Food and Drink

Here's how to turn the humble gas BBQ into a wonderful smoker in order to create some mouth-watering smokey flavoured lip-smacking food. Gas BBQ Lots of folk in the UK are cooking outdoors on gas BBQ’s and there’s nothing wrong with this. OK, so a purist will always prefer to cook on charcoal, and getting a smoke ring on the food usually requires proper charcoal or wood combustion. However, lots of people like the ease and simplicity cooking on gas gives,...

With the hospitality industry having never faced a worse staff shortage, with warnings of a 60,000 shortfall of workers a year, M Restaurants Executive Chef Michael Reid and Bookatable by Michelin have partnered for a unique event to encourage young talent working in the UK restaurant industry. An annual competition which aims to nurture tomorrow’s top chefs, the winner will be given the chance to host a ten-day pop-up restaurant at the Bookatable Young Chef Take Over at M Victoria...

With a strong focus on high-quality tequilas and mezcals, the El Bandito pop-up in Shoreditch follows the success of the permanent, highly-acclaimed Liverpool bar. Opened last month, the bar showcases a selection of approximately 50 tequilas and 25 mezcals, plus an extensive cocktail list. Designed by the team, which also includes recent Class nominated best newcomer Joe Wild, the drinks menu aims to educate drinkers about these often-misunderstood spirits, with the original opening amongst the first UK bars to be...

Lonely Planet has launched a guide to the World's best breweries on the back of the micro revolution that has gripped the industry. Researched and compiled by a network of beer-loving travel writers and journalists, the new guide will help thirsty travellers discover the world’s most authentic and delicious beverages - from classics that have been brewed for centuries, to exciting new concoctions and long forgotten regional specialities that have been recently discovered by the rest of the world. Organised by...

The Vegan Festival of Britain runs from 20 May –10 June The ambitious three-week Vegan Festival of Britain (VFOB) gets underway on Saturday 20 May, with events planned across the country from Aberdeen to Salisbury and Norwich to Truro. Billed as ‘the biggest vegan party in the world’, the animal-free extravaganza will be launched at VegfestUK Bristol (itself the biggest single vegan gathering in Europe) by Kerry McCarthy, the UK’s first vegan MP. A giant cake has been baked for the...

A fresh take on a classic style.

Pride is a double-edged sword. To be in the right, I’ll take the most extreme measures, yet there's something oddly rewarding about being proven wrong, on occasion, especially when done with such pizazz, such finesse. At the beginning of last year, I visited Monica Galetti's pop up at the top of 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin) for lunch. I'd never had the chance to visit Le Gavroche with Monica on board, but I'd heard great things, as well as...

Once a topic of controversy, even amongst the most carnivorous of us, veal (particularly Rose Veal) is becoming increasingly popular on the menus of high-end restaurants around London and the United Kingdom. A leading UK restaurant supplier, Lake District Farmers supply premium, breed-specific meats to fine dining establishments, providing customers with the full supply chain history. Working with a group of 50 Lake District-based farmers, the company renowned as “the hidden pearl of the Lake District” manages to produce some...

With a continuous rise in restaurants serving exciting meat-free food, heightened awareness of animal welfare and health-conscious dieting, it’s unsurprising that vegetarianism, veganism and flexitarianism (semi-vegetarian) are on the rise. In fact, since Linda McCartney introduced her range of vegetarian dishes over 25 years ago, the number of vegetarians in Britain has more than doubled – launched as an attempt to save vegetarians from a bleak future of eating unexciting food. Research in 2016 also showed that 12 per cent...