Im taking water for you...

A couple of weeks ago I had the extreme pleasure of going to see Jessie Ware at the HMV Ritz in Manchester.

Jessie Ware

The HMV Ritz is an old music theatre venue located near Oxford Road train station, and as Jessie put it "looks beautiful, stinks of ****." You could see and smell what she meant but I really prefer smaller venues (sign of age) they give a more intimate feel, I can see without my glasses and you feel a certain bond with the crowd all huddled in together. The Ritz had an upper balcony and we were stood on the lower growd near the stage with the smallest (height wise) crowd I've ever seen, brilliant for us as its a real bug bear sometimes when watching bands.

Happy Birthday.... to me!

In keeping with my French theme, we head back to Sheffield for my 28th birthday meal, yes 28, I'm in shock too! A recommendation from my French teacher, Cafe Ceres was the restaurant of choice, located at the end of popular Ecclesall Road at Hunters Bar.

Ceres at Hunters Bar - Sheffield

A little more on Cafe Ceres directly from the website:

"Ceres (or Café Ceres as it was known before we dropped the café bit) spent its first twelve years as a small, cosy café in squashed but charming premises on Sharrow Vale Road. We now occupy a much bigger (but still charming!) place on Hunter’s bar roundabout, only about 250 yards from our original base. Ceres has been run by us – Jean-Paul and Caroline Strappazzon – since the summer of 2000 when we moved to Sheffield from France to try our hand at the catering business. We serve good coffee, brunches and lunches, and open late for French bistro evenings 4 nights a week."