One of the major themes of my restaurant collecting this year involves expanding the catchment area. It occured to me last year when I felt like a tourist in Liverpool street station; circling it many times until I eventually found out that Andaz was just…
There was a time when Gordon Ramsay was the darling of the nation, the once protege who displaced his mentor, then the king of British gastronomy, Marco Pierre White. Like his mentor, he has achieved three stars and so much more. I remember my first…
Only the most romantic of cities could have given birth to the L’Entrecote restaurants. It has remained firmly a family business for the better half of the 20th century. The legacy belongs to the family of Paul Gineste de Saurs, the founder, who was then…
The last time Bruno Loubet was cooking professionally in London, I was apparently on scene to try his much praise innovative yet traditionally grounded French cooking. On that occasion, he was a guest chef for Pierre Koffman’s superbly successful Selfridges pop-up, which in 2009, had…
A little while ago, I met with Laissez fare, a fellow foodblogger for dinner and I walked away quite amazed with his wealth of knowledge regarding restaurants in London and otherwise. A kindred spirit and a gentlemen, my impression of this guy was that he…
One of the most memorable meals I had in 2009 was the newly opened Eastside Inn restaurant in Farringdon. The pride and joy of Bjorn van der Horst, formerly of La Noisette, the food was simply superb and cooking was of a high order. The…
And with a whimper of a bang, 2010 has finally arrived, Happy New Year folks. I trust everyone celebrated with enthusiasm and alcohol in equal measure. Myself, I watched the neighbours light up their backyard with a modest display. The lights, the sleeping in, ohhh…
Every now and again, something new comes to town sets off waves of gushing remarks and generates so much intrigue among the eaterati that one cannot help but to buy into the word of mouth. We’re human afterall, and have a vested interest in witnessing…
Soho could not be a merrier place. The colours of the rainbow adorn shop fronts and in this most celebrated of city underbellies – home to a myriad of eclectic restaurants – it is the default option to hang out with the cool kids, albeit…
I was half expecting a svelte Audrey Tautou to jump out from behind the red satin curtains and amaze us all with a bout of song and dance, such was the fantasy filled spectacle that Le Cassoulet exuded, oh and we’re in South Croydon for…
The scene is set against the neighbourly backdrop of Chiswick. Tranquillity seemingly dominating this part of West London, a lazy suburbia far removed from the frenzied cry of the urban jungle. Time for lunch me thinks.
I will never be able to afford the Martin 0M-28. The solid mahogany, the musky rosewood and that resonant, clear and crisp ring, I was John Mayer possessed strumming along to ‘No such thing’, now eternally burned into my memory from years of fandom. Achingly,…
