Foodie breaks: Kent – Whitstable

During our recent weekend in Kent we visited Whitstable twice. Firstly on the Saturday – cool and dreary, there seemed to be too many shops selling gifts or fancy children's ware and the town looked too cute for its own good. Nevertheless, we spent an enjoyable hour or so in a cosy café and managed to get a booking at Wheeler's Oyster Bar for the following day. This was my first time in Whitstable in more than 15 years and a lot has changed – it's fashionable now and knows it.

When we returned on the Sunday in vibrant sunshine it was quite different. Clutching a half-bottle of Sancerre from the off-licence across the road, we went straight to (unlicensed) Wheelers for an extravaganza of top-notch fish and seafood which we enjoyed perched on stools at the counter in the shop. Booking a table in the tiny rear dining room that seats 16 requires serious forward-planning (or a hefty dose of good luck). However, we were happy people watching in the front, witnessing a stream of smiling customers leaving with their delicious purchases, which has probably been the case since 1856 when Wheeler's was established.

From chef Mark Stubbs's menu, we chose several small plates including crab cake and other inspired and beautifully executed dishes such as smoked haddock with kedgeree scotch egg, scallops with pork and apple, and Thai style soup with prawn tempura. Imaginative touches included the blue cheese croutons in the salad that accompanied the crab cake and the drizzle of apple sauce.

We didn't have space for any of the desserts but I have included a picture of the menu here as it looked so interesting. Next time.

After lunch we strolled around Whitstable in the sunshine where so many people were making the most of the good weather. If we hadn't eaten earlier, we'd have been spoiled for choice. We left feeling reassured that Whitstable hadn't lost too much of its saline windswept charm.

Cap Ferret: oyster heaven

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we spent some of our summer holiday with friends on the Cap Ferret peninsular, an hour's drive from Bordeaux. Attracting well-heeled French holidaymakers with a taste for healthy outdoor pursuits and good living, it is not unlike The Hamptons in the United States: relaxed, understated, but still rather chic and bourgeois. However, it has an distinctive local industry that prevents Cap Ferret from getting too chichi as it becomes increasingly fashionable.

Cap Ferret is a thin tongue of land that runs between the Atlantic Ocean curling around, almost embracing, the 37,000-acre Bassin d'Arcachon. This is one of the country's most important oyster farming areas and the primary breeder of oysters that go on to be reared elsewhere in France. Ostreiculture or oyster farming has been present here in various forms since Roman times, and strolling around some of the small towns offers a picturesque glimpse of this industry (along with, of course, the opportunity to taste). The oyster parks and beds – marked by groups of upright stakes that punctuate large parts of the Bassin – date back to the mid 19th century when Napoleon III encouraged organised oyster farming as wild oysters were dying out. The native flat oysters (Ostrea edulis) were gradually replaced by Portuguese oysters (Crassostrea angulata) and, more recently in the 1960s, Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas).

The attractive wooden cabins used by oyster farmers date back to the late 19th century and several incorporate attractive waterside terraces for customers to enjoy local molluscs with crisp, refreshing local wine (usually Entre Deux Mers) for just a few Euros. To the south, beyond the resort town of Arcachon, the spectacular Dune de Pyla will be visible in the distance. Other local seafood is excellent, especially the small, sweet local mussels. Chez Hortense at the southerly tip of Cap Ferret serves enormous portions of moules frites with a meaty sauce enrichened with duck fat; I don't know how their chic regulars remain so trim. (This footage on YouTube is one family's take and shows the glorious location.)

Here are some photographs taken around the villages of Le Canon and L'Herbe (where we had the bargain 15 Euro set lunch at the Hotel de la Plage).