Food and Drink
Secret Chef – The joys of dealing with “eccentric” clients
I have spent two decades being a private chef for High New Worth (HNW) and Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) clients all over Europe and on super yachts. What I have become experienced at is keeping secrets. Here is what I remember about cooking for the Italian Genius and his Unbalance Canadian wife. To protect the innocent, the guilty and myself, nothing I tell you will be quite true. I'd been sent to an interview by my agency to meet the...
Beer of the Week – Weird Beard Brew Co. ‘Black Christmas’
Launched at the beginning of 2013, Weird Beard Brew Co. operates from a site near Ealing and produces a number of hop-driven beers alongside classic styles. With the aim to “satisfy, enthuse and be enjoyed by whoever the drinker,” Weird Beard offer a number of core beers as well as some occasional, specials and one-off brews that push creative boundaries. Brewed with Sorachi Ace hops from Japan and malted barley with the addition of cranberry juice, ‘Black Christmas’ is Weird...
Food & Drink Christmas Gift Guide
December is here, and with Christmas just around the corner we’ve compiled a gift guide of all of the best food and drink gifts to buy for your favourite foodies and drinks connoisseurs this Christmas. What's more, everything listed is available to buy online. Mac & Wild's Ready-to-Drink Scottish Cocktail Range Chosen from our favourite Scottish restaurant in London, Mac & Wild’s pre-mixed range of cocktails are an ideal stocking filler. Hand crafted in small batches by the restaurant’s own mixologist Luke...
Restaurant Review – Cinnamon Soho
It would be fair to insist that Westminster’s Cinnamon Club, first opened in 2001, is still one of the most breath taking spaces for a high-end Indian restaurant in London. That’s without even considering the food from Michelin-starred Executive Chef Vivek Singh. The chef’s food has become so popular, in fact, that two offshoots (Cinnamon Kitchen and Cinnamon Soho) have also been rolled out across the city in the past fifteen years. Just a stone’s throw from Liverpool Street station,...
A Homage To The Humble Sprout
If there was ever a vegetable that has suffered at the hands of an overwhelming lack of versatility the humble sprout would be it. Not only is the sprout usually just lobbed onto a plate simply steamed or boiled it is also often confined to just one meal a week or, prey, one meal a year. I mean, try to think back to a time when you ate sprouts as part of something other than a Sunday roast or Christmas dinner! It...
The Weekly Cocktail Recipe – Ray’s Bar’s ‘Spice World’
With December having arrived, the time has come to get into the Christmas spirit. This week’s cocktail recipe is a Christmas-themed drink from Ray’s Bar in Dalston. Opened by the team behind Dalston Superstore and Voodoo Ray’s, the bar’s drinks menu is designed by drinks consultant Shiv Lal, along with General Manager Waseem Akbar and Head Bartender Dave Miller. The ‘Spice World’, for instance, is a simple combination of on-trend rye whiskey, chai syrup, antica formula and a cream float...
Restaurant Review – L’Espadon at Ritz Paris
It is generally accepted that France is responsible for some of the best food in the world, so where better to start a culinary excursion than in Paris - home to some of the globe’s most highly regarded restaurants? First opened in 1898, the iconic Ritz hotel re-opened its revolving doors this summer after a lengthy multi-million-dollar refurbishment in attempt to drag the hotel kicking and screaming into the 21st century. And what with it being so easy to visit...
Breakfast to Bedtime: Inside London’s All-Day Dining Scene
When I was a student in Newcastle there was a famous bakery that used to open its doors in the early hours of the morning to feed boozed-up students returning from town. Devoid of kebab shops, pizza places or any other form of late night greaseathons in Jesmond the bakery did rather well out of early morning sales, and it didn't cost them to staff the operation because most of their bakers were in at the crack of dawn anyway. Their business...
Hypnotic Video Shows Mince Pies Rolling Off The Production Line At A Rate Of 720 A Minute
It's the first day of December and it's officially time to start posting Christmas related stories. A hypnotic video released today shows mince pies rolling off the production line at the Asda mince pie HQ in Barnsley, South Yorks, at the rate of 720 every MINUTE. The mesmerising video follows the process from start to finish as buttered pastry is piped down from a secret room onto the production line. Asda’s secret recipe of pre-mixed ingredients including fruit and spices...