Meeting the Lady of the Grapes in Covent Garden. Tucked away on Maiden Lane, almost opposite Rules, is a charming new(ish) wine bar with a focus on female winemakers. Lady of the Grapes is the brainchild of Parisienne, Carole Bryon, who set the place up to help redress an inherent male balance in the wine […]
Paris Food Tour with Eating Europe
Hip Eats and Backstreets – a Paris Food Tour. One of the best ways to get under the skin of a city like Paris is by taking a walking tour. For my money, the best walking tours always involve food – not just because I love to eat but because with a food tour there’s […]
Plate – Restaurant, Bar and Bake – Shoreditch
Plate – Arnaud Steven’s first Restaurant at M by Montcalm, Shoreditch: With a CV that sounds like a Michelin star in the making Owner and Chef Director Arnaud Stevens has previously worked with Pierre Koffmann, Gordon Ramsay, Jason Atherton and Richard Corrigan. I was curious to explore his newly opened Plate restaurant, located on the first […]
The Perfect Tarte Tatin – and the cheat recipe!
Professional Tarte Tatin from Galvin Brothers vs the cheat version: Earlier this year I was invited to take part in a competition to make the perfect Tarte Tatin. Unfortunately, I was in France at the time, but one of my friends did take part – and amazingly, he won! Ed Benson (who I’ve known for […]
Bon Vivant – French restaurant review
This new restaurant in the heart of Bloomsbury offers diners an authentic experiénce française. With the UK bracing itself for an upcoming Brexit, 2017 may seem a strange time to open an unashamedly European restaurant in the heart of the capital, but Bon Vivant hopes to add a little joie de vivre at a time […]
Classic Coq Au Vin Recipe
Coq Au Vin – A Classic Recipe from my Childhood: Now I’m well past my forties, I’ve become a firm believer that fifty is the new twenty. Despite that, I increasingly find myself spotting things that were significantly different when I was growing up. There are certain foods which really seem to have changed in terms […]
The Ivy Cafe, Wimbledon
The Perfect Bistro in Wimbledon – The Ivy Cafe: Wimbledon Village is charming, chic and can be a little expensive. I have no problem at all with pricey restaurant menus if the quality of the food warrants the cost to the consumer. But, in those ever-so chi-chi parts of London like Wimbledon, it’s easy to […]
A Foraged Feast at Hotel Benvengudo.
Building Tradition with Terroir – Hotel Benvengudo: One of the highlights of my last visit to Provence was a trip to Brantes to go foraging with Les Aventurières du Goût . So, I am well aware of the wealth of edible plants and flowers growing in the region. Hotel Benvengudo, though, is a fabulous four-star hotel […]
Gratin Dauphinois with the Panasonic CS-894 steam microwave
Simple and Quick Gratin Dauphinois Recipe: The Panasonic CS-894 steam microwave has so many more features than a conventional microwave. It really does speed up the cooking process even with dishes that you might normally expect to need hours in the oven. This year, Spring seems to be rather late, so I’m craving comfort food. […]
Lunch at l’Escargot, Soho – Review
L’Escargot Restaurant and Club, a Soho classic. It seems that ‘Old Soho’ is having something of a resurgence at the moment. Have the foodies of London finally tired of queuing for burgers? I have a feeling that trends in the restaurant world follow trends in fashion – and both are influenced by the state of […]