the new restored restaurant in front of us in all it's glory, with a terrace out front there must have been 50 people their all ready, a further hour would see numbers reach, well I would guess 150, and we thought it was our little secret.

As we arrived Leli offered us his usual warm welcome and we were offered a glass of Prosecco, we could also have had a glass of red or white wine if we had preferred. I took my glass of Prosecco and went inside to check out the design and decor, I was confronted with a state of the art modern kitchen in full view of the main restaurant, this would enable diners to see the food being prepared. The ceilings have a 3d abstract image of the night sky complete with twinkling stars, on the right as you walk through the door a gentle flow of water falls from the top of the wall, down a pebble feature to be collected at the foot and again recycled. And then the state of the art, temperature controlled wine cellar offering a full view of the wine inventory for the customer to peruse at there leisure.

The spread of finger food available was the same standard we have come to expect from this well run establishment. The evening from where I was standing appeared to be a great success and if the turn out this evening was anything to go by Tmun Mgarr is sure to be a success. The first day of business is this Friday. I look forward to trying the new menu and studying the new wine list in the very near future.

I'm quite a chauvinistic person. Gordon Ramsey.

Bambinelli Are In Season.

We get to try all sorts of wonderful delights here in Gozo, they do like there food here on the Maltese Islands which is a godsend to Gill and I.
So we went shopping for meat and veg on Saturday morning as we normally do, I go and pick up the meat while Gill is next door getting the veg, team work you know.

She often comments on the strange fruit and veg that are available in the shops at various times of the year, stuff that we have never come across before, even in cosmopolitan London. What are these strange looking things asks Gill and before the shop owner can comment a customer standing behind her starts a long and detailed dialog about the short time that Bambinelli are available and what a wonderful delicacy they are and how the locals all look forward to them every year. We had better try some then.

So what are or is Bambinelli, they are very small pears about the size of a walnut, when you bite into them you kind of expect them to be as hard as bullets but no, a crunch, and then sweetness not too sweet just nice, the flavour lingers, very satisfying.
So that is Bambinelli.

Food is an important part of a balanced diet. Fran Lebowitz.

The Art of Procrastination.

When we left the UK (over a year ago now) to come and live here in Gozo, my plan was to take some time out, change our house here from a holiday home into a house for living in full time and generally get involved in a bit of self indulgence.
It is amazing how not having to go to work in the morning changes the way you organise your day, for example I could get out of bed any time of the day I wanted, so I am normally up between 6.00am and 6.30am every morning. Having plenty of time on your hands to get things done does not actually get them done any quicker, in fact, as there is no pressure it takes longer than it would if you had a full time job. Instead I would maybe, go to the gym or go for a swim or go to the bar for a spot of lunch and a chat.


When I retired from the London Fire Brigade I brought with me an array of skills accumulated over my 30 years service, here to Malta and Gozo. It has always been my aim to try to utilise these skills on the islands. I talked about it a lot, and then procrastinated a bit, I even had business cards printed, and procrastinated a bit more, I even put the word out on the street, (the grape vine is wonderful here) and then a bit more procrastination. The one thing I did not do was get up off my fat arse and do something about putting myself out there. Well I have done it, I contacted Malta Enterprise and asked them what I have to do, and if they know whom might be interested in my skills, they sent me a list of businesses and told me what I need to do to comply with local business law here.

Now I should point out that I am not looking for a job as such, I am setting myself up as an independent, self employed Fire Safety Consultant. I have contacted all of the businesses on the list, written them a letter and attached my CV. All have read my letter and CV and every single one has requested an interview with me. So many trips to Malta coming up.

Watch this space for updates.

'Procrastination is the theif of time' Edward Young.