Pie and Mash – an authentic taste of London While I live ever more distant from my London birthplace, that doesn’t wholly quell its siren call. There are many things I don’t miss, but one thing I do is Pie and Mash, proper London food. There is, sadly, an ever-dwindling collection of emporia in London in which to eat it. …
Wine Faults and Flaws: A Practical Guide. Book Review
Wine Faults and Flaws: A Practical Guide. Book Review Wine Faults and Flaws is a brand new book by Keith Grainger*. It took ten years to write and was published on 10 June 2021. This book does what it says on the tin and bridges the gap between heavy science and popular readability whilst retaining scholarship. You’ll find plenty of …
Share this Post
Hix Oyster and Fish House – in Memoriam
Hix Oyster and Fish House – In Memoriam Over a decade ago, one of the many highlights of walking part of the magnificent South West Coastal Path was a stop-off in Lyme Regis and a chance to dine at the Hix Oyster and Fish House, a high-end restaurant established by Mark Hix in 2008. In short, it was both a …
Share this Post
FICO Eataly World. From Farm to Fork in Bologna
FICO Eataly World. From Farm to Fork in Bologna. FICO Eataly World opened in Bologna in November 2017. Though I was in Bologna exploring the nearby Colli Bolognesi wine region, unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to visit it. Instead, I vowed to come back and, nearly a year on, I did. I went twice. This special place is all …
Share this Post
A brilliant Winemaker Dinner in the Alto Adige
A brilliant Winemaker Dinner in the Alto Adige One of the best Winemaker Dinners that I’ve been to was earlier this year in the Alto Adige (Südtirol), where Italian and German cultures meld together. The Winemaker Dinner took place in the town of Merano, some 30 kilometres north of Bolzano in Italy at the “Ansitz Plantitscherhof”. It’s one of the 29 …
Share this Post
Macdonald Leeming House Hotel, Ullswater
Macdonald Leeming House Hotel, Ullswater As of July 2017, the Lake District national park became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In so doing it became the 31st UK site, a “cultural landscape reflecting the combined works of nature and man”. The beauty of the landscape plus thousands of years of agriculture and industry has inspired generations of artists, poets and writers. …
Share this Post
St John Bread and Wine – offal needn’t be awful
St John Bread and Wine – offal needn’t be awful Back in 1994, Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver opened the St John restaurant. It’s still around the corner from Smithfield Market in a once dilapidated part of Clerkenwell. The emphasis is on British recipes, simplicity and seasonality. It also includes all the meats now ignored by squeamish Brits. Yes, we’re …
Share this Post
Terre à Terre in Brighton – bohemian like me
Terre à Terre in Brighton – bohemian like me Terre à Terre in Brighton is possibly the finest vegetarian restaurant in Britain. It was opened in 1993 by Amanda Powley and Philip Taylor. Since then, their vision of fine dining has become legendary, a celebration of the ethical and sustainable, without meat or fish. It’s been six years since I …
Share this Post
Sunday Lunch at The White Swan, Wighill
Sunday Lunch at The White Swan, Wighill Sunday lunch is the great British Food tradition for friends and family, regularly voted as one of the things that most define Britishness. We went to The White Swan at Wighill in North Yorkshire recently to see whether they could serve a Sunday lunch that could rival the essence of home-made cookery. The …
Share this Post
Veeno, an Italian Wine Café in the UK
Veeno, an Italian Wine Café in the UK It’s not every day that you encounter a genuinely different take on Italian food and wine in Britain. That Veeno manages this admirably is down to director Nino Francesco Caruso and his business partner Andrea Zecchino. They set up their small chain of 20* restaurants in 2013, starting with Leeds and Manchester. This …
Share this Post