Behind the scenes at the Decanter World Wine Awards July 2, 2021 There you are, browsing bottles and trying to decide what to buy next, when you notice a sticker telling you that this is a “Decanter World Wine Awards Winner”. Well, we all love a winner, but what does that really mean? And should we care? I went behind the scenes at the Decanter Awards to [...]
Sake fizz isn’t just big in Japan: Here’s all you need to know July 1, 2021 Bottle-fermented sparkling sake – “Awasake” or foam sake – is seeing a surge in popularity outside of Japan. To underline the point, French masterchef Alain Ducasse has partnered with Japanese brewery Shichiken in Yamanashi to launch a new sparkling variety that offers an international taste journey in which “Japanese elegance meets French art of living”. [...]
It’s still Champagne, just without the bubbles June 30, 2021 Still or sparkling? This question, normally asked when you order mineral water, could soon apply to Champagne. “Bollinger avec gaz ou sans gaz?” According to the latest figures from the Comité Champagne, despite – or perhaps because of – the Covid situation in the US and Europe, Champagne is fizzing again. Lanson chairman François Van Aal [...]
Restaurant delivery boxes are here to stay: We review 48 of them June 29, 2021 Before the pandemic, most top chefs would have turned their nose up at home delivery services. There’s the lack of control, the logistical nightmare, not to mention the wafer-thin margins. But necessity being the mother of invention has led to dozens of outstanding delivery services, and even with restaurants back open and looking forward to [...]
Where to eat in… Peckham: Breakfast, lunch and dinner, sorted June 28, 2021 In this latest instalment in our series charting the best places around London to grab breakfast, lunch and dinner, we come to Peckham. For years Peckham was a well-kept secret in the foodie world, home to a host of independent bars and restaurants that rivalled any of their north London counterparts. But over the last [...]
Yorkshire is taking on France and Scotland in the booze battle June 28, 2021 Yorkshire has just opened its first wine road and a whisky road may be next. The county now has 16 commercial vineyards and nine wineries, producing 100,000 bottles a year. The area had pedigree as a wine-producing region: the Cistercians of Kirkstall Abbey were early winemakers there, as were the Benedictine monks at Askham Richard. [...]
Where to eat in Marylebone, from crab donuts to pizza and bongos June 25, 2021 Marylebone is a strange old place, isn’t is? Not quite Mayfair, not quite Soho, not quite Fitzrovia. It’s a place you drift listlessly through en route to the train station. But it can also be a destination in itself, especially if you’re in the market for somewhere to eat. Let us guide you through a [...]
Staycation time: Take a break at Locke in East London’s Dalston June 25, 2021 The government’s new travel traffic light system is now crystal clear. We have “green”, which means you shouldn’t go, but it’s totally okay if you do. There is “green watchlist” which means you can book your holiday if you like, but don’t expect it to actually go ahead. There’s “amber”, which is for those countries [...]
Renegade wine made in Bethnal Green – with YOUR face on it June 24, 2021 Warwick Smith is Bethnal Green’s first and so far only winemaker, and probably the only one that puts his customers’ faces on the bottle. “We ask people to put themselves forward every year and we pick a selection. The idea is that the wines stay with the people. If we make the same wine in [...]
Thrills, spills and belly laughs: Inside the only vineyard with a helter-skelter June 23, 2021 If we can’t get to the beach or find the sun to get some colour in our faces, perhaps a vineyard will do. According to GB Wine, organizers of English Wine Week, booming sales of English and Welsh wines show our ever-growing thirst for home-grown pleasures. Lockdown has led to a spike in domestic wine [...]