We Brits love our pasta! I don’t think it’s an understatement to say it’s become a staple in most homes, as a quick, versatile and delicious meal that’s usually very affordable to boot. So it’s a little surprising that there aren’t more specialist pasta restaurants – by which I mean restaurants focusing on fresh handmade ... Read more »
Since the first branch opened in Brixton in 2008, Franco Manca – now a chain with over 30 stores – has impressed both critics and regular customers alike with its simple menu of sourdough pizzas. Since then, the chain has first taken on investment from and later been purchased by Fulham Shore PLC, though I ... Read more »
Last week I was invited to a blogger dinner at Gatti’s, an Italian restaurant that’s recently moved to a new City Point location close to Moorgate station. The restaurant, which opened in Broadgate in 1989, is believed to have been named in honour of Luigi Gatti, a successful London front of house restaurant manager who ... Read more »
Husband and wife team Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi are well known for their eponymous Italian restaurant and caffe in London, their second restaurant in Bray and their London cookery school, La Cucina Caldesi, at which Katie is the principal. The couple also starred in a BBC series called Return to Tuscany, about the cookery school ... Read more »
Carluccio’s first ready made meals for supermarkets were launched in July. I was sent a selection to review. The Pappardelle con Ragù di Cinghiale (RRP £4) was good. The wild boar ragu was rich and generous in ratio to the pasta. I’m not sure if this is meant to serve 1 or 2; ... Read more »
A couple of years ago I was invited to a brand PR event hosted in a beautiful cookery school called Food at 52. Classes were run in the family home of John and Emily, located in a residential neighbourhood of Clerkenwell. The classic Georgian exterior masked an absolutely striking modern interior, decorated in a wonderfully ... Read more »
I have a confession. Until a couple of months ago, I had never made pasta. Not once! So when I was invited by Hubbub to attend a pasta and risotto course run by Anna Colquhoun, the Culinary Anthropologist, I was delighted. Anna is living the dream many hobby food lovers harbour. She gave up a ... Read more »
There can be few people who’ve not heard of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen, the project he established back in 2002 to help disadvantaged young men and women to train as professional chefs. I’d heard of it too, but didn’t know a great deal about it until I was invited to visit Fifteen Cornwall earlier this year. ... Read more »
L’Anima has been a favourite Italian restaurant of London food-lovers in the know since it opened its doors in June 2008. A translation of the Italian for ‘the soul’, it’s clear that owner Francesco Mazzei has certainly poured his heart and anima into this modern, sunlit space in the City. This Calabrian chef certainly has ... Read more »
Polpo opened last year amidst fevered blogger excitement – so many blog reviews were there that I assumed I must surely be the only blogger not to have visited. I hadn’t been put off by the hype so much as the very mixed reviews – whilst most people liked the restaurant overall, the feedback on ... Read more »
The Place of Onions, in old Lille. After last night’s rainstorm the intense sticky heat has broken and today is cool, breezy, fresh… I love it! A drop of… [more]
We went to Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire at The Void this morning, an amazing VR experience where we got to be Rebel Alliance members going undercover as… [more]