Food and Drink

A London fine-dining institution, lunch at Michelin-starred Galvin La Chapelle, behind Spitalfields, is an absolute delight. Instead of serving an exclusive menu of (often pompous) haute cuisine, the restaurant offers some of the best French gastronomic delights available in London, alongside one of the most stunning settings. The grade II listed location of brothers Chris and Jeff Galvin’s third restaurant has a long colourful history. At the end of the 19th century, the building was used as the parish of Bishopsgate and...

Strength: 5.2% ABV Brewed: Fuquay Varina, North Carolina Launched at the end of 2008, Aviator Brewing Company began life in an airplane hangar. Using a hangar at Triple W airport in North Carolina as a base, a range of beers were initially brewed in a DIY fashion, using two used dairy tanks. Against all odds, said beer became hugely popular and demand increased enough for the brewery to open a larger premise, just a short distance from the original. Now,...

Imagine if Burger & Lobster were only to sell their overpriced burgers, if MEATliquor actually specialised in eco-conscious vegan treats, or if Le Gavroche were run by a Roman chef with a penchant for German brasserie classics. No, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but in terms of indication, the importance of restaurant names should never be overlooked. Just opened within the newly refurbished space at The Stafford hotel in St James, The Game Bird is as quintessentially...

By Jay Williams  Arriving early, I mooched around outside new Farringdon rib joint Hammer & Tongs just long enough to hear a member of staff outside muttering darkly into his mobile “we’ve got a reviewer coming in again tonight”.  Kind of how you might expect one of the three little pigs to say “we’ve got a wolf popping round again this evening”.  But after returning to our table later, a quick Google revealed the restaurant had recently been rinsed by...

With plenty of exciting restaurant openings constantly taking place across the Capital, we pick the best new restaurants arriving in London over the coming month. MEATliquor - Queensway Since starting life as a food truck, MEATliquor has become one of London’s, if not the UK’s, best-loved comfort food institutions. The restaurant’s first permanent site opened behind Oxford Street in 2011, and 10 more venues have since opened across London, Brighton, Bristol and Leeds. This month, the twelfth site is set to open...

A neighbourhood restaurant with food inspired by its heritage at the heart of London’s ‘Little Scandinavia’ – The Harcourt first opened last summer. Established in 1826 as The Harcourt Arms, the Grade II listed building has been an iconic building amongst London’s Scandinavian expat community for decades. What’s more, with Finnish Head Chef Kimmo Makkonen now at the helm, the restaurant has become renowned as one of the only venues in London to serve reindeer, amongst a number of other...

By Dominika Piasecka The UK’s largest producer of healthy meat alternatives, Quorn, has registered its entire Vegan Range with the Vegan Trademark, calling the logo the “cherry on top” of a very successful launch. Some of the products have been available throughout the UK since October 2016 but the new registration gives extra credibility and assurance to consumers avoiding animal ingredients. George Gill, Chief Executive at The Vegan Society, said: “We are delighted to welcome Quorn to join over 800...

After what feels like years of waiting, I’ve found a number of genuinely brilliant restaurants close to my home. So when I’m (often) asked for restaurant recommendations, I constantly find myself waxing lyrical about these local treasures. With that comes a price, nonetheless: the only thing worse than an accusation of being biased is the whinging replies of: “Greenwich, oh that’s much too far.” “Zone 2? No way, I’ll need to bring my passport!” Or even worse, “Sorry, darling. We...

The perfect London pub was described in a 1946 piece by George Orwell for the Evening Standard. Orwell named one pub, The Moon Under the Water, as the quintessential boozer. There was one catch, it didn’t exist. Since pubs in the capital continue to close at an alarming rate, it is unlikely that any pub come close to Orwell’s ideal today. This is especially the case in The City, where Lloyds, one of the most historic financial institutions in the...