Why Engawa is an unusually well thought-out restaurant March 17, 2015 In Japan, the fax machine is still king of the office. While the western hemisphere abandoned it at the first whiff of email, the Japanese persevered, appreciating the personal touch that comes from a hand-written note, even if that note has been broken down into a series of blips and hisses and reassembled somewhere far [...]
The latest gimmick (or the next big thing): Cheese and coffee March 17, 2015 How does a new restaurant make its mark on a London foodie scene already reaching saturation point? There’s the old fashioned way: serving great food at a reasonable prices. And there’s the 21st century way: coming up with a gimmick, a weird pairing, some novelty way of serving or ordering food, something to make people [...]
Restaurant review: Typing Room is a local with verve March 10, 2015 On the ever-spinning carousel that is the London restaurant scene, there are inevitably winners and losers. When Nuno Mendes packed up Viajante to help create London’s most papped eatery, Chiltern Firehouse, it seemed Bethnal Green would be one of the losers. But the space he vacated – the old town hall off Cambridge Heath road, [...]
Spoil your mother with foodie treats March 10, 2015 Balthazar’s Mother’s Day Goodie Bag Forget flowers, send your mum a gourmet breakfast in bed instead. £30, 24-hour notice required, 020 3301 1155 British hero menu at Skylon Three courses of comforting classics at the Royal Festival Hall’s restaurant on Sunday. £45, skylon-restaurant.co.uk Jazz brunch at Northall Boogie down with mother this brunchtime at the [...]
Rib-thumpingly good beef: STK’s sticky shortrib March 10, 2015 Barry Vera on the rib dish that keeps his discerning STK customers coming back for more. Ribs were an obvious choice for STK because of the American influence, but I wanted us to create something a bit better than your standard sticky ribs that get all over your fingers. I wanted something that you could [...]
Gastro events to keep foodies happy in the run-up to spring March 3, 2015 From the best grilled cheese sandwiches in London to the World Food Market in Devonshire Square, there are plenty of great culinary events taking place this month CINNAMON KITCHEN: Brighten up your winter by throwing paint at your colleagues or friends at Devonshire Square’s Cinnamon Kitchen, which will have a dedicated “party pod” to get [...]
Mix it up: Fire up afternoon tea with some gin in your teacup March 3, 2015 Ritual is one of life’s pleasures. Whether it’s the morning coffee or the whisky before bed, familiarity breeds contentedness. The best thing about rituals is that they’re easily appropriated. Even if you’ve never celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas or Holi, there’s nothing to stop you giving thanks or presents. Of course, some rituals are better than [...]
The Ivy’s 100th birthday refurbishment: What does it take to reinvent a classic restaurant? March 3, 2015 On 5 January, The Ivy closed its doors. Then it took them off completely. What was probably the most iconic restaurant in London – the hangout of choice for everyone from Joan Collins to Damien Hirst – is now a building site. Planks of wood straddle gaping holes in the ground, wires dangle overhead and [...]
The National Theatre’s head chef Simon Flint on organising chaos February 24, 2015 There are two main challenges to running the restaurants at the National Theatre: people have very high expectations because the theatre is so good, and they’re often in a hurry, so we need to serve great food quickly. Our restaurants are open at other times, but pre-theatre – which is 5–7.30pm – is very much [...]
Mix it up: How vermouth, like the Negroni, is experiencing a comeback February 24, 2015 Each generation rebels against the values and fashions of the last, often unaware that they’re drawing on the fashions of their grandparents. Take the Negroni. It’s now the height of cocktail sophistication, but the chances are your grandparents knocked them back like alcopops. And it’s not just the Negroni – people are starting to drink [...]