A few weeks ago, I was invited to All Star Lanes in Westfield Stratford to learn executive chef Steve Collins’ chilli con carne recipe and a few cocktails from mixologist Adam Seidman. The master classes were filmed as part of some new promotional material for Westfield Stratford’s website, though thankfully I’m only visible briefly! ... Read more »
The first time I made chicken liver paté, I was quite nervous. A food friend encouraged me by sharing their recipe, and I was amazed at the ease and tastiness of the result, not to mention how inexpensive it was. Since that time, I developed my own version, a chicken liver and port paté that ... Read more »
We had a marvellous fortnight in Lebanon, as will already be clear from my recent posts about the overall trip and our day with Abu Kassem. After our Taste Lebanon tour was over, Pete and I stayed on in Beirut for 3 extra days, basing ourselves at The Phoenicia hotel, part of the InterContintental group. ... Read more »
Paul A Young has opened a new store in Soho. This is good news. Actually this is great news. Actually this is bloody fantastic news! Why? Because, for me, Soho is a lot more convenient than either his Islington Camden Passage or Bank locations. Which means more fabulous Paul A Young chocolate in my life! ... Read more »
It was some time ago that I went to visit the Divine office near Tower Bridge to find out more about Fair Trade in general and what I dubbed Extra Fair Trade – how Divine do business. In a nutshell, whereas most Fair Trade chocolate producers pay the FT premium for the cocoa, but then ... Read more »
The Scarlet Hotel‘s restaurant is in the very capable hands of Ben Tunnicliffe, formerly of The Abbey in Penzance, where he earned a Michelin star for his cooking. Ben gives a frank, informative and sometimes amusing account of his cooking career on the hotel’s website. He also reveals his food philosophy which boils down to ... Read more »
I grew up in the culinary wastelands of Luton. My love of good food came from my parents and family friends. Not only did mum teach herself to cook dishes from around the world, we also encountered all kinds of new tastes and techniques whilst travelling overseas during the holidays. My dad enjoyed eating out ... Read more »
There is no greater compliment I can give to a restaurant serving North Indian food than that it reminds me of my mum’s home cooking. So it’s not an accolade I give lightly. It is one I give to Delhi Grill having finally made my way to this new Chapel Market Indian restaurant in Angel ... Read more »
Back in May, we spent a lovely long weekend in Dorset for Pete’s birthday. As the visit was all about great local food, I was keen to visit local producers and learn about their products, their history, their processes and not least, the people. Truckles George and Amanda Streatfeild of Denhay Farm were kind enough ... Read more »
Books on growing your own fruit and vegetables seem to be ten a penny at the moment, as publishers leap onto the latest bandwagon, keen to milk the home farming phenomenon. Often dull and weighty tomes, they add little to the existing excellent literature already available. Celia Brook Brown’s New Urban Farmer makes a refreshing change, ... 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]