... from The Notebook - July Reflections

adventures as always with some foodie spots local + some that are more further a field

Aug 13, 2025

It’s that time of the month again, only I’m late - SHOCK. It’s fine, its my little space to just write and waffle at the end of the day so here we go, here is July … from The Notebook.

… trips in July ☀

(not as many this month but still some to share!)

SWITZERLAND

I planned out my outfits to take away (we only had 1 suitcase between us) so I wanted to be selective with what I was taking - WHO IS SHE. But it was honestly so fun - I used the SHUFFLE app and highly recommend.

anyway … enough about the clothes, more about the holiday! Despite having our flight canceled (I wont moan about that anymore because we got some GOOOD compensation!) we had a lovely 5 days visiting some friends in northern Switzerland. Our days were spent swimming, eating lots of bread and cheese and honestly just roaming around the little villages it was lovely!

We stayed in a beautiful little Airbnb (i’ll link it below) close to our friends and right by the water — it had everything we needed for our short stay!

View our AirBnb HERE

a little spontaneous camping trip to Crakemoor Campsite near Malham!

A night in a tent with one of your best pals, your kindle + crochet and WAAY too much food from Booths is sometimes all you need!

SHOP MY CAMPING SET UP

🍴- foodie bits from the month.

Thirty Nine Kitchen - Ilkley 🛤

YES! that is a slice of GIANT crumpet topped with smoked salmon, egg and hollandaise - HOMEMADE by the gang at Thirty Nine Kitchen!! AND we took home baked goods, obviously!

A little spot of brunch in Ilkley after a night camping, their are SO MANY CUTE SHOPS - how I have never explored Ilkley ill never know. So now it’s on the list (I actually started a big list of local places purely for this!)

Shops / Cafes in Ilkley I’d like to go to:

Community Cutlery - sexy ass knives and kitchen things (as someone whos partner is a chef i’m surprised we haven’t been yet!)
Moin Moin Bakery - fresh baked goods … need I say more!
Toast House - toast & coffee - again need I day MORE!!!
The Veggie - yum veggie food.
Nora’s Interiors & Gifts - cute bits and bobs.
Burnt Orchid - hand foraged kitchen wears and copper utensils!

… maybe I should share my BIG list of places I want to visit!

The Black Swan - Oldstead 🌿

… now this isn’t a regular meal out - its not your visit to the pub on a Saturday - a stunning 10 (YES TEN!!) course tasting menu all locally soured and foraged ingredients.

Every course of the tasting menu felt like a little surprise – clever flavour pairings, stunning presentation, and beautiful local ingredients. I’m really lucky (and a bit smug) that my partner works for the Tommy Banks Group so we always get that little bit extra when we visit and it never disappoints!

Brasserie Ignaz - Konstanz 🇩🇪

A little date night while in Switzerland (yes this was in Germans - the border is really REALLY close so we hopped over to go for some tea because were from Yorkshire and its cheaper!!)

We had some beef tartar with toast for starter - with pickles, chilli, anchovies, artichokes and onions on the side … then veal schnitzel and pork ribs with truffle + parmesan fries + salad for main - obviously we both cut our mains in half and shared them! We unfortunately didn’t have room for desert - a shock, I know!!