Save Burns Night with a virtual Boisdale party January 12, 2021 Burns Night is normally a beacon of extravagence in the post Christmas weeks, an island of indulgance amid Dry January and Veganuary and new year fitness resolutions. This year Covid threatens to take even this away – toasting the great Scottish bard alone seems like anathema to the spirit of the occasion, which entails drinking [...]
No more Dry January – let’s do Damp January with wine instead January 6, 2021 With the third lockdown, home-schooling, and the food and drink industry on its knees, this is not the year for a ‘Dry January’. I say instead we make it a ‘Damp January’, using the time to improve our relationship with booze, find new loves, and support independent food and drink businesses. Here are my top [...]
Beat Dry January with booze-free alternatives, from fizzy tea to CBD January 6, 2021 Despite this being the most miserable January in living memory (™), droves of us are keen to give up even more of life’s basic pleasures. This is set to be the most widely-practiced Dry January yet, with various unscientific surveys claiming that anywhere between 6.5m UK adults (up from 3.9m last year) to half of [...]
Going vegan for Veganuary? Check out these gourmet options. January 5, 2021 January is set to be one hell of a slog. If you’re giving up meat on top of everything else, don’t let that be a millstone around your neck, rather a mood-boosting escape from the teduim of lockdown. These amazing vegan delivery, teaching and finish-at-home options will make sure your veganuary meals are restaurant quality. [...]
Rescue New Year’s Eve 2021 with these Bacardi cocktails December 28, 2020 The government’s pandemic policy has left New Year’s plans in disarray, and millions of Britons asking if there is any way the holidays can be saved. Fortunately, the creative team at Bacardi have invented a range of festive cocktails to help lift the mood. So raid your liquor cabinet or book a delivery slot, because [...]
Langan’s for a substantial meal? Legendary nightspot saved from administration December 26, 2020 Mayfair nightspot Langan’s has been saved from administration and will relaunch in the Autumn. The brasserie had looked set to be one of the casualties of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the restaurant either shut or operating at reduced capacity for almost a year. Wanted: A minister for hospitalityRead more: Wanted: A Minister for Hospitality But [...]
Festive cocktails, whether you’re fully stocked or the cupboard’s bare December 23, 2020 What a short-lived foray back into the great restaurants, bars and pubs of London that was! Like many restaurateurs and publicans across the country, I don’t mind being told to close my venue for the good of the nation (although there is still no evidence that hospitality contributes significantly more than other sectors to the [...]
Why now is the time to stand up for British farming December 22, 2020 The farming sector has been challenged. Huge surges in demand at the peak of the pandemic for products such as minced beef (to account for the rise in batch cooking) have been matched by extremely low demand for more premium cuts usually reserved by restaurants, impacting the value farmers received for their livestock. Read more: [...]
Our ultimate guide to last-minute Christmas spirits, including our whiskies of the year December 21, 2020 Christmas may be ruined, but things always look better through the bottom of a bottle. If you were planning on stocking up on last-minute gifts before the big day, you may have to rethink. But the silver lining of this new lockdown means you can claw back a few days to pick up the ideal [...]
D&D owner: Tax supermarkets to bail out bars and restaurants December 21, 2020 In his second City A.M. column, D&D London CEO and cofounder Des Gunewardena reflects on the “horror show” of the last week, asks the government to consider a Covid-tax to help struggling restaurants, and offers his empty venues up as Covid vaccination stations. We have had some bad weeks during this pandemic, but last week [...]