Food and Drink

A few years ago when the business was just getting started I was up in Liverpool meeting potential new clients for our private chef business when I received a text. This was late on Wednesday evening. The text was from a acquaintance who is also a private chef. He is called Peter and he is based on the south coast. Peter was unwell and had a 40th birthday party to cook for a former racing driver that Friday. Peter asked...

Co-host of Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, with Tim Lovejoy, celebrity chef Simon Rimmer also works alongside innovative barbecue brand Weber. This summer, the chef has partnered with Weber to support the ‘Weber of Life’ campaign, encouraging consumers to host fantastic barbecue experiences. Speaking about Weber, Simon said: “My favourite barbecue really is a Weber. You get what you pay for. Buy a cheap warehouse BBQ and after a year it will fall apart. Webers have fantastic technology so they do...

French cuisine is undeniably some of the world’s finest, but within multi Michelin-starred temples of fine dining it’s often chintzy and over complicated. Last year, for instance, I almost had my own Mr Creosote moment over lunch at one of Paris’ most luxurious hotels. By the time I’d snarfed five courses of fare laden with more butter and cream than Marco’s ‘White Heat’ cookbook, the wafer-thin mint scenario came with the waiter’s insistence that I bolt through just one more...

With a focus on rationality and simplicity – the basic principles of modernism – at the helm, Bavarian craft beer brand And Union was set up in 2007. The product of a father, his son and his business partner, And Union works with brew-masters from four small, family-run Bavarian regional breweries, with all of their craft beers brewed in a traditional manner, using just barley, yeast, hops, and water. As a result, the brewing process for the unfiltered and unpasteurised...

This is what extreme lengths a cheeky punter went to as they entered a racecourse for a flutter with a bottle of vodka - hidden in a BREAD ROLL. The hilarious image shows a baguette with its centre carved out and replaced with a bottle of Glen's Vodka wrapped in salami and tomatoes. But Southwell racecourse staff didn't see the funny side as they confiscated the £5 bottle of alcohol from an unhappy race goer. This is what extreme lengths...

A former police officer has launched her own prosecco van delivery service, inspired by hit reality TV show The Only Way is Essex. Abbie Pennick, 27, quit the Met after her baby daughter was born and tuned an Italian moped into a pink van fitted with two prosecco taps. She plans to sell the popular bubbly drink on demand at weddings or fairs. She said: "You see the success that shows like The Only Way Is Essex have, where everyone...

How is rose wine produced? It's a question that has been mused over by many a drinker on a hot summer's day as they nose the fruity aromas of refreshing pink vinos that provide cool, crisps refreshment for parched palates. Some search their memories for instances when they've spotted pink grapes and some deduce that it must be a process of mixing white wine with red wine. But although the latter is a legitimate process for creating rose wine, it...

Battersea is booming. Partially thanks to the extensive refurbishment of Battersea Power Station, or close proximity to neighbouring Clapham and cooler-than-thou Brixton, the area is now home to a seemingly countless sum of neighbourhood restaurants. Often ensnared with reckless disdain, kebabs are seldom considered classy; but BabaBoom, a space on Battersea Rise, goes against the grain and manages to showcase the humble kebab in a positive light. Launched last August, the restaurant was set up by a trio of adventure...

Despite the kitchen becoming an increasingly democratised facet of the family home, there is still one culinary tool where men almost universally take control - the BBQ. According to new research one in five women would love to get stuck in to a barbecue this summer - but their partners won't let them anywhere near the grill. A survey of 2,000 adults found 75 per cent of British men are the only ones allowed to operate BBQs, with partners making...