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You will find Buskers in most cities, on most days. Chichester is no different. There are some incredibly talented musicians playing to the crowds that drift slowly by.

 

Occasionally stopping to listen. A timeless story. One with many endings. But always a common thread.

And sometimes even despite the rain.

Cassons Restaurant is in a league of its very own when it comes to fine dining in Chichester.

I suspect nouvelle cuisine but I am way out of my depth when it comes to what is and what is not.

But exceptional food in relaxed surroundings by people who care is not difficult to understand once you drop the formalities.

Cassons in Tangmere is a charming country restaurant specialising in exquisite gourmet food and it is one of the best fine dining restaurants in Chichester and West Sussex.

Chef-patronne Viv Casson previously ran a successful restaurant in France, which explains the French influence and the passion for good food.

 

 

The City Grocer has opened in North St.

Specialising in local, plastic free fresh produce and goods from Wayside Organics, the Runcton Farm Shop, Noble & Stace Chocolatiers and SØDT bakery. They also offer a selection of deli foods as well as a milk vending facility.

Not really snow but close enough. I drove up to Midhurst after a heavy frost as the sun rose, to pick up our Christmas ham from Michael Courtney Family Butchers.

A magic time of day with the heater going full blast. Parking no problem, very little traffic besides one idiot in his SUV sitting on my tail through West Dean, Singleton and Cocking.

More in Hampshire than it is in West Sussex. Yet despite the anomaly of being half in and half out, Emsworth is definitely Chichester Harbour. A quaint South Coast village that has retained its charm and home to one of the few independent wine shops in West Sussex.

Vin Wine Merchants offer wine courses, free in-store tastings, corporate and private events as well as vineyard tours in the UK and throughout Europe

They can be found around the corner and are just hard enough to find to be unusual and interesting.

Housed in a listed building dating back to the seventeen hundreds, they stock a range of wines from all over the world along with our tasting room where we hold all our courses and tasting events. With original wooden floors throughout and old fruit crates for the shelving it’s like stepping back in time to the wine merchants of yesteryear, adding to the whole experience.

Looking for an artisan feta some years ago, I splashed out on a some goats cheese at a local market. But quickly lost interest as it had a distinctly unpleasant taste and have avoided the stuff ever since.

Up until I stopped at the Nut Knowle Farm stall at the Chichesters Farmers Market where I was very pleasantly surprised after sampling the different cheeses on offer. I also discovered that rather than being a goats cheese, feta was originally made from sheeps milk.

They range from a soft and mild roll, through to mature, mould encrusted varieties that pack a punch. As well as a full range of herbed and different flavoured cheeses in between.

The Farmers market operates the first and third Friday of the month and is well worth browsing around.

 

If you are looking for a newsagent in Chichester, they are around the corner, down a small lane and they open promptly at five in the morning.

Breakfast on a Saturday morning is incomplete without an early morning paper. Although I am not saying that eight o’clock counts as an early breakfast. It’s the earliest I can find.  But I was stuck without a newspaper.  That was until I found one in St Martins Street. Its a lane that runs off East Road next to M&S past the Hole in the Wall and St Martins Coffee Shop.

The newsagents are on the next corner on the left.

Good News are also billed as Confectioners but I don’t think I saw any evidence of confectionery in the shop besides ice creams. If I did I would buy purely on principle.

No, it is not homemade. Nor was it cooked the way Mum would have done it.

But it is definitely a rice pudding one wants to go back to, for more of.  It can be found it at the Minerva Bar & Grill served chilled, with fresh raspberries as well as a coulis and polenta tuile.

The restaurant is on the first floor above the Brasserie at the Minerva Theatre which opens for pre-show dining. So it calls for an early start and a reservation is advisable.

I ordered the sirloin steak and a side salad chop with dressed tarragon and white Sussex crab as a starter.

The food was unpretentious, the restaurant relaxed and informal and I thoroughly enjoyed one of the best prepared and tastiest meals I have had in the UK