Food and Drink

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food With regards to eating out, the area surrounding the Greenwich Peninsula was, until last year, still very much a plot of inoperable, muddy wasteland. First popularised by the primarily pointless erection of a colossal tent stylised as The Millennium Dome, opening its doors in 2000 before eventually closing down just one year later, North Greenwich is now famously home to The O2 Arena, one of the world’s most popular live music venues. And alongside...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food 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. Cielo Blanco – Exmouth Market First opened in Leeds, Mexican restaurant Cielo Blanco is set to join the likes of Dirty Burger and Pizza Pilgrims in Exmouth Market as of this month. Launching as the restaurant’s first London outpost, Cielo Blanco is inspired by the Barbacoa markets of Oaxaca and although the new...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food When we think of the Scottish Hebridean Island of Islay, whiskey is generally the first spirit that comes to mind. An industry which, after agriculture, provides the island’s second largest employment, boasting a grand total of nine distilleries operating from the tiny island. And although renowned for creating some of the world’s finest single malt whiskies, Bruichladdich Distillery have, in recent years, began to distil their own gin – The Botanist – joining their...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Strength: 7% Brewed: Kounoso, Japan First established in 1823, it wasn’t until 1996 that the Kiuchi Brewery started to produce Hitachino Nest beer, formerly better known for its sake production. Located in the small Japanese village of Kounosu, the beer’s name is inspired by the Kounosu’s literal meaning – “nest” – and has become hugely acclaimed over the past 20 years for both its beer and the quirky owl logo that adorns every bottle. Taken from their core...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Islington’s dining scene is booming at the moment. An extension of two of the city’s biggest gentrification victims - Shoreditch and Camden –  Islington, although expensive, has remarkably avoided being forced into pretending to be anything that it is not. Instead, the borough has made quite a name for itself as a relatively central part of North London inhabited by a harmoniously dwelling blend of overpaid hipsters and ‘young professional’ couples with small children...

The winners of the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year 2016 have been announced. A joyful shot of a baker having fun with flour while making bread by British photographer Mark Benham has seized this year’s crown. Benham was presented with a £5,000 prize in front of an audience of 400 guests at a glittering Champagne Taittinger reception packed with celebrities from the food and photography world at the Mall Galleries, London last night. “Over 7,000 images and films were entered this...

Image courtesy of Brooklyn Brewery. By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Strength: 5.6% Brewed: Williamsburg, Brooklyn, USA Set up in New York during the late 1980s, Brooklyn Brewery was inspired by Steve Hindy’s stint as a Middle East-based journalist, having befriended a number of Saudi Arabian diplomats that would ply Hindy with their flavoursome beer brewed at home, given the strict Islamic laws against alcoholic beverages. Upon returning to America, Hindy began to brew his own beer at home and...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food With National Amaretto Day fast approaching, taking place next week (Tuesday April 19th), this week’s featured recipe works in accordance with the day of commemoration. With Disaronno having become the world’s most globally famous brand of amaretto, it seems fitting to enjoy the evening with an original Disaronno Sour: a remarkably simple recipe that uses three easily obtainable ingredients, combined to create an extremely pleasant drink. Add the sugar syrup, stir and garnish with...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Located within a Hoxton backstreet away from the main drag, acclaimed bartenders Ryan Chetiyawardana and Iain Griffiths opened The White Lyan a couple of years ago, reinstalling life into an old East London pub. At present, the drinking scene in London is remarkable, especially in the east, yet as is the case with most anything, although already spoilt for choice, the city’s most discerning drinkers are constantly searching for new dens to frequent, bars that...