Which wines to drink with Christmas lunch December 16, 2019 City A.M.’s wine expert spends a fantasy Christmas budget And so, dear reader, the season of goodwill and merriment is upon us once again. Offices are full of elves distributing secret Santa details to colleagues, and restaurants are rammed with office workers guzzling warm chardonnay and leaden reds from obscure parts of the planet. The [...]
Have yourself a very modern Christmas: How to keep things woke on the big day, from vegan-friendly to zero-carbon December 13, 2019 The cards may read “peace to all men” but Christmas is a time for bitter fights, tantrums and physical conflict, especially when it comes to lunch (or should that be “dinner”?). Most of all, it’s a day when people come together to vehemently disagree about food. Siblings will fly thousands of miles, cross land and [...]
Whisky business: A wintry trip to the magical Highlands December 10, 2019 Winter sun, this ain’t. Trundling northwards through the Cairngorms towards Inverness, you could be forgiven for thinking you were travelling through an alien landscape. Grey, spare hills emerge from the drizzly low cloud; the “torrents and loud-poured floods” of Rabbie Burns’ poetry run high and violent. Not for nothing do the Scots have several different [...]
The definitive guide to the best Christmas sandwiches of 2019: Don’t eat lunch without it November 21, 2019 Cranberry-sodden turkey sandwiches seem to arrive earlier and earlier every year, and 2019’s parade of oppressively festive Christmas offerings from the City’s favourite high-street food chains is no exception. This year’s sandwich selection is a more mixed bag than ever, hiding some delectable surprises among a real cavalcade of limp bread and lacklustre bird. With [...]
Chef’s Table: Flor’s James Lowe invites My Dad Wrote a Porno creator Alice Levine for lunch November 4, 2019 The Lunch: Bread; Anchovy toast, lardo di colonnata, marjoram; Scarlet prawns, orange yuzu kosho; Palourde clam flatbread, spenwood, vin jaune, lautrec garlic; burrata, chestnut, pickled walnuts; Turbot, cultured butter, ‘les molates’ savagnin Alice Levine: Thanks for having me James. I remember when we first met – it was when I was doing supper clubs and [...]
The Long Weekend: How to get the most out of a trip to Lake Como November 1, 2019 The weekend: Lake Como is one of the original modern holiday destinations, a place where well-to-do Victorians would flock to enjoy the combination of crisp Alpine air, picture-perfect lake views and low rainfall year-round. Today it’s a Mecca for young couples splashing out on expensive weddings, and a home-from home for the super-rich, with the [...]
Star attraction: Why, after more than 100 years, the Michelin Guide still matters October 30, 2019 This year’s Michelin guide was released to the usual chorus of dissent, complaints that fashionable, progressive restaurants were overlooked in favour of high-ceilinged, soft carpeted establishments where classic cooking is dished up on white linen. “It’s like asking why the Oscars are the number one film award,” says chef and restaurateur Victor Garvey. “There are [...]
How whiskey became Kentucky’s multi-billion dollar cottage industry October 30, 2019 Standing in the private dining room of a Louisville hotel, I angle a roasted marrow bone towards my face and pour a shot of Wild Turkey down the emptied channel. It sluices the remaining beef fat into my mouth, adding a rich, silky finish to the oaky caramel of the bourbon. A cheer goes up [...]
Mark Hix heads to the Tuscan hills to bring home the bacon October 30, 2019 I recently went on my third boar hunt in the hills of Tuscany. The first time was 20-odd years ago, and I only managed to get a single shot off, which went about a foot over its head. It didn’t even flinch, just continued to stare at me, indignant. Since then I’ve taken up game [...]
How to mix: Hide’s Oskar Kinberg on the inspiration behind his Smoke & Mirrors cocktail October 30, 2019 Many of the cocktails we drink today are recipes that have been passed down through the generations, from bartender to bartender, their measurements exact and their flavours timeless. These are the mainstays of cocktail books that pass between collectors for many hundreds of pounds, perfect and unchanging. Some, on the other hand, are the result [...]