You can't beat

...a nice local Italian restaurant. We tried Cafe Zonzo in Sandyford on Friday night, and discovered a little gem with lots of nice seasonal stuff on the menu, including a really good spinach, ricotta and roasted pepper salad, with honey and balsamic dressing...mmm. It's the only place I've come across in Newcastle that does proper Sardinian flat bread too (the really thin, crispy stuff). Anyway, I suspect we'll be back there on another Friday night when we can't be bothered to cook...(what else are Friday nights for?!).

It's lovely finding somewhere local that you can eat, apart from takeaway. Sometimes you just want a bit of formality and the chance to talk, eat and let conversations meander, rather than sitting in front of the telly eating out of a carton.

Speaking of telly, if you get the chance, start watching The Nation's Favourite Food on the UK Food channel - it's really well done, with some good, controversial talking heads (Gordon Ramsey, Clarissa Dickson Wright, Keith Floyd) and some sarcastic narration by Richard E Grant. My favourite was the nation's top 10 party foods...they were so scathing about salad coming in the top 10. And where were the cheese and pineapple on sticks?