Food and Drink

By Chris Hemmings, (@hemmch) Whilst Mexican may not be top of everybody’s list of ‘eat out’ spots, Barrio Central has revamped, and is making a strong case for you custom. With the re-opening they’ve really mixed things up with their broad new range of simple, tasty dishes, ideal as a preamble to a night on the town. It’s an intimate venue, particularly upstairs, and certainly not too fancy. The decor is loud and adventurous, but there’s a decent array of cocktails...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Set up as the brainchild of Oslo-based food lovers David Carter Shinn and Christian Isaksen, Neeach is the first social network built exclusively for food lovers, having officially launched last month. Jumping on board as part of a growing trend that focuses on online communities, Neeach is an open network for like-minded UK food lovers to connect and share trends, ideas and opinions all in one place. What’s more, adhering to the open nature...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Brewed: San Francisco, California Strength: 6% ABV As was the case with last week’s pick, our beer of the week is, once again a seasonal beer from America. Brewed by Anchor Brewing Company – America’s first craft beer source, it’s unsurprising that the Californian brewery’s autumnal favourite is made using maple leaves, paying homage to the native Californian tree. Blending two caramel malts, pale malt and a hint of maple syrup, what’s most prominent...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food It comes as no surprise that five of the six new pubs included in Michelin’s Eating Out In Pubs Guide for 2016 are in West London. While most classic London pub ideals are based on those in the East end, but when it comes to great 21st century London pubs, plenty have been cropping up in the West over the past couple of years, and now there’s a brand new contendor to rival such...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic  Take Interstate 5 through Seattle and you will find yourself traversing one of the most iconic coffee trails in the World. Heading downtown you pass Elm and Slate Coffee Roasters on 2nd Av before hitting the behemoth Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Pike Street. You skirt Vitrola and Stumptown Roasters and the renowned Ugly Mug café heading north, accounting for a huge swathe of the coffee supply chain in America and world-wide. Seattle’s rise...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic If there was ever a meat in need of a bit of PR TLC it’s pork, and it’s right now. A week after a report by the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer was revealed and the meat, a staple part of the British diet, is still reeling after researchers placed processed meats such as sausages and bacon in the same category of cancer risk as tobacco and asbestos....

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Just seconds from Mayfair’s Grosvenor Square, sandwiched between Oxford Street and Berkely Square, Avista holds one of the most prestigious dining destinations in central London. Opened as a rustic yet contemporary Italian restaurant a few years ago, the a la carte menu is now particularly contemporary, matched with an impressive wine list of mainly Italian fine wines. Many of the area’s higher-end Italian restaurants are remarkably pretentious, but thankfully this is not the case...

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. Big Easy Bar.B.Q & Lobstershack – Canary Wharf Opening new restaurant that’s "reminiscent of a turn of the century dock-side warehouse with all the intrigue and excitement of goods shipped from Southern states of America and the rest of the world", Big Easy Bar.B.Q & Lobstershack will be arriving at Canary...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Tying in with Halloween weekend – not forgetting the Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations - this week’s cocktail recipe is a devilish twist on the classic Disaronno Sour, created by Disaronno and Tia Maria brand ambassador Rod Eslamieh. Featuring a touch of Tequila and of Agave, the El Diablo Sour is made with three chillies to add a real fiery kick to the drink that’s sure to prove a huge hit across the...