Sausages, spooks and a murder train

It’s been a busy week for food news, with some good news for a local restaurant and butcher, and some spooky events for Halloween.

WELL DONE LUSSMANNS

Scary Giles Coren from The Times Magazine visited Lussmann’s recently and the review was printed on Saturday. Hugely popular locally, we waited nervously to see if one of our favourite independent restaurants would get praised or damned in the national column. The most scathing part of the review was saved for First Capital Connect as Coren started his review with “It’s only a half-hour on the train from Kentish Town on what I’ve always called ‘the murder train’. Ouch.

Happily he went on to rave about Lussmanns, praising the delicious fish, desserts and coffee, as well as their sustainability. He concluded “Lussmanns is, in fact, everything a modern local restaurant should be”. And we really can’t ask for more than that!

AWARD-WINNING SAUSAGES

Master butcher Mick Shelton from Willows won a Gold Award for his free-range ‘Lincoln Legend’ sausages in awards celebrating British Sausage Week (31st October to 6th November).

Farm Shop Manager Sandra Shirran said, “The sausage has become a bit of a local legend here at Willows, so we couldn’t be prouder that it’s been recognised as one of British Sausage Week’s ‘Legendary British Bangers’ too. We think it will taste good now with some hearty mash and wrapped in bacon as ‘pigs in blankets’ come Christmas!” Perfect for firework party food too.

SPOOKY FUN

The Hare & Hounds celebrated Halloween with a weekend of parties. The Beer Festival ran all weekend with the 4th annual Halloween fancy dress party and BBQ on Saturday. For families, children could eat lunch free on the Sunday and there was live music from Pete Waters on Sunday evening. This is a welcoming local pub, and deserve their popularity.

The Farmer’s Boy, London Road also held a Halloween party on Saturday: it was packed with people in costume, including a giant pumpkin, dancing to Thriller.

Inn on Park, Verulamium Park turned into a Halloween grotto for Half Term, with art and face painting for children. As we sat outside enjoying the Autumn sunshine, children emerged from the cafe transformed into mini Harry Potters, skeletons and green witches.

The White Hart Hotel, Holywell Hill is famous for its ghosts and more recently its Haunted Dinners and ghost tours. You can now also book Children’s Ghost Parties, with a ghost tour of the hotel and tomato soup with popping eyes and broken bones, worm or maggot pizza and dracula’s foaming drink. Ghost-hunters search for Stanley the skeleton and get a photo with him if located!

For adults, Haunted Dinners take place on the 1st Thursday of every month, with a tour of where ghosts have been seen by customers and staff. It all sounds very sociable, but a quote from one visitor may put you off; “It seems that only the sad, malevolent, tortured ghosts remain behind. I do believe that some ‘spirits’ here make their presence known in a variety of ways, and most of this activity could be unwanted, and even frightening to the unwary guest”.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you…