Top chef Richard Corrigan on his great love of native oysters September 23, 2021 Native oysters would definitely be on the menu for my last meal. When I was growing up in the west of Ireland, we’d often have a plate of native oysters, with some soda bread and butter. The flavour is so distinctive it immediately takes me back to those days, so it’s something very special to [...]
Working Lunch: LPM is an excellent Mayfair dining destination September 23, 2021 We sampled the Niçoise delights of Mayfair’s LPM Restaurant and Bar and found an excellent, ingredient-led kitchen that’s perfect for entertaining clients. What is it? Formerly known as La Petite Maison, the recently rebranded LPM is the hip new iteration of the lauded restaurant that opened its doors in 2007. Serving traditional Niçoise dishes, it’s [...]
Tudor-inspired gin Six Wives is gin fit for a king September 15, 2021 Six Wives is a small-batch, hand-crafted gin inspired by traditional botanicals. It is the brainchild of Simon Marjoram, a marketing director, who had the idea while walking his two Schnauzers down the towpath towards Hampton Court. Its bottle is a nod to the fate of Henry’s spouses – divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. And [...]
Booze like Bond at this immersive dining experience September 14, 2021 Monte Carlo, the French Riviera, New Orleans, the Caribbean: these are the places we associate with James Bond. Portobello Road, not so much. But this stands to change, for over the next few weeks the bohemian enclave of Notting Hill will be aswarm with Sunspel polo shirts, Persol eyewear, Goodyear-welted Crockett and Jones Norwich boots, [...]
Why there has never been a better time to be a young chef September 13, 2021 I spent a lot of time in our City restaurants last week and it finally felt like finally the City was coming back to life. Coq d’Argent, 14 Hills and Madison were all packed. It was warm and sunny and the recovery from Covid in central London seemed to be getting into gear. But behind [...]
This Kentish winemaker has just released the UK’s sweetest wine September 7, 2021 When you think of the great sweet wine producing regions you probably think of Sauternes in Bordeaux, the rolling hills of Austria, or the warm and humid vineyards of Hungary. But climate change is slowly but surely rewriting the rulebook for winemakers, and a Kentish producer has just released a late harvest wine with 122g [...]
What does it really take to win the title Master of Wine? September 7, 2021 There are only 419 living Masters of Wine in the world, and a further 77 who are no longer with us, which means that more people have been in space than have successfully passed this rigorous test of wine academia. This total includes the three Masters of Wine who joined the ranks just last month, [...]
Sotheby’s Jamie Ritchie on the future of wine auctions September 3, 2021 If Jamie Ritchie were on Desert Island Discs, which is not beyond the realms of possibility, his luxury item would be his gavel. “In 1994, as part of Sotheby’s 250th anniversary celebrations, I was given a wooden gavel. It has been the only gavel I have ever used. It has required some occasional re-gluing as [...]
Last chance to join the English Whisky Festival this Friday September 1, 2021 There is still time, if you hurry, to get tickets for the two-day virtual English Whisky Festival, which runs from 3-4 September. Organized by Exploring English Whisky, the event gives you the chance to sample the handiwork of 17 of the country’s 30-plus whisky makers. Some are well known: the St George’s Distillery at Roudham [...]
Why a bespoke wine cellar might not cost what you think September 1, 2021 So maybe you have a burgeoning wine collection: a couple of cases of Super Tuscan you picked up for a good price en primeur, a Château Lafite you’re saving for a special occasion, some Cabernet Franc that won’t be at its best for another six or seven years. What you need, my friend, is a [...]