We're beginning to sample the gastronomic delights of Somerset, and couldn't resist visiting Matt's Kitchen, in Bruton High Street. Actually what we really visited was Matt's sitting room, which he's turned into possibly the smallest restaurant I've ever been to. Small in size but certainly not on style: this is a bold venture in many ways.

Bold because, firstly, Matt's Kitchen is only open for lunch on weekdays and a couple of evenings a week. Usually: it's all very much a question of what suits Matt. He likes to keep his weekends free, but he sometimes hosts private dinner parties on other evenings too. Well if you can run a viable restaurant business without working too many unsocial hours, then why not? 

The menu is bold too in it's simplicity: it's different each day, and published once a week (he sticks it in his window). What Matt shows on the menu is the main course of the day only - and even with that there's a caveat that this is the plan, but it might change if he finds something else better. The day we went he'd advertised Provencal fish stew, and that was indeed what we were served as a main course. It was served On a bed of leeks with aioli and chunks of bread, and was perfectly good (although the potatoes could have been cooked a little longer).

The rest of the menu was recited to us by Matt. There was a small choice of starters: J had Matt's homemade merguez sausages. They were very good. The family on the next table decided they were the best sausages they'd ever had (it's that sort of place: a dream for eavesdroppers).  

I had a mackerel mousse (light but large), and we also had a plate of three fresh salads (fennel and orange, marinated courgette ribbons, and fresh leaves). Matt gave us some green olive and almond tapenade too, which was delicious.

The puddings were great. Rhubarb ice cream with poached rhubarb was yummy (if you like ice cream with a crystalline texture, which I do). Lemon syllabub - again with poached rhubarb - was rich, creamy, and unctuous.

I have to say it took a bit of a leap of faith to eat in Matt's kitchen, but it was worth it. There isn't really any choice to speak of in any of the menu: when we had some choice it was because there was one dish left presumably from the previous day. And we had no idea what the prices of the starters or puds were going to be until the bill arrived. But with starters at £4, the mains at £10, and puds at £4 we came away with a very reasonable bill of £43 for 2 (we had 3 starters and there's a small charge for corkage).

The decor is quirky and fun: a mixture of ancient blue Lias flagstones, timbers, a big inglenook, and white walls complemented by a very eclectic and characterful mix of 50s/70s furniture. The shelves display an amazing collection of bizarre artefacts (mostly vintage plastic toys and household implements) painted turquoise in true art-school chic. Sounds odd maybe, but it gives a very contemporary vibe and it works. Matt himself was charming, and quite how he manages to cater for 16 people and play host with only one helper as far as I could see is an incredible feat. Obviously lots of advance preparation, but the meal was none the worse for it.

Matt's Kitchen is certainly one of the more unusual restaurants I've eaten in in this country, and definitely one of the more interesting. There's something about the scale of the operation and the way you have to surrender to Matt's menu that gives the meal a little drama and the sense of it all being a bit of An Experience. I'll definitely be back for more. Booking essential: 01749 812 027

Two London markets in one weekend: this morning we went to Columbia Road flower market for breakfast. Used to be our regular Sunday morning haunt when we lived in Stoke Newington.

Smoked salmon and cream cheese beigels eaten outside with a continual procession of plant-carrying people to watch.

Less touristy than Borough Market: I guess its easier for tourists to consume food than flowers.

Several buskers, of which 'pluck' were definitely the best.

The street now has loads of interior design and fashion shops: some good, some a bit twee.

One of my favourite jewellers, Buddug has her shop there. Lovely sketchy graphic jewellery: great fun. Looks so spontaneous. It's her black and white enamel collection I really love, and this time some spoons I hadn't seen before.

Went to buy more printing materials at Intaglio Printmaker the other day. It's conveniently close to Borough Market, which I love, so I had a good excuse for a visit. The market is different every time I go - always new and interesting foody opportunities. More touristy and expensive now than in the early days, but still worth returning to.

Bought some great cheese for lunch, and coffee from the Monmouth Coffee Company, who are definitely one of the top London coffee venues.

Took the photos with 'Hipstamatic' app on my iPhone, which gives a vintage feel to the images. Good stuff: thanks for the recommendation Daniele!

The Ottolenghi cookbook is always so tempting that deciding which cake to cook for our community association post-Christmas get-together was a mouth-watering job in it's own right.

I finally settled on Khalid's chocolate and chestnut bars, substituting prunes for the figs. It was delicious: rich and densely chocolatey. The only problem was that demand outstripped supply!

Definitely worth repeating, though next time I'd try to start far enough in advance to soak the prunes in brandy, and substitute extra prunes and chestnuts for the white chocolate chunks.

I finally got round to trying out one of the recipes from 'red velvet and chocolate heartache' and it was good!

I reduced the sugar by 20g and used fresh baked apricots instead of tinned ones. I drew the line at Harry's recommendation of grating the butternut squash by hand and used the fine grater on the magimix instead, however I did grind my own almonds (better flavour) and therefore left out the almond essence.

It was good: moist and tasty, and just the right level of sweetness for me. Will post a picture later.

I've just made a recipe based on Purely Delicious magazine's 'Fresh Blueberry Pie', and it is really very good!

All you do is to put 1 cup of almonds (skin on) in the food processer, and grind them till fine. Then add half a cup of dates (stones removed) and a pinch of salt, and blitz again. When you press this mix together it binds, and so you just press it firmly into a dish to make the base.

Then wipe out the food processor bowl and put in 2 cups of blackcurrants and 1 banana. Blitz them till smooth, and then pour this mix on top of the almond base.

Chill for at least 3 hours.

Really healthy, really quick and easy, and very very tasty!

The almond and date mix would make a great wheat and sugar free cheesecake base too.

I picked up some Raw Buckwheat Granola made by The Living Food Kitchen in Planet Organic the other day, and decided to nibble on a piece today. It is absolutely delicious! The perfect snack! It's called granola but it looks like broken biscuits. Sweet but not too sweet, and also really healthy, with just seeds, fruit, cinnamon and raw cacao added to the buckwheat.

Then I checked the till receipt and discover that unfortunately it was really expensive! It seems to be made in a dehydrator. I know very little about these, but already I'm tempted.

Last Saturday we went out to Essex for the day. It was a long awaited tour of the area where some of my ancestors came from. I hadn't been round there before, and was glad to find some lovely villages and countryside.

We had lunch in a lovely pub: the Axe and Compasses in Aythorpe Roding. Great food, though the service was a little slow.

I couldn't resist ordering this new recipe book when I saw it hotly tipped in the Guardian the other day: cakes with vegetables as a major ingredient! I love experimenting with and adapting recipes, and so really admire Harry Eastwood's inventiveness.

I'm assured that old memories of bad carrot cake will be banished when trying these recipes, and so look forward to a bit of mixing and tasting very soon!

Today I went to see an exhibition of David Hockney's new pictures in the Annely Juda gallery, Dering Street, London W1. He's done them all using Photoshop and a graphics tablet. The portraits are 100% drawn in Photoshop, but some of the landscapes include varying amounts of photomontage. They're all big and beautiful: luscious.

I was interested in this not just because I love Hockney's work, but also because I use Photoshop and the graphics tablet a lot in my work, and so I was fascinated to see how someone I really admire uses them: I wasn't disappointed.

The little image here was a picture he drew on his i-phone with his finger! Nothing like the level of sophistication of the big pictures, but still fun.

If you visit, a good lunch can be had in Rasa, just opposite the gallery. They serve great Keralan food, and at lunchtimes do lunchboxes from just £3.50. And that's 2 courses of hot food to eat in! OK it's in a plastic tray with plastic cutlery - not regular Rasa standard - but a reasonable lunch for that price just off London's Oxford Street is amazing!

Yesterday we went to visit the very pretty village of Braughing, in Hertfordshire. They were taking part in the Red Cross open gardens scheme.

I love looking in people's gardens: they're far more interesting to me than visiting big public gardens. Each garden reflects something about the person or people who created it.

Even better when there are cream teas available too, as there were in the Braughing village hall. The village hall folk are actually continuing the cream teas 2.45 - 5pm every Sunday afternoon through the summer, though the gardens were only open for the one afternoon.

It was also great to find redcurrants on sale, fresh from a local garden. I love fresh berries: that's something I really miss about not having an allotment at the moment.

On getting home I picked some flowers from our garden for my studio: inspired by the pretty little vases on each table in the village hall.