Food and Drink

The Scotch Egg Challenge returns to Islington for its sixth year next week, with contestants taking to the kitchen in a head-to-head competition. Shortlisted contestants will compete in two categories, with chefs from Ealing Park Tavern and The Rat Inn taking part in the Traditional Egg category honouring the classic Scotch Egg. Whilst the Unconventional Eggcategory allows a little more culinary freedom, rustling up their egg-centric creations will be chefs from The Cinnamon Collection and Tang. The Canonbury Tavern hosts the free...

Here's a story about going shopping in Italy. Usually in order to protect the innocent, the guilty and myself, nothing I write is quite true. In this case it is all true. I have no client identities or world events I need to mask, because this story is solely about me being an idiot. My qualification for being your Secret Chef is having spent two decades being a private chef for High Net Worth (HNW) and Ultra High Net Worth...

With plenty of exciting restaurant openings constantly taking place across the Capital, here’s our pick of the best new restaurants arriving in London over the coming month. Aster – Victoria The latest restaurant from D&D London, Aster has opened at Nova Food next to Victoria station. Set across two floors, the space comprises a 161-cover café and deli, plus an upstairs 122-cover restaurant and cocktail bar. As for the food, the kitchen will be overseen by Executive Chef Helena Puolakka, having previously held the...

I am, as my friends will tell you, often with a heavy sigh, and as my Twitter profile attests, a gin enthusiast. I like all sorts of gin, from London dry, to Plymouth, to oude and jonge jenever. My most recent discovery has been a thriving distilling culture in Ireland, both North and South, and their gins will keep me entertained for some time to come. (One distillery is also trying to repopularise poitín, with interesting results. I also like...

Walk in to any curry house in Britain and you're likely to find a blueprint menu of the same dishes. Comforting for some, frustrating for others, but there's a very ingenious reason why. The curry house has been a mainstay of the British culinary scene since the 60s when the first significant wave of south Asian people settled in British towns. By 1980 there were roughly 3,000 curry houses in the country, a number that was set to explode over the...

Let’s be honest – as January comes to a close, it’s highly likely that any sobriety resolutions have been completely forgotten. However, in keeping with record numbers of Brits opting to partake in ‘Veganuary’, and with 8 in 10 promising to take up a strict New Year diet, Dirty Martini have crafted a number of low calorie and vegan cocktails. One of two vegan cocktails on offer, ‘The Fixer Upper’ combines Belvedere pure vodka with Monin ginger syrup, pressed apple juice,...

Though all restaurant experiences revolve heavily around eating, so many restaurateurs fail to understand that there's more to a great restaurant than just good food. From service and general ambience down to the smallest, most pernickety details, the overall experience - from walking through the door to picking up the bill - is everything. Some of the best food I ate last year, for instance, was at a restaurant I actively despised. The culinary skill displayed was exceptional, though the...

Strength: 5.5% Brewed: Aberdeen, Scotland Since launching their first proper brewery last year, Scotland’s Fierce Beer Co. has become extremely prolific. Having produced over 50,000 litres of beer over the past year, the brewery offers a whopping core range of ten beers amongst some limited edition offerings and collaborative efforts of which are currently in the pipeline. Now operating from an industrial estate in Dyce, Aberdeen, Fierce was originally set up by joint owners Dave Grant (Managing Director) and David McHardy (Operations Director)...

The Red Lion is set to host the fifth annual Great Sausage Roll Off this evening, with finalists from across Britain entering sausage rolls with the hope of been crowned Britain's best. The Barnes pub has been giving this much overlooked buffet item the attention it deserves since 2013 with an event that has been described as the X Factor meets Masterchef. Tonight's live cooking event, which will feature around 20 professional chefs who take their turns bake their own take on the...