Our resident chef Mark Hix on how the Glorious Twelfth heralds a hunting season full of delicious grouse August 9, 2016 This Friday marks the Glorious Twelfth, the day on which the grouse-hunting season officially begins. I’m hoping to squeeze in a little shoot in Dumfriesshire, and perhaps do some salmon fishing on the River Nith while I’m at it. The game season is one of the most important events in the British culinary calendar – [...]
Scarfe’s Bar review: A sophisticated and upmarket social bar matching political doodles with a sharp Indian menu August 9, 2016 A classy social bar festooned with the political artwork of feted doodling satirist Gerald Scarfe, this stately lunchtime boozer offers an Indian menu as tantalising as it is incongruous. Signature cocktails are rarely seen in such close proximity to curries and naan, but with careful drinks pairings they make deliciously spicy bedmates. WHERE? 252 High [...]
Working Lunch review: 8 Hoxton Square is what the phrase “I know a great little place” was made for August 2, 2016 8 Hoxton Square 8 Hoxton Square, N1 WHAT? An independent restaurant and bar with a cosy Continental-style outdoor terrace in the midst of Hoxton’s hipster bustle off of Old Street. WHERE? If you need me to tell you again, you’re no longer welcome in the food and drink section. WHO? Still here? Good, it’s executive chef [...]
Mark Hix on the difference between morels, chanterelles and girolles and why you should eat them all the time August 2, 2016 Girolles are one of the first mushrooms to appear on the UK’s culinary calendar. If you’re very lucky, you might find a rare morel or a scarlet elf cup, which grows in freezing conditions in the early part of the year unlike most of themushrooms we pick here. But trust me, the first funghi you’re [...]
St Emilion wine has a chequered reputation but I’m discovering it can be worth a little TLC August 2, 2016 Sometime later this summer, when I have ploughed my way through another 100 pages of paperwork and weaved through a bewildering slalom of French bureaucracy, I will have realised a dream. I am buying a house in Bordeaux, a few miles from St Emilion. It sits in a small hamlet in Entre-Deux-Mers, surrounded by well-tended [...]
Viognier once dwindled to just eight acres of vines; thankfully now this varied wine is getting the props it deserves August 2, 2016 Viognier is one of my favourite summer whites and one that grows on me with every bottle. It has a complexity, a range of floral scents and flavours and even a slight muskiness that demands attention. It’s a sobering thought that we almost lost this harlequin grape completely. Viognier is a pain to grow, prone [...]
Galvin at The Athenaeum: the brothers are on top form again with their latest Mayfair venture July 26, 2016 I’d been planning a self-congratulatory column when I reached 100 restaurant reviews for City A.M. but I took my eye off the ball and now we're up to number 105. When the centenary klaxon should have been sounding, I was too busy drooling over the tinned black pudding at Six Portland Road. So I’ll spare you [...]
Mark Hix on how to make Middle Eastern cheese labneh at home and keep it as a snack July 26, 2016 You have probably had labneh in Middle Eastern restaurants as a part of a mezze selection, but have you tried actually making it yourself at home? I'm a big fan and quite often have it hanging in my fridge. It's a really tasty and cheap alternative to a soft goats cheese or curd. It's a [...]
Working Lunch review: Searcys at The Gherkin has turned itself into a brasserie on the French Riviera for six weeks July 26, 2016 Searcys at The Gherkin 30 St Mary Axe, EC3 WHAT? Fine dining atop everyone’s favourite pickled cucumber, with impressive views over the City through its iconic lattice beams. Retro stripey sun loungers and carts packed with Provencal produce decorate the 40th floor bar in honour of its six-week Summer Riviera pop-up, which also comes with a [...]
Bronte restaurant on The Strand review: the Pacific Rim-inspired menu takes few risks and makes few mistakes July 19, 2016 "How do you find enough new restaurants to review a different one every week?” asked my father during our monthly chat. Bless the old fool: he lives in Derbyshire and can’t be expected to know any better. He’s oblivious to the fact you could bankrupt yourself visiting a new restaurant every night of the week [...]