TV presenter and radio host Edith Bowman may be a Gloucestershire gal these days, but she grew up in Fife, north-east Scotland. ‘I went back to [my hometown of] Anstruther recently to film [new BBC programme] Coast to Coast Food Festival,’ Bowman says. ‘And I loved it. When I was a teenager I couldn’t wait to leave because I was bored to tears, but when you live somewhere else, you appreciate home a bit more. I’m so proud of what’s going on up there and all of the exciting things popping up.’ Having learned to love her hometown through fresh eyes, Bowman gives us a rundown of her favourite places to go for bite, a drink and an ice-cold dip.
Eat
‘There are some amazing restaurants popping up around here. The Cellar is a tiny little place just behind the harbour in Anstruther. It’s been running for years, but has recently been taken over by Billy Boyter, who really pushes local produce and has won loads of awards. They do a great tasting menu: the fish pie was the most delicate, fragrant dish I’ve ever tasted. It had really unusual things in it, like cockles, lobster and saffron.’
Do
‘I got my mum into cold water swimming and she’s now part of a great community who bathe in Cellardyke Tidal Pool. Back in the olden days, it was basically where people went swimming before we had the luxury of swimming pools – every coastal village along our way has one, but many have been left to decay. The community have been raising money to get the pool dredged and put new stairs in and hooks to hang towels on and stuff. It’s brilliant: it’s an all-ages thing and I go whenever I come up, all year round.’
Drink
‘There’s a really lovely little silver Airstream alongside the tidal pool called The Grind. It serves great coffee, hot chocolates, crêpes, pastries and bacon rolls, to warm up after a swim.’
See
‘The V&A Museum in Dundee is an extraordinary piece of architecture: it’s stretching across into Tayside, but is only half an hour up the road. I don’t think that people are taking advantage of the museum enough and what it’s got to offer: they have brilliant exhibitions and outreach programmes too.’
Coast to Coast Food Festival is broadcast at 6.30pm every weekday until April 7 on BBC Two & iPlayer.
Stay in the loop: sign up to Out There, our free newsletter about all the best stuff to do across the UK.