Food and Drink

Move over coffee aficionados. You’ve had your run of things for way too long. It’s high time the tea brigade evened things up a little. I’m not saying we can’t share the love, but with a coffee shop on every street corner, the inequality is killing me. It’s high time the high street made room for tea. Now, if I could guarantee a decent cup of tea from a barista I’d keep schtum. But, how many more crappy cups of...

The bottomless brunch concept has become so embedded in London culture over the past year that one struggles to remember a time that getting drunk before midday wasn't the norm at the weekend. With Bloody Mary's and Mimosas flowing like water across the capital it is fair to say that the city has truly embraced the idea of pairing breakfast foods with booze. Eggs Benedict with unlimited prosecco? Sure! A full English with a full bodied claret? Why not! So...

Rapini, a cruciferous green vegetable, is particularly associated with Italian cuisine. Available with different names throughout the country, rapini is better known as ‘Cime di Rapa’ in Puglia – literally meaning “turnip tops”. The distinctively bitter leaves are often paired with creamy pasta dishes, as is the case with this recipe from Panzer’s Deli and Grocer in St John’s Wood. Another Puglian staple, the recipe also features Benedetto Cavalieri dischi volanti (or orecchiette). Like all pasta, orecchiette is best when...

Termini, with its direct train service to and from Fiumicino airport, was my first carnal glimpse of Rome – as is the case with most tourists. A modern part of the city, less charming than Campo Marzio or Vatican City; Termini doesn’t sleep. Amid the nasal howl of sirens, burbling Vespas and suitcase wheels, Termini is littered with uncountable bars-cum-cafés-cum-coffee shops. Such cafés are accessible, ideal for a quick coffee, cocktail or snack before boarding the train to the airport...

“An alternative night cap” for St Patrick’s Day, ‘The After Dinner Mint’ features Irish Artisan Dingle Original Gin; distilled with botanicals such as rowan berry from the mountain ash trees, fuchsia, bog myrtle, hawthorn and heather. The London dry style gin is macerated for 24 hours then cut using the purest water from the distillery’s own well, 240 feet below ground. Alternatively, the gin can be substituted with Dingle Vodka, teamed with Crème de Menthe, Crème de Cacao Brun and...

The second solo restaurant from ex-Gaucho Managing Director, Martin Williams, M Victoria Street will host a pop-up dining experience this month in support of Not For Sale – a global organisation that works to end human trafficking. Taking place from 19th-24th and 26th-29th March, the temporary restaurant inside M RAW will raise funds and awareness, with 100 per cent of profits being donated to charity. ‘M IS NOT FOR SALE’, the two-week pop-up will celebrate women’s empowerment month, serving a...

Launched in 2003, Innis & Gunn has since become one of the UK’s most successful international craft beer businesses. Operating from a site in Perth, Scotland, Master Brewer Dougal Gunn Sharp and his team develop and barrel-age an assortment of beers sourced to over 28 countries. Alongside Innis & Gunn’s core range, the brewery constantly produces limited edition, barrel-aged beers. Kindred Spirits, for instance, is a collaboration with Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey; a Scottish stout aged using triple distilled Irish whiskey barrels. Using Innis...

As if an excuse for indulgence was ever necessary; St Patrick’s Day falls on a Saturday (17th March) this year. Alongside ‘official’ London celebrations taking place between 16th-18th March – notably including a huge parade – many of the city’s bars and restaurants will celebrate Ireland’s Patron Saint in their own unique way. One of our favourite London restaurants, Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill will host a Feast of St Patrick’s on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th March. At £70...

Those three little words, perhaps the most important you’ll ever hear: Cheese and wine? Asked as a question, obviously, to which you can answer: yes, please. So, how to make this special culinary affair really worth it? Being a Cheese Whiz Choose your cheese first. You will want to sample it, so choose a local delicatessen who will let you nibble. Cheeses fall into three main categories: those that anyone can enjoy, those for the connoisseur and ‘wildcard’. If you do not want...