St Emilion wine has a chequered reputation but I’m discovering it can be worth a little TLC August 2, 2016 Sometime later this summer, when I have ploughed my way through another 100 pages of paperwork and weaved through a bewildering slalom of French bureaucracy, I will have realised a dream. I am buying a house in Bordeaux, a few miles from St Emilion. It sits in a small hamlet in Entre-Deux-Mers, surrounded by well-tended [...]
Viognier once dwindled to just eight acres of vines; thankfully now this varied wine is getting the props it deserves August 2, 2016 Viognier is one of my favourite summer whites and one that grows on me with every bottle. It has a complexity, a range of floral scents and flavours and even a slight muskiness that demands attention. It’s a sobering thought that we almost lost this harlequin grape completely. Viognier is a pain to grow, prone [...]
Galvin at The Athenaeum: the brothers are on top form again with their latest Mayfair venture July 26, 2016 I’d been planning a self-congratulatory column when I reached 100 restaurant reviews for City A.M. but I took my eye off the ball and now we're up to number 105. When the centenary klaxon should have been sounding, I was too busy drooling over the tinned black pudding at Six Portland Road. So I’ll spare you [...]
Mark Hix on how to make Middle Eastern cheese labneh at home and keep it as a snack July 26, 2016 You have probably had labneh in Middle Eastern restaurants as a part of a mezze selection, but have you tried actually making it yourself at home? I'm a big fan and quite often have it hanging in my fridge. It's a really tasty and cheap alternative to a soft goats cheese or curd. It's a [...]
Working Lunch review: Searcys at The Gherkin has turned itself into a brasserie on the French Riviera for six weeks July 26, 2016 Searcys at The Gherkin 30 St Mary Axe, EC3 WHAT? Fine dining atop everyone’s favourite pickled cucumber, with impressive views over the City through its iconic lattice beams. Retro stripey sun loungers and carts packed with Provencal produce decorate the 40th floor bar in honour of its six-week Summer Riviera pop-up, which also comes with a [...]
Bronte restaurant on The Strand review: the Pacific Rim-inspired menu takes few risks and makes few mistakes July 19, 2016 "How do you find enough new restaurants to review a different one every week?” asked my father during our monthly chat. Bless the old fool: he lives in Derbyshire and can’t be expected to know any better. He’s oblivious to the fact you could bankrupt yourself visiting a new restaurant every night of the week [...]
Albion Clerkenwell review: The café chain’s latest opening is a maelstrom of dining, bars, oysters and pies July 19, 2016 The newest and largest site of café chain Albion which includes a maelstrom of offerings from dining areas serving seasonal British food to an oyster bar and what they call a pie room. Which is a special room where all the pies are kept. WHERE? 63 Clerkenwell Road. On the corner of the old Turnmills building [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on that most overlooked of ingredients, olive oil July 19, 2016 How much do you care about oil? I see lots of people with various types in their kitchens but I’m a little dubious about whether they use them for their unique qualities and flavour, or just because they happen to be the first out of the cupboard. Olive oil is a good case in point [...]
Oval Space Terrace: the hip bar, club and events space in east London launches a brilliant new food venture July 12, 2016 We pick out the best new spaces to eat around London. This week Oval Space Terrace, the hip east London venue that now sells restaurant-quality food five days a week. WHAT? If you live in east London and you don’t know about Oval Space, you’re doing it all wrong. It’s an events and club space with a [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on the incredible weed samphire, and how the bounty of the ocean can yield salty treasures July 12, 2016 Most people who know samphire, love it for its culinary qualities. Not many people know, however, that back in the 16th century, it would have been used for making glass. It’s a member of the glasswort family, plants whose ashes could be used for making soda-based glass as opposed to the now more common potash. [...]