Food and Drink

In amongst the shops of Bethnal Green Road you’ll find the 160-year old, inconspicuous blue façade of what used to be a pub called The Albion. Since this summer, though, this the home of Coupette, the presence merely given away by a wholly unremarkable branded doormat. Blink and you’ll miss it. Coupette describes itself as a ‘neighbourhood bar with a local aesthetic and French accent to everything’. The ‘everything’ being both the extensive drinks menu and the comparatively sparse food...

The monks behind a controversial tonic wine have blasted a Scottish confectioner as "highly irresponsible" for making BUCKFAST FLAVOURED SWEETS. Buckfast have struggled to shake off a reputation which has seen the drink directly linked with violent crime and anti-social behaviour. And confectioners Ross's of Edinburgh have now concocted the flavour to appeal to "the younger generation". The sweets, called Buckfast Flavoured Creams, have only been on sale for a few weeks and there is already a growing demand for...

New report launched today at the Conservative Party Conference calls for a shake-up of UK agriculture as the country prepares to leave the European Union and the Common Agricultural Policy. The Grow Green II report, written by the New Economics Foundation and commissioned by The Vegan Society, declares that the UK’s food system is fundamentally broken, environmentally unsustainable and unhealthy. The New Economics Foundation claims a shift to plant protein as a substitute for animal protein is “desperately needed” and...

Creator of the world-famous Cronut, Chef Dominique Ansel was awarded World’s Best Pastry Chef by 50 Best in Melbourne this year, has launched a second location in Tokyo and is about to open his first ever full-service restaurant in LA. Celebrating the first year anniversary of Dominique Ansel Bakery London last weekend, the chef has also shared a recipe for his poached pear and salted pecan caramel tart. Granted, the recipe is time consuming and requires a deft touch, but the proof is (quite literally) in the pudding....

With plenty of exciting restaurant openings constantly taking place across the Capital, we pick London’s best new restaurant openings taking place over the coming month.   Breddos Kingly Street – Soho Following the rapturous success of Breddos’ first bricks and mortar restaurant in Clerkenwell, a second will open in Kingly Street on 7th October, with a three-day soft launch period offering 50 per-cent off food. In partnership with Ennismore, the new taquerias is bigger than double the size of the original,...

South London’s coolest new cocktail bar, Nine Lives will present ‘The Nine Lives of El Tigre’ for London Cocktail Week (October 2nd-5th). For one week only, legendary bartender El Tigre will bring his Mexican family’s seafood restaurant, Los Barcos, to Nine Lives – offering a selection of Don Julio tequila cocktails and authentic tacos. Featuring Don Julio Blanco tequila, pistachio, fresh watermelon and white balsamic, Nine Lives’ The Pink Flamingo cocktail has been shortlisted as one of London’s top six...

While the best restaurant names were being handed out, I’d imagine Flavour Bastard (along with Sexy Fish and now renamed Pussey Liquor in East Dulwich) must have been taking a cigarette break. Since opening in Soho just under two months ago, Flavour Bastard has received a mixed reception, to say the least. Before visiting, I’d already (wrongly) gathered an idea of what the place would be like. But no matter how easy it may seem, it’s never okay to judge...

By Simon Russell The consensus view is that big brands don’t deliver on flavour but you can at least be certain about what you’re getting. But even that forlorn hope appears misplaced as the brewers of Carling – a one of the biggest beer brands in the UK – admit that the alcohol content is less than claimed. Global brewing giant brewer Molson Coors owned up that their big seller is actually a modest 3.7% abv and not the 4% abv...

With a focus on rationality and simplicity – the basic principles of modernism – at the helm, Bavarian craft beer brand And Union was set up in 2007. The product of a father, his son and his business partner, And Union works with brew-masters from four small, family-run Bavarian regional breweries, with all of their craft beers brewed in a traditional manner, using just barley, yeast, hops, and water. As a result, the brewing process for the unfiltered and unpasteurised beers is...