Food and Drink

There’s a saying in the media industry that if you’re going to screw over one PR, you might as well screw over them all. Actually there’s not, but there really should be. Late last week I let rip on a Meantime Brewery campaign after receiving their latest gimmick that is a blatant attempt to pull the wool over the consumer’s eyes, a move not too dissimilar to the big players in the craft industry per se. Today, it’s whisky and the...

Created in collaboration between The Botanist (the first and only Islay Dry Gin) and Blixen bar in Spitalfields, 'The Vermillion Botanist' is this week’s cocktail recipe. Following an immersive foraging expedition with an expert forager and The Botanist’s Brand Ambassador – Abigail Clephane, Blixen’s bartenders were challenged to produce an innovative cocktail that would ‘reflect their wild side’, as well as challenging other bartenders from across the country to create their own foraged cocktails. Each participating bartender foraged their own...

The banks of the Thames are awash with good restaurants in central London, but if you want something special it lies around 35 nautical miles down-river. Bray on Thames is a village a set on the banks of the river a stone's throw from Maidenhead and five miles north-west of Windsor. Other than being home to renowned film studios and a glorious ecclesiastical parish, it is contains two of the four three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the United Kingdom. The Fat Duck, run by Heston...

It is a subject that I’ve touched upon before, but after four years, the thought of paying in excess of £30 to visit the top of The Shard still baffles me. Indeed, the view across the city is exceptional, providing that the weather is clear and the clouds are higher than the 800-foot viewing platform. However, the main view to be excited about is that of the city’s other very close skyscrapers, Canary Wharf, Parliament, the London Eye and maybe...

An Italian restaurant in London has made an attempt at the Guiness World Record for ‘Giantipasti’ with an antipasti board featuring a mouth-watering array of 62,100g of ingredients! The board, which includes 16,000g of cured meats, 13,000g of cheese and 13,000g of vegetables, stretches the length of the entire restaurant at a whopping ten metres long, and is looking to set the first ever record of its kind. It took a dedicated team three hours to build the feast for guests to...

Brewed: Greenwich, London Strength: 5% ABV Founded at the turn of the millennium in a small flat in Greenwich by Brew Master Alastair Hook and some like minded friends, Meantime has since become one of the leading breweries in the British Craft Beer revolution. Having set up their state-of-the-art brewery in 2010, just a stones throw from the Prime Meridian, as well as opening The Tasting Rooms - a venue that offers the chance to tour, drink and shop in the company’s...

Taking place for a limited time only, Dom Pérignon will host a fifteen-minute experience in the Lanes of Mayfair this week. Encapsulating the unique history and alchemy behind the creation of Dom Pérignon Champagne, the installation entitled ‘Transformation’ will take guests on a multi-sensory journey through the exploration of sight, sound and taste – kicking off with a tasting of Dom Pérignon vintage 2006. On entering, senses will immediately be heightened as participants indulge in the taste of ‘P1’ 2006...

It’s Sunday evening, and as Leicester Square drains of tourists and locals head home to prepare for the working week, one London hotspot is just getting warmed up. London has embraced the NFL with open arms since the first live game was played in 2007, boasting an international community of fans living in a city that has streets emblazoned with livery and three live games a season being hosted in its impressive stadia. And if there’s one place to really...

Having previously launched bars that include The Hoxton Pony and Baroque at the Playboy Club, Gerry Calabrese – son of world-famous barman Salvatore Calabrese – has created Hoxton Gin. Distilled with coconut and grapefruit, it would be fair to say that his riff on gin is exotic and somewhat wildly contemporary. Combining Hoxton Gin with Aperol, Sauvignon Blanc, lemon and grapes, the ‘Hoxton Cooler’ is one of the signature libations associated with the spirit and we have the very simple...