Category Archives: Wine

Win a £150 Gift Card from Pocket High Street for Valentine’s Day

I’ve teamed up with the folks at PocketHighStreet.com again to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a £150 gift card to spend at the best independent shops in London. Continue reading

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Win a #LevantineValentine Dinner for Two at Ceru

Would you like to have a tasty dinner with a special someone at Ceru? I’ve teamed up with the restaurant to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a free dinner for two with welcome cocktails and carafe of wine at this new restaurant with a gorgeous menu Inspired by the flavours of the coastal eastern Mediterranean. Continue reading

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Eneko at One Aldwych

I could taste with each bite how Chef Eneko Atxa earned his three Michelin stars at his Bilbao restaurant, Azurmendi, with intriguingly flavourful and beautifully plated food and how his London restaurant’s Head Chef, Edurne Martín Delgado, executed Atxa’s vision with craft and precision. Continue reading

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Best London Bars and Pubs of 2016

London! You know how to quench a thirst. My Best of 2016 series continues with a taste of my favourite bars and pubs in London. Continue reading

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Best Bars of 2016 (Excluding London)

What a year! Ready for a drink? Might I recommend having it in style at one of these fabulous bars? They’re the best I came across in 2016. Continue reading

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Best London Restaurants of 2016

The London Dining scene of 2016 seemed markedly better that that of the past couple of years before it. But maybe that’s more reflective of me and my reasons and opportunities to eat out. Continue reading

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Win Panettone and Prosecco from Carluccio’s

Hoping to end the year on a beautiful buon Natale note? Here’s a delicious and bubbly competition to help! I’ve teamed up with Carluccio’s to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a panettone filled with a prosecco flavoured cream plus a bottle of prosecco. Continue reading

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Radio Alice | Pizza | Hoxton Square

Radio Alice is a new pizzeria opened in Hoxton Square. The approach to serving pizza is unique. The results are delicious. Continue reading

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Ormer Mayfair

Michelin starred chef Shaun Rankin’s upscale restaurant attractively set downstairs at Flemings Mayfair Hotel – Ormer Mayfair – brings a refined and rich taste of Jersey to London. Seafood lovers and fans of dining with formal flair take note! Continue reading

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Good Stuff #61

Good stuff and lots of it! Here’s the low down on some fine things to see, sip, savour and more – all of which I’ve recently come across and thought were worth sharing with you. Enjoy.

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Arnaud’s & French 75 | #TCEatsNOLA

First up in my series of New Orleans in 18 Eats is the French Quarter’s 98 year old Grande Dame of creole cuisine: Arnaud’s. A quick note before we dig in … To be sure, I had clear favourite meals … Continue reading

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Win a Three Month Wine Subscription from Le Petit Ballon

Le Petit Ballon, the top wine subscription service in France, is now in the UK. Ready to find the wine you love? I’ve teamed up with Le Petit Ballon to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a three-month subscription (two bottles per month and more). Continue reading

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Sideways Detour to Solvang | #TCTikiTour

Continuing with the More part of our California Tiki Tour & More, Kemey and I made our way to sunny central coast city of Solvang – just up the road from Santa Barbara and about a 100 miles north of Los Angeles. Continue reading

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QP LDN

Fine Southern Italian cuisine – and exceptional wine – is on impeccable display in Mayfair’s luxurious QP LDN. Continue reading

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Win Six Bottles of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference South African Wines

Did you know that all of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference South African wines are Fairtrade? And as I discovered at a recent tasting, they’re all delicious too. Here’s an opportunity to taste the difference for yourself with a chance to win six bottles of Taste the Difference South African wines for free. Continue reading

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Big Fun, Big Flavour, Big Sur | #TCTikiTour

Nestled snug in the wooded seaside splendour among all this scenic beauty is tiny Carmel-by-the-Sea, our first stop out from San Francisco Continue reading

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They Started It: Where to Enjoy Public Food Fights! (Going Places)

Check out these fun, sticky, and messy food festivals from across the globe (but, really, they’re mostly in Spain for some reason). All are open to locals and visitors alike, but remember to bring a change of clothes, a healthy appetite, and an easygoing attitude to endure a proper basting of your senses. Continue reading

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Win a Case of Graham Norton’s Own Sauvignon Blanc 2016

Graham Norton and the folks at Invivo Wine have kindly set aside a case of Graham Norton’s Own Sauvignon Blanc 2016 to share with one lucky tikichris reader. Continue reading

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Feeling Fino | Outro

As I wrote in my introduction to this series of posts, visiting Jerez felt like a dream. Being able to experience the city with hometown hero Tio Pepe made it one of the tastier dreams to come true for me as a writer since I started this blog. Continue reading

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Graffigna Gran Asado

Argentine winemaker, Graffigna, threw the meatiest of parties recently at Dinerama in Shoreditch. Continue reading

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Great Day Out + Great Wines Too | Hush Heath Estate & Winery

Hardly an hour out of London by train (via Charing Cross to Staplehurst) is Hush Heath, a 400 acre estate in the heart of Kent with vineyards, orchards, grasslands and ancient oak forests. The estate also owns a few pubs. Two are within earshot of the Hush Heath vineyards, in the villages of Goudhurst and West Farleigh. Both offer overnight accommodation. The others are in London, near Liverpool Street Station and Smithfield Market. Continue reading

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Feeling Fino: Win a Bottle of Sherry, Retro Poster and More from Tio Pepe

Hola! I hope you’ve been enjoying my series of posts about visiting Jerez de la Frontera in the sunny south of Spain to discover what makes Tio Pepe such a flavoursome and refreshing drink. Would you like to discover the taste for yourself? Keep reading? Continue reading

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Feeling Fino: Bars and Restaurants in Jerez

I ate, drank and propped up bars with such pleasure during my short stay in Jerez. For a town of hardly more than 200,000 residents and not an overwhelming lot of tourists passing through, there’s an awesome lineup of dynamic restaurants and bars. With memories of authentic Spanish food and drink, served with warmth and pride in evocative settings, my heart (and appetite) remains in Jerez. Continue reading

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Pure Chablis? Merci!

An expertly curated drinking session featuring Chablis wines paired with a dynamic range of dishes created by a trio of locally celebrated supper club hosts and presented at the swank digs of Studio by Andaz proved a delightful and delicious … Continue reading

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Feeling Fino: Montesierra Jamon Iberico

Since the late 1800s, family-owned Montesierra has been sourcing free range, acorn munching Iberian pigs from the dehesas (wooded scrublands) of the Sierra Morena mountains and curing them without additives or preservatives (just salt and mountain air) in the village of Jabugo and the city of Jerez. Continue reading

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Feeling Fino in the Viñedos and the Bodegas of Jerez

Key to understanding what makes a great wine so distinctive is discovering where it’s grown, produced and aged. In the case of Tio Pepe – that means discovering the wonders of Jerez, from the vineyards on its outskirts to its cellars in the heart of town. Continue reading

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Voyage de Fromage: Jura Food and Drink

Every meal of Voyage de Fromage was an extremely enjoyable experience of saveur locale presented with regional pride and kind hospitality. I can highly recommend the Jura as a delicious destination for even the most finicky of gourmet travellers. Continue reading

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Voyage de Fromage: Discovering the Comté Difference

Chief aim of my Voyage de Fromage (aside from eating lots of yummy cheese while checking out a part of France I’d not been to previously … oh and drinking gorgeous local wines) was discovering what sets Comté apart from the many other wonderful cheeses of France. Continue reading

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Voyage de Fromage: Consider Comté

Consider Comté, an unpasteurised, cow’s milk cheese made traditionally by farmer cooperatives to exacting standards in one of the most beautiful corners of rural France to the delight of gourmands across the globe. Continue reading

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Good Stuff #58

Good stuff and lots of it! Here’s the low down on some fine things to see, sip, savour and more – all of which I’ve recently come across and thought were worth sharing with you. Enjoy. Continue reading

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100-Layer Lasagna at The Cavendish

It had been about a year and a half since my last visit to The Cavendish. But I remember my dinner there fondly. So when an invitation to come back to try newly appointed Head Chef Douglas Santi’s “100-layer” lasagna, I was all for it. Continue reading

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Sideways: The Play at St James Theatre

If you loved the movie, to be sure you’ll love the play, adapted for the stage by original Sideways novelist, Rex Pickett and deftly directed David Grindely. Continue reading

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Rooftop Pop-Up: Santa Monica at SkyLounge

Santa Monica Travel and Tourism is hosting a Santa Monica themed rooftop pop-up bar at the SkyLounge rooftop bar at the top of the DoubleTree by Hilton Tower of London hotel. Continue reading

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Pall Mall Fine Wine

As its name succinctly suggests, Pall Mall Fine Wine is indeed a fine place to enjoy wine at a rather well heeled address. Continue reading

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Roux Farmhouse Brunch at Roux at The Landau

Luxury hotel weekend brunching in London just got a lot more luxuriously brunch-y with a new farm-to-table Sunday offering at The Langham London hotel’s Roux at The Landau fine dining restaurant. Continue reading

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