A Culinary Step Back in Time at The Caxton Grill. If like me you sometimes wander round London looking out for its remaining Dickensian corners and imagining one’s ancestors swishing around town in their hooped skirts and crinolines, then the Victorian London tasting menu at the Caxton Grill is a treat. Rather than slavishly trying […]
Chez Antoinette Victoria – Review
A Lyonnaise in London – Chez Antoinette Restaurant. I love restaurants that have family history intertwined with the brand. Originally from France’s gastro-capital Lyon, designer Aurelia Noel-Delclos had a dream that she wanted to open a restaurant in conjunction with her hotelier husband Jean-Baptiste, a place that not only honoured her grandmother Antoinette’s cooking but […]
The Wellington Club
How a traditional members’ club is welcoming new guests. The Wellington Club has recently relocated from its Knightsbridge home to Jermyn Street, St James’s. Walking down this elegant street, surrounded by high-end men’s outfitters, I felt rather underdressed. But no sartorial airs and graces were on display when we arrived at the discreet door of […]
Caxton Grill at St Ermin’s Hotel – Review
Caxton Grill – a Relaxed Dinner in Refined Setting St Ermin’s Hotel is a rather grand hotel with a lobby which always reminds me of a wedding cake, resplendent with white stucco plaster with a sweeping marble staircase running up the centre of the space. Despite the grandeur though, it’s a remarkably accessible place, one […]
Asturian Month at Iberica Restaurants
Ibérica Restaurants Regional Spanish Cuisine – Asturias It’s difficult to overstate the influence of Spanish cuisine on British food culture; Ferran Adria’s El Bulli restaurant completely reinvented our conception of what fine dining could be, and at a less esoteric level the small sharing plate ‘tapas’ revolution that swept through Soho a few years is […]
Cottons Rum Shack and Restaurant – Vauxhall
The Caribbean in my Back Yard – at Cottons Vauxhall: I have a somewhat biased love for restaurants that are within walking distance. I have to confess Vauxhall is marginal – it’s around a half hour from home. But, it’s easier to walk there than rely on public transport and in any case, our very […]
Afternoon Tea at St Ermin’s Hotel
A Summer Garden Afternoon Tea at St Ermin’s Hotel, London: Sunshine on a day when I’m going to be reviewing an afternoon tea might not sound important. But, St Ermin’s Hotel, a stone’s throw from St James’s and not much further from Victoria, has a pretty first-floor terrace looking out over their courtyard garden, which […]
Omar’s Place – Review
Passport to Pimlico Occasionally something takes you by surprise. When asked to review Omar’s Place, a Pimlico restaurant, I didn’t have any real sense of what it would be like. I knew that Mallorcan born chef Vicente Fortea had an impressive CV that includes three Michelin-Starred Arzak in San Sebastian and one Michelin-Starred Plat D’Or in Mallorca; […]
M Victoria – Grill, Raw Bar, Club and Wine Experience
Exploring M Victoria: A year or so ago I was at the Regional Finals for the San Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year contest. I knew some of the entrants – in particular Adam Handling. But the contest was won by an ‘outsider’ for me – from a restaurant I’d never visited. It was George […]
An evening with Nacho Manzano – seasonal tapas at Ibérica, Victoria, London
From Asturias to London seasonal tapas featuring game at Ibérica, Victoria I was happy to attend the launch of the new seasonal tapas menu at Ibérica in Victoria. I had been to the restaurant before with a friend and really enjoyed the food and atmosphere. The head chef of the Ibérica group, Nacho Manzano who runs […]