Food and Drink

When opening a new restaurant in an area that’s surrounded with competition, balance between the space’s food and ambience is of immeasurable importance. Instead of contrasting with harsh discordance, each of these elements are (generally speaking) best when purposely designed to intricately work in harmony with one another, but without being too overworked. Chef Shaun Rankin’s Ormer in the basement of Flemings’ Hotel in Mayfair, for instance, is a prime example of a new restaurant to strike that balance with...

Although Japanese whisky has origins as far back as the 1920s, it’s only within recent years that the Japanese spirit has become such a global phenomenon. As a result, stocks from Suntory Distilleries such as Yamazaki and Hibiki are depleting in a struggle to keep up with demand, and their produce is now unbelievably rare and in turn expensive. In 1923, Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii began work on building Japan’s first whisky distillery in Yamazaki, on the outskirts of Kyoto....

Strength: 4.5% ABV Brewed: Ellon, Scotland Tired of a market dominated by industrially brewed lagers and ales, the team behind BrewDog set up the world’s first crowd-funded brewery in 2007. Now one of the UK’s most prominent breweries, operating from a site in Ellon, just north of Aberdeen, a community of over 35000 investors own shares in the business, with shares still available. And what’s more, the brewery that’s made for the people, by the people is still constantly striving to encourage...

Let’s face it, 2016 has been less than brilliant. Something to be thankful for, however, is the overwhelming number of remarkable restaurants to have opened in London over the past twelve months. We’ve compiled a selection of some of our favourites. Eneko at One Aldwych The first London restaurant from three Michelin-starred Eneko Atxa, Eneko at One Aldwych is an intentionally different entity to Azurmendi in Bilbao. Of course, the chef’s culinary expertise is delivered here, yet the ambience is...

Of all the central London neighbourhoods, none vaunt quite so many eating and drinking establishments as Fitzrovia. Though there are perhaps more restaurants, cafes, coffee shops and wine bars than there are people – the direct area has very little to offer in terms of other entertainment. Yes, Oxford Street is nearby but for any self-respecting Londoner the busy thoroughfare is a strict ‘no-go’ zone between mid-November and the end of January, once Christmas and the January sales have befallen....

Fry-ups, lie-ins and hair of the dog are among the top 20 hangover treatments Brits rely on the most. According to new research Brits will spend two years of their lives feeling hungover, with the average adult suffering one hangover a month – 12 a year. That means the equivalent of two years – or 724 days – will be spent recovering from the night before over the average adult lifetime. The study found water is the most popular hangover cure, followed...

Launched last year, Vintage Velvet is a new vodka created by Gabriella Thorpe, having previously gained significant knowledge of the drinks industry working for a high demographic wine journal. Inspired by a love of English spirits and the boom in popularity of English wine in recent years, Vintage Velvet is crafted with locally sourced Chardonnay grape juice to produce a unique double distilled spirit. As a result of the distilling process, this is the first vodka of this kind in...

For all the wonderful simplicity single menu demi-chains offer they are the anathema of fresh, seasonal and diverse cooking. In most instances you sense a replica version of the menu is likely stapled to the freezer to itemise the frozen boxes of readymade meals that line the shelves, and so it is that I have come to both be thankful for the straightforwardness but simultaneously cautious of the quality of any restaurant that champions such a system. Little Smoke is...

The problem with the term ‘Pan-Asian’ is the somewhat stereotypical model of a restaurant that often takes various dishes and techniques from the likes of Japan, China, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam and crams them all into the same shallow pigeonhole, often ending up with a result that’s less than authentic. Opened on the ground-floor at the back of Oxford Street’s huge Debenhams store, with an entrance directly opposite MEATliquor, Chi Kitchen is a ‘Pan-Asian’ restaurant with a menu that’s overseen...