Hello 2014! …So how’ve you been? I’m guessing you’re still very disciplined adhering to your dry January schedule to sweat off those holiday excesses. My 2013 was a bit of a whirlwind. Lots of distractions, not enough time, but there was enough time to put…
Who comes up with all this fiction just for a restaurant? This is the persuasive language Oliver’s people have generated for his latest project: “Ours is a union of ideas, traditions, and of people.” “Where wood-fired flatbreads meet great British flavours.” Lookintomyeyeslookintomyeyes. What’s with the…
About a year ago, a new kind of Italian restaurant swept into the smoke. It moved the goal posts, threatened the old guard and breathed new life into this country’s image of Italian cuisine. And it was mightily affordable. The decor bare, yet efficient, the…
One can only admire Russell Norman, Richard Beatty and their merry team for breathing revolutionary life to the London dining circuit over the past two years. It kind of reminds me of the Star Wars prequels, how as each chapter unfolded, came the buzz, the…
I have never know Queen’s Park in its old days of notoriety, and since uprooting from West London to this part of town; I’ve always felt the safely suburban leafy surroundings was an entirely nice neighborhood to live in. Kilburn is another story altogether however.…
When I think about spending big on meals, where multiple stars are involved, I think French, I think Japanese, I think miniscular gastronomy, water-bathed, raw and beetroot. Rarely does the thought of an expensive Italian meal ever cross my mind anymore these days. I put…
If ever there was a restaurant synonymous with the term institution, that restaurant could well be Zafferano. Entering its sixteenth year of service, it is regarded by all of us, as one of the key purveyors of high Italian cuisine, in London. It boasts a…
I had a lovely lunch when I visited the then pop-up version of Dock Kitchen in October last year. It was part of Stevie (and kitchen buddy Joe Trivelli)’s mobile restaurant project titled “The Moveable Kitchen” which began at the height of the underground
Those of you interested in Angela Hartnett’s (MBE) progression as a chef, rejoiced at the news that she has finally left Gordon Ramsay to make her own name, though truth be told, the charismatic chef has already built a formidable reputation over the years. There…
Ain’t it just a beauty? I couldn’t help but show you photographs of this lovely little Italian on the corner of Fifth Avenue, toward Kensal Green. Since my move to North London, I have been actively seeking out goodies in the vicinity. And I think…
By now you’ll have tried and failed to book a table at Trullo, the latest budget conscious, laid-back, Italian inspired restaurant to open and to become over-subscribed, in London. Owned by Jordan Frieda, once the front of house at River Café, and chef Tim Siadatan,
And so the legend came to pass, that Otto would become the very first pizzeria in London to crust with cornmeal. Purists (and Italians) will balk at the mention of this heretical abomination, even though the cornmeal base (polenta) is more Chicagoland than Neopolitan. There…
