Travel: Isle of Wight - Ticket to Ryde
 The Isle of Wight is shaking off its slightly stuffy image and reinventing itself as a green and gastronomic destination. RK producer Michael and his partner Alison went to find out more.
The Isle of Wight is best known for its yachting and racing events, however in recent years it is also becoming known for the yearly music event 'Bestival' and the popular walking festival in May.
In keeping with this spirit of reinvention, Isle of Wight ferry company Wightlink has brought out a brochure featuring all that is green and pleasant on the Isle of Wight (the Wight taste trail) and is keen to promote the island as a 'foodie' destination.
 The growing interest in green travel, organic food and sustainable living is supported by many of the businesses on the island, for whom this way of working reflects both sound environmental values and good business sense. Featuring the pick of the island's producers, the Wight Taste Trail also includes the weekly Farmers' Markets and local chefs working in top restaurants, pubs and cafés creating menus with food that comes directly from nearby farms or from the sea.
 We found it extremely easy to get to the Isle of Wight. Keeping to the environmentally friendly theme, we hopped on a train (90 minutes from London) and caught the catamaran from Portsmouth to Ryde. This takes only 18 minutes and runs every half hour. There was something very exciting about leaving London and within two hours finding ourselves bobbing along in a boat - it really felt like we were escaping!
 The small size of the island and the ease of travel, means that it is quite possible to while away the morning pottering around a Farmers market, have lunch in a vineyard, spend the afternoon learning about garlic farms and rare breed pigs before retiring to your environmentally friendly and luxurious hotel for some home-comforts to spend the evening sampling one of the many excellent restaurants and maybe trying some of the local brews.
As you can tell, there is a certain food-orientated theme emerging here: This owes a lot to the fact that during our flying visit, it rained almost continually, only brightening to clear blue skies and sunshine on the day of our departure. We were forced therefore, into the happy position of having to eat and drink our way around the island.
 We stayed in the Seaview hotel, a 10 minute journey from Ryde. Its luxury rooms provide all the comforts we could possibly desire (as well as some we really didn't, such as a television in the bath) combining modern luxury with old-fashioned ambience in the original bar. They also have large family apartments available. On our first night we ate in its restaurant where acclaimed chef Graham Walker creates delicious food using locally sourced ingredients. We also felt it our duty to sample their selection of local beers.
 Upon waking to horizontal rain, we abandoned our original sight-seeing plan. This it would have included a trip to the Rosemary vineyard, a round-the-island bus trip to see some of the farms (I was particularly keen to see the rare sheep at Dunsbury Farm) and ideally a walk along the coast. Instead, we visited the Farmers market at Ryde, attempted a short walk along the coast and retired somewhat soggily to our cosy room. However, given that we were in urgent need of a relaxing break and to catch up on some sleep, this was perfect!
 In the evening we visited the St. Helen's restaurant. This was undoubtedly the highlight of our trip. Chef Mark Young prides himself on the use of locally-sourced ingredients. We had a sumptuous risotto with truffle and asparagus (my mouth is watering just writing about it) and a chocolate mousse with an experimental salty caramel sauce. It was obvious the staff shared the chef's enthusiasm for food, as our waitress described how they'd all been tasting the chocolate mousse for the first time earlier that day. The people were lovely, the atmosphere warm and the food so delicious I contemplated moving to the Isle of Wight just so I could eat there every week!
In short, if you're looking for a break where there's plenty to do (even when it's pouring with rain!) where the food is delicious, the people friendly and where it's perfectly easy to get around without a car, the Isle of Wight could be for you. We'll be going back - hopefully when it's not raining - although with food and beer that good, it doesn't really matter!
How to get there: Wightlink (0871 376 1000 www.wightlink.co.uk)
Where we stayed: The Seaview (01983 612711 - Website)
Room prices start from £120 per night.
Restaurant: The St. Helens Restaurant (01983 872303 - Website)
Guide: The Wight Taste Trail (3.3mb download)
For more information about the Isle of Wight, click here.
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