Pairing wine with spicy food at London restaurants KOL and Gunpowder March 18, 2026 Wine and spice make for a tricky duo. Traditionally we are taught that an off-dry white is an excellent pairing to soothe the heat, but this isn’t always the right call. I went to KOL and Gunpowder to find out how to best pair wine and spice. Pairing wine with spicy Mexican food at KOL KOL, [...]
Why Boisdale founder Ranald MacDonald is a London hero March 11, 2026 My culinary journey last week took me away from London. It was a tale of two Vikings, from Scotland to Stockholm and back again. So allow me to introduce my fellow founders, Niklas Ekstedt of his eponymous restaurant Ekstedt and Ranald MacDonald of Boisdale. BOISDALE OF BELGRAVIA When I began my entrepreneurial journey as founder [...]
This is low-key the best place to drink Italian wine in London… March 4, 2026 Please put that Pinot Grigio down. I know you think this Italian wine is a safe bet, but you are missing out. Italian cooking traditions were recently added to the UNESCO World Heritage list and they deserve a more interesting dining companion. Sale e Pepe Mare is the most anticipated opening this week, with the [...]
Drinks disasters: Three top tips to avoid being a wine wally February 24, 2026 Don’t be a wine wally. A lot of drinks etiquette seems antiquated but there are certain things that immediately show you up as being clueless. Here are three mistakes I often see people making in restaurants when ordering wine. 1) How you hold your glass says everything about how comfortable you are around wine, and [...]
The 18 best pubs in the City of London – picked by experts February 24, 2026 The City of London has some of the best old boozers in the country, from sprawling Victorian gin palaces to squat little drinking dens squirrelled away down forgotten alleyways. We asked the reporters at City AM – who know the Square Mile better than anyone – to name their best pubs in the City of [...]
Victor Garvey’s mad new MATER1A concept is a Willy Wonka-esque theatre of gastronomy February 18, 2026 MATER1A, 115 Westbourne Grove, W2 4UP | ★★★★★ | Cuisine: Japanese, fine dining, tasting menu A benefit of having written restaurant reviews for 15 years is that you begin to see the overarching warp and weft of the business, the trends that slowly emerge and dissipate, the way hospitality gradually evolves, holding up a mirror [...]
Enjoy Chinese New Year in London with these great bottles of wine February 16, 2026 Today marks the start of the Year of the Fire Horse and fifteen days of celebrations for the Chinese Lunar New Year. Red lanterns are hung and red, money-filled envelopes exchanged over dinners with friends and family. Never shy of a reason to celebrate, London’s hospitality scene is going all out. Restaurants including Hakkasan (a [...]
Valentine’s Day: Fancy a romantic bowl of chocolate spaghetti? February 13, 2026 What could be more romantic than a meal out in Soho, a bottle of red wine and a nice bowl of chocolate spaghetti? Well, I can think of a few things… The ‘spaghetti bucatini’ at 27 Old Compton Street is being sold not as a dessert but a main course: thick strands of pasta slathered [...]
Bar of the week: Why Three Sheets is a little slice of old Soho February 10, 2026 Three Sheets Soho | 13 Manette St, W1D 4AP This new column celebrates the great drinking holes of London, the pubs and bars that keep the capital lubricated despite the government’s best attempts to send them crashing out of business. Last week I profiled The rising Sun, the Victorian gin palace that claimed our Best [...]
How to drink sake: A beginner’s guide February 10, 2026 Have you heard the siren call of sake? This Japanese drink is everywhere and it’s the coolest thing to be quaffing (though you can enjoy it chilled, warm or hot). The problem is that it is quite complicated compared to wine, so I have compiled a brief beginner’s guide to make you a speedy sake [...]