Food and Drink

January has arrived and the nation's mood has switched from chestnuts roasting on an open fire to wet socks drying on an exposed radiator. With the nights still long and the weather unremittingly miserable we pick at life's little pleasures to see out the worst of the winter, and what better place to start than with a warming, full bodied bottle of red. La Bohème, Act Four is a fine wine shipped from the famed Yarra Valley in Australia. Like its...

Launched at the beginning of 2013, Weird Beard Brew Co. operates from a site near Ealing and produces a number of hop-driven beers alongside classic styles. With the aim to “satisfy, enthuse and be enjoyed by whoever the drinker,” Weird Beard offer a number of core beers as well as some occasional specials and one-off brews that push creative boundaries. Beginning life as South Seas pale ale, Mariana Trench - ‘A Transpacific Pale Ale’ – was initially brewed with Pacific...

Eating alone at five thirty in the evening, down a side street in Clerkenwell, used to be pretty low on my tick list. But this was different. It was an evening I’d been waiting 18 months for. I’d finally bagged a (single) seat at London’s most exclusive restaurant. Of course ‘exclusive’ can mean many different things. Sure there are ‘sleb heavy haunts where if you ain’t been on Big Brother you’re not getting in. There are Michelin starred restaurants for...

A man who was dumped by his ex as he planned their wedding hit back by shedding an incredible 115lbs in eight months by turning VEGAN - and has now found love again. Collin Fissell, 25, was heartbroken when his ex-girlfriend said she didn't want to marry him and the couple split up a day before their sixth anniversary in May 2017. The XXXL store manager thought he had already hit rock bottom until he stood on the scales and...

Since opening in New Delhi during 2009, Manish Mehrotra’s Indian Accent has since become regarded as one of the country’s best restaurants - currently placed at number 30 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017 list. Trailing such success, Indian Accent then opened an international export in New York (six years later), trailed by a long overdue London restaurant, which opened in Mayfair towards the end of 2017. Joining local high-end restaurants such as Benares, Tamarind, Gymkhana and Jamavar, Indian Accent...

Tying in with Blue Monday (today, 15th January) – allegedly the most depressing day of the year, according to an equation of factors including weather conditions, debt, failed new year’s resolutions and low motivational levels – Georgia Green of Georgia's Cakes has created a selection of uplifting cake recipes. Georgia’s Cakes was set up by Georgia Green in 2015, having trained at Le Cordon Bleu. Aiming to bring classical baking down to a level that everybody can utilise, Georgia’s Cakes...

Following the resounding success of Club Mexicana – a supper club renowned for serving some of the city’s best vegan street food – Founder Meriel Armitage has collaborated with Publicans Luke McLoughlin and Sherri-lee Estabrook to launch London’s first entirely vegan pub. Opening in Hackney next week (Friday 19th January), The Spread Eagle on Homerton High Street is being re-launched with an entirely vegan offering from bar to kitchen, designed as a ‘modern take on a classic East End boozer’....

One of the oldest, most celebrated classic cocktails in existence, an Old Fashioned has a typical base of bourbon mixed with Angostura bitters and a sugar cube, garnished with a sliver of orange peel (plus a cocktail cherry in some cases). No, there’s nothing wrong with the original, but the base – like all classic cocktails – has been constantly tinkered with over the past 100 years – much to the dismay of many purists. Some bars favour rye or...

Tying in with World Cancer Day on Sunday 4th February, MasterChef 2016 finalists Billy Wright and Jack Layer will host a one-off supper club with a difference in support of Cancer Research UK. Taking over Plum + Spilt Milk, the Great Northern Hotel’s restaurant, in Kings Cross, Billy and Jack will attempt to cook for 24 hours straight, touting the event as ‘London’s first 24-hour supper club’. A bid to raise money for Cancer Research UK, the pair intend to...