The best places to celebrate Lunar New Year in London January 29, 2022 Next Tuesday will see celebrations across the world for the Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year. Each year is represented by an animal, with 2022 being a year of the tiger – specifically a water tiger, said to represent strength and bravery. Most importantly, it’s an excuse for a nice party, with [...]
The whisky diaries: Tasting a very special 39-year-old January 27, 2022 Some whiskies want to get you drunk, some want to challenge you, but The Singleton 39 Year Old is a super premium single malt that really wants to take you to dinner. While the first release in The Singleton’s Epicurean Odyssey series, a 38-year-old single malt launched in 2020, tasted of baked apples and caramel, [...]
For casual wine tasting there’s no better place than Humble Grape January 27, 2022 If you are looking for a fun and simple way to get out of your wine comfort zone then let me recommend Humble Grape. With various locations around London, I stopped into my local one in Battersea for a casual dinner and discovered ‘Tasting Tuesdays’ where, for only £15, one can try four wines selected [...]
Britain’s top gastropubs: Which London bars won big? January 27, 2022 Suffolk’s Unruly Pig has been voted the UK’s best gastropub. The ‘Britalian’ pub-restaurant in Bromeswell is one of five East Anglian pubs in the annual Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs List for 2022, with 18 in London and the South East being recognised. “This list is the gold standard. It’s the business. To be a [...]
How Vivino democratised wine January 26, 2022 For wine drinkers Vivino has been a disruptive and democratising force. I have often seen supermarket shoppers whip out their phones to check the rating and flavour profile of a wine before making a purchase. Two heads are better than one so they say, so just think what a community of 54m can do. The [...]
Burns Night is here again: Here’s what to drink and where to go January 25, 2022 Today is Burns Night, the annual celebration of Scotland’s national poet, and semi-official “St Patrick’s Day” for lovers of Scotch. Plan B restrictions may have derailed large-scale Burns Suppers and ceilidhs, but there’s no reason you can’t stay home, put on a Gay Gordons LP, whip up some haggis, neeps, and tatties, and toast the immortal memory of Robert Burns with [...]
Anya Hindmarch on her new Low & No Off License The Dry Drinker January 22, 2022 Dry January has never been cooler thanks to Anya Hindmarch CBE, the award-winning British Designer who has turned her attention to the new wave of ‘low or no’ alcohol drinks. For a limited time only, Hindmarch has teamed up with The Dry Drinker to launch a booze-free off license in her Anya Village in the [...]
The A-Z of wine: This week, A is for… Assyrtiko January 21, 2022 How do you pronounce it? Ah-seer-tee-co What is it, then? A white grape variety from a land blessed with a beautiful Mediterranean climate, an age-old wine culture, and a wealth of native (and often unpronounceable) grape varieties that make genuinely outstanding wines. Also known as Greece. Best known for wines from the striking volcanic island [...]
Terry Smith rounds again on Unilever and labels failed GSK bids a ‘near death experience’ January 20, 2022 Terry Smith has launched a fresh attack on Unilever’s management as he labelled the failed bid for GSK’s consumer arm a “near death experience”.
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’. [...]