Coffee and me: For the best black stuff, go back to basics November 18, 2021 Recently I mused to a friend that if pubs didn’t expand their non-alcoholic offerings, they ran the risk of losing a generation of potential consumers who don’t drink much and for whom the more natural social setting is the coffee shop. It’s not hard to see how this could happen: the bean temples of Starbucks, [...]
Wine diary: My lunch with the Tom Selleck of the wine world November 17, 2021 Celebration was in the air at the first Winemakers Lunch in over two years. Hosted by Top Selection director Akos Forczek, it took place at the oenophile haven that is 67 Pall Mall’s private dining room. The guest of honour was Peter Mondavi Jr who, baring some resemblance to an even-more-twinkly Tom Selleck, took us [...]
Celebrating the women in wine November 16, 2021 Only five per cent of the Chef de Caves in Champagne are women and Caroline Latrive of Champagne AYALA is one. Wanting to do something about this disparity, she partnered with SquareMeal to support the Female Chef Of The Year Award, a similar industry where male chefs outnumber women at a rate of over four [...]
The Lord Napier & Star is the best – and only – pub in Hackney Wick November 16, 2021 Twenty years ago The Lord Napier – the last, boarded-up pub of E9’s scrappy backyard, wedged between the River Lee Navigation and the A12’s spaghetti junction – was bought with an eye firmly on the area’s encroaching realty rush. “S**THOUSE TO PENTHOUSE” became the most iconic bit of its fully graffitied exterior, as planning disputes [...]
Premier Foods leave sour taste with declining revenues November 16, 2021 Premier Foods has suffered a decline in revenue and operating profit in its half-year results. The owner of beloved household brands such as Mr Kipling, Ambrosia, Angel Delight, Sharwoods, and Oxo has left investors with a sour taste in their mouths as earnings per share have halved since the previous year. In its half-year report, [...]
COP26: The wine industry joins the Race To Zero November 10, 2021 COP26 is well underway in Glasgow, bringing 197 countries together to present their updated plans to act against carbon emissions, and the wine industry has its own, albeit relatively small, part to play. Wine itself creates relatively low carbon emissions but even so the International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA) exists. It was founded three [...]
Give it up for the world’s most extreme winemakers November 10, 2021 Every wine merchant has their hero or heroine – not necessarily their best sellers but the wines and winemakers they most admire. These are often viticulture’s unsung heroes – small producers who work with new techniques or revive old ones, sometimes toiling in the harshest terrain, where machines aren’t viable and human power is the [...]
A mouthful of cashmere: The joy of Lalande-de-Pomerol wines November 10, 2021 Traditionally wines from Bordeaux have garnered a certain high level of respect, esteem, fame and the price tag that goes along with that. In broad strokes, the Bordeaux Blend, historically referred to as Claret in the UK, is made up of a combination of the star players Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot alongside, at the winemaker’s [...]
Passed away at 43: London celebrity chef Gurpareet Bains hit by sudden heart attack November 10, 2021 Enfield-based celebrity chef and author Gurpareet Bains has passed away aged 43, City A.M. has been told.
Baker & Spice in Belgravia, has a tried and tested day service – but what about its new dinner menu? November 9, 2021 Nestled in a quiet backstreet in Belgravia, Baker & Spice is a gourmet Mediterranean café and bakery that branched out to dinner service this September. It has a generous outdoor dining space equipped with heaters and blankets to ward off the autumnal chill and a small indoor dining room with cosy booths and tables for [...]