Category Archives: Drink
Jack Daniel’s Christmas
Are you starting any new traditions this festive season or looking forward to adhering to some well-established favourites? However you plan to enjoy the wind down to the New Year, be sure to celebrate joyfully and drink responsibly. Merry Christmas. Continue reading
The Langham Afternoon Tea with Wedgwood
The Langham Afternoon Tea with Wedgwood historic home of the afternoon tea – and one of the most stylish venues I’ve yet to encounter in this town – The Langham London has collaborated with leading luxury brand Wedgwood to launch a new afternoon tea featuring a special menu of delectably dainty creations by Executive Pastry Chef Cherish Finden (one of my London foodie heroes!) inspired by and to be served alongside Wedgwood specialty teas in bespoke “Langham Rose” Wedgwood teaware. Launching across all The Langham and Langham Place hotels and ahead of The Langham London’s 150th anniversary in 2015, new tea offering is available now. Continue reading
Sunday Brunch at The Jones Family Project, Shoreditch
The Jones Family Project is an “ever-evolving restaurant, bar and social space in the heart of Shoreditch.” Keen to keep up with all the Joneses and their foodie doings (there’s actually no one behind this venue named Jones funnily enough), I dropped by this past weekend for a taste of the restaurant’s recently added Sunday roast menu and left satisfied and hoping the Sunday offering is one new evolution that will last. Continue reading
Elegant Japanese Dining at Kouzu, Belgravia
Japanese fine dining restaurant, Kouzu, opened with a hush of a soft launch (although apparently the Prince of Monaco had already caught wind and paid a visit) last week. Via an invitation extended by the restaurant, Kemey and I dropped by Saturday for what turned out to be a most elegant meal. Continue reading
The Hunt London Features Some of My Favourite Independent Businesses in London
The HUNT Guides are city guidebooks highlighting “authentic eating, shopping and lifestyle experiences” in a range of popular destinations with listings that are all independently owned. I contributed to The Hunt London, Third Edition which came out earlier this year. It was a delight to write about some of my favourite indie enterprises in London. Continue reading
Bite Me Pizza, Westbourne Grove
An invitation to try out a new Notting Hill pizzeria proved a more than satisfying reason for me to mosey more westerly than usual for one of my all time favourite foods – pizza! Bite Me? With pleasure Continue reading
Ethos Meat-Free Restaurant, Eastcastle Street
Looking for healthy and tasty meat-free food in an attractive setting? Next time you’re passing through Oxford Circus and hankering something good to eat, keep newly opened restaurant, Ethos, in mind. Continue reading
Copas Turkeys and the Art of Christmas
I’ve been a fan of Copas Turkeys for a few years. So when an invitation from the family run farm landed in my inbox to attend “The Art of Christmas” masterclass on preparing and presenting their delicious free range, plucked by hand and game hung turkeys, I RSVPed ASAP. Continue reading
Commune at Goodhood: Open-Faced Situationist Sandwiches?
Originally a small indie label fashion and lifestyle boutique on Coronet Street just off Hoxton Square, Goodhood recently crossed Old Street to reopen in a considerable bigger retail space on Curtain Road. Downstairs at Goodhood and just a few weeks old is Commune, a partnership between Chef Brett Redman (Elliot’s Café Borough Market) and Goodhood co-founders Jo Sindle and Kyle Stewart with an aim to serve “clean, healthy and really tasty food, juice and coffee with a focus on good quality and good value.” Continue reading
Recipe: Duck Mai Tai (Gressingham)
Here’s a recipe incorporating the elements of one of my favourite cocktails – the Mai Tai – and what’s fast becoming my favourite meat to cook with – duck! This ‘ducktail’ recipe calls for rum, but the alcohol cooks off leaving just its robust and sweet tropical flavour to meddle with the fruit juices and roasted almond yumminess. Continue reading
Follow Scotland’s Historic Malt Whisky Trail (OneTravel)
The world famous and one of a kind Malt Whisky Trail in Scotland passes through seven Speyside working distilleries, as well as a historic distillery and Britain’s only cooperage. Continue reading
Hotel Cafe Royal and Valrhona Team Up for Exclusive Profile 66 Chocolate
French chocolatier Valrhona has co-branded with London’s Hotle Cafe Royal to develop an exclusive new chocolate: Profile 66. Only available at the hotel, Profile 66 is the creation of Andrew Blas and a team of Valrhona tasters. Continue reading
New Restaurant Review: United Ramen, Upper Street
Ramen, ramen, ramen, ramen! Talk about a soup du jour! Londoners are slurping up this Japanese dish at a decidedly trendy rate. Newest noodles on the scene are those on offer at United Ramen, where I had a right tasty meal last week. Continue reading
5 Scan-tastic Reasons to Visit Sweden’s Koster Islands (OneTravel)
About a month back I had the pleasure of visiting the Koster Islands, Sweden’s most westerly populated (if only sparsely) islands. Just south of the Norwegian coast, it’s a rugged and beautiful part of the world and a great place … Continue reading
Win a Pair of Tickets to the bettane+desseauve Wine Experience London
The third edition of the bettane+desseauve Wine Experience London will take place 24 and 25 October at Saatchi Gallery where guests will have the chance to sample more than 400 of the best European wines on the market today. Tickets for the tasting run 30 quid a pop. But check it out! I’ve got ten pairs of tickets to share with you lucky readers. Continue reading
Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller Jeff Arnett at The Macbeth in London #spiritofjack
A few weeks back I had the esteemed pleasure of sitting in on a tasting with Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller Jeff Arnett. It’s funny to think that I grew up only a couple of hours’ drive from where Jeff does his magic but wound up meeting him on the other side of the Atlantic in an East London pub. Of course, as the ‘nose’ behind one of the world’s most famous brands (and what I reckon is Tennessee’s biggest export), I suppose it’s not all that surprising that the chance to shake hands and sip whiskey with Jeff might take place anywhere across the globe. Continue reading
Win Dinner for Two at Pont Street Restaurant – Courtesy of Zomato
So, a couple of weeks back I had a very agreeable Friday night dinner for two at Belgraves hotel’s Pont Street restaurant. And now – thanks to a team up with online restaurant discovery guide, Zomato – I’m offering the chance to enjoy the same delicious experience to one lucky reader. Check it out! Continue reading
Lobster Safari in the Koster Islands, West Sweden
The Koster Islands are situated off Sweden’s western mainland just south of Norway. It’s a beautiful part of the world – a rugged and ‘out there’ archipelago where wilderness and cultivation blend in such a way as to suggest that humans and nature actually can get along. Summer’s the main time folks visit this tranquil area, but I was there at the onset of autumn for the start of the lobster season. Lured by the prospect of catching (and eating!) the regionally renowned “black gold of the sea” lobsters for myself from one of the cleanest of nutritionally rich fjords in Scandinavia, I tagged along on a Lobster Safari “activity and dining experience” offered by the lovely little Hotel Koster on the island of Sydkoster. Continue reading
Review: Pont Street Restaurant at Belgraves Hotel
Before making my rez for Friday night din-din at the Belgraves hotel’s Pont Street restaurant, I skimmed the web for a few reviews. Ouch! I’m not sure whether what I read was egregiously unfair or if Pont St subsequently got its act together, but my experience was way better than those perused online. Continue reading
Good Stuff
Good Stuff and lots of it! Here’s the low down on some fine things to see, sip or savour – all of which I’ve recently come across and thought were worth sharing with you. Enjoy. Continue reading
The Victoria, Mile End: Everything under (and on) One Roof!
Recently renovated and reopened under new ownership, The Victoria brings a taste of farm-to-table dining and hopeful community spirit to Mile End. I had lunch here about a week and a half ago and really enjoyed it. Here’s quick look at a few of this pub’s many highlights. Continue reading
Did Madrid: Más Favor!
A mid August weekend in Madrid did Kemey and I both a world of good and turned out to be a fantastic way to celebrate her birthday in style. Being there for the Fiestas de la Paloma ensured the city was just that much turned on and revved up for fun. But I reckon anytime of year is an excellent time to explore this spirited Spanish city. Continue reading
Did Madrid: Lunch at Botin, the Oldest Restaurant in the World
Restaurante Botin was founded in 1725, which according to the Guinness Book of Records makes it the oldest restaurant in the world. Such a claim to fame ensures a steady flow of customers coming in and out its rustic wooden doors – the vast majority of whom are holidaymakers from abroad. As is the case, the Gonzalez family who keep this culinary marvel in operation could probably rest on their laurels, serve some schlocky semblance of traditional Spanish food, and still have vacationers queued up to pay just to say they’d been there. Nonetheless, the family reckons the restaurant is not just some monument to how things once were but a vital benchmark of Madrileño cuisine. Specialities include suckling pig and Castillian lamb – both roasted in the restaurant’s original wood fired oven. Continue reading
Did Madrid: Flamenco Soul
Our visit to Madrid was for sure a foodie escapade. But there’s much more to Madrid than tapas bars (and that’s a lot for a gourmand like me to get my head around). Without doubt the most memorable experience Kemey and I shared during our weekend away was our own private flamenco lesson. Olé? Oh yeah! Continue reading
Win a Month’s Worth of Vouchers from Innocent Drinks
Yep, you read the title right. I’ve teamed up with everybody’s favourite juice and smoothie maker to offer one lucky reader a chance to enjoy a month’s worth of vouchers redeemable for Innocent Drink products – smoothies, juices, fruit tubes, veg pots and the newly launched noodle pots. Continue reading