Food and Drink

Accessed through a secret door at the back of Milroys of Soho – London’s oldest whisky specialist, having been operating since 1946 – The Vault has re-launched with a new Bar Manager. Having worked as part of the opening team at Satan’s Whiskers in Bethnal Green and as Head Bartender at Milk & Honey, Chris Tanner has brought a brand new cocktail menu to Milroys’ basement bar. All priced at £9.50, the new drinks list includes a number of original...

Donned in smoking jackets and toking on the finest Robustos, these are the men who know how to celebrate Winston Churchill’s birthday in style. Cigar merchants James J Fox, said to be the oldest cigar merchants in the world, held the bash at their London base in St James’s Street - one of the last remaining public places where people can smoke inside. The celebration, on Wednesday, saw men in pinstriped suits with silver-topped canes swilling Caribbean rum, puffing on aromatic cigars...

Strength: 5.5% Brewed: Aberdeen, Scotland Since launching their first proper brewery earlier on this year, Scotland’s Fierce Beer Co. has become intensely prolific. Having produced over 50,000 litres of beer within the past six months, 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...

New York-influenced pizzeria NY Fold has created a hangover pizza in time for the festive season. Tge limited edition pizza has been specially designed for pre and post partying for those in need of rejuvenation and replenishment, with Alka Seltzer also available free of charge upon request. The topping combines the following: Egg: contains B-vitamins and amino acids that destroy toxins and replace the levels of B-vitamins lost through drinking Sausage: full of selenium essential for the normal functioning of the immune...

It was all going so well. Arriving over half an hour early, I met with my Editor at a pub close to the restaurant for a catch up over a quick pint. Yet by the time of our dinner reservation had rolled around, we had ended up at the wrong restaurant. Positioned in the middle of Great Portland Street, the Fitzrovia branch of Picture has been operating for around four years, with the newer Marylebone outpost (the site of our...

Despite being one of the most populated cities in the World, London maintains an incredible amount of green spaces. In all, the capital boasts 14,164 hectares of green spaces, including parks, wildlife habitats, natural reserves, gardens, outdoor spaces, and plenty of room to get foraging. Jonathan Cook has been foraging for most of his life. Nicknamed  'John the Poacher' he flogs food he finds to trendy restaurants and now makes his living picking mushrooms, fruits and flowers that grow naturally. Behind...

Celebrating their 150th anniversary this year, Jack Daniel’s have introduced a brand new whiskey – Single Barrel Rye – to their Single Barrel collection. With rye whiskey currently enjoying a new golden age in the UK, the new expression follows limited release batches of Rested Rye in 2014 and Un-aged Rye in 2012, and has a bold and complex flavour profile with notes of dried fruit, toasted oak, caramel, vanilla and (of course) rye. What’s more, to celebrate the launch...

The full English is a mainstay of British breakfast tables, but what is the recipe for the perfect plateful? According to new research, the ultimate fry-up contains two sausages, two rashers of bacon, fried eggs, mushrooms, toast, beans and fried tomatoes and red sauce, with fried bread and black pudding also considered essentials. But settling the age-old sauce argument, ketchup was the most popular condiment, with 42 per cent saying this is a key ingredient in a cooked breakfast, compared to just...

Often referred to a “the missing link”, Old Tom Gin is typically sweeter than London Dry and drier than Dutch Jenever. Although hugely popular during Victorian Britain, Old Tom had fallen out of favour until recently, yet it has resurged with the explosion of popularity surrounding gins in the UK (particularly London) at present. Yet, even so, there are still few Old Tom style gins readily available at the moment. A particularly impressive ‘Old Tom’ gin, however, is that from...