Food and Drink

One year after originally visiting, Launceston Place (D&D’s restaurant on the Kensington street of the same name) has changed immeasurably. Previously, Chef Raphael Francois’s menu promised so much, but failed to constantly deliver. Yes, the skill was there, but the chef’s passion for cooking, if any, wasn’t presented in the dining room. When last year’s Michelin Guide was published, the restaurant even lost its Michelin star. Now, the first thing noticeable upon entering is the refreshing change of décor. Previously dark...

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

Bronte is the second venture from father-son duo Trevor and Adam Davies and judging by the success of their first project (Circus in Covent Garden), it has a lot to live up to. The brainchild of ‘cook to the stars’ Executive Chef Andrew Lassetter and Head Chef Guy Betteridge (previously of Gordon Ramsay Group), Bronte's menu promises a ‘sumptuous selection of Asian and modern British dishes’. Quite the compilation. But first, it’s worth pausing for the décor. Designed by Tom...

Of all the coffee commercials to grace our screens this year McDonald's poke at hipster cafe culture was the one that really hit the nail on the head. Coffee has become so complicated of late. If you like your matcha lattes with soy milk or your non-fat frappuccinos with extra whipped cream and chocolate sauce then you're well catered for, but those who prefer a straight-forward good quality mug of black coffee are becoming increasingly marginalised. As I wrote here, coffee has fallen victim...

Since last June’s referendum Brexit has been on the lips of just about everybody - and there’s no sign of it waning any time soon. New research from The Pizza Pasta & Italian Food Association suggests that more than half of the workers in restaurants and pizza delivery businesses across the UK may have to leave if there is no agreement with Europe. Many of these are unlikely to be replaced by British nationals. Without overseas workers the industry would struggle...

The President has been at it again. This weekend, Donald Trump tweeted a video of himself punching a man whose head had been replaced with the CNN logo, wrestling him to the ground. The video was a bold statement against free speech and a torrent of fake news – but the President’s barber should really have topped his hit list? In other news, The Donald is allegedly planning on being “sneaked” in to the UK to meet Theresa May this...

Take a look at the loaf of bread you have lying in your cupboard and count how many ingredients there are in it. Typically a standard loaf of bread should contain six ingredients - flour, butter, yeast, salt, sugar and water. But most supermarket-bought loafs contain way more. Warburtons white bread, medium sliced, contains flour (with Calcium, Iron, Niacin (B3) and Thiamin (B1)), water, yeast, salt, vegetable oil (Rapeseed, Sustainable Palm), soya flour, E481, E472e, calcium propionate and ascorbic acid. And it's largely...

On the whole I rather enjoyed my writing career. I phrase that in the past tense as there are only two possible outcomes after sending in this commentary: my editor at The London Economic responds with purple-faced rage at my effrontery in assuming that this publication would ever under any circumstances consider publishing such a naked paean to paid sexual services, to which I would answer mischievously, 'I don't think they're naked.' And that would be the end of that....

With plenty of exciting restaurant openings constantly taking place across the Capital, we pick London's best new restaurants openings taking place over the coming month.   Nobu – Shoreditch Rivalling The Ned as a new contender for the title of East London’s hottest new hotel opening – the first UK Nobu Hotel has arrived in Shoreditch. Set back from Great Eastern Street, Nobu Hotel Shoreditch offers a dynamic blend of the luxury brand’s east-meets-west philosophy, with nods to Shoreditch’s ‘creative...