Do the preparation task first. Then listen to the audio and do the exercises.
Preparation
Transcript
Interviewer: Hi, Jo.
Jo: Hello.
Interviewer: Thank you for talking to me today. What would you like to talk about?
Jo: So, I'm going to tell you about my recent visit to, erm, a very well-known restaurant and a very special restaurant.
Interviewer: OK – great.
Jo: It's called El Celler de Can Roca and it's in Girona in Spain and, erm, it often comes in the, like, top two or three restaurants in the world.
Interviewer: Wow!
Jo: And I went last week. And, well, the first thing that was exciting for us was to even get a table 'cause, erm, we booked a year ago and we had to go, you have to go, 'cause you can book a year in advance, so you have to go online at one minute to midnight a year before you think you could go and keep refreshing, refreshing the page until places become available and just go immediately and get the table. So, we were really excited to have the table and we were kind of nervous on Friday because we waited a whole year, so expectations were really high. And it was also, by chance, boiling hot in Girona and it was in the middle of a heatwave. It was 44 degrees.
Interviewer: Oh my goodness.
Jo: So, we were just waiting in our hotel room, couldn't go outside 'cause it was too hot, erm, kind of wondering what this dinner was going to be like, er, and getting all dressed up. So, yeah, we went and, well, the place is beautiful, all … I thought it would be quite, erm, it didn't really feel formal though. The staff were all really friendly and they showed us inside the kitchen first. And it's amazing 'cause no one is stressed in the kitchen – or they did a good job of pretending that they weren't. And they were making amazing things that looked like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for adults – little olive trees with amazing, like, erm, er, olive kind of confections hanging from them. And, yeah, the whole thing was amazing – a once-in-a-lifetime experience of lots of different courses of tiny, beautiful, surprising things, erm …
Interviewer: What was the best dish that you had?
Jo: It was all amazing but I think the best thing for me was one of the desserts. I had a sheep-themed pudding …
Interviewer: Wow!
Jo: So, it was all, erm – So, it was like a woolly sheep. It was like candy floss, like, made with, erm, like, sort of white sugar like you have at the fair. Erm, and that was supposed to represent the wool, and the sound of the spoon on the bowl made the sound of the bell on the sheep in the field. And then separately I had this thing to smell that smelled of wool. So I was, like, eating this sheep wool and smelling the smell of wool at the same time which, it sounds really weird, but it was actually delicious.
Interviewer: Sounds incredible!
Jo: It really was! It really was amazing.
Interviewer: Wow. Thank you for telling us about it.
Jo: It's a pleasure.
As for me, I adore going to cafes and restaurants. I can eat out quite often, for instance even on weekdays after work. I prefer eating in the town centre. My favourite dishes are salads, soups, pizzas and sweet desserts. I like Greek and Italian cuisine.
I rarely go to restaurants. I actually don't enjoy eating out in my country. However, I'm used to going to cafes to get coffee as a person who has a coffee addiction. But when I travel to another country, eating out is one of my favourite things I like to do.
I haven't eaten out for quite sometime especially after the pandemic and nowadays I have grown to love eating my home-cooked meals although they're not as wonderfully prepared as those served by chefs in restaurants but these meals cooked with love and attention, I feel taste better and more satisfying.
Well, I usually go restaurants in order to celebrate a special event like a birthday with my family and my friends. The last restaurant that I've visited was a place called "El Roble" nearby my home to celebrate my mother in law birthday. The dessert was a big dark chocolate cake filled with cream. I recommend this restaurante because price/quality relationship es very good.
In general, I eat food prepared in-home, and only I used to go to restaurants for special occasions like birthdays, o any celebrations like job promotions, it means once or twice per month due I like the Italian cuisine so my favorite restaurant in Mexico City is La Macelleria I love the pasta.
I usually go to restaurants for someone's birthdays, I prefer to eat at home, dishes that I cook myself, because I don't eat some of the products that are added to dishes, I don't like their flavor. But I like pizza in restaurants, and my favorite restaurant with it is 'Итальянский квартал" (Italian quarter). I also like ice cream in restaurants.
I used to go to restaurant quite often before Covid-19 happened but not anymore. It's pretty weird that it feels like a long time ago. Although, I had liked to go to restaurant, especially my favourite one which is called Blue hill Cafe, Owhango, NZ. There is the best burger in North island NZ. They've named Lockdown burger. It's quite sarcastic humour, isn't it?
Excuseme, someone can help me why I can not heard the audio. Because i do the first activity however i continue with the listen activity and the audio doesn´t play
Hi lizalomoto2003,
Thanks for letting us know about the problem. I've just checked the audio and it is working for me, so it may have been a temporary problem. Please can you try it again? If it still doesn't play, can you try other audios in Audio zone and Listening to check if they also don't play? Another thing you can do is try opening this page using a different web browser and see if it works then. Let us know how it goes!
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
I live in the UAE. I was first living in Dubai before having to relocate elsewhere in the western region, that is incredibly different. It is true to say I am now living in the middle of Sahara 'desert'. When I was in Dubai, I used to try fabulous cuisines where a variety of dishes were served. I tried Indian, Arabian, and even western food. But the most favorite cuisines were Syrian and Turkish food. My favorite dish is rice with mutton that is specially cooked in clay pots. It's so yummy!