Tag Archives: italian food

Win Dinner for Four + Two Bottles of Wine at Vapiano

Vapiano is a great value restaurant with pasta starting from just £6.95 and all pasta, sauces, pizzas and salads made completely fresh in-house everyday. It’s quite a feat, especially when you consider that 27,000 customers are served each week across its trio of London outlets alone. Want to add to the impress count of Vapiano’s happy pasta and pizza fans … and have your meal for even better value than usual (as in for free)? Keep reading for a chance to win dinner for four with wine at one of the Italian restaurant group’s London outlets. Continue reading

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Le Vie della Zagara: Ceramic Dynamic Caltagirone

Caltagirone was one of those places where soon into my time there I started wondered about the price of local property. Could I afford to chuck it all in and relocate? How could I make such a transition work – and what kind of work would I even be able to do if I actually did settle there? Such a feeling of immediate attraction to a place often used to overwhelm me when travelling in my 20s and early 30s. It’s a less frequent – but much deeper and more exacting – experience when it hits me these days. No, I don’t think I’ll actually up and move to Caltagirone (and I very much love my life here in London), but that possibility lingers still in my thoughts as I remember it. And I sorely hope I’m don’t have to wait too long to return there for further exploration. Continue reading

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Piadabar: New Italian Takeaway in the Heart of Soho

Piadabar is a new Italian takeaway on Bateman Street in Soho that serves authentic piada (Northern Italian flatbread), traditional cheeses and cured meats, amazing homemade desserts, excellent espresso and more. It’s a brilliant spot to drop by for a quick sandwich or snack – whether on your way to work in the morning, during lunch or even after a late night out playing weekend warrior (Piadabar is open until 1am on Friday and Saturday nights). Continue reading

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Win an Assortment of Positively Good For You Olive Oils

Still resolved to stick with your new year hopes for a healthier lifestyle even as 2015 gets well settled in? Good for you! Positively Good For You actually. To help you maintain your momentum and enjoy the taste and the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, here’s an opportunity to win a selection of Positively Good For You olive oils from southern Italy. Continue reading

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Healthy and Quick Italian-Japanese Fusion at Beiriso in Holborn

Recently opened Italian-Japanese fusion eatery, Beiriso, brings a tasty assortment of lunchtime and on-the-hoof dining options to the hectic streets of Holborn that’s bound to woo passers-by with affordable prices and a mostly health-conscious selection of food and drink. Continue reading

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Best Restaurants in London – 2014

Most of these ‘best of lists’ I’m doing have been compiled with some degree of difficulty often leaving me feeling guilty for excluding somewhere excellent that for whatever reason was nudged out by another place. However, making a concise and definite list of my favourite few London restaurants visited over this past year was an absolute breeze as five fantastic eateries clearly did stand out from the rest with respect to quality of food and overall dining experience. Continue reading

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Theo Randall’s Pasta and Wine Menu (Great British Chefs)

Theo Randall at the Intercontinental is THE place to head to for an upscale dinner focused on basic quality ingredients with a no-fuss approach to bringing out the best in Italian cuisine. Continue reading

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Win an Assortment of Positively Good For You Olive Oils

My experience has been there’s never too much olive oil in the kitchen – especially when it’s top quality, extra virgin and free! Enjoy the taste and the benefits of the Mediterranean diet with this opportunity to win a selection of products of Positively Good For You olive oils from southern Italy. Continue reading

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Win a Pasta e Sughi Christmas Gift Box from Carluccio’s

The gracious folks at Carluccio’s have offered (for a second year in a row – grazie!) to share a free Pasta e Sughi gift box valued at £29.95 with one tikichris reader. A Christmas gift to inspire the chef in you, this fantastic prize includes three delicious pasta and sauce pairings plus a recipe book by Antonio Carluccio! Continue reading

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Fresh Pasta Masterclass with Giovanni Rana – 17 September at Giovanni Rana Restaurant, NW1

Maker of Italy’s most popular pasta brand, Giovanni Rana will be visiting his Regent’s Place restaurant on the 17th of September to host an exclusive pasta making masterclass and teach a small audience how to make fresh filled pasta from scratch. Continue reading

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Recipe: Spaghetti Puttanesca

An opportunity to sample a selection of especially delicious olives led to an opportunity to cook one of my favourite dishes: spaghetti puttanesca. As the name suggests, this dish is quick, easy and cheap … and oh so satisfying. Continue reading

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4 Foodie Festivals in Italy This Summer (OneTravel)

Anytime is a good time to visit Italy, especially if you are a foodie! And this summer promises a delicious array of events for folks keen to have as many gourmet experiences as possible during their Italian vacation. Here’s a … Continue reading

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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

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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. RHS Chelsea Flower Show Did you … Continue reading

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Pizza Union, Super Fast and Budget Friendly Pizza in Spitalfields

Kemey and I dropped by for a midweek early evening dinner at new(ish)ly opened Pizza Union near Liverpool Street for a taste of its “fire-baked” and “super fast” stone oven pizzas. And? We were pleased with this all day pizza bar’s no nonsense approach to offering customers something tasty and quick at a great price. Continue reading

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Recipe: Parma Ham and Spaghetti Frittata

I love frittatas and reckon the southern Italian recipe for what’s essentially an egg and pasta pie is among the ultimate of comfortable foods. It keeps for a few days and is a fantastic leftover, reheated or even cold. Continue reading

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New Regional Wine & Cheese Menu at Theo Randall at the Intercontinental

Allow me to commence this rave by saying that Theo Randall’s Head Sommelier, Yuri Gualeni, is a frickin’ genius and Chef Randall is a very wise man indeed to let Gualeni do his thing. Case in point: the young sommelier’s new wine and cheese pairing that’s been “designed to be a journey through Italy’s terroir and traditions.” I tried it last night and loved every moment. Priced from £24 per person – and tailored to guest preferences – the menu includes four Italian wines paired with four regional cheeses. Continue reading

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Free Italian Cooking Class for Two at Cookery School This Saturday

Do you love Italian cooking but find that your version of al dente leaves you and your dinner guests feeling all disappointed? Here’s a chance for you and a friend to participant in an All Day Italian cooking class worth £300 in total this Saturday at Cookery School near Oxford Circus. Keen? Keep reading and buon appetito! Continue reading

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Augustus Harris, Venetian Style Bàcaro in the Heart of London’s Theatreland

An uncomplicated menu of pronounced northern Italy flavour; an equally concise and decidedly Italian list of wine and drinks; a stylish wood and copper bar that’s as cosy as it is elegant – there’s a lot to love about Augustus … Continue reading

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Best Restaurants (Everywhere Else) – 2013

To say I ate and drank well this year does not begin to describe how delectable 2013 was for me. Both in London and beyond, I had the pleasure of experiencing some of the best meals outside the home I’ve … Continue reading

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Best London Pizza – 2013

To say I ate and drank well this year does not begin to describe how delectable 2013 was for me. Both in London and beyond, I had the pleasure of experiencing some of the best meals outside the home I’ve … Continue reading

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Best London Restaurants – 2013

To say I ate and drank well this year does not begin to describe how delectable 2013 was for me. Both in London and beyond, I had the pleasure of experiencing some of the best meals outside the home I’ve ever eaten. Here’s a list of the ten London restaurants I enjoyed visiting the most over the past 12 months along with a few extra honourable mentions. Keep an eye out for more posts over the coming days listings my favourite London cheap eats and pizza places, as well as the ten best restaurants I visited outside of London this year. Continue reading

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Reminder: Win Seasonal Pasta Christmas Hamper from Carluccio’s Today! #BuonNataleUK

Okay. So I’m just back from a rather epic week-long foodie ramble across the north of Italy. Yes, I had an amazing time. Soon enough, I’ll be writing about all the delectable highlights I experienced and sharing some top tips learned along the way. Keep an eye out for plenty more posts about my trip. Until then though, if you have a craving for some cibo Italiano but can’t getaway before the festive seasonal, don’t forget to enter my latest competition for a pasta hamper from Carluccio’s. Continue reading

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Win a Seasonal Pasta Christmas Hamper from Carluccio’s

Carluccio’s is a fantastic one stop resource when Christmas shopping for the foodies in your life, whether you’re browsing for authentic Italian foods in-store or shopping online for the best of Italy brought straight to your door, with a new next-day delivery service. Treating friends, family and colleagues to Carluccio’s selection of hampers, gift boxes, cakes, biscuits, sweets and chocolates is an excellent way to ensure the people most important to you have a deliciously buon Natale this year. To find out more about all the yummy festivities happening this Christmas at Carluccio’s plus the chance to win one especially scrumptious Christmas hamper for free, just keep reading! Continue reading

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Sweet Thursday: De Beauvoir Town Pizzeria Pleases Any Day of the Week

Sweet Thursday is a new(ish) pizzeria and wine shop in De Beauvoir Town. The shop’s unusual name pays homage to a novel by John Steinbeck. Look it up. As far as I’m concerned the Sweet Thursday folks could call their friendly establishment Sour Monday, and I’d still rave about it. The pizzas are proper and the atmosphere ideal for a casual meal any day of the week. Continue reading

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Mozzarella and the City: Where to Get the Good Stuff in London (OneTravel)

Mozzarella di Buffalo (buffalo milk mozzarella) has become something of a celebrated cheese in London lately with new mozzarella bars opening and fine dining establishments featuring it prominently on their menus. A good number of quality delis, pizzerias and restaurants around town now carry the proper white stuff. Here’s a look at a few of the best. Continue reading

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Mozzarella Month at Sartoria, Savile Row

The masterclass – conducted by Head Chef Lukas Pfaff and his mozzarella supplier, Andrea Livi of Bianca la Bufala – was a delicious opportunity to sample fresh and top of the line mozzarella di buffala along with a range of similar southern Italian cheeses such as smoky scamorza, proper pizza topper fiordilatte, and gorgeously creamy burrata. Continue reading

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Venerdi (Blue Tomato)

The pizzas coming out of the oven during my recent lunch at Venerdi were just those sort of ideal Neapolitan style pies: crisp outer crust with a slightly soupy interior. Nothing fancy. Just right. What I had for my lunch certainly met my palate’s preferences and exceeded my wishful expectations. If I’d had my Venerdi pizza while in Italy it wouldn’t have tasted out of place. Continue reading

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Venerdi, a Very Welcome New Pizzeria and Italian Restaurant on Chatsworth Road, E5

Not quite two months old, there’s nothing particularly fancy or especially novel about Venerdi (well, aside from the half of a Fiat 500 mortared into the restaurant’s interior back wall) – just a superb selection of pizzas, pastas and classic Italian comfort food dishes. The vibe is friendly, as are the servers and even the patrons (an all-ages cross section of pleasant local yocal types). Continue reading

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In Search of London’s Best Tiramisu (CheapOair)

Lusciously layered Savoiardi biscuits dipped in coffee with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone cheese, and flavored with marsala wine and cocoa – a dessert dish of tiramisu often provides a great litmus test for determining the merits of an Italian restaurant. Too bad it’s served at the end of a meal! Here are but a few of London’s most moreish tiramisu offerings. Continue reading

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Volpetti, a Truffle Lover’s Salumeria in Rome (CDCLifestyle)

Volpetti is a lovely family owned salumeria specialising in all things tartufi alongside a quality assortment of cured meats, home made pastas and all sorts of other Italian delicacies. Here you’ll find a gorgeous selection of freshly prepared dishes here as well and a deli counter stacked high with freshly baked pizza slices, calzones and panini as well as an array of potential gifts for all your gourmet friends back home. Continue reading

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Pizza Cut Romana Style (OneTravel)

Finding a place that serves this humble delicacy isn’t hard to do. As you might imagine, there are a plenty of pizzerias in Rome. Most of them make more than decent pizza that’s certainly worth spending a few euros on as a snack. But it’s always worth evaluating what’s on offer. Continue reading

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In Parma … in London

Just under a year old, Fitzrovia restaurant, In Parma, has been bleeping wildly on my foodie radar all this time. I finally got round to having a meal there earlier this week, and I’m happy to report that my visit was just as delightful, delicious and autentico as what I experienced in the actual city of Parma itself. Continue reading

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Rome’s Tartufo Wonderland: Volpetti (OneTravel)

Like truffles? You’ll love Volpetti! And no, I don’t mean the little chocolaty bonbon kind of truffles, rather the earthy, mushroom-y kind. However, if you happen to like chocolaty Italian treats you should still probably keep reading as this lovely … Continue reading

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Moreno at Baglioni London Hotel Review (CDCLifestyle)

The newly launched Moreno at Baglioni restaurant situated inside Kensington’s lush Baglioni London Hotel sees two Michelin star Italian chef, Moreno Cedroni, share his avant garde Italian cuisine for the first time outside Italy. Read my complete review at the Comte des … Continue reading

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