Holborn Dining Room brings life to Midtown April 29, 2014 @steve_dinneen RESTAURANT HOLBORN DINING ROOM 252 High Holborn, WC1V 7EN Tel: 0203 747 8633 FOOD Four Stars VALUE Four Stars ATMOSPHERE Five Stars Cost for three with cocktails: £187 THERE’S NOT a lot going on in Holborn, or “Midtown” as nobody outside of an estate agent’s office has ever called it. In actual Midtown, exactly [...]
Mix it up: Call forth the summer with the basil and lemon daiquiri April 29, 2014 @philip_salter PEOPLE in all societies find meaning in rituals, and all rituals exist for a reason – even if that reason isn’t instantly obvious. The Native American practice of dancing about in feathers to try to convince the rain gods to let is almost certainly a waste of time, but at least it looks like [...]
Club Class: how to turn a Bordeaux backwater into wine April 29, 2014 Bottle.opener@cityam.com WE ALL know that most “wine clubs” are nothing of the kind – just a bloke in a call centre with a sales target and a script. But not all of them… I’ve written about one or two in previous columns and the other night I came across another that piqued my interest. About [...]
Greek food, but not as you know it April 29, 2014 Dish of the day Mazi’s Spinach I CAME up with the name Mazi – which means “together” in Greek – because it’s a sharing concept. We wanted to bring people together. We’re also trying to modernise traditional Greek recipes so it’s a combination of the old and the new. It’s also my grandmother’s name so [...]
Restaurant review: One Kensington April 15, 2014 @steve_dinneen RESTAURANT 1 Kensington High Street, W8 5NP Tel: 0207 795 6533 FOOD Two Stars VALUE Two Stars ATMOSPHERE Two Stars Cost for two without booze: £100 I’m pretty sure Jason Atherton’s Berner’s Tavern featured prominently on the mood-board for Tamarind Collection’s new opening, One Kensington. They’re both big, high, grand old halls that have [...]
Let’s get cracking | Six of the best Easter eggs April 15, 2014 Fortnum & Mason’s hand decorated milk chocolate egg Billed as a “work of art in chocolate”, this oval marvel was hand-crafted in England. Available with a pink or blue ribbon, the egg is filled with chocolate treats. £39.95 fortnumandmason.com Harrod’s milk chocolate easter egg with dolly mix The deep groove detailing that runs down the [...]
Thali joins the growing Indian food renaissance April 8, 2014 @steve_dinneen RESTAURANT THALI 166 Old Brompton Road, SW5 0BA Tel: 020 7373 2626 FOOD Four Stars VALUE Four Stars ATMOSPHERE Four Stars Cost for two with some wine: £107 SO LAST month everything was plodding along nicely, all work, work, pub, pub, pub, taxi, take-away, bottle of red, quick whisky, sleep, aspirin, coffee, coffee, work, [...]
Mix it up: Take some time to consider the ryes and the wherefores April 8, 2014 @philip_salter WE LIVE in an age obsessed with what we eat. We want to know it all – down to whether the dead animal on our plate had an emotionally fulfilling life; if her parents were of good stock; and whether she suffered from dandruff. Yet many of us throw back alcohol without even knowing [...]
Restaurant review: Big Easy, Covent Garden April 1, 2014 Big Easy, 12 Maiden Lane London WC2E 7NA Tel: 0203 728 4888 Food: ★★★★☆ | Value: ★★☆☆☆ | Atmosphere: ★★★☆☆ Cost for two with wine: £150 @steve_dinneen “Crab shack” evokes images of rickety seaside restaurants held together by Sellotape and folksy charm; mom-and-pop joints that only make $7 a day but put a big smile [...]
The Bottle Opener: How wine buffs should spend that bonus April 1, 2014 CHATEAU Pontet-Canet, a lovely domaine in Paulliac but normally overshadowed by its more famous neighbours, has been making the headlines recently. Last week it announced the price of its 2013 wines, €60 a bottle in bond, the same price as 2012. So what? you might ask. Well you see, this is the week the world’s [...]