Food and Drink

There’s something about a ‘City dining experience’ that I find very enticing. The concept conjures up notions of a Mad Men-esque lifestyle pushing ice cubes around a crystal glass of Scotch in some fancy boardroom before clinking flutes of Champagne in a high end bar and topping it off with an extravagant meal in an exclusive restaurant. It chimes of a day when work and play were more intermingled in the cosmopolitan parts of the World, and no one can...

Strength: 9% Brewed: Manchester, England Set up at the end of 2014, Cloudwater Brew Co. is a Manchester-based brewery that operates from an ex warehouse space, just a stone’s throw from the city centre. Initially inspired by a Copenhagen Beer Celebration, the brewery was set up with a respect for the changing of seasons at its very heart, specialising in producing a fine range of constantly changing seasonal beers. Following a string of successful double India pale ales from the brewery, the...

With the popularity of Mexican food having soared in recent years, it’s disappointing yet unsurprising that we’ve been subjected to so many culinary atrocities that pretend to be Mexican. In fact, thanks to a plague of simply foul Tex-Mex chain restaurants operating across the capital, many city dwellers have been led to believe that Americanised soggy burritos, crispy taco shells and lactic guacamole are the pinnacle of Mexican cooking. Operating from a neglected thoroughfare between Euston station and Camden Town,...

The first thing about the Rosendale pub, in West Dulwich, is it should have been my local. I, violin out time, tried to buy a flat on the same road, but got outbid. So I joined the ever-increasing ranks of 30-odd-year-old Londoners who failed to become homeowners. Anyway there is more to life than owning stuff, but I do regret not having this pub on my doorstop. Drinking alcohol and eating great cuisine is far more important than bricks and...

Ziggy the Piggy, North Carolina North Carolina, USA Sales of chalk will have hit new highs this weekend as thousands of vegans across the globe joined together in a collective ‘chalktivism’ event - a worldwide effort to help spread and celebrate the vegan cause. With the success of documentaries Cowspiracy, Earthlings and Forks Over Knives, the vegan movement has seen a 350% increase in the UK in recent years. Six years ago, James DeAlto, from Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, went...

A classic Scandinavian cinnamon bun recipe from chef Bronte Aurell.

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. M RAW - Victoria Having launched his second branch of M in Victoria Street last year, ex-Gaucho MD Martin Williams is set to launch M RAW – London’s first 100 per-cent gluten-free fine dining establishment – under the venue’s same roof this month. Since opening, M Victoria Street has been shortlisted as ‘Best New Opening 2016’ in...

Iconic whisky distillery Jack Daniel’s celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, and to tie in with the occasion, Master Distiller Jeff Arnett has created a brand new expression. A culmination of 150 years of making great whisky, Jack Daniel’s limited-edition 150th Anniversary expression is luxurious with sweet complexities of butterscotch and toffee joined by flavours of toasted oak and a smooth lingering finish. What’s more, to celebrate the milestone and the new release, Harvey Nichols stores across the country will...

Venturing out at the weekend for brunch has become incredibly popular in recent years, but with such a great number of restaurants jumping on board, so many of the menus have become implausibly predictable. First there are the various perfunctory takes on Eggs Benedict, from classic Royale and Florentine through to less authentic strands that employ the likes of pulled pork, or substitute English muffins with waffles. When “brunching” it’s also difficult to escape outbreaks of avocado pandemic and jugs...