Our resident chef Mark Hix on what to do with all those extra prawns you’ve got lying around October 26, 2016 As a kid I used to fish for prawns in the autumn and winter months off the end of the pier in West Bay with drop nets. Occasionally it would be quite productive, but more often than not I would barely get enough for a prawn cocktail. Commercial prawn fishermen are hard to find down [...]
Tesco chairman John Allan admits prices WILL go up due to weak sterling and higher inflation October 25, 2016 John Allan, the chairman of Tesco, has admitted that prices will increase at supermarkets if the pound stays at its current level. The chain temporarily pulled some of its products, including Marmite and PG Tips, from its online stores earlier this month after its supplier, Unilever, demanded a 10 per cent increase in prices due to [...]
How one buccaneering family dominated the UK scampi market October 20, 2016 "At the tender age of 32, I got involved in buying assets from the receivership of what was the Whitby Shellfish Company”, says Graham Whittle, founder of Whitby Seafoods. From relatively humble beginnings, in just over thirty years, the business has gone from one that was sinking to the biggest producer of scampi in the UK, [...]
The White Horse review: A welcome return to the City for this well-loved gastro-boozer October 18, 2016 A traditional and rural looking pub that’s seemingly been airlifted from somewhere deep in the Sussex countryside and then dropped into a leafy square near Liverpool Street, the White Horse reopened earlier in the year after a full refurbishment. The new look sheds some of its rustic-chic charm in favour of clean, modern lines and [...]
What better excuse could you have for a G&T or six than International Gin & Tonic Day? Here’s where to drink up October 18, 2016 The Portobello Star 171 Portobello Road, W11 portobellostarbar.co.uk Journey to The Ginstitute, London’s second smallest museum sitting atop a 270-year-old pub on Portobello Road. Open since 2011, it’s also the headquarters of Portobello Road Gin, where you can learn all about the juniper drink’s rich history in London. There’s a chance to sample a tipple [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix explains how Goatober has crossed the Atlantic and is now converting British chefs on our windy shores October 18, 2016 Ginuary, Leek Week, Avocado Hour – if you can think of it, there’s a date in the calendar set aside to honour it. It’s all got a bit ridiculous, to be honest, and that’s why we pick and choose the foodstuffs we celebrate at Hix group to suit each restaurant. In case you missed it, [...]
Fancy something sweet? Here are the seven best chocolatiers in London October 11, 2016 1. William Curley Sloane Square William Curley is one of the world’s most renowned chocolatiers, having won so many awards he has no space left on his awards shelf. Top among his many honours includes the Academy of Chocolate's Britain's Best Chocolatier Award, which he has bagged an unprecedented four times. His dessert-bar near Sloane [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on how to spruce up your partridge with foraged berries October 11, 2016 The hedgerows are full of tasty Autumn fruits at the moment which often get completely ignored. I suppose if you live in the countryside you take it for granted but city-folk should be all over the blackberries, elderberries and wild blueberries that they can make into a great little free treat at a dinner party. [...]
New Nobu Hotel in Shoreditch says there’s nothing fishy about Brexit, is hungry for global tourists October 11, 2016 The team behind the upcoming Nobu Hotel in Shoreditch hope to capitalise on Britain’s tumbling pound by luring wealthy foreign visitors. The five-storey, 150-room hotel on Willow Street in Hackney – originally slated to launch in 2014 but delayed by “construction issues” – will finally open its doors in spring 2017, just in time for [...]
Bao Fitzrovia review: London’s most fashionable Taiwanese buns move into their biggest premises yet October 11, 2016 Working Lunch – BAO Fitzrovia 31 Windmill Street, W1T WHAT? A Taiwanese restaurant that’s as famous for its queues as it is for its cloud-like buns crammed with meat and fish. After freezing their ‘nads off waiting outside, diners are invited to cosy up on bar stools, tick off their choices on a paper menu, [...]