How Instagram conquered the antiques world January 20, 2022 It was a classic case of love at first sight. Over breakfast I’d spotted my ‘forever-table’ on Instagram, and by that afternoon my partner and I were en route to a residential street in Brixton to pick it up. The caption gave some dimensions and the price; the seller’s bio read ‘shop via the grid’. [...]
Wining and dining: SeaSons in Mayfair is a seafood delight January 19, 2022 Mayfair is still reeling from ongoing Covid restrictions – a stroll down the once-thriving Bond Street will confirm that – but there are reasons to venture back. One of them is new seafood restaurant SeaSons – see what they did there? – a classically stylish Mayfair dining experience with no meat on the menu whatsoever. What is [...]
How the wine-in-a-can revolution is hotting up thanks to The Uncommon January 14, 2022 Canned wine has had a refresh. The UK market alone is now already worth over £3.5m and has grown 125 per cent over the last two summers. Now the sector has produced the first UK winemaker to achieve B Corp status. The Uncommon has been certified by B Lab, the not-for-profit behind the B Corp [...]
The Langley in Buckinghamshire is a staycation dream January 12, 2022 Take a trip to The Langley in Buckinghamshire to discovers a Grade II historic property given a 21st-century makeover. The weekend Don’t be put off by your drive through Slough – the route to The Langley in Buckinghamshire is a touch misleading. Within a few minutes you will find yourself in an entirely different world.Once [...]
Dining Diary: A tasting in Sky Garden showcased Great British wine January 12, 2022 I always recommend the Sky Garden to anyone visiting London. It has 360 degree views across our glorious city, with three bars, two restaurants and plenty of space to meander through the indoor garden or on the outside balcony. Fenchurch is the fancier of the restaurants, sporting its own wide terrace where I sipped Simpsons [...]
Wine Wednesday: Hail a Cab from South Africa January 11, 2022 South Africa does wine well. Be it the elegant wines of Elgin or the rustic innovations of the Swartland, this is a country that can produce a bottle to suit anyone’s inclinations. The international media has gone into spasms of delight about the New Wave of winemakers in up-and-coming areas but Stellenbosch, the largest Wine [...]
Beach Bum Rum: How a Scotsman is making Mauritius’ favourite tipple January 10, 2022 A Scotsman living in Dubai is behind two award-winning rums made on Mauritius, the last home of the dodo. He is now hoping they will give the island’s long-established Pink Pigeon a run for its money. Born in Macduff in Aberdeenshire, David Adamson swapped wine making in England for rum-making, with some success: his Beach Bum [...]
Best of 2021: J Sheekey remains a masterclass December 31, 2021 Before the pandemic, the London food scene was all about the hot new thing. Upon meeting up with friends who consider themselves part of that scene, the first question would always be “where have you eaten recently?” or “have you been to so-and-so yet?” (this paragraph is the journalistic equivalent of a subtweet to half [...]
Best of 2021: Bob Bob Ricard City reopens December 30, 2021 The more things change, the more they remain the same. In June of 2019 I was at the opening of Bob Bob Cité, the sister restaurant to Soho’s Bob Bob Ricard, which I wrote, with no little hyperbole, was the best place to eat in the City of London. It was a wildly expensive venture, [...]
Waitrose makes headway into home delivery through Mindful Chef partnership December 29, 2021 Supermarket Waitrose has partnered up with Mindful Chef, a British company that delivers recipes and ingredients to people’s homes, in a bid to capitalise on the trend propelled during the pandemic. The news comes as the online food delivery industry has become increasingly popular during the pandemic, and just weeks after Asda announced its own [...]