Dixons Carphone has created an Amazon Dash style button prototype September 20, 2016 Dixons Carphone is experimenting with the Internet of Things (IoT) to create an Amazon Dash style button that can be used to provide customer support when their devices go wrong. Like a "panic button on a submarine", if your washing machine starts leaking, simply pressing the button will trigger a call back from Dixon's call [...]
JD Wetherspoon, Pret a Manger, Leon and Zizzi nab prizes in the annual Peta vegan food awards September 20, 2016 JD Wetherspoon may seem to some like an unlikely candidate for a vegan award, but a meat and dairy-free twist on one of its signature dishes has just nabbed it recognition from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta). Those who want to both avoid animal-derived foods and join JD Wetherspoon's weekly curry club can [...]
Bridget Jones lives next to a hospital, right, so why does it take her so long to get to a maternity ward when she goes into labour. It doesn’t make sense September 15, 2016 Here’s a thing. Bridget Jones lives on Bedale Street, close enough to Borough Market that she could swan dive from her bedroom window and land in a basket of organic, gluten-free sourdough, or one of those massive iron pans filled with Ethiopian curry. Directly across the road from her flat is Guy’s Hospital (the tallest [...]
The Amazon Echo is an artificially intelligent speaker and virtual assistant that can play music, order curries and hail an Uber September 14, 2016 The Amazon Echo is a hands-free speaker that you operate using voice commands. Inside it (well, somewhere in the cloud to be precise) lives Alexa, an artificial intelligence and essentially Amazon’s version of Siri. Alexa’s machine-learning algorithms and rapidly expanding skillset make her smarter as time goes on: so while today she can play music, [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on how pheasants shouldn’t be roasted, but smashed into escalopes before cooking September 13, 2016 Pheasant is the most common bird to shoot and grows relatively quickly, and so by the end of the season the demand is almost non-existent and the gamekeepers are very keen to get rid of them. Pheasant is also a notoriously tricky bird to cook. It roasts a bit dry, even when cooked to perfection. [...]
Cha Chaan Teng review: why this Holborn restaurant is like Miley Cyrus twerking August 30, 2016 The liberal food world tied itself in knots last month when Girls creator Lena Dunham suggested that her alma mater serving terrible banh mi and sushi could be classed as cultural appropriation. The story is largely bollocks, of course – many have pointed out that a handful of students (quite rightly) saying that pulled pork [...]
Working Lunch review: Blanchette East’s blend of Southern French and North African cuisine is a masterclass in fusion food August 30, 2016 Blanchette East 204 Brick Lane, E1 What? A French fusion bistro and close relative of the critically-acclaimed Blanchette in Soho. While the menu changes daily, visitors can expect to find a carefully-curated cacophony of sharing dishes that champion North African flavours alongside traditional French delicacies. Where? The home of all things curry and vintage, Brick [...]
Great British Menu chef Adam Handling’s TripAdvisor meltdown, in which he calls customer an imbecile who should stick to McDonald’s August 30, 2016 Great British Menu contestant Adam Handling has branded a customer “the prime example of an imbecile” who should “stick in McDonalds”. The head chef at new restaurant The Frog was responding to a negative review on TripAdvisor, saying the online critic was “just stupid”, “lead[s] a very sad life”, and suggesting even McDonald's would be out [...]
City Moves for 15 August 2016 | Who’s switching jobs August 15, 2016 P-Solve P-Solve, part of River and Mercantile Group, has appointed Ajeet Manjrekar as co-head of P-Solve alongside Ross Leach. Ajeet is re-joining P-Solve, having previously worked with the company as an investment consultant and principal until 2007. He subsequently worked for Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management business and spin-off Global Thematic Partners. Ajeet is an actuary with 18 years’ [...]
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 [...]